Coconut Oil Recipes and ideas

 North America and Meso America Recipe  No Responses »
Feb 132012
 
Coconut Oil Recipes and ideas…
I want to start a thread that we can keep adding to to get everyone’s ideas and recipes for using coconut oil. I know a number of us are trying it out and it would be great to have all the info in one place.

Okay, I’ll start. Yesterday I made coconut mayonnaise and it turned out great. I used it to make my “faux-tato” salad (using cauliflower instead of potatoes) and it was freakin’ fantastic. I also made up some SF/LC 1000 Island dressing.

I used the expeller pressed coconut oil because I didn’t really want it to taste like coconuts.

Here’s the recipe I used (next time I think I will try to use only CO and no olive oil and see how it works). Continue reading »

 Posted by at 02:16  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

I Say Tomato, and You Say Tomato

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Dec 292011
 

Here’s a short film (along with some photos) from the fabulous heirloom tomato tasting at Wild Boar Farms on Sunday. It was a great event, and the tomatoes were as delicious as advertised. After gorging on these just-picked beauties, the thought of eating conventional tomatoes seems ridiculous.

You just can’t fight Mother Nature. There are only a few months a year when you should eat fresh tomatoes. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. But, the good news – this is one of them!

So, after watching this, figure out when the next local farmer’s market is, and get some real tomatoes. As far as ways to eat them – keep it simple – it doesn’t get much better than olive oil, salt, maybe some fresh basil and cheese, on crunchy grilled bread. Enjoy!

http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1509998&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=b5d15a&fullscreen=1

 Posted by at 09:54  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Pizza Pockets

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Dec 262011
 

Here is a good recipe for the kids.It takes a little time, but its great!You can leave out the pepper flakes if they don’t want it hot.

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 tbsp lukewarm water
2 1/2 to 3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
6 tbsp salad oil
3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese (Pepperoni slices(optional)
1 1/2 cup sharp Italian cheese or Provolone
2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes(optional)

Soften yeast in 2 tbsp water. In a mixing bowl, combine 2 1/2 cup flour, salt and sugar. Add the remaining water, 2 tbsp salad oil, and dissolved yeast. Stir into
a sticky dough, adding more flour, until a soft dough is formed. Knead until smooth and elastic.Let rest while you prepare the filling. In a bowl, combine the Mozzarella, Provolone, and Parmesan cheeses. Roll out 1/4 of the dough into a 9
to 10 inch circle, flouring the board as needed. Brush with oil.Sprinkle with basil and red pepper flakes. Top half of the dough with 1/4 of the cheese mixture;top with pepperoni slices if desired. Fold dough over to form a half circle, seal edges. Place on oiled baking sheet. Brush with oil, sprinkle with basil, red pepper and some cheese. Repeat with remaining dough and cheese mixture, to make a total of four pizza pockets. Bake at 450 for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown…yum!

 Posted by at 06:04  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

A Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie is Called a What?

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Dec 242011
 

This photo is from a video shoot I just did for About.com on “How to Make Shepherd’s Pie.” I will post the recipe here as soon as it goes “live” so you can make a pan for your flock.

I’m also brainstorming a video recipe for vegetarian Shepherd’s pie, based on caramelized mushrooms.

Although I know a few people that would be perfect for the challenge of herding vegetables, “Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie” is a pretty silly name for obvious reasons.

So, I’d like a little help coming up with a name. Here are a few ideas I have so far: Forager’s Pie, Gardener’s Pie, Vegetable-Murder’s Pie, and Worker’s Collective Pie. Let me know if any of those appeal to you, or give me your own ideas. Thanks!

 Posted by at 08:22  Tagged with: , , , ,

Spanish Manchego Cheese and Membrillo Quesadillas – Making a Point with Spain’s Most Perfect Pair

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Dec 232011
 

What’s the one thing everyone knows how to make (besides toast)? The ubiquitous quesadilla. Even the most culinarily-challenged among us can throw a tortilla in a pan, with some grated cheese, and 5 minutes later are enjoying a warm and satisfying snack. In today’s video recipe clip we will give the common quesadilla a delicious twist by using a classic Spanish fruit and cheese combination.

The cheese we are using is called “Manchego.” Manchego cheese, from the La Mancha region of Spain, is made from sheep’s milk. It is aged for at least 3 months, but can be aged much longer for a firmer texture and stronger flavor. It is classified as a semi-firm cheese, which means it grates beautifully and melts nicely. The flavor is a bit tangy, slightly salty, and amazingly delicious paired with the Membrillo.

Membrillo is a very firm fruit paste made by cooking down a fruit called Quince with sugar and sometimes lemon. In the raw form, Quince is too hard and sour to eat. But, as it cooks the fruit’s light yellow flesh turns a sexy reddish ruby color. By the way, the seeds are poisonous, which has absolutely nothing to do with today’s recipe, but just another tidbit of culinary trivia you food geeks can use at a cocktail parties to annoy others.

As far as finding these “exotic” ingredients, I don’t think you are going to have much trouble. Any cheese shop will have several varieties of both Manchego and Membrillo. And, any of the upscale chain grocery stores will also stock these two wonderful products. If you can’t find them where you live, I will try to find some online resources for you and link them here, so stay tuned. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
large flour tortilla
2-3 oz of shredded Manchego
2 to 3 tbl of diced Membrillo
1 tsp olive oil

 Posted by at 16:11  Tagged with: , , , ,

Coming Soon: Pickles and Cream

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Dec 192011
 

Well, the rain finally broke and I was able to dust off the old grill and film the pickled grilled pickles video I teased after the Kingsford University trip. To the right of those you’ll see a jar of homemade Crème Fraîche, inspired by comments on our handmade butter post. Stay tuned!

 Posted by at 22:26  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Beef Braciole – Pounded, Stuffed, and Ready to Roll

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Dec 192011
 

This beef braciole recipe (pronounced, bro’zhul), is a version of a dish I learned from my Uncle Bill, who makes it for special holiday dinners. It’s basically a stuffed and rolled piece of pounded beef, braised in tomato sauce. It is one of my all-time favorite Italian recipes, and a great dish to learn, since it can be varied in many delicious ways.

I really hadn’t planned on making it, but as you’ll see in the clip, I found myself the proud owner of some “reduced for quick sale” sirloin steak. Usually the recipe is done with a tougher cut of meat, and braised for a longer time. But, we chefs must adapt and overcome, so I ended up doing this version that took advantage of the quicker cooking steak.

I also didn’t have some of the classic ingredients like currants and pinenuts, but used what I had, and it came out wonderfully. So, consider this video recipe a lesson in the technique of pounding, stuffing, and rolling the braciole – which will hopefully inspire you to fill it with your favorite dried fruit, nuts, herbs, cheese, etc. Enjoy!

http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1217785&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=b5d15a&fullscreen=1

2 8-oz top sirloin steaks
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp chopped raisins or whole currants
2 tbsp any fresh herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, etc.)
1 egg
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup water

 Posted by at 10:53  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Sausage-Stuffed Cherry Pepper Poppers – Because the Party with the Best Food Wins

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Dec 182011
 

Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s getting close to holiday entertaining season, and as far as I’m concerned there’s really only one measuring stick by which all holiday parties are judged – the food.

You can have the best DJ, the coolest place settings, even those novelty ice cubes in the shape of shapes, but none of that matters if your food is lame. That’s where these sausage-stuffed cherry pepper poppers come in.

The foundation of all great holiday party menus are the hors d’oeuvres and appetizers. Most people will be drunk by the time the main courses are served, but when the party begins, and senses are yet to be dulled, a bad or boring array of small bites will not go unnoticed.

These super-simple, but memorable cherry pepper poppers will get the party started right. The next day, instead of talking about you trying to moonwalk with a lampshade on your head, or how you spilled a Bloody Mary on the boss’s wife, people will be raving about “those little, red, spicy sausage pepper things.”

By the way, the hardest thing about this recipe is finding these Peppadew peppers. Except for a few annoying exceptions, you know I like to use easy-to-find ingredients, but these gorgeous peppers, from the Limpopo province of South Africa, have such a wonderfully unique, sweet/spicy/tangy flavor that I wanted to use the real deal.

I was having a hard time finding them myself, but it was my mother-in-law Peggy who came to the rescue (again), and mailed these down to us as part of our anniversary gift. You can get them online for sure, and they are often found at the better gourmet grocery stores, but if you can’t find them, most supermarkets do carry some type of jarred cherry peppers. Enjoy!

UPDATE: While I was making this recipe, I couldn’t for the life of me remember where I saw this done for the first time. Well, I just talked to my mom Pauline, who informed me these were my Uncle Bill’s invention. I should have known! Thanks Uncle Billy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZaHk-XJFlk?fs=1]

Ingredients:
8 oz Italian sausage
2 jars Peppadew peppers (about 32)
1 tsp olive oil
chopped parsley

 Posted by at 14:10  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Three Corn Polenta – An old Italian classic gets “freshened-up”

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Dec 182011
 

In today’s clip I’m going to use corn in three different ways. I’m going to use it dried and ground, which of course is the Polenta part. I’m also going to use fresh corn, but cooked two different ways. Part of the fresh corn will be sautéed and cooked into the polenta, and the remainder will be added at the last minute so it stays relatively crisp and fresh tasting. Now, if all this sounds too complicated, as you’ll see from the clip, it’s actually an extremely simple dish. The final result may remind some of you of creamed corn, but this is significantly lower in fat and calories, as it has only a small amount of butter and no cream, flour, etc. The “creaminess” comes from the properly cooked polenta and plain old water.

When I first began my career as a cook in San Francisco, polenta wasn’t a common starch in non-Italian restaurants, as it is today. I remember talking with a Chef about an upcoming menu on which he was thinking of using polenta as the side dish. I asked him what exactly polenta was and he told me an Italian ground corn meal. I asked him if he was talking about “Polanda.” He said no, and that he had never heard of polanda. I told him it was also an Italian ground corn meal that I had eaten many times growing up. I remember calling my Mom and telling her we were going to serve something called polenta at the restaurant. I asked her if she had ever heard of this similar sounding dish. She laughed and said that they were the same things! She explained that “pol-an-da” was just our family’s mispronunciation of the actual name polenta. I was pretty embarrassed to say the least. Come to find out, my family had mispronounced and/or Americanized many Italian terms (mostly curse words), which I won’t go into now, but needless to say, from that point on, I’ve always checked! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup polenta
2 1/2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
3 ears fresh corn (about 1 1/2 cups)

 Posted by at 12:08  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Homemade Crème Fraiche – Nobody’s Ever Made it Just Once

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Dec 172011
 
Crème fraiche is French for “fresh cream,” which makes it one of the most ironically named foods ever, since it’s made by leaving cream out in a warm spot until it’s soured and thickened by a growing colony of bacteria. Yeah, fresh.

Regardless, making crème fraiche is very easy and as the title implies, once you taste the magic of homemade sour cream, you’ll have a hard time not repeating this somewhat esoteric exercise. Sure it takes a couple days, but the effort is minimal for such a marvelous payoff.

As I mention in the video, besides the amazing taste and luxurious texture, maybe the best thing about crème fraiche is its ability to be cooked. Because of it’s composition and fat content, it doesn’t curdle and separate when you heat it like sour cream.

This makes it an incredibly versatile addition to countless recipes. I can’t think of many pan sauces that don’t benefit from a spoon or two. Yesterday on this blog, you saw it stirred into fried rice. Next week, you’ll see it turn an ordinary pan of braised beef into a world-class Stroganoff. I could go on and on, and for SEO purposes I probably should, but you get the idea.

As long as your jars and utensils are very clean, preferably sterilized, there isn’t a lot that can go wrong. Be sure to get your hands on the best, freshest cream you can find. In the supermarket you’ll want to look for “pasteurized,” not “ultra-pasteurized” heavy whipping cream. Also, be sure to use cultured buttermilk otherwise you’re going to be waiting a full day to see nothing happen.

By the way, I’m extremely proud of this video recipe and blog post, but not for the usual reasons. It’s because I didn’t make one single Randy Marsh joke! You South Park fans know what I’m talking about, and those of you that don’t should really check out this crème fraiche-themed episode. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons cultured buttermilk

Mix together and leave in a warm spot (about 70-75 degrees F.) for 24 hours, or until thick. Refrigerate for 24 hours before using. Should last a week or two. 

 Posted by at 16:50  Tagged with: , , , , , ,
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