Friday, October 22, 2021

You're going to need a bigger boat!

Wine served in Jaws to Brody from Hooper


Why am I asking what wine was served during dinner between Hooper and Brody?  Following watching the movie many, many times, it's the little things you tend to focus on, after understanding the plot, and being able to recite the lines over and over.

The dinner scene with food takes place in the dining room of the Brody residence following dinner. Matt Hooper arrives carrying two bottles of wine (one red, one white), and once seated at the table, proceeds to eat the leftover food on Martin’s plate. One bottle, the red is clearly 1971 Barton & Guestier Beaujolais Saint-Louis.  The white is clearly 1972 De Luze (as is seen in the scene), 

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Alabama White Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup cream style horseradish - fresh
  • 1⁄4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp yellow mustard
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne

Mix together and refrigerate for 2 hours


Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Fantastic meatloaf

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (can use regular breadcrumbs but should mix with onion to absorb the liquid)
  • 1 large onion , grated (brown, yellow)
  • 1 kg / 2 lb ground beef (mince) , preferably not lean.  Used 400g pork, 400g lamb, 400g beef.
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/4 cup tomato ketchup Use a better ketchup as it makes a big difference in taste
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley (optional), or 2 tsp dried parsley or basil
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled or 2 tsp beef powder (used 2 tbl salt)
  • 1 tsp black pepper

MEATLOAF GLAZE:

  • 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
  • 2 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar , as Ketchup already has sugar, this can be skipped.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Oil or spray a loaf tin. 
  • Glaze: Mix together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  • Meatloaf: Place breadcrumbs in a very large bowl. Grate over onion. Mix so the breadcrumbs are all wet. (Note 4)
  • Add remaining ingredients. Mix well using your hands. Form into a loaf shape, pinching together then smoothing over creases and cracks (helps prevent cracks during baking).
  • Transfer into loaf tin. Brush generously with glaze, using about 1/2.
  • Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with most of the remaining glaze. If there is excess fat pooling, scoop/pour it off.
  • Bake for a further 30 minutes. Remove from oven.
  • Stand for 10 minutes before turning out and cutting into thick slices. You will probably get a bit of crumbling just on the edges of the first couple of slices, this is normal and indicative of the tenderness of the meatloaf (zero crumble indicates firm packed harder meatloaf which isn't as enjoyable!).
  • Ideal served with a dollop of ketchup, creamy mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Grilled swordfish (can use salmon)

  • 120ml olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 swordfish steaks

1) Prepare the griddle (medium-high heat).

2) Whisk the oil, mint, lemon juice, basil, and garlic in a medium bowl to blend. Season the lemon and olive oil mixture with salt and pepper, to taste.

3) Brush the swordfish steaks with two tablespoons of the lemon and olive oil mixture. Grill the steaks until just cooked through, about three minutes per side (depending on thickness of steaks). Transfer the steaks to plates. Spoon the remaining sauce over and serve.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

KFC Korean Fried Chicken

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist
Honey Sriracha Glaze:
    • 2 table spoons asian chili sauce


 Directions

Instructions Checklist
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place an oven-proof wire rack over the foil.
  • Whisk baking powder, salt, black pepper, and paprika together in a small bowl. Place chicken wings in a large bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 of the baking powder mixture over wings and toss to coat. Sprinkle remaining baking powder mixture over wings and toss to coat again. Place wings onto the rack of the prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn wings and continue baking for 20 minutes. Turn wings again and bake until wings are browned and crispy, about 15 minutes more. Transfer wings to a large bowl.
  • Whisk honey, sriracha sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil together in a bowl until glaze is smooth. Drizzle glaze over wings and toss to coat completely. Transfer wings to a serving platter and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.

Detroit style pizza

Detroit-Style Pan Pizza Recipe

Detroit-Style Pan Pizza Recipe
This is not everyday pizza. It's not every-week pizza. It might not even be every-month, if you want to live to a reasonable age. But damn, is it good pizza. So good that it's worth a trip to Detroit just to taste it. So good that it's worth devoting months of time, weeks of research, and dozens and dozens of experiments to developing a recipe to duplicate it at home. So that's exactly what I did. Here's what I found.

Why It Works

  • Using a high-hydration dough made with bread flour gives you pizza with a tender-yet-chewy, extra-crisp crust.
  • Spreading cheese all the way to the edges of the pizza pan lets it melt into the edges, forming a crisp, browned crust.
  • YIELD:Makes one 10- by 14-inch pizza, serving 4
  • ACTIVE TIME:45 minutes
  • TOTAL TIME:About 4 hours

Ingredients

  • For the Dough:
  • 300g bread flour (10.5 ounces; about 2 generous cups)
  • 5g instant yeast (0.15 ounce; about 1 teaspoon), such as SAF Instant Yeast
  • 9g salt (0.3 ounce; about 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt or 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt)
  • 220g water (7.75 ounces; about 1 cup minus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
  • For the Sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons (about 5g) dried oregano
  • Dash red pepper flakes
  • 1 (28-ounce; 800g) can high-quality crushed tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon (about 6g) granulated garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon (about 6g) granulated onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon (about 15g) sugar
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • To Finish:
  • 12 ounces (340g) Brick cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (see note)
  • 12 ounces (340g) high-quality natural-casing pepperoni, such as Boar's Head or Vermont Smoke & Cure, cut into 1/8-inch slices (optional)

Directions

  1. 1.
    To Make the Dough in a Stand Mixer: Combine flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Stir to combine, then add water. Mix on low speed until dough comes together into a rough ball, then shut off mixer and let rest for 10 minutes. Continue mixing at medium-low speed until dough forms a smooth, silky ball, about 10 minutes longer. (It should stick to the bottom of the bowl as it kneads rather than riding around the edges.) Remove dough hook, form dough into a tight ball, set in the bottom of the mixer bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place until dough has roughly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
  2. 2.
    To Make the Dough in a Food Processor: Combine flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add water, then turn on processor and process until dough forms a ball that rides around the bowl of the processor, about 30 seconds. Continue processing for 30 seconds longer. Transfer dough to a bowl, form a tight ball, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place until dough has roughly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
  3. 3.
    To Make the Dough by Hand: Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine, then add water and stir with a wooden spoon until a rough ball of dough has formed. Set aside for 10 minutes. Turn dough out onto a countertop and knead until a smooth, silky ball has formed, about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to a bowl, form a tight ball, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place until dough has roughly doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
  4. 4.
    Pour a couple tablespoons olive oil in the bottom of a Detroit-style anodized aluminum pan or two 8- by 8-inch cake pans. (Split dough in half if using cake pans.) Transfer dough to pan(s) and turn to coat in oil. Press down on dough and spread it toward the edges. You won't be able to get it all the way to the edges; this is okay. Spread it as much as you can without tearing, then cover tightly in plastic and set aside for 30 minutes to allow dough to relax. Return to dough and stretch it out again. It should be able to reach the edges this time. If not, let it rest a little more and try again. To get the dough to stay in the corners, stretch it up beyond the corners so that it pulls back into place. Once dough is stretched, cover again and set aside while you make the sauce.
  5. 5.
    For the Sauce: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 550°F (290°C), or as close to it as your oven gets. Heat 2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add minced garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to about 3 cups, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
  6. 6.
    To Form the Pizza: Press down on dough with your fingertips to remove any large air bubbles. Lay half of pepperoni (if using) evenly over face of dough. Top with cheese, spreading it evenly all the way to the very edges of the pan, then add remaining pepperoni. Spoon sauce over surface in 3 even rows. (You will need only about half the sauce—save the rest for another pizza.)
  7. 7.
    Transfer to oven and bake until edges are black and bubbly and exposed cheese on top is starting to lightly brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a trivet or folded kitchen towel on countertop.
  8. 8.
    Run a thin metal spatula all the way around the edges of the pan to loosen the pizza. Carefully lift it out and slide it onto a cutting board. Cut pizza and serve.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Pizza Dough from Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/user/nchiker)

Dough Recipe:
Bread Flour: 16 1/2 oz. (just over 3 cups)
Ice Water: 10.3 oz. (about 1 1/8 cups)
Sugar: 7 tsp
Kosher or Sea Salt: 1 tsp
Yeast: 1 1/2 tsp
Vegetable or olive Oil: 1 tbs
Dusting flour: For all the dusting, I use half bread flour, half semolina flour. You can use what you want.
Directions:
• In mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, yeast.
• While mixing with flat paddle, slowly poor ice water into dry mixture.
• Let stand for 10 minutes+ (allows yeast to interact with water)
• Add kosher salt and olive oil. Hand knead until combined.
• Roll into a ball.
• Place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 12-24 hours. If 24 hours, first 12 in the fridge.
An hour before preparing the pizza, put dough onto floured surface. Cut into two pieces. Pull the sides up and in until the bottom side resembles a dough ball. Flip over so that the clean looking side is on top and place onto floured cookie sheet. Lightly flour top, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about an hour before flattening out and preparing pizza.
If using pizza steel:
• Place pizza steel on rungs second from the top.
• Preheat oven to highest temperature (550° for mine). Let sit for 1 hour
• 10 minutes before putting pizza in, turn off oven, and turn on the oven broiler (makes steel even hotter.)
• Once pizza is prepared, launch it into the steel with a pizza peel. Let cook for 5 minutes flat, take out and bask in the glory of your better-than-delivery pizza!

sauce recipe. Here it is if you need it:
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz.)
1 can tomato paste (4 oz.)
1 Tbs Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/3 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried basil (or 2 medium basil leaves)
Throw it all in a blender and blend until uniform with texture, NOT pureed. Oatmeal-ish consistency.
Good luck! Hope it goes well!

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Roasted chicken inside

From America's test kitchen

Roast Chicken with Warm Bread Salad

SERVESServes 4 to 6

Our take on Zuni Café's roast chicken with bread salad, we started by butterflying a whole chicken and salting it overnight so it would cook quickly and evenly and be juicy and well seasoned. Before roasting the chicken in a 475-degree oven, we covered the bottom of a skillet with bread cubes that we had moistened with oil and broth and then draped the chicken on top. The bread cubes toasted and browned beneath the bird while absorbing its juices to create a mix of moistened, crispy-fried, and chewy pieces all packed with savory flavor. To finish the dish, we built a vinaigrette of champagne vinegar, oil, currants, thinly sliced scallions, Dijon mustard, and chicken drippings that we tossed with peppery arugula, and the toasted bread. We served the salad alongside the carved chicken so the greens didn't wilt.
Roast Chicken with Warm Bread Salad

INGREDIENTS

(4-pound)  whole chickens,  giblets discarded

Kosher salt and pepper

4 (1-inch-thick) slices country-style bread (8 ounces), bottom crust removed, cut into ¾- to 1-inch pieces (5 cups)
¼ cuchicken broth

tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons 
extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar

teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 scallions, sliced thin

2 tablespoons dried currants

5 ounces (5 cups) baby arugula

BEFORE YOU BEGIN





Note that this recipe requires refrigerating the seasoned chicken for 24 hours. This recipe was developed and tested using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you have Morton Kosher Salt, which is denser than Diamond Crystal, put only ½ teaspoon of salt onto the cavity. Red wine or white wine vinegar may be substituted for champagne vinegar, if desired. For the bread, we prefer a round rustic loaf with a chewy, open crumb and a sturdy outer crust.

INSTRUCTIONS

Place chicken, breast side down, on cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut through bones on either side of backbone; discard backbone. Do not trim off any excess fat or skin. Flip chicken over and press on breastbone to flatten.
Using your fingers, carefully loosen skin covering breast and legs. Rub ½ teaspoon salt under skin of each breast, ½ teaspoon under skin of each leg, and 1 teaspoon salt onto bird's cavity. Tuck wings behind back and turn legs so drumsticks face inward toward breasts. Place chicken on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet or on large plate and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Spray 12-inch skillet with vegetable oil spray. Toss bread with broth and 2 tablespoons oil until pieces are evenly moistened. Arrange bread in skillet in single layer, with majority of crusted pieces near center, crust side up.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place, skin side up, on top of bread. Brush 2 teaspoons oil over chicken skin and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast chicken until skin is deep golden brown and thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees and thighs register 175 degrees, 45 to 50 minutes, rotating skillet halfway through roasting.

While chicken roasts, whisk vinegar, mustard, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together in small bowl. Slowly whisk in remaining ¼ cup oil. Stir in scallions and currants and set aside. Place arugula in large bowl.

Transfer chicken to carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Run thin metal spatula under bread to loosen from bottom of skillet. (Bread should be mix of softened, golden-brown, and crunchy pieces.) Carve chicken and whisk any accumulated juices into vinaigrette. Add bread and vinaigrette to arugula and toss to evenly coat. Transfer salad to serving platter and serve with chicken.

You're going to need a bigger boat!

Wine served in Jaws to Brody from Hooper Why am I asking what wine was served during dinner between Hooper and Brody?  Following watching th...