GOOD FOODIE: April 2019

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Pan Fried Steak

Just when you thought there was no new way to fix steak...Here I come with one...

Ingredients

2 strip steaks (each about 1 inch thick), room temperature

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon unsalted butter Simple Steak Sauce, optional .

Directions 1. Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably cast iron) over high 5 minutes.
Generously season steaks with salt and pepper.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to pan, then immediately top with one steak.

Repeat with remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter and steak.

Cook without moving steaks until a golden brown crust forms, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook 2 minutes more for rare, or 3 to 4 minutes more for medium-rare

. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.

Slice steaks against the grain; serve with sauce, if desired.

2. Heat a 10- or 12-inch cast-iron skillet over high heat.

Season the steaks liberally with salt and pepper.

Seconds before adding a steak, drop 1/2 teaspoon of the butter into the pan and immediately top with the steak.

Repeat with the remaining steak.

Sear for 3 minutes without moving the steak (to form a crust). Turn and cook for 2 minutes for rare or 3 to 4 for medium rare.

Remove the steaks from the pan and let them rest on a board or platter for a few minutes before serving.

ENJOY!!! EAT WELL MY FRIENDS!

Monday, April 8, 2019

Easy Peach Cobbler

Here is a sweet treat for the beginning of the Week...Perhaps the easiest Peach Cobbler recipe you will find..

The cobbler is a delicious treat that melds together sliced fruit, sugar and a beautiful golden topping. If you love dessert but don't love the floury mess or mathematical challenge of rolling out perfectly concentric pie crusts, then this tutorial on how to make peach cobbler will be your jam.

Choosing the Perfect Peach For this cobbler recipe, below, you'll want to wait for fresh peaches.

How can you tell if they're ready to be plucked—either from a tree in your own personal orchard or if you're an urban kind of person like yours truly then from the grocery store bins?

Look for three indicators of freshness,

1.Color. A deep, golden yellow that's hiding behind the red of the peach.

2.Touch. You're looking for soft to very soft if you want to use the peach right away.

3.Skin Texture. Look for wrinkles of peach skin around the stem, indicating that water is leaving the peach, intensifying its flavor.

Okay, with that said and done on with the recipe..

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 large, ripe peaches

2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

3/4-1 cup sugar Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 large egg yolks

¼ cup butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 large egg whites, room temperature, stiffly beaten

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Peel and Slice Your Peaches If this is your first time tackling cobbler, you're going to be a little bit surprised by how diva-ish peaches are. Firstly, they come with a pit. You need to get rid of the pit. Prior to peeling your peaches, which will make them far too slippery to handle, slice around the peach lengthwise and grasp each half of the peach, twisting to separate.

Sometimes this works. Sometimes, you squish the peaches like the Incredible Hulk because you followed the above recommendations and got the really soft peaches, which are perfect, until you try to slice them. If it works, then you can remove the pit and begin to slice and peel (I like to do it in that order). Prepare to be covered in sticky peach juice.

Prepare to rue the day you decided to work with fresh peaches. But trust me, it'll all be worth it. Also, peach cobbler is supposed to be and look messy. If it's messy, you've done it justice! It might help if you take a quick detour and whip up a batch of these sparkling peach Bellinis first.

Step 2: Combine All the Things First combine the sliced peaches, cornstarch and sugar and pour them into a greased 13x9-inch baking dish. (Check out our list of the best casserole dishes—one of these might be your perfect cobbler holder.)

Then combine the flour, egg yolks, butter, baking powder and sugar in another bowl. Fold in the egg whites. Spread over the peaches, or plop down mounds of this in biscuit-like shapes, if you're a stickler for tradition. I preferred to spread it out, accentuating the messy factor. Except I call it "rustic."

Step 3: Bake Until Bubbly You probably wanted to preheat your oven a little earlier. If you forgot, do that now. Your cobbler needs to bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until it's bubbly and your biscuit crust is a nice Pinterest-worthy golden brown.

Optional: Add a Cinnamon Sugar Crumble Purists may tell you not to mess with perfection, but for those daring to step outside the box, adding a cinnamon sugar crumble will take your peach cobbler to the next level.

Combine 1/3 c. sugar, ¼ c. all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Then add 2 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, using a fork, until it resembles a crumble. Add to the top of your cobbler for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Serve With Your Finest Vanilla Ice Cream This is a must! You may as well not slow down the sugar train now.

Enjoy! Eat well My Friends!

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Pork Marbella

Thought I'd come with something fancy this time...Pork Marbella...

I took the classic, beloved Chicken Marbella recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook and made it weeknight-friendly by using quick-cooking pork tenderloin instead.

The meat is marinated and then cooked in those same delicious juices, which get turned into a luscious sweet-and-sour pan sauce..

Check out the Recipe...

INGREDIENTS:

2 1-lb. pork tenderloins

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup dry white wine

½ cup pitted prunes, torn in half

⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar

¼ cup capers,

plus 1 Tbsp. caper brine

½ cup pitted Spanish green olives

¼ cup red wine vinegar

4 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

¼ cup plus

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

¼ cup chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS-

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Add the pork and stir to coat.

Cover the bowl or transfer contents to a big Ziploc bag and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the pork and wipe it off, reserving the marinade. In a medium roasting pan, over medium heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and brown pork on all sides, for a few minutes total. Remove pork to a plate and add a couple of splashes of white wine to the pan to deglaze the tasty bits.

Turn off heat. Place the pork back in the pan. Pour marinade, olives and all, over the meat and add 1 cup of wine and enough of the chicken stock so the liquid reaches halfway up the sides of the meat. Sprinkle pork with the brown sugar.

Roast, basting once with the pan juices, until an instant read thermometer reads 140, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove to a cutting board. Let pork rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place the roasting pan over one or two burners on medium high and simmer to reduce the sauce a bit. Slice the pork into medallions. (Great served over a puddle of soft polenta.

Use instant polenta, but add twice the amount of liquid called for on the box: a mix of half milk, half water. After cooking, season with salt and whisk in several tablespoons of butter and a handful or two of freshly grated Parmesan.).

Spoon a good amount of polenta onto each plate and place medallions on top. Sauce the pork and pass the remaining juice in a gravy boat.

ENJOY! EAT WELL MY FRIENDS

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Food Safety Tips
Protect yourself against food-borne illnesses.

1. Use a "refrigerator thermometer" to keep your food stored at a safe temperature (below 40 degrees fahrenheit).

Cold temperatures slow the growth of bacteria. Ensuring that your refrigerator temperature stays at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of food-borne illness. You can buy a refrigerator/freezer thermometer at appliance stories, home centers (i.e. Home Depot), and kitchen stores including online ones, such as Cooking.com.

2. Defrost food in the refrigerator, the microwave, or in cold water... never on the counter!

Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter for longer than two hours because, while the center of the food may remain frozen, the outer surface may enter the Danger Zone, the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly. If you’re short on time, use the microwave or you can thaw meat and poultry in airtight packaging in cold water. Change the water every half-hour so it stays cold and use the thawed food immediately.

3. Always use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/fish and cooked foods/fresh produce.

Bacteria from uncooked meat, poultry, and fish can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. An important way to reduce this risk is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/ fish, and cooked foods/fresh produce.

4. Always cook meat to proper temperatures, using a calibrated instant-read thermometer to make sure.

One effective way to prevent illness is to use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of meat, poultry, and egg dishes. The USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures are as follows:

* Beef, veal, and lamb (steaks and roasts), fish - 145 degrees fahrenheit

* Pork and ground beef - 160 degrees fahrenheit

* Poultry - 165 degrees fahrenheit.

Cook meats like roasts and steaks to lower temperatures, closer to medium-rare, so that they retain their moisture. It is recommended that those who are at high risk for developing food-borne illness (i.e. pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems, or certain chronic illnesses) should follow the USDA guidelines.

5. Avoid unpasteurized/raw milk and cheeses made from unpasteurized milk that are aged less than 60 days.

Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been pasteurized (heated to a very high temperature for a specific length of time) to kill harmful bacteria that may be present. These bacteria, which include salmonella, E. coli and listeria, can cause serious illness and sometimes even death. The bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Raw milk cheeses aged 60 days or longer are okay, since the salt and acidity of the cheese-making process make for a hostile environment to pathogens.

6. Never eat "runny" eggs or foods, such as cookie dough, that contain raw eggs.

Even eggs that have clean, intact shells may be contaminated with salmonella, so it’s important to cook eggs thoroughly until both the yolk and the white are firm. Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160 degrees fahrenheit and you can use an instant-read food thermometer to check. Eggs should always be cooked fully and those who are at high risk for developing foodborne illness (pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic illnesses should follow the USDA guidelines. If you can’t resist runny eggs or sampling cookie batter, use pasteurized eggs. They’re found near other eggs in large supermarkets.

7. Always wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before handling food and after touching raw meat, poultry, or eggs.

You can pick up a lot of bacteria out in the world, so it’s important to always wash your hands before you eat or prepare food. You should also wash your hands after touching any uncooked meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, as the bacteria from these foods can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. Use soap and warm water and wash thoroughly for at least 20 seconds.

8. Always heat leftover foods to 165 degrees fahrenheit.

The USDA recommends heating all cooked leftovers to 165 degrees fahrenheit in order to kill all potentially dangerous bacteria.

9. Never eat meat, poultry, eggs, or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables that have been left out for more than two hours or more than one hour in temperatures hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you leave perishable foods out of the refrigerator or freezer for more than two hours they may enter the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly.

10. Whenever there’s a food recall, check products stored at home to make sure they are safe.

You should discard any food that’s been recalled because it’s associated with the outbreak of a food-borne illness. But, according to a survey conducted by Rutgers University during the fall of 2008, only about 60% of Americans search their homes for foods that have been recalled because of contamination. For more information on food recalls, visit the website Recalls.gov

ABOUT ME

Keith

I am a native of Philadelphia PA, USA; attended Darby-Colwyn High School 1973-76; attended Shippensburg University and majored in Journalism 1976-81; charter member of Kappa Omega Chapter, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; served in US Air Force Reserves 1984-2006. I'm also a husband, father, and grandfather. My birthday is March 24th and my sun sign is Aries (The Ram). And, just so we're clear, let's establish from the door, Aries rules! Okay?

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