The 2011 Easter Cake
Posted by Van Santos in Desserts on June 5th, 2011
Yes, this post is a few months late. If you haven’t noticed, I really haven’t been posting. But don’t worry! The Fabergé themed Easter caked tradition did not die.
The white cake recipe used in the past cake efforts was also used in this; however, this year fondant was replaced with Buttercream frosting! Here is the recipe:
- 2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup vegetable shortening or hi-ratio shortening
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or 1.5 teaspoons lemon extract, pure vanilla extract or almond extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 pounds 10x confectioners sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- 0.5 cups + 1 tablespoon water, mild or clear liquer
Instructions:
- Cream shortening and butter with an electric, handheld or paddle-whip mixer.
- Add flavoring and salt.
- Gradually add sugar, on cup at a time.
- Add meringue powder. (The mixture will appear dry)
- Add liquid of choice and beat until light and fluffy (approximately 5-8 minutes). Keep the bowl covered with a damp cloth or plastic wrap.
Oh, the frosting was SO GOOD. SO very good.
Garlic Chicken over Rice
Posted by Van Santos in Chicken on January 5th, 2011
Wow, things have been very quiet around hear. All the contributors are gone, I’m not all that much in the cooking mood, and the site feels oh so neglected. Ah well, so is life.
This recipe is one that I create one day, it’s nothing too complicated. A family member requested it, and I promised to send it… then I forgot… then I felt bad for not sending it so I delayed on doing it even more. Finally, I’m getting off my butt to take care of this.
Anyway, here is what you’ll need.
2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs – cubed
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp of minced garlic
4 jalapeños, diced
1 bunch of fresh basil, 1 bunch of opal basil
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 tsp sea salt
3 tsp marjoram
1 – In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and salt; sauté until brown.
2 – Add cubed chicken, stir every few minutes for about 10 minutes.
3 – Add marjoram and jalapeño, stir. Cook for roughly another 10 minutes until the chicken starts to slightly brown
4 – Tear your basil(s), and to the mix, and cook for another few minutes.
And you are done! The result is a dish that provides subtle flavor. The mix of basil, marjoram and jalapeño provide a bit of sweetness with a bit of kick.
Oh, and make sure you use the oil mixture as a sauce for the dish, it’s fantastic.
Enjoy!
PS – Sorry this took so long to get to you, Amma!
Quick Pizza
Posted by Van Santos in Pizza on August 23rd, 2010
Oh, yes, I know… I’m a slacker. I haven’t been posting all that much simply because I haven’t had much interest in cooking these days. Not exactly sure why, it just hasn’t been “ringing my bell” as it were.
A post move funk, anti-cook, funk perhaps? Lazy, maybe? Unmotivated, definitely.
Over the past few months JT, the one time contributor to the site and all around good guy, and I have had an ongoing discussion about a quick and easy bread recipe. After messing around with the recipe (well, changes here and there) I decided on this a quick and easy pizza crust.
Please note, you’ll need a pizza stone and parchment paper for this recipe.
For the crust you’ll need:
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup warm water
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp marjoram
This is rather easy – mix you dries, add your oil and water, then add your marjoram and mix one again.
When fully mixed, you’ll have a very “wet” dough…and by “wet” I mean it will be very sticky and will not keep a shape or appear like normal bread or pizza dough (like the one seen here).
Cover it up and place it in the fridge for about 3 hours. Now it is time for the sauce.
Needed:
1 tbsp minced garlic
12 oz of crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp of tomato paste
2 tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp oregano
So, add your crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to a small pot and heat over a medium flame. You’ll want to have the liquid from the crushed tomatoes to reduce by a 3rd to a half. When this starts, add the remainder of the ingredients… and make sure to mix.
Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Let’s fast forward and assume your dough is ready… At this point you’ll want to have your pizza stone in the oven. Pre-heat that sucker up to 550 degrees. Now take your parchment paper and brush it with olive oil, then spoon our your dough.
Use a spoon (oiled if the dough is sticky) to get size and shape you want it.
Here is the question you need to ask yourself at this point – do I want a crisp crust or more a moist crust as the baking process for each will be different.
If you want a crisp crust, when the oven is ready, slide the parchment paper onto your pizza stone and bake your crust until it begins to brown (usually about 5 mins or less at 550). At this point, slide the rack out and put your sauce and toppings onto the pizza and cook for and additional 5 to 7 minutes.
Please remember to watch the pizza as it may quickly depending on the power of your oven…. just because it tells you it’s 550 degrees doesn’t mean that it was it really is in there.
I took the most crust approach for my pizza and added my sauce, toppings and placed it right into the oven for about 12 minutes.
Another thing of note – regardless of what crust type you would like, you will want to pre-cook your meat due to how short the pizza may be baking in your oven. It’s that whole safe than sorry thing.
Here is the finished product.
And your required food porn close up…
So there you go. A quick pizza recipe full of taste and easy to make.
Veal in a White Wine Cream Sauce Over Spinach Linguine
Posted by Van Santos in Beef on July 7th, 2010
It’s a new month, a new city, a new counter top, and time for a new meal. I pulled this one up from a new cook book – The Essential Pasta Cookbook – I picked up at Borders for all of $5.99. That price is much better than what Amazon has it for, and I suggest you pick it up if you can find it.
Anyway.
This is a simple dish that has a fantastic taste. Actually, this tastes just like a traditional Piccata recipe that uses lemon, even thought it is lacking lemon juice. Just be aware that veal isn’t a cheap thing to purchase, so make sure you don’t overcook the meat. I’d hate to see you pay $23/lb to have dried out little cuts of meal…
Here is what you’ll need for two servings:
1/2 lb veal cutlet, sliced into 6 strips and pounded out
1/2 lb freshly cooked Spinach Linguine
1 Cup flour, mixed with one tsp of salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 diced small shallot
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 tbsp beef stock
2/3 cup cream
3 tsp of butter
Here you go…
1 – In a medium pan, over a medium high heat, begin to heat your butter.
2 – Drag your veal cuts through the flour. When the butter has melted and is ready for frying, toss your veal into the pan two at a time. Quick fry the veal on each side for no more than 1 minute. I’d suggest about 30 seconds each side…
3 – Remove veal from your pan, place on a plate covered with paper towel
4 – When finished with the veal, lower your heat to medium and add your shallot. Cook for about 2 minutes.
5 – Add your wine, raise heat to medium-high to reduce your liquid. Keep the heat elevated for about 2 minutes, then reduce to medium.
6 – Add your stock, cream and mix. Add your veal, lower heat again but to medium-low this time. Cook for another 4 minutes at this lower temp.
7 – Put your pasta in a bowl, top with the veal and sauce.
In the final plating I added shaved parmesan cheese and some pepper…
This is restaurant quality, very easy to make and hits the spot! I highly suggest you make this dish if you want to pop for the veal.
Filet with Garlic Dill Butter
Posted by Van Santos in Beef on June 11th, 2010
Ok, before I get going. This all started because of a discussion that Tina and had some time back. I just haven’t had the time to post…
Tina had mentioned that she likes to whip here butter, and I suggested that (after whipping) that she pop it into the freezer to give it a nice, hard, outer shell. One think that I like to do is take it a bit further in order to make butter pads for steak topping.
For the butter pads you’ll need
1 stick of soft butter, cubed
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped dill
Plastic Wrap
Start with your soft butter in a bowl…
Add your garlic, dill and mix. (I mixed with my hands… messy but, hey, quick)
Place the butter onto your plastic wrap, form the butter into a “sausage”-esque tube
Toss it into the freezer… now the length of time is up to you. An hour will firm it up, but still allow the butter to melt quickly when you use it to top your steak. I did mine for several hours as I wanted the butter to stay on the steak for a longer period of time.
When you are searing your steak (the ones below were prepped sous-vide, seared for 1 min per side on a HOT pan) just toss the butter on to help in the melting…
Plate with a salad and some asparagus and you are good to go! This dish gives us a nice, medium rare filet, with an outstanding flavor and a moist cut of meat!
Breaded Pork with Roasted Broccoli, Garlic and Corn
Posted by Van Santos in Pork on June 3rd, 2010
I was sitting in the office today, trying to think of a good dish for a nice spring day… but for some reason my mind wandered to Breaded Pork. Not exactly what I would call a spring dish, but I went with it anyway!
I think my side made up for that. 
Needed:
2 cuts of pork (mine was from a larger tenderloin), cut of fat
2 cups of flour
2 cups of bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
several cloves of garlic
1 head of broccoli
2 ears of corn, decobbed
3 cups of peanut oil
Salt, Pepper and Sugar – all to taste
Here we go… with yet another simple dish.
1 – With a meat a meat hammer, flatten out your pork to about 1/4″
2 – Salt and pepper to taste, both sides.
3 – Place your flour, bread crumbs and eggs into three separate bowls.
4 – Dip your pork into the flour in order to cover the entire cut of meat, shake off any excess. Dip in egg, let the extra drain off, then cover with breadcrumbs. Repeat for your second cut of meat. Place aside.
5 – Place your oil in a nice sized pot, begin to heat up to roughly 350 to 375. Also turn your broiler onto high, making sure you have a rack in the middle of the oven.
6 – Cut your broccoli into flowerettes, cut your garlic into half cloves, add corn and place into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in salt, pepper and some sugar. (all to taste)
7 – Place into broiler (once heated) and roast for 7 to 9 minutes.
8 – When your oil is heated, place the pork into the pot – only do one piece of meat at a time. Cook for roughly 1 to 2 minutes per side, just make sure you don’t burn them!
There you go, you are done. Plate, add some capers, a wedge of lime and enjoy!
Sorry about the picture. I tried to get everything into the shot!
I loved the dish – there is so much more I one can do with this. The breading can be made into just about anything you desire. You can spice it it, or you can go with other flavors. Very easy, and very tasty.
The roasted broccoli – for me – was UBER good. I’ve made this dish in the past with brown sugar, but opted for regular this time. LOVED IT. The little lady didn’t care for the sugar, but loved the corn.
Oh, and Tina – the butter topic will be posted for you tomorrow.
Chicken in Pesto Cream Sauce over Broccolini
Posted by Van Santos in Chicken, Pasta on May 30th, 2010
I wanted a simple cream based pasta dish; however, I didn’t want it to be too creamy (the wife doesn’t care for a thick cream sauce) so there is the one I came up with.
Needed:
1/2 lb of sliced chicken breast
3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt, cracked pepper, basil
2 minced cloves of garlic
8 oz cooked farfalle
A bunch of Broccolini
Let us get started
1 – In a large pan, over a medium heat, add your chicken stock and minced garlic. Bring to a slow simmer.
2 – Add chicken, salt, pepper and cook for roughly 6 to 8 minutes. Stir frequently.
3 – While the chicken in cooking, in a separate pan, add a half cup of water and your broccolini and cover. Steam until the broccolini is bright green. Remove from heat and drain.
4 – After the chicken reached the 6 yo 8 minute mark, add your heavy whipping cream and basil. Raise heat to medium high, stir. At this point we want the sauce to thicken slightly. When it is at your desired thickness you are done.
There you go. Plate over your broccolini, add a bit of Parmesan cheese and you are good to go.
Chicken in Tomato and Fenugreek Sauce
Posted by Van Santos in Chicken, Indian on May 26th, 2010
I picked up an Indian Cookbook over the weekend and opened to a random page for my next experiment. Wouldn’t you know it, I landed on Chicken in Tomato and Fenugreek Sauce.
Of course, I seeing that I like to do things my own way I altered the recipe but you get the idea.
Needed:
1 lb of cubed chicken (I strongly suggest dark meat. I only used white as that is what I had in the freezer)
3 tbsp of lime juice (left over from the last dish)
4 tbsp of olive oil
1 white onion, diced
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
2 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp coriander
15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp fenugreek powder
1/2 garam masala
Handful of chopped cilantro
4 diced green chiles
1/2 cup warm water
Ready to go?
1 – Toss your diced chicken into a bowl, add 2 tsp of salt and your lime juice. Cover, shake and let sit for 30 mins.
2 – In a large skillet over medium heat, add your oil and onion. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Stir.
3 – Add the ginger, garlic paste and continue to stir for roughly a minute.
4 – Toss in your turmeric, chili powder, coriander and stir. Heat for roughly one minute, then reduce your heat to medium-low.
5 – Add your tomatoes and cook for roughly 5 minutes. Check the taste, if needed add the additional 1/2 tsp of salt.
6 – Place in your chicken (juice and all), raise the heat to high, and cook for 5 minutes.
7 – Add your half cup of water, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken up.
8 – Add your fenugreek, cilantro leaves (save a few for the final plating), garam masala and chilis and cook for a few minutes, until the chilis become a bit tender.
9 – Plate over rice, add some cilantro and serve!
This is full of flavor and taste. It doesn’t have too much kick, as some may expect, and the cilantro pulls everything together. I hope you enjoy.
PS – Did anyone notice the cost of Chicken going up a rather large amount recently?
Lime Chicken Fajitas with Cilantro Rice
Posted by Van Santos in Chicken on May 23rd, 2010
Folks, this is a very easy recipe that does not fall short on flavor. With as little as 15 mins prep time, 15 minutes or marinade, and 10 minutes of cooking you can have an outstanding little meal.
Needed:
1 lb. thinly cut chicken breast, sliced into strips
1 bottle of lime juce
2 tablespoons of garlic salt
1 tablespoon of chili powder
2 red jalapeño peppers, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of olive oil (for searing the chicken)
flour tortillas
1 cup of cooked white rice
Diced Cilantro
Ok, like I said, this is really easy… take your sliced chicken and place it into a small air tight container and pour enough lime juice to just cover the chicken. Add in your garlic salt and chili pepper. Place a lid on and shake. Put in the fridge and repeat 3 times (roughly every 5 minutes).
Add your olive oil to your cast iron pan, heat her up and remove roughly 4 to 5 strips of chicken from the marinade. Sear the meat on each side for 2 minutes or until it get brown. As the chicken is thinly sliced it will cook very quickly. Remove from the pan, place in a fresh bowl and repeat until you have cooked all of the chicken.
Using the same pan, quickly heat up your peppers. While the jalapeño peppers may be hot for some, the bell peppers should counter act the capsaicin when eating together.
With the peppers and chicken complete, take your chopped cilantro and mix with your white rice. Assemble your plate and you are done!
Homemade Veggie Pizza
Posted by Van Santos in Pizza on May 8th, 2010
The other day, the wife asked me to make a dish with Kale (because she so enjoyed Eileen’s dish) and I thought… hmm… what could I do that would be unexpected? Well, I ended up going with Pizza!
Thanks to JT, I started with this dough recipe. For this you’ll need:
3 1/2 cups high gluten flour
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
So, you’ll want to mix add the water, oil, yeast, salt, and sugar in a mixer with a dough fitted with dough hook until yeast has fully dissolved. Then add flour and mix on low speed until the flour and water have mixed and a stiff dough ball forms. Place in a bowl and cover… you’ll end up with something like this:
Let the dough rise in the fridge for 24 hours… and you get this…
This will allow you to make 2 twelve inch pizzas.
Toppings were…
Broccoli
Red bell peppers
Green bell peppers
Kale
Spinach
Tomatoes
Red onions
Mushrooms
The sauce consisted of:
28 oz. can pureed tomatoes
2 tsp of sugar
2 diced jalapeños
1/2 clove diced shallot
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
At this point, you’ll want to heat your oven to 500. This will heat up while you toss your puree into a pan over a medium low heat. Make sure to stir in everything and let simmer for about 20 minutes once you are finished, you are ready to roll out your down and top.
I used mozzarella and sharp cheddar. Tossed it in for 10 minutes….
And it was ready to go…
Some outstanding stuff, easy to make… and above all, healthy!
Van’s Big Burger with Peanut Sauce and Homemade Cajun Fries
Posted by Van Santos in Burgers on May 3rd, 2010
As I sat in the office this afternoon I had an overwhelming urge for a “5 Guys” burger… then a sense of guilt kicked in. Why buy a burger when I could make my own that will taste just as good, if not better. So, I give you “Van’s Big Burger” which will yield two servings.
For the burger you’ll need
1 tsp freshly chopped Oregano
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 shallot minced
1 1/4 lb ground sirloin
At this point, simply mix your oregano, shallot, salt, pepper, turmeric and sirloin. Create two evenly sized patties, wrap in plastic wrap, place in a freezer bag and… you guessed it (if you’ve been following my recent cooking method) cook with sous vide method. I wanted the burgers to be medium rare when they came out, so I cooked them at 135 degrees for an hour.
On to the Homemade Cajun Fries!
4 large potatoes of your choosing, cut French fry style (I did two russet, two sweet)
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cayenne pepper
peanut oil for deep frying
Here are the potatoes, ready to take their bath…
Place your oil into a pan, over a medium high heat, and wait until it starts to shimmer. At that point, place them in the oil…
As the fries are taking their bath, mix your seasoning… and place into a container that you can use to “sprinkle” on the fries when they come out of the oil. Make sure you fry for roughly 7 minutes… if you go over that you really risk your fries becoming soft. When you’ve reach your mark, place the fries into a colander and sprinkle with seasoning, shake to ensure coverage, and repeat until you are done with your fries.
By now, your burgers should have been in for roughly 35 to 45 minutes. Now it is time to mix up your peanut sauce…
For the Sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp soy sauce
Start with mixing your peanut butter and warm water. Rather quickly the peanut butter will break apart. Once this happens and the brown sugar and continue to mix, then add your soy sauce.
Right about now (the funk soul brother… sorry, Fatboy Slim popped into mind) your burgers will be read to take out. Remove from the water and toss into a frying pan to sear each side for roughly a minute or two… you can use your peanut sauce (my choice) or olive oil. Add your cheese (if you so desire). I did Colby Jack.
Now you are ready to garnish. I did spinach, a slice of red pepper, green pepper, and a thin cut of red onion and a bit of the Peanut Sauce.
Here is the full view…
And your obligatory close up, food porn worthy picture…
Pure heaven… wonderfully juicy, full of taste and supported by the homemade fries. For some extra flavor add Stone-Ground Mustard to the meal.
Totally worth your effort… even if you are just a frozen dinner kinda person.
Tilapia with Endive and Roasted Potatoes
Posted by Van Santos in Seafood on May 2nd, 2010
The other evening I wanted Tilapia, so I thought it was time to do a baked dish…
For this you’ll require:
10 to 12 red potatoes, quartered
2 fresh Tilapia fillets
Fresh oregano
Fresh Dill
Freshly cracked black pepper
Sea Salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 head of Endive (also know as Escarole), torn
2 tsp of lemon juice
Here you go:
1. First, heat your olive oil in a medium pan. When it starts to shimmer, add your red potatoes. Add dill, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste sauté until they begin to brown, then remove and place in a bowl.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 365. While your oven is heating, put your Endive in the pan you did your potatoes in, cover, and sauté over medium heat for roughly 5 minutes. Add your oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Now add the tilapia fillets and lemon juice and heat on each side for no more than a minute.
4. Place foil on a cookie sheet, on one side place your tilapia and on the other side mix your endive and potatoes and bake for roughly 10 minutes. Keep your pan for the next step!
5. Remove from the oven, add salt and pepper to your pan (no need for additional oil, you should be ok to accomplish what is needed) and over a very high flame quickly brown the tilapia on each side. This will sear in the pepper/salt taste, giving you a nice brown color, with drying out the fish.
6. Plate and Enjoy!
The garlic, endive and potatoes all play well together, and the lemon pulls the entire dish together! Very enjoyable and very quick to do.
And the next dish? Well, Tuesday we’ll have Kale Pizza!
The 30 Cake
Posted by Van Santos in Baking on April 27th, 2010
Just a quick update.
This past weekend, the wife and I were asked to do a birthday cake for a friend (our first officially commissioned cake). Oh… and we had less than 24 hours to get the supplies, the theme and the cake baked and out the door. Outside of the fact that we used the cake recipe for the Easter cake, there is not much more of story behind this. I just wanted to share the final result.
Bison Ribeye over Root Vegetables with Honey Butter Sauce
Posted by Van Santos in Bison on April 25th, 2010
Today is the second sous-vide cooking experiment and I’ve picked Bison for the experiment. I debated on doing the Bison in the over at a low temp for a long period of time, but still went with the sous-vide method instead.
Ok, you’ll need…
1 Bison Ribeye, sous-vide cooked to your liking
1 carrot, cubed
1 parsnip, cubed
1 Sweet Potato, cubed
1 Red Potato, you guessed it.. cubed
1/4 lb tilapia filet
Salt and Pepper to taste
Freshly chopped dill, oregano, thyme
And for the sauce…
1) 3/4 cup of heavy cream
2) 2 tbsp of honey
3) 1/2 stick of butter
Here we go…
1. In one pan, with a thin layer of peanut oil, place your root vegetables over a medium heat and fry (while stirring) for 3 to 6 minutes. Add salt and pepper while stirring. After cooking, remove from heat and drain. Place back into pan.
2. In a second pan, quickly heat your tilapia filet with a bit of olive oil over a medium flame. Cook for one to two minutes on each side… be careful as it will cook very quickly. After you’ve quickly pan seared it, remove and cut into chunks. (but save the pan)
3. Back to the original pan vegetable pan now. Add your chunked tilapia, as well as your dill, oregano, thyme and sir. Continue to heat/stir over a low heat for another 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from heat.
4. Time for the honey butter sauce. In a small pot, over a medium flame, add your cream and butter (a little salt as well if you would like) and mix. When the butter is fully melted, whisk in the honey. Heat for another 2 minutes and remove from heat.
5. Transfer your vegetable/tilapia mix to the tilapia pan, set side.
6. Take your beet, shave slices off and roast for a few minutes under a high flame. Remove and set aside.
7. Take your vegetable plan, add a bit of olive oil and put it on a medium-high heat. Now it is time to sear your ribeye. Cook on each side for roughly 2 minutes each.
8. Plate and Enjoy!
I love the Vegetable/Tilapia Mix, especially with the Honey Butter Sauce. I am a huge fan of Bison, and usually do not season it when cooking… to me the natural taste is good enough. Now, if you do want to season it I would strongly suggest a light seasoning as one can easily overwhelm the natural flavors of the meat.
Enjoy!
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Poblano Peppers and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Posted by Van Santos in Chicken on April 22nd, 2010
