Foodies for Foodies

Dear Friends,

Chef Kt is leaving Live Journal at the end of the month. I will be publishing a cookbook later this year.
Feel free to reach me at: cookingwithchefkt@gmail.com

...'fo reals! No, there aren't any naked dancing women, and there's no p0rn involved. This one is NSFW because of the spice levels. Let's just say that when I made it, I was glad I was home alone. Now, if you don't have any trouble with spiciness, then go right ahead and fill up your lunch bag with this. Don't say I didn't warn you.

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Like it? Love it? Want to see more? Please leave some feedback in the comments. Thanks.

Back story: My uncle went on a hunting trip to Newfoundland, Canada a few months ago. He got a six-point buck which has resulted in a freezer full of moose meat. I was visiting a few weekends ago, and I helped him empty the freezer somewhat.

Being the 4th of July, I thought it un-American to not cook burgers, so I thawed out the moose burgers from my uncle. I melted white American cheese on top and served on multi-grain hamburger buns with lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

It was quite possibly the most tastiest burger I've ever had. EVAR!!!
The moose meat has a mild flavor, milder than beef, but different than ground turkey or chicken. I'm not sure that the moose burgers didn't have some kind of seasoning already in them, as the first bite reminded me of a beef-based Italian sausage, but not quite the same.

I *highly* recommend!

In addition to the burgers, I also have a sirloin-cut steak, a rump roast, and a package of ground meat.
Let's see what else I can do with moose meat...

I have been using this technique to slice basil for quite some time. I learned the term Chiffonade last year to describe it, but for some reason I can never remember...

I worked on an experimental food this weekend that came out pretty good.

Sweet Bean Paste
1 cup dry black beans and 1 cup dry pinto beans
Soak overnight.
In the morning, drain and rise.
Boil with a little salt for a long time. (30 min?)
Drain, rinse.
Put into food processor with:
2 cups tomato broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 tbsp honey
Push the button and watch it moosh.
Add 4-5 cloves of grated garlic (use microplane)

It's about the consistency of hummus and purple. Tasty!
Also, gluten-free.
I put it in some burritos, and it gets the job done.

How did yours come out? Please share in the comments!

I'm the Expert Chef.

Last night I got a call at work from an old friend who happened to be in the city with his roommate.
"Wanna go to dinner?", he asked.
"It is Restaurant Week," I replied. "Let's pick one of those places - 10 Downing is my pick, New American with Mediterranean influence."
"We want to go to Chinatown."



So that meant that I got dragged up to Mott St. and ended up at Peking Duck House, where there is arguably the best roast duck in the States. The serving amounts to a duck burrito - a moo shu pancake, some scallions & cucumbers, and a mystery brown sauce that you smear over the pancake. Duck burrito. I made a small one to taste, and it was ok. Duck burrito. Tasty, but greasy. I guzzled tea from the under-sized white cups without handles.

I was quite satisfied with my Grand Marnier prawns and steamed broccoli with fruit mayonnaise sauce. I wanted to put the prawns in the moo shu wrap instead, but was discouraged from doing so by my dining companions. :-( No shrimpy burrito for me. I'll have to try a bona-fide Mexican place for that, perhaps.

When I go to Whole Foods, there's this ginger-soy salmon in the seafood dept that's super-yummy! It comes pre-marinaded, pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes - Yum! The filets still have the skin on them, which becomes a healthy treat for my dog.

I've been looking for recipe that closely approximates what I've been buying. Let's see if this one comes close..
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I'm planning to give it a try next week. Let me know how yours turns out!


If you or someone you know has a compulsive overeating problem, please visit www.oa.org.

So I had this lamb roast in my fridge that I put up to marinade in the way that I marinade lamb when I'm not making schwarma - which is to say, soaking in apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. I was worried that I had left it in there too long, and I finally got around to cooking it last night.

I learned 2 things in this venture:
1. Everyone should own a digital meat thermometer. It's truly awesome.
2. I am a very lucky chef.

The roast was so tender that I could cut it with a butter knife. Win!!

The intent with this hunk 'o meat was to slice and chill for sammiches for lunch at work this week. (well, it's Wednesday - guess I'm eating lamb for awhile...) I ran out of time and energy last night to assemble sammiches, so I put a few slices in a container with some tzatziki sauce and brought that for lunch. Very tasty.

Tonight, I have achieved sammich Win:
For your consideration, cold lamb with mint pesto, red onion, herb'd goat cheese, pickled red pepper, lettuce, tomato, and tzatziki sauce on a challah roll.


The mint pesto I made myself. Please comment if you are interested in reading how to make it.

I was cleaning out my fridge this weekend and came upon some frozen octopus. It wasn't a whole octopus, but several big frozen arms that had been de-tentacle'd, to my disappointment. On the back of the package was a recipe for cooking, so I decided to try it out. Or rather, use it as a guideline.

So here's what I did, in pictures from my BlackBerry...

Chopping:

I cut it up into bite-sized pieces. The texture was a little like those big scallops, and it didn't smell fishy at all.

Cook for 10 minutes3-5 minutes:

The direction on the package said to sauté in olive oil for 10 minutes. This is *wrong*! Over-cooking your octopus will result in a hard-to-chew rubbery texture that will suck. So cook for 3-5 min.

Add herbs:

Add 2 chopped onions, garlic, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and a squirt of lemon juice. You don't have to wait to add them in. Swish these things around. Be careful not to over-cook the octopus. It will get rubbery. Total cooking time should be less than 10 min or until the octopus is just barely cooked. You can also add a splash of dry white wine, but not too much. I added some diced tomatoes shortly before it was ready because I like tomatoes.

Served:

I steamed some string beans and added a pat of butter.

It was tasty, but the octopus required some advanced chewing that was a little difficult for me.
I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted a little over 2 weeks ago, and it's still hard to eat foods with certain textures.