3 course meal plan, steak-based

Ok, everyone (yup: that's all 2 of you, at the moment...), this is the one which I've been waiting for--my piece de resistance:  la cage au bullion!

     While there are more recipes coming (some tried, some trite, some tripe [mayhap], some wanton, and some found wanting), this one is a heart attack waiting to happen.  It's delicious, tasteful, well balanced in flavors (though perhaps not quite as well balanced in its potential health effects...).

     The meal plan is presented sequentially by course number, each course broken down by subset (for example: 2.A. covers the main course's meat serving, and is presented from bottom-most layer [2.A.1 rice] to top-most [2.A.3.c Swiss cheese]).  The one flaw in it, to me, is that it lacks a vegetable, but that can always be ad libbed (carefully).

     This meal plan is perhaps a bit of a let-down, as far as actual how-to recipes go, since it delineates only what to make, not how you can make them.  For most people, I'm not too worried about your ability to make tea, or to figure out the right balance of green onions to shallots (harder than tea, but you can probably figure out how you'd like your onion soup to be flavored), but the crème brûlée (in the dessert course's alternative selection)... yeah, that might be a bit trickier.

     I do have a crème brûlée recipe, though I haven't tried it, and I don't even have an untried recipe for bakalava (in the alternative to the alternative dessert) as yet (so, obviously, we had had this meal with the primary sorbet dessert).

     Ok, so, enough yammer now:  eat, drink, and be merry!

La cage au bullion:
   1  A)  onion soup (light, not French);
       B)  salad with balsamic vinaigrette;
       C)  orange pekoe tea;

   2  A.1)  bed of wild rice,
       A.2)  covered-roast steak (i.e.: nearly par-broiled [albeit in red wine, so technically not actually par broiled, as such], with Portobello mushrooms, apples, pears, & pearl onions) laid atop the rice,
       A.3.a)  medium coat of bleu cheese,
       A.3.b)  overlaid by pinwheel of alternating thin-strip-bacon and thickened beef bullion-and-drippings sauce,
       A.3.c)  overlaid in turn by thin sliced Swiss cheese;
       B)  red wine (a reasonably strong body, but not sufficient to overpower the main course);

   3  A)  sorbet on vanilla wafers with a few mint leaves to garnish;
       B)  rich semi-sweetened cappuccino;

   3-ALT.:  crème brûlée (alt-alt: perhaps baklava?), with amaretto-cappuccino

Eggnog! :-D (Note: non-alcoholic)

<sighs...> yep, still awake.

     So, everyone loves eggnog, right?  (Ok, so maybe the lactose intolerant have mixed feelings about it... at best... but work with me here, wouldja?)

     This one came from a bunch of different recipes online.  I had picked bits and pieces from among them, and settled on a yummy-sounding average-ish mix of the lot.  I was right: it turned out delicious; a rich, creamy, truly taste bud titillating drink.  (Hmm, haven't made it in a while--gonna have to rectify that!).

     Note:  the spices tend to settle to the bottom, so you'll probably have to re-mix it gently (to minimize frothing) whenever you serve any of it (unless you serve it all out, at the get-go).

     I'm a massive dairy-fiend, so my goal in the eggnog was to actually have eggnog, hence the total lack of alcohol in it.  I have nothing against alcohol, I just don't see a point in ruining perfectly good 'nog, y'know?  If you come up with a tasty alternative w/ alcohol in it, then feel free to post it in a comment!  ("Hmm" again: that assumes that the comments permit sufficient space for it... I don't know yet.)   :-)

Eggnog   (makes 5/8 gal = 2.5 qts = 5 pts = 10 cups [>1/2 gal])


2 large eggs
1½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 x 1 quart milk (1 quart here and another quart later)
  --  OPT: substitute sweetened condensed milk to taste
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1½ teaspoons rum extract
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, mace (online = ½ tsp each, but I do it “to taste”)
This is when the SECOND quart of milk comes in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 cups heavy whipping cream


=======================================================

In heavy 4-quart saucepan, with wire whisk, beat eggs, sugar, and salt until blended.  Gradually stir in 1 quart milk and cook over low heat, STIRRING CONSTANTLY (i.e.: NONSTOP = CONTINUOUSLY), until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon well, about 25 minutes (mixture should be about 170*F to 175*F [a setting of maybe ~2-3, on an electric stove], but do NOT BOIL or else it will curdle).

     Pour the resulting custard into large bowl; stir in rum & vanilla extracts, ½ teaspoon each of ground nutmeg/cinnamon/allspice/mace, and remaining milk.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

     To serve: in small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat heavy or whipping cream until soft peaks form.  With wire whisk, gently fold whipped cream into custard mixture.

     Pour eggnog into chilled 5-quart punch bowl; sprinkle with ground nutmeg.

Cherry tart

Meh.

     Couldn't sleep (ok, did sleep for ~1/2 an hour, woke up for no apparent reason whatsoever, couldn't get back to sleep).

     So, here's a quicky: the cherry tart.

     The original recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar, but after a minor clerical error, the result was actually better than the original.  It's not an original recipe (aside from the sugar content being tripled), but I don't know where it actually came from otherwise (I suspect that it was the label of some brand of cherry pie filling).

     It's pretty quick and easy, and has a somewhat crunchy crust.

     (If you're quite familiar with snow, then a good metaphor would be that of the crust of icy-crumbly stuff a 1/4" thick, the way that it can form on top of a few inches of powdery snow which had been followed by a slightly slushy light sleet, then permitted to hard-freeze overnight w/o much further precipitation;  y'know: the kind which seems stable upon setting foot onto it, but which you must first thrust into to break the surface, and then follow-up on gently so as not to go head over heels due to the seemingly frictionless and inertialess fluffy crap beneath.)

     Anyway, it's a damned good (though again: very high calorie) desert, as long as you can stand the sweetness.  I've never tried it w/ splenda or other sugar substitutes (maybe it would taste ok, but I'm none too sure of the possible resulting crust), but if you do, then please post a comment describing what you did and what the resulting differences were (if any).

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1½ cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1x21 oz. can cherry pie filling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*F.
Grease 9x13 pan.
Mix all ingredients except for pie filling.
Pour into greased pan.
Spoon pie filling in 16 spots.
Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Grape-Nuts bread - for bread MACHINE baking

Hey, sounds weird, ja?  Don't knock it--I got a bug up my ass one day, and Rox suggested that a recipe might already be available online somewhere; I Googled it (or did she Google it, maybe?), and sure enough, there it was!

     Actually, there were several recipes to work with, of which I opted for 4 in particular.  This tweaked conglomerate version is definitely delicious.   :-D

     Now, what shall I post next?  Quiche Lorraine?  Cherry tart?  Duck a l'orange?  Ka lua pork?  This one special of mine which I had dubbed "La cage au bullion"?  (Ok, so la cage au bullion is an entire meal plan in 4 courses, not just a single dish, but I'll throw it in there anyway.)

     Anyway, if anyone has a preference here, lemme know; otherwise, I'll just have to surprise you.

Important note:  these are the instructions for baking it in a BREAD MACHINE, not for ovens.  Sorry about that!

~1½ - 2 lb loaf:
1⅓ - 2 cup Water
1½ - 3 tablespoon Vegetable oil
     (or: 1½ tb Butter)
1⅓ - 3 tablespoon Sugar
1 - 2 teaspoon Salt
½ - 1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal (not flakes)
2⅔ - 4 cup Bread flour
     (OR:  1¼ c Whole-wheat flour AND 1½ c bread flour)
1½ - 2½ teaspoon Yeast
1 - 2 Tblsp [Wheat] gluten -- (optional)
1 tb Dough enhancer - optional
1 - 1½ tb Dry milk
9 oz Warm milk

Combine water and cereal and let soften 5 minutes.  Add to bread machine in the order specified in your manual (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).

     White bread, medium bake setting; basic setting.

     It is all right to open the machine and touch the dough to check its consistency.  Do this after about 5 minutes into the KNEAD cycle.  The dough should form a soft ball around the kneading blade.  If it is too dry, then add liquid at a rate of between 1/2 and 1 tablespoon at a time; if it is too wet, then add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time.

     Note:  wheat gluten can be purchased at health food stores or in supermarkets.

Devilled eggs

Now, strictly, I had wanted to post my recipe for grape nut bread next (surprisingly good, trust me, but I'll get to that one next), but after having posted the salmon pâté... I kinda had to post the devilled eggs, too.
     The first time that I'd made the pâté, I had also made these deviled eggs to go with it.  They went really well.  For some odd reason, I think that I'd only made the combination once (possibly twice?) thereafter, but regardless: it's too good a combo to not post these next.
     I don't remember how much of this recipe is mine and how much came from an online recipe, so this might already be out there somewhere.

6 hard boiled eggs                                               

1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 tsp. Dijon mustard                                             

1 tbsp. fresh parsley
1 tbsp. scallions, minced
1 small jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese                  
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. onion powder

a few drops of Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp dill

1/2 tsp vinegar

1-2 tsp milk

1/2 teaspoon cilantro (optional)
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon horseradish, grated
1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1 can (6 oz) salad crab meat, drained             
pinch chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika                                    
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Slice each egg in half crosswise. Scrape out yolks, saving contents in a bowl.  Add miracle whip and mustard, and blend together.  RESERVING 1/2 teaspoon parsley (for garnish), add remaining ingredients and combine.

Spoon approximately 1 tbsp. of the yolk mixture into each egg half.  Sprinkle lightly with chili powder and paprika.  Garnish with parsley.

Salmon cream cheese pâté

Now, this salmon pâté I've made a number of times, and every single time, it's a winner.  Except for those who don't like fish, everyone whom I've given this to absolutely loves it.  This is one totally excellent hors d'oeuvres.

     As with a good number of my recipes, it was originally based on a broad spectrum of others, but kind of went its own way, and then kept on going...   :-)

     It's a bit expensive for the amount of food which you get out of it, but it's way easy to make, and only a little time consuming.

     I haven't particularly refined it per se, but each time it's maybe a little more of this, perhaps a touch less of that.  It's fairly resilient to adverse changes.  Seriously: you probably could remove everything from the gelatin to the oil (inclusive), as well as a major chunk of the last subset of ingredients, and still be really close to the same flavor.

     I'm partial to rye bread with it, and possibly iced tea (don't remember if I've done so or not), and keep thinking to have cucumber slices with it as well, but never get around to it.

1 garlic clove                                         
1 pkg. unflavored gelatin

1 tbsp. minced onion (optional)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp. butter (pref. country crock)
1 tbsp. oil                                               

Pinch paprika
A pinch nutmeg
1/2 tsp. dill weed                                
1 (7 oz.) salmon – red (canned is ok, just not great)
2 tbsp. whipping / heavy cream          
1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese              
1/2 c. Miracle Whip
1 tbsp. sherry
A pinch salt
1 tbsp. chopped parsley

Dash garlic powder
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
A few drops Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp. anchovy paste (optional)

In a food processor, mince garlic; add gelatin, onions, lemon juice, pepper, butter and oil and blend well.  Add paprika, nutmeg and dill. Blend.  Add drained salmon and cream; process until smooth.  Blend cheese with salmon and seasonings until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients; process until well blended - mold in small bowl lined with plastic wrap - chill several hours.  Unmold to serve with crackers or thin sliced rye bread.  Makes 2 cups pâté.

"Lions' heads", with eel ravioli

Well, this is something which I've thought about getting around to for quite a while--I finally actually decided to do so.

   There are some issues, of course:

      - I'm not a professional chef (so they're not presented in a standardized manner--hell, the presentations aren't even uniform in format, from one to the next [some give cooking time, some list total servings...]);

      - these weren't written with others in mind (so some of the measurements are normal, such as "tsp", and some are less orthodox, as in the manner of Rachael Ray's "3 count");

      - some notes were jotted in a shorthand fashion (as in the eel ravioli, where I simply wrote "eel ravioli", with the underlying assumption that it's a standard ravioli recipe, altered only in the choice of eel as the main filler, and the side notes about curry & wasabi, etc.);

      - some sub-recipes (not the main body of any given recipe itself) I had simply grabbed from online for quick reference, so their grammar/etc. probably wouldn't match mine (as in the eel ravioli's ravioli sub-recipe).

Meh, this isn't meant to be perfect.  I'm just trying to share some food which I liked (to one extent or another).

   Picking which recipe to post as my first took a bit of thinking.

   I hope that you like it, but I'll be posting more to come; perhaps one of the later recipes will work well for you.

   Please note: some of these recipes will have healthy goals in mind, but some will very definitely be rather high calorie (tasty, perhaps, but certainly not particularly healthy).

   Please feel free to post comments on anything, particularly if you try them and find good substitute ingredients, or tasty alternatives.

   Right now, I have to go.  I've cleaned it up for posting as well as I have the time to right now.  Maybe I'll come back and fix it up better, later, but no promises.

   Happy eating!   :-)

Swimming lions’ heads, with manes - ~1 hour

   Pork balls on pineapple, with sauce--modified to hamburger form, served over pineapple, surrounded by egg noodles Alfredo (the "manes" of the "lions' heads").  Inspired by 2 separate dishes, cooked concurrently on The Iron Chef.

Lions’ heads
   Spray oil
……………………………………………………………………………
1 lb ground pork
   1 egg
   2 tbsp oyster sauce
      Alt.:  clam sauce
   2 tbsp sherry
      Alt.:  white & red wine
   2 tsp sesame oil
   2 tsp ginger, grated
   4 shiitake mushroom caps, diced
   4 shallots
      Alt.:  light garlic & onion

……………………………………………………………………………
9 pineapple rings
……………………………………………………………………………

Lion-head sauce
   0.1 oz seaweed
   1 c chicken broth
   1 oz mango chutney
   0.5 oz minced jalapenos
   Pomegranate juice, to taste
      Alt.:  grenadine
   1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with water to form a slurry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   1 lb egg noodles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lion-head mane-sauce
   1 c milk
   6 tbsp butter/margarine
   6 tbsp Romano
   2 tsp ground thyme
   1 tsp parsley
   1 tsp rubbed sage
   ½ tsp ground rosemary

===================================================

Mix head-sauce ingredients, simmer on med-low heat; likewise for mane-sauce.

   Mix burger materials (holding back a few shitake per patty) & cook nine 1/3-pound patty-balls (oblate, preferably) until thoroughly done--these form a wet material, so dry-pan fry them initially for a semi-hard skin, then oil-fry (~3-3½ on an electrical stove, assuming 5 settings) to cook them within.

   Serve each lion’s head on a pineapple ring, place a couple shiitake slices on each patty, and smother lightly w/ slightly thinned sauce.

   Surround these with noodles, covered in slightly thickened mane-sauce.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
 
Eel ravioli
   3 cups tofu miso soup
   Handful of ½ cm cubed green onion
   ½ cup of diced shrimp
   Seaweed
   Pinch of saffron
   Bit of savory.
   Eel ravioli (pref. river eel, w/ yellow and red curry, tiny dab of wasabi, wafer of pickle [substitute paste of pickling spices?])
      NOTE: shrimp sub ok, curry wasn’t bad, wasabi seemed ok, ground pickle spice ok, saffron seemed to go well, the ravioli’s savory didn’t seem out of place, but their overall form and definitely their pasta-skin were too thick and just didn’t seem right (made `5, should have halved quantities).  Forgot about the string beans, but banana-strawberry smoothie ice cream went well.

   Ravioli:
      4 Eggs
      3 tb Olive oil
         (note: used canola)
      1 tb Salt
      2 c Flour

On a clean surface, make a mountain out of flour and salt, then make a deep well in center. Break the eggs into the well and add olive oil. Whisk eggs very gently with a fork, gradually incorporating flour from the sides of the well. When mixture becomes too thick to mix with a fork, begin kneading with your hands.

   Knead dough for 8 to 12 minutes, until it is smooth and supple. Dust dough and work surface as needed to keep dough from becoming sticky. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

   Roll out dough to desired thickness. Cut into your favorite style of noodle or stuff with your favorite filling to make ravioli. Bring water to a boil in a large pot, then add 4 teaspoons salt.  Cook pasta until tender but not mushy, 1 to 8 minutes depending on thickness. Drain immediately and toss with your favorite sauce.