Pistachio Basil Tomato Garlic Cheese Ball

This cheese ball is really more of a cheese mold, but that sounds disgusting.  I think Paula Deen was the first to come out with this type of hors d'oeurve and she called it a "Blossom", for reasons that I can't fathom.  I'll call it a cheese ball.  Deen's version is very good, and my version is based on hers, but after several years of making this, I've found ways to up the flavor and lower the cost, mess, and fuss factor.  You can throw this together in about 15 minutes and it definitely WILL be the hit of the next party you throw or attend.

Ingredients:

2 pkgs Cream Cheese, any brand
1 small jar of basil pesto (I used "Classico" as it was the cheapest)
40 shelled Pistachio nuts
4-6 cloves of garlic
1 3.5 oz bag of dried tomatoes (or dry your own in the oven)
A little Olive Oil
1 8 oz package of sliced provolone (when selecting, look for number of slices over size of them, for reasons that will become apparent)
Salt and Pepper

Start by removing the sun dried tomatoes from the bag.  Put in a small bowl or jar, squish down lightly and just cover with olive oil.  Let soak.  Do this first, before you even get any utensils or prepare your work area...they should soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

Next, shell the pistachios and peel the garlic cloves.  Put in a small chopper, food processor or blender and pulverize.   Soften the cream cheese in a large-ish bowl in the microwave.  Mix the pistachio/garlic mixture in with the cream cheese using a rubber spatula, mix it well.   Add salt and pepper to taste.

Next, take a small bowl with nice smooth insides, this will be your mold.  I used one of our household 'cereal' bowls.  Line it with a large piece of Saran Wrap with enough left hanging to bring back over the top.

Place one slice of Provolone in the bottom center of the bowl.  Then, working around the bowl, lay Provolone around the inside of the bowl until all the side surfaces are covered.

Now put in a small layer of the cream cheese mixture and smooth it around.

Then add a layer of Pesto, sort of draining it a bit from the oil in the jar as you remove it.  (You don't want it really oily, you want mostly the pesto 'stuff', not the oil).  Smooth that around.

Then lay another layer of the cream cheese mixture, and smooth around.

Now remove the dried tomatoes from the jar and oil and put in the food processor/chopper/blender.  Pulverize, then spread a layer of this over the cream cheese carefully.

Then layer the rest of the cream cheese, filling the bowl.

Finally, cover completely with Provolone.  Bring the Saran Wrap around, pinch the wrap all together in the center and throw the whole thing in the freezer, bowl and all.

When it's firm and hard, you can remove it from the freezer, remove the Saran Wrap from the top of the bowl, flip it over onto a serving plate and lift the bowl away.  Remove the Saran Wrap.  Use the bowl now as a 'cover' and keep in the fridge....it will last for 3 weeks or more (but it never lasts more than a day around here!)   To serve, slice out a thin wedge with a serving knife.  Serve with crackers.

Al's Sweet Potatoes

Al Owens was one interesting guy.  His father, Elmer, was a self made multi-millionaire, whom Al rejected and rebelled against.  At the age of 16, he hopped on his motorcycle and left home to make his own way in the world.  It was many years before he and his father spoke again...only after Al himself had made his own millions.

I met Al after he inherited his father's place on the lake I grew up on, near Wautoma, WI.  Al was probably close to 20 years older than me, but we hit it off instantly and were good friends up until his unfortunate and untimely passing.  A lifetime heavy smoker, Al had finally kicked the habit 6 months before being diagnosed with lung cancer.  He loved to tell tall tales and seemed to enjoy being called out for telling them.  He was an outgoing, generous, gregarious guy, a bit quirky, but in a loveable way.  I miss him dearly and think of him often, especially at Thanksgiving time.

He and his wife would stay up at the lake house until deer hunting was over, at which time they'd head back to Florida for the winter.  He'd often hunt with us, and  for several years, they joined us for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Al always brought his Sweet Potatoes and was very proud of making them.  This is his recipe, which I feel so fortunate to have and to share with you today.  I hope you enjoy them.  Al loved to share them with friends, and I'm sure he'd hope that you would, too.

Ingredients:

4 very large or 6 regular Sweet Potatoes
3/4 stick of Butter
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Brown Sugar (or real maple syrup, if you have some)
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
Chopped Pecans
Mini Marshmallows

Peel Sweet Potatoes and poke with fork numerous times, place in Microwave and cook until soft (20-25 minutes, depending on your microwave).  Remove and put in a bowl with the Butter, mash with a mixer until smooth.  Add the Heavy Cream, Brown Sugar, Salt, Nutmeg and Vanilla Extract, mix thoroughly.  Adjust salt and sugar to taste.   Spoon into a 9x9 Pyrex or Corningware dish, cover with Chopped Pecans and dot with butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, remove from oven.  Cover with Mini Marshmallows and bake til the marshmallows are just melted.  Remove, cool and serve.

(Pictures forthcoming very soon)

Gyro Flies Pepsi! Gyro Flies Pepsi!

Many years ago when I was 17, my uncle Mike had a rock band.  And my parents were foolish enough to let me go with the band and help run lights and sound pretty much whenever I wanted to, which led to a lot of fun for me that I wouldn't and probably shouldn't have otherwise had.  One night in particular, the band was playing at a frat house in Madison.  After the gig, the band went down to Zorba's on State Street and my instant love affair with the Gyro began.  "Gyro Flies Pepsi!", the cashier called out.  "Gyro Flies Pepsi" came the response from the line cook and beverage server.  Much like the old "Cheeseburger" sketch on Saturday Night Live, the Greek immigrants' broken English dialog continued for orders of Gyros, French Fries, other Greek goodies and Pepsi-Cola.

Across the street was The Parthenon, and for years competition ensued for the best Gyro in Madison...and DAMN were they good.  I'd long for gyro goodness and make a trek whenever I got the craving...often this meant a drive of one, two, even three hours, depending on where I was living at the time.   Later, I'd find Gyro Nirvana once again at a little place on North Ave. on the E. Side of Milwaukee called "Grecian Delight".

But it's always been a challenge, outside of a select few places, to find a decent Gyro...harder yet to try to make one at home.  The 'kits' that are available at the grocery store are awful by comparison and barely even attempt to scratch the Gyro Itch.  Most restaurants and bars that offer a Gyro on the menu do so apparently with the sole intention of miserably disappointing their customers.

So a few years ago, I set out to create the perfect Gyro at home.  Research on the web combined with trial and error resulted in recipes for both making the Gyro meat loaf and the Tarziki Sauce that tastes just like those wonderous late night sandwiches that I crave.  And now you can make 'em at home too.

This is not a procedure for an evening after a long, hard day at work.  Both the sauce and meat take time and effort, but are well worth it.  I'd suggest making up a bunch of meat on a Saturday (you can always freeze it and thaw it later for quicker preparation), and the Tarziki Sauce keeps in the fridge for quite a while.

For meat, the truly authentic way to make it is with Lamb.  Of course, if you've priced Lamb lately, you'll know why both the cost of a Gyro in a restaurant has skyrocketed and the quality has gone down.  It's expensive, and restaurants often now mix in beef or pork with the lamb to offset costs.  That's ok, you can do that too.  I've made it with a 50/50 mix of lamb and beef, lamb and pork, and even all pork.  The seasonings and method of preparation really make for about 85% of the flavor.  If you really want the real deal, you'll need a couple pounds of lamb meat.

**Update:  According to...ahem...Wikipedia, gyros in Greece are mainly made with pork nowadays.

I have a meat grinder, so I buy whatever is on sale.  If you don't have a grinder, get ground lamb, beef or pork, or buy a roast and have the butcher grind it for you (most will do this for free).

If you're going to make all of this the same day that you wish to serve it, start early and start with the Tarziki Sauce.  Get the cukes sweating and the yogurt straining, then start on your meat.  While the meat is in the oven, finish your sauce.

You'll have to buy Pita bread as I don't have a recipe for that (yet!), but for christ sakes, don't buy that god-awful stuff that's cut in half.  This isn't a pocket sandwich.  You want whole pitas.  Larger stores will have flatbread specifically for Gyros...I know Woodmans in WI does.

UPDATE 08/28/2015:  Incredibly AWESOME Pita Bread Recipe....CLICK HERE.

Ok, on to the recipes!

Tarziki Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Cucumbers - peeled, seeded and sliced
2 T minced Garlic
1/2 T Salt
3 T Lemon Juice
2 T Dill (dried, or a bunch of fresh dill)
1 32oz container of Greek Yogurt (Plain)

Start by dumping the Greek yogurt into a screened strainer that will hold all of it and placing that over an appropriate sized bowl.  You can use regular yogurt, but it will be harder to strain (you might try a cloth) and it will take a lot longer.  Greek yogurt is much thicker, and the point of straining it is to remove as much liquid as possible to make it even thicker still.  Greek yogurt used to be hard to find, but now I can even find it in Sturgeon Bay (under the Roundy's brand, even!) so if you can't get it by you, ask your grocer.   Also, you want Plain yogurt.  Not Vanilla.  Unlike Ice Cream, vanilla does not equal plain.   Once your plain Greek yogurt is straining over a bowl, set aside.

Now take the two cucumbers, peel them, cut them in half down the length and then take a spoon and scoop all the watery seedy part out, til just the firm flesh is left.  Now slice that up into about 1/2" slices and put in a colander and toss with about 1 T of salt, and set over the sink for about an hour.   At this time, you'll probably want to start on the meat.

When at least an hour has passed, you should have a surprising amount of liquid strained out of the yogurt.  Toss out the liquid and put the yogurt in a bowl.  Take the cukes out of the colander and put in a food processor along with the garlic, salt, dill and lemon juice.  If using fresh dill, just toss a bunch in.  Using fresh dill is preferred, but trickier as it's hard to measure.  The balance of flavor when you are all done should be about equal between dill, sourness of the yogurt and garlicky saltiness.  Anyway, run the food processor and chop this all together into a fine mix.

Now dump this mix into a clean thin cloth over a bowl and gently bring the corners up and around to form a bag.  Let the juice strain off and gently squeeze, but not too much.  You don't want all the liquid out of this, just whatever will naturally strain off plus a gentle squeeze.

Remove from the cloth and stir in thoroughly with the yogurt in the bowl.  Adjust dill (if necessary) and other seasonings to taste.   Put mixture back into the yogurt container and refrigerate until it's time to serve.

Gyro Meat

Ingredients

2 pounds of ground meat...any mix of lamb, beef or pork, or all lamb.
1 medium to small onion
1 T Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Marjoram
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Cumin

Cut up the onion and put in a food processor and process finely.  Scrape out onto clean towel and bring corners up to form a bag.  Squeeze out as much juice as possible.

In a large bowl, mix ground meat, onion and seasonings thoroughly.

Line a 9X13 Pyrex dish with a clean terry dish or bath towel soaked in hot water.  In a Pyrex bread or loaf pan greased with olive oil, place the meat mixture to form a loaf.  Set the loaf pan in the center of the 9X13 pan, on top of the towel.  Boil enough water on the stove to fill all around the loaf pan til the 9x13 pan is full.   Pour the boiling water all around the loaf pan inside of the 9X13.  Carefully place in a preheated 325 oven, bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool, remove from pan.  Grill outside on grill till all sides have that nice crusty thing going on that a rotisserie gyro loaf would have.  Bring back inside.

UPDATE 08/05/2022:
If you can find an old Ronco rotisserie in a thrift store, GET IT.  You can put a gyro loaf on the rotissierie and it's just like the Greek restaurant ones, only horizontal.   Then you REALLY get that authentic flavor.  Do this instead of grilling the loaf and then frying the strips.

Serve by slicing thin slices off of the loaf.   Put a large fry pan on the stove on medium-high heat with a little olive oil in it.  Toss a whole pita into the fry pan and brown each side.  At the same time, toss in enough slices of meat for one sandwich, flipping at least once.   Lay the pita on a plate, lay out the meat, some sliced tomato, sliced sweet onion (Vidalia or 1055) on one half of the Pita and place a dollop of Tarziki Sauce on the opposite half.  Fold up like a taco and dig in!!!   You can also garnish with slices of cucumber and/or feta cheese, to your liking.  French fries on the side to dip into more Tarziki sauce and waalaa, it's 1980 and you're back on State Street in Madison again!

General Tso's Chicken

If you've ever been to a Chinese Buffet, chances are you've had General Tso's Chicken.  It's the most popular item on most buffets and on most Chinese restaurants' menus in North America.   But it actually has about as much to do with General Tso as a Lincoln Town Car has to do with Old Abe.

This dish has been associated with the name of Zuo Zongtang (1812–1885), a Qing Dynasty general from Hunan.  Zuo himself could not have eaten the dish as it is today, and the dish is neither found in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, nor in Xiangyin, the home of General Tso. Moreover, descendants of General Tso still living in Xiangyin, when interviewed, say that they have never heard of such a dish.

Several restaurants in both Taiwan and North America lay claim to inventing the dish.  It's generally accepted in most cases to have originated at New York City's Shun Lee Palace restaurant, claiming that it was invented by a Chinese immigrant chef named T. T. Wang in 1972.

But what the hell do you care?  You, like most people, just love General Tso's Chicken and want to make it at home, right?  Well, look no further, here's how!

Now, this recipe is very close to the original Shun Lee Palace recipe, with a few of my own changes..  Most buffets tend to make it sweeter and less hot, so I'll give you tips on how to aim for that goal at the end of this post.

Step One...Sauce: (make first...before you do anything else)

Mix the chicken, egg, cornstarch and soy sauce

1/2 Cup Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 1/2 tsp Ginger
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 Cup Vinegar
1/4 Cup Cheap White Wine
1 can Condensed Chicken Broth (or mix up 1 cup of about triple strength bouillon)

Mix all this thoroughly in a jar (I use a quart Mason jar) and refrigerate.

Step Two...Chicken:

I like to use Chicken Thighs, but it's a little more work.  Thighs come with one bone in them, which I like because I remove the skin and the bones, throw them in a pot with 2 quarts of water and simmer for a couple hours to make Chicken Stock for later use in soups.   But you can use boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, it's a lot quicker.  Start with either 6 Thighs OR 4 Breasts.  Cut the meat into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks and put in a deep bowl.

Add to the bowl:

1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Water
1 egg, beaten
1 cup Cornstarch

Stir thoroughly to mix the cornstarch in with the egg and soy sauce and set aside.

Deep frying the chicken

Now heat up some cooking oil in a medium, deep pot.  The oil should be at least 3 inches deep, and use a candy or deep fry thermometer to bring the temp up to 350.   Working in small batches, fry the coated pieces of chicken in the oil.  It will only take a few minutes before they're golden brown.  Gently move them about with a tongs or granny fork to keep them from sticking together.  Remove and place on a plate covered with paper towels, keep warm in the oven on it's lowest setting between batches.   When you've fried all the chicken, put in the oven to keep warm.

Step Three...Stir Fry:

2 cups Green Onions, chopped
1 large or 2 small heads of Broccoli, trimming just the florets from the stems
*8 dried Cayenne (or similar) Peppers

Add sauce and stir fry til bubbly and thick

Now get out your Wok or a big fry pan.  If it's an electric wok, set it to it's highest heat setting.  If you're using a gas stove and a carbon steel wok, you want a medium high flame.   Add a little oil, bring up to heat and then stir fry the Onions and Peppers for a minute, then add the Broccoli.  Stir til cooked and turning to a bright green.  Then add the sauce that you prepared in Step One, stirring constantly til it thickens and starts to bubble.  At that point, grab the plate of chicken from Step Two out of the oven, add to the wok and either unplug the wok or remove from heat.  Stir and toss thoroughly to coat the chicken and serve immediately over rice.

*A lot of people don't like hot and spicy food.  You can leave out the peppers entirely if you like.   I make it at home without the peppers and serve crushed red pepper (like you'd put on pizza) as a condiment on the table for those who like it spicy.

If you want it to be more similar to the type of General Tso found on most Chinese buffets, try substituting Teriyaki Sauce entirely for Soy Sauce in the first step, and adding some Orange Zest (that's finely grated outside of the orange) or a little Orange Extract.  That should make it much sweeter and add more of that orange, citrusy flavor found in most buffet General Tso.

Grandma's Lost Cookies

No, this isn't about Grandma having too much fun and losing her cookies.  Sicko.

My Grandma Kohn was, from everything I'd ever heard from anyone who knew her, a wonderful lady.  She left this world far too early from a sudden massive stroke when my father was barely a teenager.  My grandpa remarried within a couple years to an evil stepmother who denied my father and his brother anything to do with anything from the past...from their real mother.   Mementos, clothes, recipes, knickknacks, all were boxed up and hidden in the attic if not given away.   It was many, many years, decades after my grandfather died, when the evil stepmother finally was put in a nursing home.  At that time, the boys finally had access to a few things that were still in the attic.   Even that was probably 20 years ago already.

Fast-forward to about 3 years ago.  One of my cousins came upon an old Dodge Co., WI cookbook from the late 1940's that was made up of several church congregations' recipes.  In it was this recipe for Peanut Cookies from Lila (Rounds) Kohn.   She copied it down, along with another recipe that I'll post soon, and gave it to my father.  Dad remembered these cookies well...he had forgotten all about them and how good they were.  It was like a gift from the past...cookies he hadn't had in over 60 years.

Now, I'm not much for posting recipes for cookies, bars and the like, but these are just so darn good that I can't help but share these wonderful cookies with you here.  They're great with coffee or milk and I would think you could add raisins, craisins or other fruit to them if you like, also.  So here, without further ado, is the recipe for Lila Kohn's Peanut Cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup Lard (or shortening)
2 cups Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Oatmeal (I use non-instant)
1 1/2 cups Corn Flakes
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Salted Redskin Peanuts (Spanish Peanuts)
2 cups Flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Start by beating the eggs, adding in the Sugar and Vanilla and Lard.  When well-mixed, add in the Oatmeal and Corn Flakes, then the Peanuts, the Baking Soda and finally the Flour.  Mix well, drop on ungreased cookie sheets with a spoon.  Bake for about 12-14 minutes.

Enjoy this treat from the past.  Thanks, Grandma!

Creamy Hungarian Mushroom Soup

A good friend of mine has a last name that translates from Hungarian literally to "mushroom".  Tommy, this soup's for you!

This easy to make and delicious mushroom soup will warm you on a cold day.  Serve it as a side or as the main course with some fresh bread!  Mmmm!  If you're a wild mushroom picker, this will be extra good when made with your favorite wild mushroom...or just use regular fresh store mushrooms.  Portabellas are great, but even the regular variety make a tasty. hearty, comforting soup.   Personally, I like to use Honey Mushrooms that I pick in the wild, but you kind of have to know what you're doing to do that.

You will need: (about 6 Servings)

1/2 stick of Butter
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, diced finely, about 2 cups diced
2 cups Chicken stock
1 T Paprika
1 T Soy Sauce
2 tsp Dill Weed
1 cup of Milk
3 T Flour
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by melting the butter in a medium stock pot.  Add the onions and saute on medium heat for about 5 minutes, til they turn clear.  Then add the mushrooms.  Saute another 5 minutes.  Then add the Chicken Stock, Paprika, Soy Sauce and Dill Weed.  Cover, reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.*

*At this point, I use an immersion blender to turn this into a 'Cream of' type soup.  This is optional, and if you do not have an immersion blender, you can work with a standard blender in small batches, filling the blender up about 1/3 of the way and liquifying until it's all blended.  OR you can skip this entirely, but dice the mushrooms finely before adding to the soup.  It's a matter of preference, really.

Whisk the Flour into the cup of Milk until mixed well.  Add to soup.  Simmer on low for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Now add the lemon juice, sour cream, salt and pepper to taste, reducing heat to lowest setting. Do not let the soup boil.  Stir until danger of boiling is gone, leave on low heat for about 15 minutes and serve.  Or just shut off and reheat later when it's serving time.

You can garnish it with a dollop of sour cream and some fresh parsley or dill if you wish, or just serve it up.  I like it with oyster crackers, personally.  Mmmmm!

Chinese Fried Rice

Wisconsin is a big state.   And other than the Eastern and Southern quarters of it, most of it is pretty rural, dotted with towns with populations under 10,000...even under 1000.   I've lived in areas where it was an hours drive or more to get anything resembling Chinese food, and like so many of my recipes, this one was born out of necessity...to satisfy my craving for Big City Food like good Fried Rice!

I try to keep my recipes simple, using ingredients one can get at the tiniest town's IGA as I know it can be challenging to find Oyster Sauce or Sesame Oil in such a place.  But sometimes, as is the case with these two key ingredients, it just doesn't taste right without them.  So if you are one of those people who lives in such a place, a little planning ahead on your next shopping trip to The Big City is in order...but the payoff is that you can have Big City Food right at home!

This recipe is for a very authentic Fried Rice recipe.  You can make it with Chicken, Pork or even Shrimp (I'd use those little salad shrimp that are very inexpensive and about the size of a dime).  You can use raw meat or cooked leftovers, which is a great way to stretch the food budget.  In this case, I'll use Chicken, but the recipe is the same for other meats/seafood.  In time, you can play with and adjust the ingredients to your liking.  It's very quick to make, with one caveat...you must make the rice well in advance so it has time to cool.  It should be cold when added.

If you don't have a Wok, you can use a large fry pan.  If your stove is electric, go out and buy an electric wok.  You can find them often in thrift stores for 5 or so dollars and they're handy for more than Chinese cooking...example, I use them for Buffalo Wings.   If you have a gas stove, do yourself a favor and get a high quality carbon steel wok and season it like you would cast iron, never wash it in soap.  There's nothing better than a gas stove and a nice carbon steel wok, but at present, I'm stuck with the electric one.  It's ok, it does the job.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups uncooked rice
2 cups water
2 Chicken Breasts (or 3 Thighs), or 3 small Pork Chops, or a bag of Salad Shrimp, diced finely (except for the shrimp, leave them whole)
1 T Oyster Sauce (don't worry, it doesn't taste like oysters...it's really key for authentic Fried Rice)
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

Heating the Sesame Oil/Butter with the Garlic and
Chicken at the ready...

1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Onion Powder

1 T + 1 T Sesame Oil
2 T Butter
1 T Minced Garlic

1 small diced Onion
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 bag frozen Peas and Carrots
1/8 cup plus 1 T Soy Sauce

Everything's in but the Rice

Start by making the rice, well in advance of mealtime.  Put 1.5 cups of rice in a small saucepan with a tight fitting cover, along with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  Cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes.  The rice is ready when...well, put it this way, if it were pasta, it would be Al Dente, or a little chewy, not gloppy and sticky, just slightly underdone.  Remove from heat, stir and fluff, refrigerate.

Now that that's out of the way, when it comes to make the meal, things happen fast. So have your ingredients measured out, chopped up, ready to go.

Put your finely diced meat (or shrimp, not diced) in a bowl along with 1 T Soy Sauce, 1 T Sesame Oil, the Oyster Sauce and Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt and Pepper.  Toss, let sit for a few minutes.

Everything is in..stir fry for 7-10 minutes

Heat your wok (or fry pan) up at a medium-high heat (if a gas stove/carbon steel wok) or full bore (if an electric wok).  Add the other 1 T of Sesame Oil and Butter, then add the Minced Garlic.  Stir around and saute the garlic a bit.   Dump the meat or seafood mixture in and heat well.  If it's raw, cook til it's no longer pink.  If it's cooked (i.e. leftovers) just bring it up to heat.   Then add the Diced Onion, stirring fairly constantly, til the onion starts to clarify.  Then add the 2 Eggs (beaten), cook for about 4 minutes, stirring.   Now dump in the Peas and Carrots and the (cold) Rice along with 1/8 cup of Soy Sauce.  Stir constanly and fry the rice to a golden brown, about another 7-10 minutes, taking care to keep it from burning on the bottom via constant stirring.  Remove from heat and serve!

Serve!

You can really go nuts with ingredients beyond this basic recipe...hot peppers, pepper flakes, mushrooms, pineapple, diced bamboo shoots and/or water chestnuts, bacon...the sky is the limit!  As long as you have Oyster Sauce and Sesame Oil (which are the only two ingredients that may be challenging to find in a rural area), you're in business.




Let me know if this recipe worked for you!  I love feedback!

Poor Man's Lawyer

Burbot, Eelpout, Lawyer.  Member of the Cod family.

Eelpout.  Burbot.  Lawyer.  Plus a few other names that aren't very complimentary and which decorum prohibits listing here.  Considered by most to be 'garbage fish' to be thrown on the ice or the banks and left behind, these ugly but delicious fish make about the best Poor Man's Lobster that there is!


Found in the Bay of Green Bay, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Winnebago and other inland lakes in Wisconsin and Minnesota, a few fishermen and lovers of fresh fish have figured out how good this much maligned fish is!  The AC Tap in Door County often features Lawyer in their Friday Night Fish Fry.   It is delicious deep fried, beer battered, baked or boiled, with a firm flesh and a slight sweetness that's out of this world.

This recipe would also work well with Whitefish, Black Bass or Tilapia, so feel free to try those as well.  But if you can find the lowly Burbot/Lawyer/Eelpout in your area, give it a try, you won't be sorry.  Halvorson Fisheries in Cornucopia, WI often has frozen Burbot (as they refer to it).  Please sound off if you know of other places that offer this fine fish commercially.

To make Poor Man's Lobster that's out of this world, you'll need:

4-5 potatoes, chunked (or baby reds, if in season)

3 T salt
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 lb. butter
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp Paprika
3 lbs. Lawyer aka Eelpout aka Burbot (or other fish) cut into 2 in. pieces
3 quarts water
1 med. onion
3 stalks celery (chopped)
1/2 c. lemon juice

In a large kettle, bring water and salt to a boil.  Add the potatoes and when nearly done, add the onion, celery & lemon juice.  Boil for an additional 4 minutes.  Add bay leaves and fish.  Boil for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove fish and place in a Pyrex 9x13 pan.  Melt the butter and the garlic in a small saucepan at low heat.  Brush with melted garlic butter and sprinkle with paprika.  Broil in the oven for 2 minutes.  Reserve the onion and celery to serve on the side, along with the potatoes.  Serve with melted garlic butter on the side.

German Dinner Pt. 3...Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein with Lemon Caper Sauce

(See my segment on this, Spaetzle and Rotkohl on WLUK Fox 11's "Good Day Wisconsin" by following this link:  http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/good_day_wi/Cooking-With-You-Mike-Kohn)

Schnitzel...nothing says German food like Schnitzel.  If you've ever wondered what Wiener Schnitzel is, it's basically a breaded veal cutlet.  By German law, if you're making Schnitzel with anything other than Veal, you must declare it so.  You can make Schnitzel with just about any cut of meat...beef, pork, chicken, whatever...the basic preparation being that it is pounded flat with a heavy object, then breaded and fried.  But if you want true Wiener Schnitzel, you must use veal.

Place cutlet inside of baggie and beat with the bottom
of a flat, heavy pan.

I don't know if  you've priced veal lately, but I opted for pork.  I picked up some nice boneless pork chops and pounded them with the bottom of a stout pan.  I like this better than with one of those spikey tenderizing hammers as it helps retain the juices of the meat better.  To assist in the meat holding together, not splattering all over hell and not sticking to the pan, put the boneless cutlet in a ziplock bag first, leaving the bag open and facing an area that you don't care if it gets a little dirty.

Ingredients:

Boneless pork chops, the thinner the better
1 cup of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 eggs, beaten well
1 cup of fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup lard (or oil, shortening, whatever is your pleasure)
1/4 cup white wine
1 T capers (the little pickled flower buds, not the Packers defensive coordinator)
2 T butter
2 lemons
Chopped parsley (for garnish)

Dredge in flour, dip in egg, roll in breadcrumbs,
fry in lard.

Beat the cutlets with the bottom of a pan as mentioned above.  Heat 1/4 cup of lard in a large pan, on medium-low.  Lard is traditional in making Schnitzel, but use whatever you wish.  You don't want this at the usual deep-frying temperature but rather around 230 or so.  The exact temp isn't critical, somewhere between low and medium will suffice.

Arrange a bowl and two small plates thusly, in a row:  Plate with the flour and salt/pepper mixed in, bowl with the 2 whipped eggs, plate with the breadcrumbs on it.  Dredge the cutlet through the flour, then into the egg mixture, then gently roll in the breadcrumbs.  Resist the temptation to press the breadcrumbs into the cutlet, the coating should puff nicely around the cutlet, not adhere tightly to it.  When all of your cutlets are breaded thusly, fry in the lard for about 3-4 minutes each side, flipping when the bottom is golden brown.  Remove and transfer to a serving plate.

Pour finished sauce over serving plate of cutlets.

Add 2 T of Butter to the frying pan, swirl about till melted.  Then remove from heat and add the 1/4 cup of white wine to deglaze the pan.  Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon into the pan and add the capers, swirl about til well mixed and drizzle over the plate of cutlets.  Save off extra to a small sauce dish for drizzling over Spaetzle.   Garnish the serving platter with chopped parsley and lemon wedges and serve immediately, along with the side dishes from Pt. 1 & 2!

Ready to serve!

Our German meal...Schnitzel, Spaetzle, Rotkohl.

German Dinner Pt. 2...Spaetzle

(See my segment on this, Rotkohl and Schnitzel on WLUK Fox 11's "Good Day Wisconsin" by following this link:  http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/good_day_wi/Cooking-With-You-Mike-Kohn)

Mmmm....Spaetzle.  That yummy German noodle-dumpling thing that tastes great just by itself, with a little salt, pepper and butter, or with the gravy of whatever main dish you might be making.

In this case, we'll be making Schnitzel, and I'll make with a lemon-caper white sauce that will go great with this Spaetzle recipe!

Spaetzle is easy to make and doesn't take long.  You don't have to have any special tools, but a Spaetzle Maker, which looks sort of like a cheese grater with a sliding hopper on top of it, makes the job a lot easier.

Ingredients for about 4 servings:

1 cups flour

3 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

Mix all together to form a thick batter, it should be a little thicker than pancake batter.  Bring a pot of salted water to boil...you should have enough salt in the water to taste that it's there, but it shouldn't be overtly salty.  Place the Spaetzle Maker over the pot and load the hopper of the Spaetzle Maker with the batter, gently slide back and forth.  Or, just drizzle batter into the boiling water thru a slotted spoon or just from the end of a spoon.  Spaetzle floats to the top when done, and you can remove it to a dish as it's done while you continue to add more batter.  If you're using the Spaetzle Maker, you can probably just leave it all in there until it's done, as the process goes so much more quickly.

Put in a serving bowl with some butter, salt and pepper.  Serve it up as is, or with a ladle of gravy over the top.  Mmmmmm!

German Dinner Pt. 1...Rotkohl (Red Cabbage)

(See my segment on this, Spaetzle and Schnitzel on WLUK Fox 11's "Good Day Wisconsin" by following this link:  http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/good_day_wi/Cooking-With-You-Mike-Kohn)

Ach du lieber!  It's October!  And that means it's time for Oktoberfest...lots of good German food, beer that stands up to the rules of the Reinheitsgebot, and perhaps an Oompah band or three.  Ein Prosit!

The meal that I'll be preparing for my television debut is a very simple meal of food that the common people would prepare...Wienerschnitzel, Spaetzle and Rotkohl.   This recipe is for the Rotkohl.  I'm doing this one first, as it's much better if it sits for a day or two than it is on the day that you prepare it.  It's also hard to make just a little, but it does freeze well, so you might wish to freeze half of it for later.  I love the sweet/sour flavor of this dish and it's a perfect compliment to a lot of German dishes.

Note:  Technically, this should be called Blaukraut, as Rotkohl is known in Bavaria and southern Germany.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1 small head red cabbage, shredded
4-5 slices of bacon, cut up into 1/2 inch pieces
2 T butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 raw apple, diced (I used a Door County Honeycrisp)
1/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used one cup of real maple syrup, but you may not have that luxury)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
1.5 T flour
Dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Fry bacon til it begins to crisp, add onions and butter and simmer til onions clarify.  Meanwhile, in a medium pot, add all the other ingredients except the flour.  When onions are clarified and bacon is done to your satisfaction, dump in with the rest of the ingredients in the pot and cover.  Simmer for about 45 minutes. Then add the flour a little at a time, stirring well.  Adjust seasonings to taste, simmer for another 10 minutes and remove from heat.

You can serve it at this point, or refrigerate it and reheat it for the next day's German meal (which is ideal...as mentioned before, it gets better as it sits).

Wisconsin Beer and Cheddar Soup

They don't call us "Cheeseheads" fer nuttin'.  And there's good reason that many men in Wisconsin pat their beer guts with pride...years of hard work go into those!

This soup is a Wisconsin favorite, and there are as many ways to make it here in the Dairy State as there are ways to make chili.  One of my displaced Cheesehead friends requested a recipe for Beer and Cheese Soup, so after careful research of numerous recipes and some tricks of my own, here's mine.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
3 Carrots
4 stalks Celery
3 medium Onions
1 T minced Garlic
2 cups Beef Broth
16 oz. Beer of a lighter style (Lager, Pilsner, Light, etc...not dark or heavy or extremely hoppy) + a little extra to drink and to add to taste at the end
1/3 cup Self Rising Cornmeal Mix (or flour, but I like the Cornmeal mix better for this)
1 1/2 T Dijon Mustard (I used Door County Wine Mustard)
2 T Worcestershire

Simmering vegetables, butter, broth

1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Basil

3 cups Milk
1 cup Buttermilk


16 oz. Super Sharp Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese (24 oz if you really want it cheesy)

Salt and Pepper to taste

4-5 strips of bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled finely.

Start by dicing up the carrots, celery and onion.  Cook on medium low heat with the butter and garlic in a covered skillet til the vegetables are soft.  Add the beef broth, simmer for a couple more minutes, then remove and transfer to a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth.

Blend veggies, butter and broth til smooth.

Transfer into a soup kettle at medium-low.  LOW heat is the secret to this recipe from here on out...you NEVER want it to boil, EVER.  Add the cornmeal mix (or flour) and simmer/stir until it thickens.  Add the beer and the rest of the seasonings, simmer/stir for a few minutes, then add the milk and buttermilk, stirring constantly.  Again, NEVER let this boil...if it starts to, immediately reduce heat and keep stirring, for about 10-15 minutes.  Turn heat to low and add shredded cheese a little at a time, stirring constantly, til all cheese is in and melted.  Salt and pepper to taste, add a little more beer if you like, to taste.  Serve with crumbled bacon sprinkled on top.

Add cheddar a little at a time, stirring constantly.

Additional tip:  If you want your soup really smooth, use an immersion blender at the end to finely puree everything.

Now get out your foam Cheesehead, grab a DVD of the 2011 Super Bowl with the Packers vs. the Steelers, crack a cold one and enjoy a bowl of soup, Sconnie!

Easy Homemade Bagels

I love bagels, pretty much anytime.  I'm a bit of a bagel purist, though.  They're not donuts.  Bagels should not be flavored with berries, cinnamon, fruit or breakfast fare, nor should the cream cheese that goes on them.  If you want a donut, go get one.  If you want Bagels, you've come to the right place!

Yeast Starter is ready to add.

These are easy to make, especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook.  But you can do it fairly easily with a little muscle if you don't have one.  There's no really special ingredients that you probably don't already have on hand and, though there are several steps, it doesn't take more than 90 minutes to have them ready for munching.  And no grocery store bagels will taste anywhere near this good!

Ingredients for 8 bagels:

4 cups of bread flour (or regular flour with 1 T of wheat gluten added...you can save a lot of money by using regular flour and adding the gluten yourself...which is all bread flour is, anyway)
1 T Sugar
1 T Yeast
1 1/2 Cups Water, about 100 degrees (warm to the touch, not burning)

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 T Olive Oil

Begin by making a yeast starter with the warm water, the yeast and sugar.  Put in a 2 or more cup vessel or measuring cup and stir well.  Wait about 10 minutes for it to foam up and make a nice head (see pic).  This will insure that the yeast rises well.

Cut into 8 sections

Mix the dry ingredients well in a large bowl by stirring with a stiff fork or with a stand mixer and dough hook.  I suppose you could do this in a bread machine as well.  Add the oil, then add the yeast/water mixture.  Mix well, then if doing it by hand, knead for about 10 minutes.  If doing it by stand mixer, just let the dough hook do the work for you for about 10 minutes.  The dough should be very stiff, but take on a nice sort of sheen, indicating it's ready for the next step.

Hand-rolling a bagel.

Which is...to let it rest for about 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, gently roll the dough out into a nice, even log and cut it into 8 sections.  Working with one section at a time, roll it out into a 'snake, making the ends thicker than the middle.  Now lay your upturned palm in the center of the snake, about where your fingers meet your palm, then flip the outer ends over your palm, overlapping them.  Flip your hand and the dough over and roll the two overlapping ends together vigorously to seal them together.  This part takes a bit of practice, don't get discouraged if your bagels come apart in the next step, practice makes perfect and I still mess up a bagel or two once in a while.   Once you've formed the bagel, set it aside and go on to the next dough chunk until you have 8 bagels.

Bagels rising while oven preheats and water boils.

Boil bagels 1 minute, then flip and boil 1 more minute.

Wait 20 minutes for the bagels to rise, while you preheat your oven to 425 and set a large pot of water on your stove and bring it to a vigorous boil.  When the bagels have risen for 20 minutes, drop 2 bagels at a time into the boiling water.  Boil for one minute, flip, then boil for another minute.  Then remove to cool.

If you want toppings on your bagels, now is the time to add them.  Spread sesame seeds, poppy seeds, crushed red pepper, minced onion, sea salt or whatever toppings you want thinly on a plate, take one of the boiled bagels and flip upside down into the toppings and remove.   When all of the bagels have been boiled and optionally topped, lay them out on a greased cookie sheet and bake them for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven, flip, then bake for 10 more minutes.  That's it!!!

Topping a bagel with minced onion.

Plain, poppy seed, minced onion and sesame bagels!