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Monday, September 28, 2015

Sausage Gravy



Sausage gravy  is one of my youngest sons most requested food anytime of the day. Sausage gravy is a breakfast dish traditionally serve with biscuits. It can be served with fried eggs, bacon and sliced tomatoes. If you heard of SOS, also known as shit on a shingle, this is it. That is what they call it in the military.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lbs  sausage
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 3 cups milk
  • white bread or biscuit


Direction:

  1. Crumble sausage into large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. stirring frequently. Set Aside.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium-low. In the same sauce pan, melt the butter.
  3. Sprinkle flour into the melted butter, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly
  4. Gradually stir in milk, stirring constantly. Add the sausage.
  5. Cook the sausage gravy, stirring frequently with wire whisk.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Continue cooking until very thick and luscious. If it gets too thick, just add more milk.
  8. Serve hot on top of  the bread.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Cooking Terms



Culinary art is the art of the preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. In a professional kitchens the students begin with fundamentals like the proper use of kitchen tools and refining cooking skills and preparation techniques. Students are not only taught how to make perfect steak, but how to combine this mouthwatering food with operating a food service establishment . The following are the basic cooking methods.

bake. To cook foods by surrounding them with hot, dry air. Similar to roast, but the term bake usually applies to breads,pastries,vegetables,and fish.

barbecue. (1) To cook with dry heat created by the burning of hardwood or by the hot coals of this wood.(2) Loosely, to cook over hot coals,such as on a grill or spit,often with a seasoned marinade or basting sauce.

blanch. To cook an item partially and very briefly in boiling water or in hot fat. Usually a pre-preparation technique, as to loosen peels of vegetables, fruits, and nuts, to partially cook French fries or other foods before service, to prepare for freezing,or to remove undesirable flavors.

boil. To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling rapidly, about 212°F (100°C) at sea level and at normal pressure.

braise. (1) To cook covered in a small amount of liquid, usually after preliminary

browning. (2) To cook certain vegetables slowly in a small amount of liquid without preliminary browning.

broil. To cook with radiant heat from above.

deep-fry. To cook submerged in hot fat.

deglaze. To swirl a liquid in a sauté pan,roast pan,or other pan to dissolve cooked particles of food remaining on the bottom.

dry-heat cooking methods. Methods in which heat is conducted to foods without the use of moisture.

fry. To cook in hot fat.

glaze. To give shine to the surface of a food by applying a sauce, aspic, sugar, or icing,and/or by browning or melting under a broiler or salamander or in an oven.

griddle. To cook on a flat, solid cooking surface called a griddle.

grill. To cook on an open grid over a heat source.

moist-heat cooking methods. Methods in which heat is conducted to foods by water or other liquid (except fat) or by steam.

pan-broil. To cook uncovered in a skillet or sauté pan without fat.

pan-fry. To cook in a moderate amount of fat in an uncovered pan.

(en) papillote. Wrapped in paper (or sometimes foil) for cooking so the enclosed food is steamed in its own moisture.

parboil. To cook partially in a boiling or simmering liquid.

parcook. To cook partially by any method.

poach. To cook gently in water or other liquid that is hot but not actually bubbling, about 160°F to 180°F (71°C to 82°C).

reduce. To cook by simmering or boiling until the quantity of liquid is decreased, often to concentrate flavors.

roast. To cook foods by surrounding them with hot,dry air in an oven or on a spit in front of an open fire.

sauté. To cook quickly in a small amount of fat, usually while mixing or tossing the foods by occasionally flipping the pan.
sear. To brown the surface of a food quickly at a high temperature.

simmer. To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling gently, about 185°F to 205°F (85°C to 96°C).

smoke-roasting. To cook with dry heat in the presence of smoke, as on a rack over wood chips in a covered pan.

steam. To cook by direct contact with steam.

stew. To simmer or braise a food or foods in a small amount of liquid, which is usually served with the food as a sauce.

stir-fry. To cook quickly in a small amount of fat by tossing cut-up foods in a wok or pan with spatulas or similar implements.Similar to sauté,except that the pan is stationary.

sweat. To cook slowly in fat without browning,sometimes under a cover.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Morcon



This recipe is one of my mother's best dish. I grew up watching her cooking food from scratch. Morcon is a meal usually served during special occassion like Christmas.  It is a meat roll stuffed with  hot dogs, carrots, pickles, cheese, and boiled egg and cooked slowly in tomato sauce.


Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs beef eye of round or flank steak, ¾ inch thick in one piece
  • 1  beef cubes dissolved in 
  • 3 cups water or beef stock
  • 1 piece lemon
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
  • 1 piece medium sized carrot, cut into long strips
  • 3 pieces hot dogs, cut into 4 long strip
  • 2 pieces dill pickle, cut into 4 long strips or 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
  • 3 pieces hard boiled eggs, sliced
  • 3 ounces cheddar cheese, cut in strips (about ½ inch thick)
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Marinate the beef in soy sauce and lemon juice for at least 1 hour.
  2. Place the beef in a flat surface and arrange the hot dogs, pickle, carrot, cheese, and egg.
  3. Roll the beef enclosing the fillings.
  4. Tie with a cooking string to ensure that the meat will not open-up.
  5. Dredge the rolled beef into flour to coat. Remove excess flour.
  6. In a saucepan, heat cooking oil and brown the surface of the rolled beef quickly. Set aside.
  7. Saute onion and garlic in the same saucepan. Add the browned beef, beef stock, tomato sauce,  soy sauce-lemon juice marinade, salt and pepper. Let boil.
  8. Simmer until the beef is tender and the sauce thickens (about 2 hours using). Add more water or stock if needed.
  9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  10. When done, remove the strings and slice into serving pieces. Pour sauce on top.


Saturday, September 12, 2015

Cucumber Salsa



Ingredients:

  • 1 cup peeled, seeded, chopped cucumber
  • 1 cup chopped, seeded tomatoes
  • 1⁄2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh dill weed
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper


Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients. 
  2. Season according to your taste.
  3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour.