Romantic leftovers

So what do you do if you have some strawberries that you left in the fridge over the weekend? The ones in the back were a little frozen, but the others were still good (or at least acceptable for a proof of concept recipe). Alright, so I've got some strawberries and I wanted to see if I could make a romantic little treat for Lupe when she got home from her class. What else is available? There is still some ganache left over from the puff pastry debacle. I also have a little caramel sauce and some white cake frosting....that's a dead end. Ganache it is.

I washed and cored the strawberries and then tossed them with some vanilla sugar and a healthy dash of Grand Marnier. After a short soak, I removed the strawberries from the Grand Marnier. I stuffed each strawberry with a nice little chunk of ganache. After all the strawberries were stuffed I splashed them with a little sweetened strawberry juice and Grand Marnier.

The verdict......MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'll have to make these for Valentine's Day. When I make these for a special occasion there are a few things that I will do.
1. Make fresh ganache. I will pipe soft ganache into the cored strawberries. That will be a lot easier and not nearly as messy as shoving chunks of ganache into the berries.
2. Dip berries in chocolate or drizzle with white or dark choclate
3. Make some green frosting and pipe onto the top to resemble the stem.

I think I'm onto something here. I'll take some pictures when I do this with fresh strawberries.

Catching up again

OK, so I suck at this blogging crap. I've been preoccupied with hunting and shooting of late and I'm only capable of managing one hobby at a time.

I just made the best damn chicken sandwich EVER! It was simple, it was basic, and it was gooooooood. I pounded out a couple of chicken breasts, seasoned them with a special mix of Cayenne and black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder and Kosher salt. I cut the breasts in half and dredged them in a seasoned flour mixture. After an egg wash, the breast pieces went into a mix of seasoned (Italian) bread crumbs and the seasoned flour. These got a quick dunk in the oil jacuzzi to achieve that Zen state of golden-brown and delicious. A quick dry on some paper towels and then the cooling rack. As they were cooling on the rack I topped them with sliced Provolone cheese. I got some crusty buns and slathered them with some ranch dressing and mustard. A few pieces of lettuce and some sliced ripe tomatoes and I had myself one damn good sammich. I know you're thinking that you could get something similar at Wendy's. That may be, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good. Fact. OK....that's my opinion, but it was really good. No pictures ( I ate it too fast). I'll make Lupe a sandwich and get some pictures.

Here are a few other goodies that have come out of the kitchen recently.

Pastastravaganza

I made a stromboli with leftover pizza dough and a meat sauce that I whipped up. I learned a few lessons about stromboli making. Structurally it wasn't perfect, but it was really damn tasty.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

As if one pasta entree wasn't enough, I used up some leftover fettuccini and the rest of the meat sauce. This is the first time I've used my little All-Clad oval bakers since I bought them 8 years ago. I'm glad I got those things on sale.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lamb Kebabs

I cut up a leg a lamb and threw it in a spicy yogurt mixture for a few hours. The lamb went on bamboo skewers with onion, bell and poblano peppers and some par cooked carrots and cauliflower. Bamboo skewers suck. I need to get a bunch of stainless skewers someday. Half the carrots and cauliflower fell off while cooking. The lamb was nice, but not as spicy as I was aiming for. The kebabs were served with a spicy couscous. I know that the couscous looks like it has chicken pox; that's just sriracha sauce. I don't like those squeeze bottle sauce zig-zags that real chefs use on their food. I prefer polka dots. I am confidant that sauce polka dots will be the next big thing in food presentation. Remember.....you saw it here first.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Burgers!

I love burgers, but I just don't make them very often. Von's had 93% lean ground beef on sale so I got about 10 pounds. That's enough to make a couple of burgers....right? I mixed in a little pork Italian sausage and a ton of seasoning (Cayenne & black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley flakes and salt). I think I got an even dozen burgers out of it. Half of the burgers were stuffed with a mix of cheddar and jack cheese. Before heading out to the grill I caramelized some onions and sauteed crimini mushrooms. This mixture went on some of the burgers before I topped them with cheese. As Jules would say: "Hmmm-hhhhhhh! This is a tasty burger."

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Needless to say, we had burgers for the rest of the week.

Comfort food

After the burgers, I had a yearning for some comfort food. And what is more comforting than meatloaf with mac and cheese? So I made some tasty meatloaf and some homemade mac and cheese. The mac n cheese was especially tasty. I used white cheddar and gruyere cheese mixed into a seasoned bechamel sauce. Along with the mac and loaf I also made some asparagus. I did a few wrapped in bacon and roasted in the oven and steamed the rest.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Catching up

Another lost month. Where does the time go? I have figured out that I can only sustain one obsession at a time. Sometimes I can juggle two for brief periods, but not for long. When I get a new interest, the others get crowded out for a while. The past month or two has been all about shooting and hunting. I've been spending a lot of time at the range, cleaning weapons after trips to the range, hiking to get ready for hunting, reading and viewing everything I can about hunting, and researching areas for the upcoming draws. Not a whole lot of time left for kayaking, fishing and cooking. That's just me; I get wrapped up in one thing and everything else falls by the wayside. It's not to say that I haven't cooked anything. I have knocked out a few nice meals over the last month; however, I just haven't documented anything.

We had a big party up at Casa Lopez for Emily and Jenny's first communion. I made 50lbs of taco meat (carnitas, pork with chile verde, and chicken) and did all the prep work on the veggies. After dicing uncounted pounds of tomatoes, jalapenos and onions I started to notice some apparent carpal tunnel symptoms in my right hand. I've had numbness and various other problems ever since I began paddling, but this is the first time it has ever happened while working with a knife. I'm not happy about that. One more thing that sucks about getting old. So we made a ton of food in expectation of having 75 guests. The party was advertised to start at about 2pm. By five in the afternoon only 10-15 people had arrived. I had six 9" X 13" pans full of taco meat holding in the oven. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out. Eventually, more friends and relatives showed up. I think we ended up with 25-30. Since we started early and the party went late, most of us had tacos for lunch and dinner. We also had tacos for brunch and dinner the next day. Lupe and I took a pound or two of taco meat home with us. Amazingly, there was still upwards of twenty pounds left in the fridge at the in-laws house.

Lupe really was the star of the party weekend. She made cakes for the first communion and for Stephanie's birthday. As always, the cakes were beautiful and well received. Jenny and Emily's cake was a two-tier multi-layer cake. Lupe made each tier with alternating white and strawberry cake layers. There was cream cheese filling and sliced strawberries between each layer

From Family photos for web

Stephanie's cake was chocolate with a cream cheese and strawberry filling.

From Family photos for web

I'm proud of my little cake lady. She is getting very good at this.

From Family photos for web

THE OTHER STUFF

I am normally not a big breakfast eater. I would have to say that breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day. I am not a big fan of most breakfast favorites. Given half a chance, I'd rater just eat a sandwich for breakfast. That being said, there are some traditional breakfast items that I enjoy. Steak and eggs is my favorite breakfast meal. I don't have it often (its been 2 or 3 years since the last time I made it), but when I do, it is something special. This time was no exception. I had just picked up a bunch of nice ribeye steaks that were on sale at the local market. I got 7 and vacuum-packed 6 of them. We'll break these out every once in a while for special grilling occasions. So, what to do with the odd leftover steak? It was only 7:30am and I really didn't want to run out to the BBQ grills. An idea started to form. Like waves of cholesterol crashing on a French fry shore, the plan started sweeping through my brain. A quick check revealed eggs in the fridge, along with some mushrooms. There was a nice, little sweet yellow onion in the pantry. All the ingredients were present. The stars were aligned and all was well in the world. My jaw and left arm got all tingly in anticipation of a true carnivore's breakfast. Quickly, I got to work. The ribeye was seasoned with the Santa Maria mix that I had made for the tri-tips. I quickly sliced the onion and mushrooms. I got a couple of cast iron pans going on the stove and I was just about ready to go. The onions started to saute in some duck fat and butter. Yeah, I said it. Duck fat and butter. My cardiologist can kiss my ass. I don't actually have a cardiologist (yet), but, if I did, he could kiss my pasty white ass. When the onions softened a bit and got some color I tossed in the mushrooms. Then the steak went into a nice, hot cast iron pan. Sizzle, sizzle, smoke, smoke. I flipped the steak and then dropped two eggs in the center of the pan with the onions and mushrooms. There is only one way to have eggs when you make steak and eggs; sunny side up. The best part of steak and eggs is when the yolk runs down the meat and mixes with the juice. You are then required by law to soak up the yolk-meat juice sauce with toast. I'm serious; it's the law. You have to do it. OK, so the steak is done and goes on the plate to rest. I just happened to have a bleu cheese sauce left over from the tri-tip extravaganza. A little of the sauce went on the steak, followed by the sauteed onions and mushrooms. On top of it all, like a runny yellow crown, the fried eggs. A couple of pieces of toasted Hawaiian bread and I had a breakfast.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Not only was this the best damn steak n' eggs I've ever had, it was also very filling. Lunchtime rolled around and I think I was still sleeping off breakfast. Diner.....nah, I'm still kinda full. Skipped breakfast the next day too. The way I look at it, it was a very economical meal. I felt like the great white that eats a 1300lb elephant seal and then swims to Hawaii and back to work it off.

Next up was French onion soup. I'm not a big fan of soups; however I have always liked French onion soup. Let me qualify that statement. I like well-prepared French onion soup; not that powdered crap in the foil package that my mom used to get all the time. I think she would actually eat that junk as soup. The only thing I would use it for was seasoning in meatloaf and dips. I only made French onion soup from scratch one time previously. It was not a great success. It was early in my cooking career and I didn't know much. This time was much more satisfactory. I saw Chef John make this on his Food Wishes blog and I thought I should give it a shot. A quick trip to Henry's Market for onions, Gruyere and a baguette and I'm set. This is probably the easiest soup I've ever made. The key is the long, slow caramelization on the onions.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I did mine with a 75/25% mix of beef to chicken stock.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lupe loved it. This is one of those great 'cold day in winter' recipes.

Next up was asparagus wrapped in black pork belly. I was at Zion Market and they had great deals on asparagus and sliced pork belly. We used most of the pork belly and asparagus at the in-laws, but had a little left over. Not wanting to waste any, I came up with a quick idea. I removed all the little bits of cartilage from the belly and then wrapped the asparagus. The wrapped spears were seasoned with sea salt and some Korean red chili powder.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I cooked them on the BBQ grill for a few minutes until the pork was cooked and the asparagus tender. This makes a nice, little appetizer and the presentation will knock out your diners....especially the guys. A lot of guys aren't down with the grilled veg, but if it looks like veg wrapped in bacon you got no problems.

BTW: Chef John just posted a video for prosciutto-wrapped asparagus on his blog today. Totally ripped off from me. Even though I haven't posted any pics until today, I know that he was inspired by me. Maybe he was driving through San Diego and smelled my cooking. That has to be it. No other way he could have come up with it.

And finally, Chicago-style deep dish pizza. I have never made pizza from scratch before. I've always wanted to, but I'm not friends with dough. I have a bad track record with making dough. I'm so crappy at making dough I've developed a dough phobia. The thought of touching a sticky ball of flour gives me the heebee jeebees. I've suffered from this terrible affliction for some time now. Something had to be done. I couldn't let my fears control me. So, I'm watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Channel and they have this episode about pizza. Duff Goldman's pick was the deep dish pizza from Gino's East in Chicago. I ate there when I was at Great Lakes Naval Training Center and I would have to agree that it is the best pizza ever. This is what I needed to overcome my fears. I spun into action and grabbed the KitchenAid. I was not going to let dough rule my life; I was going to RULE pizza dough. For a first effort, this pizza dough turned out OK. I think I need a little more salt in it the next time. I also underestimated the amount of dough I'd need. The bottom crust turned out pretty good, but the top crust was too thin. That and too much sauce on the top pretty much dissolved the top crust in places. Still, it looked good and tasted great.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The filling and the sauce were awesome. I pre-cooked some hot Italian sausage until it was nicely browned. Then I quickly sauteed some sliced onions and crimini mushrooms in the pan drippings. I didn't cook them all the way through; just enough to soften them a little. After the bottom crust went into the spring-form pan I laid down some shredded mozzarella. The sausage, onions, mushrooms and sliced olives went in and were topped with a little more grated mozzarella, Swiss and Parmesan. I put the top crust on and crimped the edges. On top of this went some fresh tomato sauce that I just made. I finished the pizza with shredded mozzarella, Colby-jack and grated Parmesan cheese. Forty minutes at 375 and we had one helluva pizza.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Pizza sauce:

1/2 medium yellow onion diced
1 shallot diced
5 garlic cloves mashed to paste
2-3 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
6oz tomato paste
28oz San Marzano tomatoes
3/4 cup red wine (Chianti)
2 cup beef stock
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
salt and pepper to taste

The onion and shallot is sauteed in a pork fat. Add garlic after onion and shallot are translucent and saute for 30 seconds. Add Italian seasoning, parsley, chili flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Deglaze with the chianti. Reduce chianti until the pan is almost dry and then add tomato paste. Once the tomato paste is completely incorporated, add the beef stock in small increments (1/4-1/3 cup at a time). Reduce until the sauce thickens and add more stock. Continue until all stock has been added and the sauce is rich and thick. Add tomatoes, sugar and baking soda and thoroughly mix. Simmer sauce until reduced to desired consistency. Salt as necessary.

Smoked paprika

I gave my sister Lori a jar of smoked paprika when she came down to visit last month. Yesterday she asks me, "What do you use smoked paprika for?" My response was anything and everything. I guess I just got carried away with smoked paprika after reading some Spanish cookbooks. I'll be the first to admit that I use an awful lot of smoked paprika and Cayenne pepper. Those are my 'go-to' seasonings. I use that combo on meat, fish, poultry, veggies; basically everything. I love the combination of heat and smokiness.

After going for a 5 mile walk in the hills through Mission Trails Park, it was a little too late for a big, involved dinner. I also neglected to get a protein, so that pretty much ruled out a regular meal. No problem. Even I can make a vegetarian dish every now and then. I didn't want it too vegetarian, so I made sure that there was duck fat and beef broth involved.

The prep:

3 carrots-sliced
1 small cauliflower with florets cut into 1" pieces
1/2 cup cauliflower leaves-sliced
1/2 onion-sliced
3 green onions-sliced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons of duck fat
1 tablespoon of butter

I heated the pan on medium and melted the duck fat. The carrot slices were the first in the pan. After the carrots were tender and had caramelized a little, I added the cauliflower. The cauliflower was sauteed until there was a some color on most of the florets. In went the cauliflower leaves, onion slices and green onion. After everything softened up a little I made a space in the center of the pan. The butter went in the center of the pan followed by the mushroom slices. As the mushrooms sauteed, I added the seasoning. I used my Santa Maria spice mix (salt, black pepper, garlic powder and parsley) and the old standby; Cayenne and smoked paprika. The pan was then deglazed with white wine. Once the wine had mostly evaporated I added the beef stock. This was reduced until nearly evaporated. If I had any cream in the fridge, I would have made a nice little cream sauce to boot. Oh well; it was very tasty even without the cream sauce. I actually put a little chimichurri sauce on my veggies. It just goes to show; with the help of a little duck fat you can even make a vegetarian dish taste good.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Duck !!!

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I have cooked duck a couple of times in the past. The results were mediocre. At the time I had only a rudimentary understanding of how to make duck. I've done a lot of research since and I think I've got a much better idea of how to properly cook duck. After watching Chef John Mitzewich's Duck 'Two Ways' recipe, I thought I'd give it a try. I started by breaking down the duck.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The legs, thighs and wings were seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme and parsley, drizzled with olive oil and then wrapped in foil. I roasted the dark meat pieces in a 350 degree oven for two hours, until the meat was almost falling off the bone. Wrapping the duck in foil contains the rendered fat and produces what is basically a confit.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

When tender, the dark meat pieces were removed from the foil and set aside. I cut the duck skin into small squares and rendered them down in a cast iron pan. Chicharrones de pato......I made up something new (I think). The crispy skin pieces we drained salted and seasoned with Cayenne pepper.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I put the leftover duck fat to good use. I had prepared some diced new potatoes and onion wedges. The potatoes and onions were seasoned with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, parsley, rosemary, and Cayenne pepper. I seared the potatoes and onions in some of the duck fat.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

After I got some color on the potatoes, the pan went into a 450 degree oven to finish and crisp up.

Next step was sauteing asparagus in a little duck fat and butter. I had sweated some sliced shallot in the pan before tossing in the asparagus. Once I got some color on the asparagus, I deglazed with white wine and then added chicken stock. The asparagus finished cooking uncovered while I started on the duck breasts.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The duck breasts were seared in a cast iron pan. I did them for about five minutes per side on medium-high. Once the breasts had a nice sear on them, I pulled them off to rest. The legs and thighs went into the pan for a few minutes to crisp the skin.

By the time the legs and thighs had a nice crispy finish everything else was ready. The potatoes and onions came out of the oven and were tossed with the pieces of crispy duck skin. Everything was given a sprinkle of Parmesan and Romano cheese and a little chopped Italian parsley.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The asparagus was tender and the stock had reduced down to a rich thick sauce. Added a little butter and it was ready to go.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I sliced the duck breast into medallions and drizzled them with a blueberry/raspberry gastrique.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

This was just about the best thing I've ever done. Probably not the healthiest meal, but undoubtedly one of the tastiest.

A la carte

I've been busy the last couple of weeks and haven't taken the time to write up anything. Here is a quick run-down.

I went on quick roadie to Monterey two weeks ago. Driving by all those roadside produce stands around Castroville and Moss Landing made me soooooo hungry. I just couldn't resist stopping to load up on fruit and veggies. Luckily, I had taken an extra cooler with me because I was planning on doing some fishing. The weather wouldn't cooperate, so I had plenty of cooler space. My roadside bounty included some beautiful strawberries, blood oranges and baby artichoke. I had almost forgotten what fresh strawberries smell like. I am so used to the dreck that they sell at the supermarkets; half green, woody and NO smell or flavor. These strawberries smelled delicious and were perfectly ripe. The blood oranges were sweet and juicy. I haven't had blood oranges in a long time, and these were well worth the wait.

The weekend I got back, Lupe's sister, Lorena, and her niece, Emily, came down to visit. This gave me a reason to try some new things for dinner. I boned some chicken breasts and marinated them in a mixture of blood orange juice, cider vinegar, olive oil, chile (ancho/California) and spices (cumin, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper). I grilled these up with some apple chips providing the smokiness. The chicken was accompanied by oven-fried papas y cebollas. I seasoned and breaded diced potato and onion and then placed it on a cookie sheet in a 375 oven until the potatoes were almost done. I then put the cookie sheet under a 500 broiler to crisp up the breading. These turn out spicy and crispy; very yummy. I had to scramble for a vegetable to go with this. The chiller was full of chile and not much more. I decided to make a spicy ratatouille of sorts. I started by sauteing sliced onions and a little garlic. Then I added sliced chile (Anaheim, poblano and jalapeno). After everything had some time to sweat, I mixed in a small can of tomatoes and some salsa ranchera. This mixture was simmered down until most of the liquid had evaporated. A little crumbled cotija cheese on top adds some saltiness and tang.

Now that I am documenting my cooking efforts, I have begun to notice a dominant theme: REDDISH-ORANGE. The majority of our meals are on the red end of the spectrum. Must be the obligatory use of chile on everything from meat to veggies.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

I suck as a pastry cook. No matter what I try, it turns into a big mess; a multi-layered, whipped cream-covered abomination of Herculean proportions. I just don't have the eye for composition or the artistic skills needed to make beautiful desserts. As messy as they are, they are crowd pleasers. After all; who wouldn't want an 8" pile of ice cream, berries, shortcake and whipped cream, topped with a brandy caramel sauce. So it doesn't look good; who cares. I'm not trying to impress Gael Greene or a bunch of pretentious foodies; just my family and friends.

OK, I got that out of my system. Here is the yummy, but messy berry shortcake.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lupe piped the whipped cream around the base of the shortcake. I filled the shortcake with mandarin oranges and blueberries. I made an orange/Grand Marnier cream sauce to put on the shortcake (but I forgot it). On top of the orange-berry mixture went a scoop of French vanilla ice cream, topped with more whipped cream and strawberries macerated in Grand Marnier and vanilla sugar.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

As you can see, my efforts fall somewhere in the dessert continuum between Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor and the Cheesecake Factory. Big flavor and big ugly. At least Emily liked it.

Peruvian-style ceviche

Well, I finally reached the end of the white seabass. I wanted to try something a little different with the last few pieces. I've seen a lot about Peruvian-style ceviche lately and I thought I'd give it a go. I had no idea that ceviche was such a big deal in Peru until I saw Tony Bourdain's No Reservations on that country. After hearing so much about it, I found Chef John Mitzewich's recipe for Peruvian-style ceviche on Food Wishes.

For my version of this ceviche I used white seabass, shrimp and scallops. I had about 2lbs of white seabass, and a pound each of 21-30 shrimp and large scallops.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The white seabass was mostly from the tail ends of the fillets.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The scallops were very good sized and extremely tasty

It took almost a full butt-load of limes to get enough juice to marinate all the seafood.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Lupe and I did the laundry while the fish marinated. By the time we got all the clean clothes folded, the ceviche was almost ready to eat. It was drained and then I added the orange juice-olive oil dressing. I put a little Castillo Salsa Marisquera in with the citrus emulsion for some heat. I finished up by adding the cilantro, jalapeno, salt and pepper.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

We served the ceviche in some frosty cold little flan cups. Some crispy tostadas are used to scoop up the ceviche. Lupe went one step beyond and smeared a little guacamole on the tostada, added some ceviche and then splashed on some salsa marisquera. Soooooo good! The orange juice-olive oil emulsion really makes this ceviche. Lupe wasn't completely sold on the whole raw fish ceviche concept. She makes a killer ceviche, but uses cooked shrimp and crab meat. All it took was one spoonful of this ceviche and she was a believer. A big thank you goes to Chef John and Peru for this fantastic ceviche.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Heading out in a couple hours to see if I can get some more WSB.

Need to catch more fish

The never ending white seabass has almost run out. My sister Lori came to visit and I had to make her some fish. I was at the Fred Hall Show most of the day, so I had to throw together something quick when I got home. I decided to do the pan-seared WSB with spicy tomato sauce again. I had three large steaks left, so I thawed those out and seasoned them with olive oil, Cayenne pepper, smoked paprika and black pepper. The spicy tomato sauce (salsa) that accompanied the fish was pretty basic stuff.

1/2 yellow onion - diced
1/2 red onion - diced
2 jalapeno - diced
5 cloves garlic - minced
3 cups tomato - diced
1/2 cup sherry
1 cup fish base
Cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, black pepper, salt to taste

Sautee the onion and jalapeno in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and sautee for 1 minute. Add Cayenne, paprika, black pepper and salt and then deglaze pan with the sherry. When most of the liquid has evaporated add fish base. Add tomato and cook on medium heat until all the veggies have broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add water if necessary for proper consistency.

Heat pan on medium-high. Add olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Place WSB steaks in pan when butter stops foaming. Sear steaks on each side. Add spicy tomato salsa to pan and finish cooking the fish. Turn fish during cooking to coat all sides.

Shrimp diablo
2 cups of shrimp - shelled
1/2 cup white onion - diced
1/2 cup green onion - thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 tablespoons of butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
Cayenne pepper, paprika, salt pepper to taste

Heat pan on Med-Hi. Add olive oil and butter. Sautee onion and white portion of green onions until soft and then add garlic. Add seasoning, salt and pepper. Add shrimp, tossing to cook on both sides until almost opaque. Add wine and reduce. Add cream and reduce until thick. It may be necessary to remove shrimp before sauce has reduced all the way. Pour sauce over shrimp.


Lupe made calabacita.
1/2 yellow onion - sliced
1/2 red onion - diced
3 jalapeno - 1 sliced/2 diced
3 cups tomatoes - diced
4-5 large calabacita squash - 1/2" pieces
1 cube caldo de pollo (chicken bouillon)

Sautee onion and jalapeno. When onion and jalapeno are soft add tomato and stir through. Add calabacita squash. Add cube of bouillon. Simmer on medium until the calabasita is cooked through, but not quite soft.

Papas fritas al horno

6-8 medium red potatoes - diced
1 Anaheim chile - sliced into thin rings
1/2 yellow onion - large dice
1 cup Mexican seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cayenne pepper and Italian seasoning mix

Dice potato and toss in olive. Add bread crumbs, seasoning and Parmesan cheese and toss. Spread on a cookie sheet and place in a pre-heated 375 degree oven. Bake until almost fork tender. Set oven to broil at 500 degrees. Finish cooking until potatoes are fork-tender inside and crispy on the outside.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Orange shortcake with ice cream

I had to come up with a dessert recipe on the fly. We had some shortcake cups and some vanilla ice cream with strawberry. A quick check of the pantry revealed a can of mandarin oranges as well. That was enough to come up with something. I made the ice cream last week. I just made the standard French vanilla ice cream and I added chunks of diced strawberry right at the end of the stirring time. Rather than get a strawberry ice cream it was more of a vanilla ice cream with frozen strawberry chunks. It sounds weird, but it was like having little strawberry candies in a vanilla ice cream. I took the mandarin oranges out of the can and put the syrup in a sauce pan. I added some vanilla-scented sugar, a splash of vanilla, a dash of cinnamon and a healthy amount of dark rum. This mixture reduced down until it was a very thick syrup. I put a layer of the mandarin oranges in the shortcake cup and topped it with a scoop of ice cream. I drizzled the hot syrup over the ice cream and put the last few mandarin orange segments on top. The hot syrup melted some of the ice cream and the mixture soaked into the shortcake. Yummy to the highest power. Lupe liked it.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Ten days of white seabass

A casual glance at the date of my last post will confirm that I've been slackin. At least I have a semi-decent excuse for neglecting the blogs.........FISHING! Yes, I'm back on the kayak and doing some fishing. Go check out The Overloaded Kayak to get the gory details. I've spent a lot of hours on the water of late. Some of that time has actually been successful. On Friday, March 12th, I caught a 46.5lb white seabass.

From The Overloaded Kayak Images

As you might imagine, filleting a large fish in a small kitchen is a pain in the keister.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Just a little bit bigger than my (soon to be destroyed) cutting board.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

So what do you do with 20+ pounds of white seabass? That's what I was trying to figure out. After a long day on the water (9 hours+), a bunch of post-fishing tasks and filleting this beast, I was in no mood to cook much. In trying to get the head off I also accidentally cut my favorite cutting board in two. The last chop with the cleaver went through the spine and the board in one mighty crack. I ran out to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a new cutting board and then hit the store for some veg and herbs. Before I left I had broken down the spine into some manageable pieces. I loaded the carcass in my biggest stock pot and filled it with water. As I was out at the store, Lupe added some onion, garlic and carrots and brought the pot up to a simmer. By the time I got back, the remaining meat on the carcass had cooked perfectly. I removed all the meat from the bones and then continued simmering the stock. I added some parsnips and parsley and some seasoning at this time. The pot was kept simmering until it had reduced down quite a bit. It was after 2 in the morning by the time I took it off the stove and strained the stock. I took half of the stock and reduced it down until 10 in the morning. By that time I had a very concentrated liquid. I don't know if it was technically still a stock or a fish base. I'll call it a base. This went into ice cube trays. After the base had frozen, I vacuum-packed the cubes; two or three to a pack. I now have enough fish base for the rest of the year. The other half of the stock went into a soup. I sauteed some diced onion, carrots and parsnips. Once they had some color on them I added some asparagus stocks, cut into 1 inch pieces. I tossed in some Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and a half a lemon for flavor. This was simmered until nearly tender and then I added the asparagus tips and then some parsley. When all the veggies were tender I returned the meat to the pot. I put some in a travel container for Lupe to take for lunch. I'm not a big fan of clear soups, but this was very good. The asparagus really made the soup. The fact that it was chocked full o' fish was also a plus. I served the soup with some big chunks of sourdough bread. Perfect.

Day 2 - grilled collar

I marinated the collar pieces and the belly in some teriyaki and sriracha. I added some extra mirin into the mix for basting. The collars and belly were grilled on the gas BBQ. I basted the pieces with the marinade every few minutes during cooking. I took the collars off when the meat had just turned opaque. Good stuff. I ate both collars by myself. I didn't mean to do that, but that's the way it worked out. Lupe was really hungry when she got home and didn't want to wait for me to finish my prep. She had a bowl of soup before I knew what she was doing. She assured me that she would have a little of the collar with me. I'm not sure if she was ready for the collar. She wasn't really digging the fact that I had left the fins on. By the time I was done grilling, Lupe was knocked out on the couch ( I had kept her up late the night before with the all-night cooking session). I put the grilled collars down on the kitchen counter and went to set the table for us. Each time I walked by the fish I would sneak a little piece. Before long, I had forgotten about setting the table and just camped out by the fish. Next thing I know, I had eaten all the fish. It was that good. I couldn't stop myself. That was probably the best fish I've ever had. When Lupe woke up to go to bed she asked me what happened to the fish. I was tempted to make up some excuse for eating all of it, but I couldn't. I just had to explain to her how good it was. "Sorry, Honey. I'm a pig."

Day 3 fish tacos

Most people use calico bass, sand bass or white fish for fish tacos. I don't think there is a law against using white seabass, but at $16/lb, most people don't. I figured it would make some damn good tacos. We were heading up to the in-laws for the day, so I took several vacuum packs of the WSB. As luck would have it, they were having a party for one of Lupe's nieces. Perfect reason to make fish tacos. I stopped by North Gate to get some things that I would need. While I was there I picked up 2lbs of shrimp. I wasn't sure how many fish tacos I could get out of the stuff that I had brought up with me, so I wanted to have something extra. We made a healthy, low-cal dinner for Lupe's parents before we started on the fish tacos. I pan seared some seasoned fillet pieces and topped them with a little salsa fresca. This was served with steamed broccoli. After that was done we got busy prepping for the tacos. The fish was cut into strips and seasoned with Mexican seafood seasoning and salsa. I made the sauce from mayonesa, crema agria, lime juice and seafood seasoning. Lupe thinly sliced a head of cabbage and red onions. I made a big batch of salsa fresca, cut about a million lime wedges and diced a half dozen avocado. When we were ready we set up the breading assembly line. Since the fish pieces were in a wet marinade, I wanted to dust them with flour first. From the flour they went to the egg wash and then into a bowl of Mexican seasoned bread crumbs and panko. The panko gave a very nice crunch to the finished product. The combination of marinating and using seasoned bread crumbs resulted in an extremely flavorful fish stick. In addition to the fish, we also breaded and fried the shrimp. These were absolutely awesome.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

As we fried the fish and shrimp, my sister-in-law Carmen warmed up a couple hundred corn tortillas. If you have never had fish tacos, this is how you make them. You put a piece of the fried fish on a tortilla, add some cabbage, a dollop of sauce, then top with onions, salsa, avocado and a squeeze of lime.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Now that's a Baja-style fish taco. Good stuff. I don't know if they make shrimp tacos in Baja. If not, I will claim that recipe as my creation. Both were fantastic. I even got the certified authentic Mexican thumbs up from the family.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Day 4 Burgers ( I didn't want to burn out on fish)

Day 5 Pan seared WSB with Fettuccine

I wanted to test the fish base to see how it would work. The fish was simply seasoned with lemon, pepper, Cayenne and smoked paprika and pan seared. Fettuccine was dunked as I worked on the sauce. For the sauce I sauteed onion, shallot and garlic with a little Italian seasoning. The pan was deglazed with white wine. Once most of the wine had reduced down, I added two cubes of the fish base and a little water to get the desired consistency. Once the sauce had tightened up a bit I added a splash of cream. I then drained the pasta and added it to the sauce. A couple of quick tosses and it was ready to serve.

Day 6 Pan seared WSB in a spicy salsa with asparagus

I wanted to try a Mexican twist on the fish this time. The prep was the most time consuming part of the whole meal.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

You can never have enough prep bowls and ramekins. The sliced onions were for the asparagus. Diced onions, jalapeno, tomato, sliced green onion, finely chopped cilantro, and minced garlic were all for the salsa. The fish was seasoned with a Mexican seafood mix. I started by giving the asparagus a quick sautee in a little olive oil. The asparagus was seasoned with some sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Once the asparagus started getting a little color I tossed in the onion slices and a little minced shallot. In another pan I sauteed the diced onion, jalapeno and garlic. I used some ground chili, Cayenne, black pepper, sea salt and paprika for seasoning. After the onion and jalapeno were soft I added the green onion. Next into the pan was the diced tomato. Finally, two cubes of fish base and a little water. I turned up the heat and let it reduce down. By this time the onion in the asparagus had softened. I deglazed the pan with white wine and then added some chicken stock. I let this reduce uncovered as the asparagus finished cooking.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

The fish went in a separate pan for searing. I deliberately cooked the fish separately. I wanted the salsa to cook down quite a bit. The fish would have overcooked if I had tried doing everything in one pan. I seared the fish on each side and then tossed it into the salsa pan to finish cooking. This gave me the nice, crusty sear on the sides and allowed the sauce to penetrate into the fish. The fish was served with asparagus and some fettuccine (with some bay scallops added for texture).

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Day 6 Leftovers - I ain't proud and they're yummy

Day 7 Mediterranean WSB

WSB steaks marinated in olive oil and lemon juice with some Italian seasoning. Thanks to Yani for his tips on this one. I went Italian instead of Greek, but the idea was the same. I'll try the Greek style soon enough. I had just gone to Filippi's Italian Grocery in Little Italy to get some Cento San Marzano tomatoes and I felt compelled to do an Italian-style dish. I was dying to try Chef John's tomato sauce recipe and this seemed like a good opportunity. I made the tomato sauce and it lived up to expectation (Chef John kicks ass). The fish got a quick turn in the pan with a little olive oil and butter. I made some linguini to go along with the fish. The linguini was topped with a little of the tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. I think I covered all of Italy with this one. I decided to use spinach for the veg. I sauteed some shallots and a little garlic and then deglazed with a splash of white wine. Two bunches of spinach were tossed in the pan and then I added some chicken stock. After the spinach had cooked down I threw in some toasted pine nuts. All in all, a very satisfying meal.

From The Hollow Leg Diner - images

Day 8 More leftovers (spent 11 hours on the water and was in no mood to cook when I got home)

I've got three steaks and three tail-section fillets left. The steaks are going to get the Yani treatment. Everything that he has posted on Big Water's Edge looks so good I have to try the Greek-style. The rest is going to be used for a Peruvian style ceviche.