tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74078352024-03-14T06:16:29.948+01:00Will's EatsAlongside 66… Board-and-bat shacks. Two gasoline pumps in front, a screen door, a long bar, stools, and a foot rail. …willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-75600945303710859092010-01-18T17:45:00.000+01:002010-01-20T17:48:22.577+01:00Melon Granita : Cantaloupe with Cantaloupe-Ice It was in August that I made this.   You can see how the sliver of cantaloupe is cleverly sliced along the skin and that the vertical cuts made through the flesh; with the pieces pushed in alternating directions.  You’ve seen this a hundred times at restaurants.   It’s a little bit decorative and very simple.  People seem to like it. The granita (kind of a lumpy willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-51627399038706440482010-01-17T15:42:00.000+01:002010-01-19T15:48:08.878+01:00Caramelized OnionsBefore: After: These are julienned (sliced) onions (two of them); pan fried slowly in olive oil (I use first cold pressed virgin for almost everything but this does not demand the very best – and I use it somewhat generously, as you can see).  Brown until they’re almost a jam texture. This could take a half hour, easily; probably more. Add 1 t white wine vinegar and some salt to willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-80171043911711250432010-01-16T19:50:00.004+01:002010-01-16T20:09:16.478+01:00Ensalada : Salad
Eat healthy once in a while. Then… add some cheese. This is an at-home version of a salad that I used to do in a restaurant.
Mixed salad greens (gourmet style blend)
1/2ed cherry tomatoes, cut horizontally (I put the halves face-up to catch the dressing, in the restaurant we put them face down)
goat cheese (chevre) , slightly microwaved to just melt it a little (several small willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-6335813652578831922010-01-15T23:44:00.002+01:002010-01-16T12:51:48.396+01:00Saté Pork : SatayI buy pork (and beef and chicken) in largish chunks, pre-cut it, bag it in meal-sized quantities and freeze it. The pre-cut bit is important to me for later usability. When I want a quick lunch I don’t want to have to thaw then trim and dice my meats. This was a stir-fry cut pack of pork.
Brown the meat real well. Not to the point where it’s simply “not red” but to where the meat has some willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-15011963720437426002010-01-14T14:58:00.001+01:002010-01-14T20:04:19.540+01:00Sloppy Joes of a sort : Curried Chilied Ground BeefThis will be the last uitsmijter post for a while. It happens that this one reminds me of sloppy joes. Do you remember sloppy joes? My mom used to make them often and we thought they were quite a treat. Sloppy Joes were made of ground beef, tomato sauce and chili spices, more or less, I think. We always had them open faced. This one I did yesterday was with cheese under and an egg on top – willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-66744750125908247832010-01-08T19:25:00.000+01:002010-01-08T19:26:27.013+01:00Tuna and PotatoJust a pan fried tuna steak and some creamed potatoes (with a carrot & onion sauce) The sauce got spotty from tuna-water/fat/oil so was not as pretty as I wanted; but had very tiny-tiny onion and carrot pieces which is what made it special. Lots of times when I was working in restaurant kitchens the only difference I noted in some recipes was that we chopped the veggies with great willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-9692543411512033852010-01-06T14:54:00.000+01:002010-01-06T22:02:14.947+01:00Vieira : ScallopWe ate this every single year at xmas or new years in Galicia.  Before:   After (well… 1/2 way) – it’s scallops, mushrooms and cream – that’s about it. Sauté the mushrooms, add cream, then add the scallops (whole or chopped in chunks) – cook briefly. Ladle into the shells, cover with breadcrumbs and toast under the broiler. You could get fancy and sauté a bit of onion willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-22862317196302044202010-01-04T14:09:00.001+01:002010-01-05T10:06:42.567+01:00Tapas – Often Fried and SaltedI was up in Madrid and popped out for tapas at a little Asturian place nearby.  Ordered all the favorites since I don’t get up there often and we don’t have a place like this anymore down here at the beach. We did… but last season the owner turned the place from a tapas bar into an Indian restaurant - - quite a dramatic change.  Now, for tapas, I have to go to the next town over. Here’willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-30210987616496367062010-01-03T15:26:00.003+01:002010-01-03T17:16:24.146+01:00Beans : Fabas : Pork and BeansSimple winter food (okay, it’s been more like 20-25 degrees C lately [that’s 70 or 80 F] but technically it’s winter) . Soak the 250 gr [8 oz] of white beans overnight and drain away that first round of water. Cover with water and add the sausage, black sausage and pork-fat-bacon (traditionally you might put an ear or a trotter in as well); no added salt. Cook, simmering, until the beans willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-45365142583313004002009-12-01T13:50:00.001+01:002010-01-05T10:06:42.571+01:00Boquerones : Marinated AnchoviesThis is a tapa.  I was travelling up to Madrid a few weeks ago and while waiting at the bus station had a nice glass of red wine.  They set out a small plate of homemade garlic and oil marinated anchovies. No additional charge for the tapa. These are raw, although slightly pickled, anchovies.  You clean and split the little fishies (fillets – remove the head and tail), willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-10529310298021946262009-11-27T10:09:00.002+01:002009-11-27T10:17:45.154+01:00Uitsmijter : Fried egg on toastThat’s Dutch, not Spanish. It means “to throw out”. The name is traditionally said to come from the other meaning of uitsmijter which is “bouncer” (as in nightclubs). This being eaten/served as a late-night/early-morning snack at a cafe or club just before everyone gets kicked out at closing. Toasted white bread A slice of cheese 1 egg; sunny side up (fried in 1 T of good olive willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-61548297044840684222009-10-06T19:05:00.002+02:002009-10-07T13:53:27.091+02:00Creamed Carrots: Crema de Zanahoria Another easy one; to make with stuff from the veggie bin in the fridge. I like mine on the thick side. You may make it more soupy. Crema de Zanahoria : Creamed Carrots Serves: 5 Ingredients 700 gr carrots, peeled & chopped [1 1/2 #] 1 onion, diced (maybe a shallot or 2 if you’ve got some) 2 leeks, white part, chopped fine (or 1, or 3, or none) olive oilwillsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-35800283722036682782009-09-30T10:55:00.003+02:002009-09-30T11:20:07.405+02:00Smoked Salmon Salad It doesn’t get much easier than this. Sure, it’s best if you smoke your own salmon and pick the greens fresh from your garden but I just popped down to the local grocer’s instead. The only thing “made” here is the tartare sauce [tartar in the U.S.] which in this case is a continental version so we can be snobby and call it a remoulade. With either name it amounts to mayonnaise plus pickleswillsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-47020773030073213662009-09-18T15:26:00.003+02:002009-09-30T11:20:27.700+02:00Tortilla Española, Estilo Nuevo : Spanish Tortilla, New Style : DeconstructedA deconstructed Tortilla Española (Spanish Tortilla). Quite different than this normal looking tortilla: See also a post at Tortilla de Cebolla Taking a page from Ferran Adrià (chef & sort of mad scientist) and his recipe for a modern tortilla; having three components: caramelized onions, a simple sabayon (egg) and potato foam (yes, that’s foamed potatoes. Instead of mixing all the willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-69879105813695425422009-08-25T18:22:00.001+02:002009-09-30T11:20:27.701+02:00Crème Brûlée without an ovenI wanted to make this classic, simple, dessert so I could use my kitchen blowtorch again. The challenge in this case is that at my current place I don’t have a regular oven (only a microwave) and this dish is normally cooked in the oven. The solution: create a Bain Marie on the stovetop with a frying pan. The capacity of this setup is rather limited, two at a time in this big frying pan, but willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-50563516544118187912009-08-05T01:23:00.001+02:002009-09-30T11:20:56.456+02:00Chipirones en su tinta : Cuttlefish in ink sauce You might not have ever eaten black food.  This is a good place to start.  It’s a very typical dish; a very small squid, the body stuffed with tentacles and the sauce made using the squid ink. Usually served with white rice - - for the contrast I guess.  I had it a while ago in a restaurant in town.   Chipirones en su tinta : Cuttlefish in ink sauce willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-61556212681478833092009-07-08T12:51:00.003+02:002009-07-08T12:55:08.589+02:00Albondigas de Iberica : Iberian Meatballs With rice. These meatballs are made from the meat of Iberian pigs; the ones they use to make Iberian Ham (much better than Italian Prosciutto). I hope I find the other phone-cam soon or I’m going to have to invest in some new equipment; the pictures with this substitute phone-cam suck. Albondigas de Iberica : Iberian Meatballs Serves: 4 Ingredients 2 T lard (real lard)willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-6527807625062234092009-06-27T09:31:00.001+02:002009-06-27T09:31:58.599+02:00Revuelto de Morcilla : Scrambled Blood SausageCatchy title, isn’t it?  My good phone-camera is currently missing and I’m using a backup.  One which I have, obviously, not quite figured out.  If this pic looks less than appetizing it might be the camera’s fault (or the user thereof) or it might be what you opine regarding the ingredients  - - or maybe the appearance of the final dish. It really is very tasty and it’s willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-35299014392468851872008-11-26T11:26:00.002+01:002008-11-28T02:31:14.457+01:00Couscous with StuffHaving leftover rump one needs to do something with the residual. Today’s lunch was the same beef (still delicious) with a quick couscous. The beef was nuked at 1/3 power for 5 minutes (I prefer slow microwaving for warming things up) just to take the chill off. The couscous was --- boiling a big cup of chicken stock (you have homemade, frozen, saved from your chicken carcasses?) and willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-79839891161372466662008-11-25T11:25:00.001+01:002008-11-28T02:31:38.653+01:00Cuadril : RumpArgentinean meat is widely imported to Spain and it’s particularly good. This is a rump-tip I think you would call it. This one I stuffed with leftover rice, mixed with 5 chopped up little (gherkin?) pickles, double that of green olives, seared it in a frying pan first then baked in a 150 C [300F] oven for an half hour for each half kilo [1/2 hr / #]. Let it sit for 10 minutes, covered withwillsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-55798939921772181612008-11-05T11:05:00.000+01:002008-11-05T12:24:59.959+01:00Lentils : LentejasI have a penchant these days of cooking something that freezes well.   That is, cook for 4, have one for lunch today, one tomorrow, freeze 2. This is a simple, simple, dish-up of lentils. Thats morcilla you see at the front edge of the picture.  Morcilla of Burgos, made with pigs blood, onion, rice and a blend of secret spices.  I’ll have to try making this at home. willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-75961731294796849752008-11-04T11:04:00.000+01:002008-11-04T11:05:52.071+01:00Basque Chicken – Easy VariantI haven’t posted a recipe since September but I haven’t been cooking either.  Since this blog is about what I actually do,  there hasn’t been anything of that nature to write about.  To get back into the swing of things I’m repeating one of my favorite easy recipes (that I’ve written about a couple of times before [1] [2]. Although the recipe’s been in here twice before I’ll give willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-84043366178468520062008-09-10T00:57:00.001+02:002008-09-10T00:57:51.986+02:00Gazpacho Ingredients Tomatoes (from the garden) Green pepper Cucumber (from the garden) Garlic Shallot Onion, red Celery stalk Salt, pepper Sherry vinegar (1/4 cup) Olive oil (3/4 cup) Blend together Chill willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-43408609278587675552008-08-12T04:04:00.002+02:002008-08-12T04:10:26.678+02:00Spicy Coconut Tapioca with Mango & Blackberry SaladExcept I used peaches instead of mangos (they're local and they are in season - as are the blackberries) At Mesa Grill Bobby Flay uses giant tapioca pearls; hard to come by around here so regular tapioca was used instead (pieces broken and irregular - yuck). This dessert involves a few different pans going at once and a bowl or two but there's nothing too taxing about it; just read through willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7407835.post-27235228162777122942008-08-08T18:41:00.001+02:002008-08-08T18:41:15.125+02:00Mesa Grill Menu - Steak Rub & SauceThe real, original, Mesa Grill in New York's signature dish (or, one of them) is a New York strip steak with the following spice rub and steak sauce. It goes for USD 32 a crack down there on 5th Avenue (plus tax & tip). Another 7 for the twice baked potatoes, and 7 again for the corn salad. Sum: 46 + 9% = 50 + 20% tip = $60 per person! That, dear readers, was just for the main dinner willsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04072568649666576654noreply@blogger.com0