Thursday, May 15, 2008

And now... Callos a la Madrileña (Tripe Madrid Style)

And now another typical regional meal. This is called Callos a la Madrileña (Tripe Madrid Style). It is from Nekane (Erandio (Vizcaya)) again:

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Thanks!

Patatas a la Riojana (Potatoes Rioja Style)

Good Morning!

New contribution, Nekane from Erandio (Vizcaya) and their brand new Potatoes Rioja Style, cooked in the Chef 2000 machine:

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Thanks Nekane!

Denver Five

May 15

Last night I ate at the James Beard House, where five chefs from Denver were cooking in what publicist Leigh Sullivan-Guard hopes to turn into a tradition. Leigh's the wife of Troy Guard, a chef who was involved in his father-in-law’s Denver restaurants until a recent parting-of-the-ways that I decided not to pry into. But he plans to open a restaurant called TAG (his initials — his middle name is Atherton) in Denver’s Larimer Square later this year. Also cooking were Tyler Wiard of Elway's, whom you might remember from the recent Taste of Elegance; Matt Selby of Vesta Dipping Grill, Goose Sorenson of Solera, and minor celebrity chef Keegan Gerhard of D Bar Desserts.
Leigh wants this Denver Five thing to really take off, so Denver chefs consider it a genuine honor to be chosen for the group, part of which involves cooking at the Beard House, which costs thousands of dollars because chefs have to pay their own way to get to New York, stay in hotels, and eat and drink themselves and their staff silly.
But it might work. The chefs last night definitely seemed psyched to be there.
I sat between Leigh and Rebecca Weitzman, a native of the Boston area who was a pretty important chef in Denver, at Cafe Star, before she moved to New York. Now she’s the chef de cuisine at ’Inoteca and she says she loves working for the Dentons, who own the place.
Keegan expressed shock that the diners could actually eat his dessert after everything else that we’d eaten. He was the Denver newbie of the group — I think Tyler, Matt and Goose are all Colorado Natives, and Troy’s been there for quite awhile, although he’s originally from Hawaii. Keegan said he’d been on TV for the past several years, and “It’s awesome to be cooking again.”
That’s nice.
Leigh is from the Denver suburb of Wheatridge and is a fourth-generation Italian-Coloradan. I’m a third generation Colorado Jew, and we’re probably within ten years of each other’s age. But Wheatridge is on the West Side, and I’m from the East Side, so we wouldn’t likely know anyone in common. But if she’s descended from West Side Italians, her ancestors were probably in gangs that rumbled with (or is it against?) the West Side Jews that my mother knew (although she herself is an East Side Jew, thank you very much).
I’m not so sure how tough those gangs were, actually; my childhood dentist had been in one of them.
Anyway, here’s what we ate:

Passed hors d’oeuvres:
Truffle salt-cured foie gras with buttermilk biscuit, sottocenere and huckleberry gastrique by Matt Selby
Colorado Buffalo Panini with goat milk brie, green chile and roasted fuyu persimmon jam by Troy Guard.
Wisconsin Monforte Gorgonozola with membrillo and Maldon sea salt by Goose Sorensen
and Prime beef tenderlooin tartare with crispy Colorado potato and golden Iranian caviar by Tyler Wiard
Adriano Adami Garbel 2006 Prosecco “13” and Villa Giada 2006 Barbera d’Asti

by Matt Selby:
Lobster, pit ham and camembert croque monsieur with fennel, Olathe corn and tarragon salad (the sandwiches had been individually wrapped in cellophane before service and looked just like 1970s sandwiches from a machine, but they didn’t taste like that)
Yangarra Estate 2005 Rosé from McLaren Vale, South Australia

by Troy Guard:
Flash-seared seafood salad with Kona kampachi cutthroat troat and otoro, grilled ramps, myoga, crimson watermelon and yuzu vinaigrette
Drylands Estate 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand

by Goose Sorensen:
Serrano ham-wrapped Colorado lamb looin with haystack mountain goat cheese and local morel-stuffed piquillo peppers
Pesquera Ribera del Duero, 2003, Spain

by Tyler Wiard:
Grilled USDA Prime Smithfield New York strip with green chile-braised short rib, Navajo fry bread, poached quail egg and smoked red chile jus
Papapietro Perry 2005 Zinfandel, Russian River Valley, Calif.

Colorado Cheese Course:
Windsor Dairy Colona Cow's Milk, Windsor, Colo.
Haysteck Mountain Red Cloud Goat's Milk, Longmont, Colo.
James Ranch, Animas Valley Cow's Milk, Durango, Colo.
34 Degrees Crackers and herbed mallo
Taylor Fladgate 10-year-old Tawny Port (Portugal, obviously)

by Keegan Gerhard:
Chocolate Sur del Lago “Cremeux et Moelleux”
Inniskillin 2006 Cabernet Franc Icewine, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Home-Made Sweet and Multicereal Bread

Oh my god! I always wanted to buy one of those bread machines... and now should be the time to get it, because of these pictures...

Sweet White Bread:

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Multi Cereal Bread:

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Thanks María José from La Nucia (Spain)!

Mickeys Omellete and Ham Starssssss

Here a superb dinner for those Mickey's fans!!!

Omellete and Ham in the shape of Mickey and Stars !

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Sai strikes back from Durango (Basque Country). Thanks!

Strawberries filled with sugar forever...

Hi!

This is a great dessert! Strawberries + sugar + some minutes = paradise!


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Thanks to Laura from Benidorm (Spain)

Korina Sanchez

This is the most anticipated post in my blogging history...janjajaran! Korina Sanchez visited The Artist Chef condo! It was last February 28, 2008 when Korina along with her battalions of staff and crew invaded my little studio unit. There were unreasonable demands from her staff and numerous delays. It tested my patience and it consumed my two days of work. But I must say everything was all worth it! She's Korina Sanchez anyway. I can now proudly say that a prominent TV personality has already interviewed me. She also went to my place to eat what I prepared. She was supposed to taste the Paella Albino that I cooked but she ended up eating the Paella for the second round. She liked it. At least that's what she told me. She also appreciated my painting. She stared at the breast of the women for several seconds. She also asked if I have a menu, but I sadly told her that I don't have a printed one. I just gave her my calling cards instead.


Beside me is Ana Lao, Advertising make-up artist. The woman behind the beautiful make-up I'm wearing. We constantly work together during photo shoots for print ads even way back to my DDB days when I used to handle SMART Telecoms. I was surprised to found out that Ana's first project was my print ad for SMART with Greg Turvey as my talent. Actually we were both surprised to find that out.



This is my eldest sister Joyce and her husband Dan as extras for the segment story.

Reggie bought the petals I used during the taping. He also took the behind the scenes photos. Thank you to all the people who stood by my side during the two days shoot.

Coated Chicken Breast with mushrooms

Jackie from Durango (Basque Country) joins us with his last meal: Coated Chicken Breast with mushrooms (Pechuga de Pollo rebozada con Champiñones).

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Nice presentation!

Thanks Jackie!

Spooky meals.... uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...

And now, scary meal from Barcelona (Spain). Dani was the perfect cook at De Ramón-Horinger's House, Halloween night...

... Cut fingers... you can use knife and fork to eat them if you dare....

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And If you are still alive, try these weird bloody cakes...

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Thanks Dani!

Macarrones con chorizo

New picture! This time from Barcelona (Spain) and it's been sent by Inma. This meal is called Macarrones con chorizo (It's like Pasta with Sausages, tomatoe sauce and Cheese I think). Hope you like it!


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Thanks Inma!

Lebanese Style Roast with Gravy - الروستو مع الصلصة


Serves a crowd!
Ingredients:
About a 3 pound roast (Lamb or beef)
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1-2 big onions chopped
10 cloves of garlic, peeled only
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into medium cubes
1 celery stick, chopped
2 cinnamon sticks, 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of allspice
1/3 cup of wine (optional)
1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)

The vegetables need to be medium sized and not small or finely chopped because they need to cook with the roast and this will keep them from browning quickly and falling apart. And my technique is that I allow one minute between every ingredient, I don't like to dump everything all at once. So in a pot, add the oil, onions, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, celery and garlic add half the amount of salt and black pepper and cook for few minutes then add the roast, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.(I usually rub the roast with a bit of salt and black pepper and let it sit for few minutes before I cook it). Once you've added the roast you want it to brown from all sides and absorb all the flavors. Here you can add the wine. Turn the roast every now and then until the sides are browned then you add 2 to 3 cups of water. Once you've added the water, add the rest of the spices, bring to a boil then reduce to medium-low and let it cook slowly. It would probably take about 2 hours maybe more depending on the meat.
Once the roast is cooked take it out of the pot and transfer into the cutting board. Now to obtain the gravy just put everything left in the pot in the mixer for a couple of minutes. I personally leave everything in the pot, take out the cinnamon sticks and the bay leaves and use the handy mixer for few minutes until all the chunks are gone. You'll obtain a thick gravy because of the potato and vegetables so no need to thicken it. After I obtain the gravy, I let it simmer for few minutes and then serve it with the roast.

Tips on how to serve this roast:
1- You can leave it as a whole on the cutting board and when it's time to eat, cut and serve with the gravy on the side.
2- Slice and put back in the sauce or gravy and simmer for few minutes and serve (I recommend this)
3- Slice some and serve on the side as cold cuts and put the rest in the gravy for variety.
4- Serve the roast with Basmati rice and nuts as shown in the photo or serve it with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables.

PS: Cooking the Basmati and toasting the nuts can be found in my previous recipes like the Chicken with rice recipe for example.

Getting green fingered

I’ve never been the most agriculturally minded individual. Prior to moving to the countryside, despite my best intentions to plant a veggie patch last year, the closest I had got to growing my own was planting some cress seeds in an empty egg shell at primary school. Granted, the egg shell did have a face painted on it and the cress was cut into a Mohican style hair cut after it had sprouted but as sustenance it wasn’t a great success.
It was certainly time to rectify this. One of the aspects of moving that excited us most was the prospect of becoming more self-sufficient and we wasted little time in transforming large areas of the garden into functioning vegetable patches. I had no idea how much hard work this involved and for four days afterwards my back, neck and shoulders ached with a deep-set pain and a layer of dirt resolutely refused to shift from underneath my fingernails. But it was a great feeling, made even sweeter by the knowledge that just a few short months ago I was whiling away my days in a strip lit, climate controlled office where the windows wouldn’t open and everything felt sanitised and slightly unreal. Now the sun was on my back and I was spending my days doing everything I loved and nothing I didn’t. We’d planted an ambitious selection of edible goodies into five seedling trays and the excitement when the first of the tiny green shoots popped through the lightly compacted earth was phenomenal. Within a week all of the various seeds that we had planted had begun to push their way through the surface and were rapidly outgrowing their little temporary homes, eager to be planted into the newly dug beds.


This was about four weeks ago and now, whilst we still have a considerable wait for many of the plants to bear fruit, the leafier of the plants are looking lush and ready to eat with continental salad leaves and rocket leading the charge. The pace and voracity with which they’ve started to take over their little corner of the garden has been mildly alarming but also strangely comforting. As a measure of success it appears as if we’ve come out on top and now it is possible to see the effects of the hard work that went into the beds just a few short weeks ago. It makes the whole process worthwhile and, while I’d always been attracted to the idea, only now am I truly beginning to see the benefits and attraction of slow food, there is just something that resonates with a profound satisfaction of seeing the progress of food in this way. So much so that think we need wait no longer and these vibrant little green leaves will be eaten tonight with a gently roasted piece of lamb breast and some delightfully spring like Jersey potatoes.

Bizcocho de Chocolate (Chocolate cake)

New entry. Yummy yummy. A delicious dessert from Durango (Basque Country). Thanks Sai!


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First post, First pictures!!!

Hi there!

The idea for this blog is simple, I just want to publish pictures of your cooked meals (breakfasts, lunch, dinners, tapas,...) by yourselves.

This is not a "how to cook" blog. This is just a "I can cook" blog XD.

So if you have any pictures of this kind (before cooking, after cooking...) send them to CookingYourCountry@gmail.com and I will publish here as soon as possible.

I won't use this blog for commecial purposes, so you will always own your picture's rights.



And for the very first time, I am opening it with the first of all. Yeray, from Madrid (Spain) sent me one of his dinners, Tempura:

Before:

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After:

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Thanks Yeray!


If you want your 10 seconds of glory as a global cook, here is your chance!

Bye!