New Toys and Tri-Tip

My last day off for a week so I decided that I would spend the night in the kitchen. We picked up a couple Tri-Tips from Costco, and I picked up a dozen Scallops so it was kind of a Surf and Turf for me. For the Tri-Tip I used KC Masterpieces Steakhouse Marinade and soaked the meat in it for about 4 hours.After the four hours, I out them in a glass baking dish in the oven for one hour at 350 degrees. Then I pan seared some scallops and put those on the plate with some mashed potatoes and drizzled a little brown gravy over it. I also found a new way of plating my mashed potatoes that looks a little more upscale. I put a couple scoops of potatoes in a zip lock bag and cut the corner of the bag off, this made a piping bag and you can squeeze out a nice looking design on the plate. And just for looks I cut some Grape Tomatoes and placed them on the plate to add some color.
Now on to the toys part of the night, my sister Christy sent me some cool kitchen gadgets from Alaska. The first one is called an Ulu. This is a traditional knife of the Inupiat tribe of Northern Alaska. It has a six inch curved blade and a four inch birch handle.
It came with a cutting board, the coolest part of the cutting board is one side has a bowl cut into it. You can use that to put fresh herbs in and chop them and mix them together at the same time. The company that makes these is Great Northern Products and their web site is Ulu.com. the second toy she sent is called the Alaskan Bear Claw pasta and salad server. These are pretty cool for looks, but kind of hard to use to serve with.
Bus I have not tried them on pasta yet so maybe they will be better for that. Well back to work again tomorrow, guess I should get some sleep.

Moosetard Salmon

Hello once again friends, tonight I am going to write about a dinner I made a few nights ago. I did a steamed Sockeye Salmon Fillet, which is something that we usually do for dinner, but this time instead of using a slice of lemon and some baby dill weed, I used a mustard that my sister sent to me from Alaska. The brand is Moosetard, and they offer a wide variety of flavorful gourmet mustards on their website www.moosetard.com. Christy wanted to get me some so she had me go to their site and pick two flavors, I chose Alaskan Wildfire and Dineega Dill.
They came in a nice little gift pack with an Alaskan Birchwood Spreader, which I thought was really cool. Reading on the site it said the dill flavor pairs well with salmon so I figured why not give it a try. I was interesting, the dill flavor was perfect and the mustard seeds was a taste that i would not have normally put with fish but I enjoyed it. I prepared it by spreading it over the fillets before I steamed them, then laying a small lemon slice over that.
I steamed that for about 15 minutes in my bamboo steamer, you will know when its ready when the salmon turns from red to pink. I also was in a sea food mood that night so i pan seared a few scallops seasoned with just a touch of salt, then drizzled with aged balsamic. The green beans were steamed then tossed with a pat of butter and some lemon pepper. Well that's about it for tonight, another package arrived from Alaska today and it has an Alaskan knife called an Ulu in it, I am going to do my best to learn to use it and not cut off a finger, I will post the results of that soon.

Homemade Chili...Sort Of

Good evening all, well today I spent my day off trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight. After a few minutes going from cupboard to cupboard I decided that I would try to make some chili. Now I say home made.. sort of because I have found a chili kit at Walmart, now this only includes a spice package, salt, cayenne pepper and masa. The spice package is the reason I buy it, I cant figure out the blend to make my chili taste this good. I got to use my new food processor for this recipe so I am double excited. For this recipe i used:
2 pounds of Ground Beef
1 package Bacon
2 White Onions
2 Cloves Garlic
1/8 Cup Oregano
1/8 Cup Basil
Pinch of Rubbed Sage
1 Box Carrol Shelby's Chili Kit
6 8oz cans of Chili Beans
2 8oz cans of Tomato Sauce
8 oz of Water
I start this off with putting the bacon in a food processor and chopping it up. Then put the beef and bacon in a pan to brown. Next I put the Garlic and Onions in the food pro and mince them. Add the onions and garlic to the browning meat and then mix in the oregano, basil and sage. Then in the crock pot mix the tomato sauce and water with the chili mix, i only use half of the cayenne pepper. Next I put the beans in and let those just sit together while the meat browns.
Then when the meat mixture is done I add it to the crock pot. Let that sit on low for about 4 to six hours and wallah... Dinner is served.
Off to the grocery store tomorrow, going to try the gourmet mustard my sister sent me, it says it pairs well with salmon, so we will see.

BLT Bites

Hello again all, quite a day today, the Bears are one step closer the big game and I am up late again with a three year old who will not go to bed. I thought I would take the chance to share one of my appetizer recipes. Tonight is will be BLT Bites, these taste great but are kind of a pain to make. You will need...
1 Pound of Grape Tomatoes
1 Package of your favorite Bacon
2 Tbsp Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley or Cilantro depending on your taste
I have to put that on there because Tanya hates Cilantro, so a lot of the time I use Parsley in its place. First step is the pain part, cut your Tomatoes in half and then use a paring knife to hollow then out so they are like little bowls. Second, fry up your bacon to how you like it (I prefer crispy bacon over soft bacon), then if you have a food processor grind it up till it looks like bacon bits. Then in a medium mixing bowl mix together the Parsley, Mayo, and Bacon. Next just fill your tomato bowls with the mixture. I have thought about adding bread crumbs to this to see if it would give a BLT sandwich flavor, but once again it has been a while since I have really spent some time in the kitchen. I mean Mom and Dad got me an awesome food processor for Christmas and the only thing I have done with it is shred some cheese for tacos. Christy has sent me some Moosetard from Alaska to try and I can't wait till Wednesday night when we try Salmon with Dill Moosetard. Thanks Christy, also I will get some pictures of my new Ulu she is sending me too. Well I think that is about it for tonight... Eat Happy

French Cut Pork Roast

Well it has been a long, long time, but I am back. A few changes have gone on causing me less time to cook and to post my recipes. I no longer work at The Knitting Factory, which is a good thing I think... I don't worry about not working enough to pay bills, but on the other hand I work too much. But anyway, here is what we had for dinner tonight. I got a French Cut Pork Roast, I put a mixture of
3 Tbsp of Oregano
3 Tbsp of Basil
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp of Black Pepper
1 Package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
I mixed this in a bowl and then put the roast in a cake pan. Next I spread the mixture over the roast.I put the roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about one hour and fifteen minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees in the center of the roast. Then I let the roast rest for fifteen minutes. And now for my favorite part, stand the roast upright and cut between the ribs and make yummy steaks for every one. I topped mine with a little Balsamic Vinaigrette, which gave the meat a little bit of a bite.Well I have to go back to work in the morning, so I hope to try and write more on the weekends, but I work those now. But if everything works out in the next few weeks, I will have a post about our Super Bowl party (thinking Chicago Style Pizza, Brats and Beer...Go Bears).