A Semi-Homemade Reflection

There is a show on the Food Network called Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. It has been on-air for at least a few years. The first time I saw the show I'm not sure which bothered me more, the personality of the host or the concept: take something that is boxed or halfway-prepared and present it as a unique dish. In reflecting on this concept, I'm not sure why it is so bothersome. In fact, I frequently turn to Hamburger Helper and jars of pasta sauce for dinner and manipulate cake mix into cheap cookies.

I suppose the pretentious culinary in me abhors the thought of not making everything from scratch, but it is not always practical for me to soak dry beans or prepare my own cake mix. The truth is that I really have no problem with using canned or pre-packaged ingredients...or at least not nearly the qualms that chefs on shows like Chopped or Top Chef display.

My monologue really has no purpose other than to serve as a preface to my latest culinary "adventure."

Once a year I try to enjoy the flavor of a stereotypical Irish dish commonly referred to as "Corned Beef." I'm not particularly interested in expounding on the history or flavor of this dish but only to state that I like beef brisket and enjoy the unique cured flavor that the Irish have contributed.  However, I don't particularly like the aroma from preparing this dish. So...I opted to just make the brisket.

Barbecue-Glazed Beef Brisket with Orzo Macaroni and Cheese

I took a packaged, pre-seasoned brisket from the grocery store and braised it for a few hours in the oven. I removed the deckle and grilled half of the meat with some Famous Dave's brand Sweet & Zesty barbecue sauce. The meat was tender enough and didn't have the texture of shoe leather like I've experienced brisket to be. The barbecue sauce is relatively sweet and provided some balance to the saltiness of the beef.

On this occasion I had leftover orzo pasta from the Tuscan Salmon dish I made the middle of last week. I made a quick cheese sauce and baked a basic macaroni and cheese with a little black pepper and chili powder. The dish was a hybrid of macaroni and risotto. The texture was relatively creamy and smooth but the cheese sauce was somewhat grainy. I took care to slowly melt the sharp cheddar to prevent the sauce from breaking; unfortunately the texture was not exactly what I hoped for. That said, my judgement might be somewhat impaired after so many years of eating creamy boxed macaroni and cheese.

The cheese sauce was a basic bechamel comprised of the following ingredients:

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 Tbsp. Flour

1 Cup Milk, warmed

1 Cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 tsp. Black pepper

I didn't take the time to check on the proportions for this recipe as it was a spontaneous preparation. The butter was melted in a small sauce pot and the flour was mixed in. The mixture was "cooked" for a while before the warm milk was slowly whisked in. On low heat, the cheddar cheese was added 1/4 cup at a time as the cheese melted. Black pepper was added to taste. The cooked orzo pasta was added and the mixture was transferred to a baking dish and cooked for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. The taste was a 2.5 out of 5. Not particularly interesting but enjoyable enough.

Baked Orzo Macaroni and Cheese

I understand the merit in cooking with fresh ingredients all the time but being able to successfully manipulate pre-made ingredients in a pinch or for convenience is an equally valuable skill, in my opinion. So, as my conflicting opinions on using semi-homemade preparations continue to war within me, I will concede to the boxes, cans, and jars in my pantry to prepare something to appease my curiosity and imagination.

Remove your mental boundaries and you will open yourself up to unlimited possibilities... cook something new and tell people about it.

Tuscan Salmon with Rosemary Orzo

Date Prepared: 04/13/11

Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tuscan-Salmon-with-Rosemary-Orzo-364531



Tuscan Salmon with Rosemary Orzo and Tomato and Olive Saute

 *Recipe:

6 ounces orzo

2 teaspoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion, divided

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

4 salmon fillets (5 ounces each), skin on

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

To Serve:

Cook orzo as directed on package until al dente.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 1/2 cup onion and rosemary until onion softens, 9 minutes. Combine with orzo in a bowl.

Season salmon with 1 tablespoon basil, salt and pepper. Heat same skillet over medium-high heat. Cook salmon until golden, 5 minutes per side, flesh side down first; set aside.

Add garlic and remaining 1 cup onion to skillet; cook until soft, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and olives; cook until tomatoes break up, 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in parsley and remaining 1/4 cup basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve fish over orzo and top with tomato mixture.  

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Difficulty: Easy - The techniques required for this preparation are relatively basic. The preparation of the fish is the most difficult task to complete. Even so, the fish is difficult to ruin. Salmon can be cooked medium or more done as desired. The worst case scenario is that the salmon is flaky and well done, which is how I prefer salmon (for now).

Accessibility: Common to Limited Specialty - The ingredients in this preparation should be available at a basic grocery store. It seems most grocery stores I've been to lately offer fresh Atlantic Salmon. Many larger grocery stores have an olive bar but kalamata olives can be purchased in a jar, too.

Visual Appeal:  The salmon was the most enticing part of this dish. As the fillets were cooked in the non-stick skillet with a little olive oil, they developed a nice golden color flecked with the green of the basil. The Cooked tomatoes, olive, and onion mixture does darken the dish some; the tomatoes would have provided some "crispness" is left in the raw form. The orzo was sparsely seasoned with the rosemary but offered some effect in the way of contrast to the golden color of the fish and olive/tomato mixture.

Overall Taste: Care was taken not to overseason the fish, orzo, or garnish. For my preference, the seasoning was well balanced. I rarely use fresh herbs due to the cost but splurged on this recipe. The aroma and flavor from the basil and rosemary are subtle and not overwhelming. The onion and olives do almost overwhelm the salmon but the moderate flavor of the fish is still distinguishable. Overall the lack of "crunchy" elements was noted but does not necessarily detract from the overall taste of the element.

Overall Experience: This was one of my first experiences cooking orzo and salmon and was concerned with not cooking them to the appropriate temperature and texture. Fortunately, the pasta was cooked al dente, as desired, and the salmon was cooked all the way through. This preparation was an exciting alternative to my typical palette of proteins and was agreed to be a recipe that deserves a repeat performance.

Additional Notes: 5oz. fillets of Atlantic salmon were used as recommended by the recipe. This recipe required a few different fresh herbs. Fortuitously, whole herb plants were virtually the same price as packaged fresh parsley, basil, and rosemary. As a result, I purchased potted plants of each herb variety and  now have the opportunity to use fresh herbs for a few additional recipes, or until I manage to kill my small new herb garden.

*The recipe and instructions for this recipe have been reported to maintain the original instruction and is not an original recipe and belongs to the source indicated. This post has been prepared as a review only and with no intention to take credit for this recipe. This recipe has been reviewed without instruction or influence by the parties or companies mentioned therein.

Armchair Chopped - Dessert All-Star

As of late, it seems that I have not had much time to entertain my culinary imagination. Work and sleep have gotten in the way (the former more than the latter). Consequently, I have had a couple of mystery ingredient "baskets" in my que waiting to be manipulated. 

To refresh, Arm Chair Chopped is a creative exercise I submit myself to now and again. I watch the Food Network program Chopped and submit myself to the same requirements as the contestants: create a dish using a collection of random, unusual ingredients in a specified period of time. The following list of ingredients was sent to me via text message before I had a chance to watch the actual episode. That said, I did actually watch the episode before concocting this "dessert." In the fourth episode of Chopped All-Stars, two of the distinguished Chopped judges (Aaron Sanchez and Geoffery Zakarian) faced off in the last round of the competition to make it into the championship round. These two chefs were tasked with making a dessert using the following ingredients:

Green Plantains: A relative of the banana, green plantains contain much more starch than a banana most people in the U.S. are used to and are typically boiled or fried.

Peanut Butter Puff Cereal: Depending on the brand, a corn-based cereal which are made with peanut butter or peanut flavor.

Chinese Bacon: Smoked pork belly cured with a mixture of spices and intended as a seasoning for stir-fry and other dishes. The spice mixture can include salt, sugar, 5-spice, pepper and other spices.  

 

 

Frozen Lemonade*: A mixture of lemon juice, sugar, water and additional flavorings or ingredients which can be reconstituted with the addition of water to prepare a lemonade drink.

The chefs both opted to make souffles, so I knew that I couldn't use this idea. Frankly, however, I know I wouldn't have even considered making a souffle, if I were in their shoes. So, after contemplating the list carefully for some time, I came up with the following dish:  

Peanut Butter Puff Ice Cream with Candied Chinese Bacon, Frozen Lemonade Caramel
and Crispy Plantain "Spoon"

Given the time restraints, I would have a hard time completing all these elements. The ice cream base would need to be made, bacon rendered until crispy and then candied in simple syrup, green plantain peeled and sliced through a mandolin, and finally a frozen lemonade caramel sauce made.

My idea for the peanut butter puff cereal would be to finely grind it into a powder. Some of the powder and the whole puffs would be incorporated into the ice cream as it begins to set up, hopefully allowing the whole puffs to stay somewhat crisp.

The frozen lemonade was the difficult component for me. After much contemplation, I decided that melting the frozen lemonade, the additional sugar could be added and made into a caramel sauce with a fresh lemon accent.

The crispy Chinese bacon would be candied and the cure would provide some salt to counter all the sweetness. Slices of plantain would be fried until crispy and then dusted with additional peanut butter puff cereal powder and white sugar.

After all of the components were completed the presentation would be just as shown. A single, generous scoop of the ice cream would be placed in a square bowls topped with a drizzle of the frozen lemonade caramel sauce, pieces of the candied Chinese bacon, some finely chopped salted peanuts and garnished with a dusted plantain "spoon."

This one sounds so good, I might actually try to make it someday.

*The ingredient used in the original preparations was generic and not associated with a particular brand. The use of the image in this post was not intended to promote this brand of product.