Chef Monsta: I cook, therefore I blog

Ras El Hanout Chicken

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:43:57 +0000

My friend Marisa recently went on a trip to Morocco to discover her family roots and brought me back some yummy souvenirs: spices! She brought me back my faves- cumin, spicy paprika, saffron and ras el hanout. The most exotic of these flavors is definitely ras el hanout/ raz al hanout, a blend of spices that is used across North Africa. Ras el hanout, meaning “top of the shop” can include any combination of the following spices; cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ground chili peppers, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, peppercorn, paprika, fennel seeds, anise seeds and turmeric. Since I often cook with most of these spices anyways, the blend kills many birds with one stone. Marisa asked me what sort of recipe I could come up with that features ras el hanout and here’s the dish: Ras El Hanout Chicken with couscous (obviously). Next time she goes to Morocco, she better bring me back this.

Ingredients
1 lb of chicken breasts (or chicken on the bone)
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 whole onion, diced
1/2 cup of green olives
1/4 c olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp ras el hanout
the juice and peel of one lemon
12 oz of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil, adding a tbsp of ras el hanout for about 4 minutes until browned.

Peel the lemons, slice the peels into thin strips. Throw in pot with chickpeas, stir.

Add the tomato sauce and half a cup of green olives, sliced.

Let the chickpea stew cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes before adding the chicken breasts. Season the chicken breasts in 1 tbsp of ras el hanout, salt and pepper.

After about 30 more minutes on the stove (low heat), dinner is served!

French Potato Salad

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:43:17 +0000

I feel like I have already been to at least a dozen barbecues this summer. While I am not complaining, (the opportunity to eat meat on a grill never leaves me dissatisfied) I have noticed some patterns. Coleslaw, macaroni salad, and potato salad keep showing up on my plate- all drenched in mayo. Here’s a version of a lighter non-mayo-ed potato salad with mustard vinaigrette, eggs and haricot vert.

Ingredients:
2 pounds fingerling potatoes
4 eggs, hardboiled and halved
1/2 lb haricot vert
salt and pepper
water, for boiling

Vinaigrette:
2 anchovies
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Bring water to a boil; add potatoes. In another pot, hard boil 4 eggs.

Cook green beans for 5 minutes in boiled water. Rinse in ice-cold water.

Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in food processor. Puree until smooth.

When potatoes cool down, mix with green beans and toss in dressing and hard boiled egg.

Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Bring this to a barbecue and impress your friends!

Tracy Bloom: Rosie O’Donnell?

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:12:22 +0000

Top Chef’s most recently dumped cheftestant bares a striking resemblance to Rosie O. Separated at birth?

Tracy Bloom:

Rosie O’Donnell:

Ina’s Summer Gazpacho

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:46:34 +0000

Have you been watching Season 7 of Top Chef? So far, the contestants haven’t blown me away, but Wednesday night’s challenge was quite clever and entertaining. In the Elimination Challenge, the chefs were asked to take part in Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to fight childhood obesity. They had to prepare school lunches for 50 students with a budget of $130, keeping it nutritious while tasty. Why didn’t they make gazpacho? That’s what I would have done- all the veggies you could ask for to make sure our fat American kids get their vitamins. Here’s a twist on Ina’s gazpacho recipe for your tomato-loving-pleasure.

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber
2 red bell peppers
4 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups tomato juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Roughly chop all the vegetables. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not puree or you will have baby food!

First goes the cukes…

Tomatoes…

Garlic and red pepper…

Red onion…

Add the tomato juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper to your vegetables. Mix well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Gazpacho!

Separated at Birth: Top Chef Masters Edition

admin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:43:27 +0000

Two celebrity chefs who could be long lost brothers:

Rick Moonen, Top Chef Masters Season 1 & 2

Rick Bayless, Top Chef Master Season 1 Winner