Grilled lamb with eggplant and green beans

lamb.1
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My daughter fell in love with some rack of lamb we had on vacation and wanted to try and make it. The one she had eaten came with a demiglace sauce so we tried that too. We first marinated two frenched racks of lamb. The marinade we made in the blender out of the following:
6 large figs
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 cloves of garlic
¼ cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of apple juice
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of salt
4 black peppercorns
1 tsp of capers
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
We coated the racks and let them sit overnight in the fridge.



The next day we started the sauce with some beef soup bones that we bought at the SOJ market. We painted them in tomato paste.



and roasted them on the grill (but it can be done in the oven, just it's summer and all...) till well browned.



In a stock pot we covered the bones in water, added some carrots, half an onion, a head of garlic, and a bay leaf. Brought it to a boil, skimmed the foam and then turned to a simmer for 45 min.

For the demiglace sauce we reduced one bottle of red wine, 2 cups of beef stock and 2 cups of chicken stock all down to one cup of liquid. (Kind of interesting effect of causing it to hard boil when a skewer touches the bottom of the pan)



The sauce was then finished with a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper to taste, a little honey to balance the acid.

For sides we roasted some eggplants (SOJ market) with oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil and whole heads of garlic



and we steamed some green beans (Also SOJ)



The lamb was grilled to medium rare



and cut into two rib pieces for serving





It turned out very good particularly the lamb with crusty edges and pink center. The fig can be just tasted in the marinade. The sauce took forever but was incredibly rich and meaty tasting. We had fun start to finish with probably one of the more complicated meals my daughter has cooked with me from sauce to meat, and two sides we made everything together. And enjoyed it!



Go cook with your kids!

Pupusa redo

frying the pupusa
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

I tried a quick redo trying to make a pasable pupusa. This time I again used Maseca
but I added water till the dough was pliant rather than the package instructions, and after that I added 2 tablespoons of pureed aji amarillo to the masa
I kept them small, and stuffed them with cooked potato and some leftover beef from a previous meal and fried them in a bit of oil.



They were much better, with a great smokey corn flavor and underlying heat from the aji puree. Going to keep trying and working on my technique.

R-Home photo shoot

We had a great dinner and great fun with great friends.
Check it out!

T-bone Tagliata and Salad (Rachel Ray recipe)

salted T-bone
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

My wife saw this recipe on Rachel Ray's TV show and wanted to make it. She typically (well actually rarely) takes control of the kitchen, so it was exciting to watch.

The whole recipe is here
T-bone Taglita


The steaks where grilled with a rosemary, garlic, salt and olive oil marinade



Garlic was roasted



The salad and bacon where put together, by the way the salad dressing is great, (Tricia typically doesn't like mustard/mayo/ketchup but this combination was great)



We cooked everyting on the grill. The chopped potato



and the T-bones which I cleaned off the bone and sliced for the table



The meal was great. Not only as it was incredibly tasty, the salad, the meat the seasoning everything perfect, but also my wife gained some culinary confidence, which is great.

Carrot Corn in Pesto Side dish

side dish
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

We needed to take a dish to our summer league swim team banquet, I went with a cold side dish to beat the 105 deg heat. I had just seen a recent episode of The Perennial Plate and made a similar dish.
Ingredients
Two bunches of carrots with leaves
the same amount in volume of baby corn
For Pesto
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup or more of basil
the carrot leaves cleaned
2 tablespoons of toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

The carrots and corn I cooked in salted water



I cooled the corn and carrots in ice water, then I cut the carrots to the appoximate size of the corn.
I cleaned and sorted the carrot greens



and the basil



And pureed it in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients



I then combined corn, carrot and pesto in a bowl and placed in the refrigerator. We took it to the party and it all disappeared.



The Perennial Plate Episode is below, a great, interesting video log of a year of sustainable eating in Minnesota.

The Perennial Plate Episode 19: Summer Vegetables from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Blackberry Ribs

rub Ribs
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

The Girl picked a recipe for baby back ribs and we made them this weekend.

For 5 lb of ribs we created a rub using
5 tablespoons of chili powder
8 garlic cloves minced
8 peppercorns crushed
2 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons of dry oregano
2 tablepsoons of cumin
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce

We rubbed the ribs in this paste



and rubbed



on all sides including the bone side



We then covered them and let them rest in the fridge for 3 hrs while we made the sauce. Ingredients

close to 3 cups of blackberries (ours where fresh)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 roma tomatos
3/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of fresh ginger

This was all put in a blender and blended



We then strained and cooked the suace till it reduced by half



taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper (and or hot sauce) as needed



The ribs were cooked on the grill at around 250-300 degrees for 2 hours We added some smoke from dried thyme and rosemary that had succumbed to the heat. Finally se basted with the sauce till they looked like this





We served it with pimiento de padron fried and served over salt



Which makes a great tapa by the way... these were from La Tienda



Even the dog got a taste of ribs



but mostly we enjoyed them, and the fun of cooking with my kids!



My daughter is a stickler for following the recipe and deserves all the credit on not letting me screw up.

Eating Out - Pescados China Street

EAT
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo

The boy and I recovered nicely from our visits to Stuzzi and Acacia, and headed to Pescados on China Street. The original on Midlothian has been a favorite of mine since the first time I went there. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, I am generally loathe to try dishes I grew up with anywhere else, but at Pescados those dishes shine.

We drove up and parked and was immediately alerted that I had parked in a high risk of towing area by a man who identified himself as the owner. I left the boy and moved the car. On my return the boy was on a first name basis with the owner of Pescados.

We took a seat and waited for a table, all the time the staff where incredibly nice and pleasant (maybe cause the boy was tight with the owner). The restaurant was full with again a good mix, many older couples and groups of couples where finishing up dinner (around 8pm) and younger couples and groups where filtering in. Several women from my neighborhood came in and said hi.

Eventually we were seated and we ordered some appetizers, the conch fritters and some ceviche.
The ceviche was mixed, squid, scalop, shrimp and fish



It was served with Yucha chips. I love ceviche, I make it and have had it across the caribbean, and this was very good, but not the best I've ever had. The conch fritters were also very good.



A nice taste of the ocean without the sauce overwhelming them.
For entrees I went with the whole fried fish, which I will say, I never order without some trepidation. In PR I can get whole fried fish on the beach from a gazillion places, always fresh always perfect. In Richmond not so much... unless the place is called Pescados. I have had this three times, now at both locations and each time it has matched or exceeded my expectations.



Crispy in all the right places, garlicky and moist flesh. Perfect in my opinion.
The boy ordered the halibut with yucha



The fish was again perfectly cooked, the yucha in tomato sauce was outstanding. I don't know if it requires growing up eating these foods as comfort foods to appreciate how great they are, but trust me this yucha dish is as good as I have ever had.

for dessert the boy had the chocolate tart, which he liked,



I thought it was good but certainly not the highlight of my meal.
I ordered the avocado tart, which I had had before and liked



It is tangy, like a key lime pie, but creamier with the avocado.
We laughed it up during dinner, compared dishes and overall had a great time. As we were leaving we were met by a loud, "Hey Dante (the boy) how was dinner?" from the owner, the boy exclaimed his approval as the owner bade him (not me) goodnight. We had a great time excellent food in a very comfortable setting. I was very impressed with how comfortable they made us, especially the boy, who felt like a rockstar.