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Do you want a great fantabulous corn salad recipe?

Dang, this is so good. This is another of my very own recipes.

The Salad:

4 fresh ears of sweet corn w/husk
1 Avocado chopped into small squares
4 fresh basil leaves chopped
6 Scallions (Green onions) chopped

How to cook corn in a microwave: Cut off the stalk end of the corn. Leaving the husk on, (un-shucked), place four ears of corn in a microwave oven. On high heat cook the corn five minutes. Remove and squeeze the corn out of the husk from the cut end. The corn will come straight out and there won’t be any corn hairs to contend with. The corn will be al denta.  With a sharp knife, cut the corn off the cob and place the kernels in a large bowl.

Add all ingredient above into a bowl.

The Dressings:

In a bowl whisk the following:

4 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
1 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 TBSP white wine
1 TBSP Dijon Mustard
Salt (Kosher Salt)
Pepper (from a pepper grinder or white pepper)

Mix everything in a bowl. Cool and serve.

The sweet basil, sweet corn and avocado do all the work in this dish.

This is so good!!!

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This can be a good Easter meal providing you have a good BBQ pit/Smoker and wood chips. I use apple wood for all birds.

I have been making this dish forever and it is so good. I serve it with Oaky string beans and dressing using the drippings in the pan for gravy.  (See recipes below).

First thing is to defrost the birds and relax them. As Julia Child would say, “You need a laid-back bird.”

Mirepoix:

1 small onion chopped
1 orange chopped
1 apple chopped
Several sprigs fresh rosemary

While the birds are standing, take a chopstick and separate the skin from the breast to make a pocket. Pour oil in the pocket of both breasts and then take a very small spoon (1/8 measuring tsp.) and liberally stuff the pocket with herbs. I use Herbes de Provence. Then salt the cavity with sea salt, place the rosemary inside the cavity and stuff the cavity with the mirepoix.

Cover an oven proof glass pan with aluminum foil (easier to clean), place the birds in the pan, tie the legs together and then spoon in the remaining mirepoix on the sides and add one cup of white wine to the pan.

1 cup of white wine

Make a fire and separate the coals.

Place the pan between the coals and smoke with apple wood chip or a piece of your favorite hardwood placed on the fire.

Check the fire every 30 minutes.  The temp should be at 255° to 300°.

At one hour the birds should look like this.

Cook birds two hours until they look like this.

Preheat oven to 250°.  Bring in the birds and cut them in half, remove all the onion, apple and orange from the cavity.  Remove the mirepoix from the pan and strain the drippings into a bowl.  Place the birds back in the pan. Cover the pan with foil and put them in the oven to keep them warm and moist while you cook the side dishes.

Gravy

1 cup pan drippings
1 tsp. corn starch
2 tsp. cold water

Premix cornstarch with cold water. Add that to a small sauce pan with the drippings. While whisking the gravy get the sauce pan hot.  The gravy will thicken very quickly, salt to taste. Turn off, cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Oaky String Beans

2 strips of bacon chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
Bunch of fresh string beans
Salt and Pepper

In a hot sauce pan, fry the bacon to render the fat. Add garlic and fry, but don’t burn. Add the beans, mix, while the pan is hot add the Balsamic Vinegar and Worcestershire. Mix several time. Cover the pan and turn off the heat. Let beans steam until al dente.

Serve.

I just love this dish.

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“Daube is a classic Provençal stew made with inexpensive beef braised in wine, vegetables, garlic, and herbes de Provence, and traditionally cooked in a daubière, a braising pan” – [Wikipedia].  Daube is pronounced “dobe”, like robe.

I love these French names for dishes. It makes me sound so cultured when talking about a pot roast. When I think daubière, I think crock-pot!  Make your choice. Would you prefer to say you’re making a “Daube de Boeuf Provençal slow cooked in a daubière,” or would you prefer to say you’re making a “Beef Stew slowly cooked in a crock-pot?”  It’s the same thing.

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Researching this dish as I do all dishes, I find the same thing I do of all dishes. There are so many variations! I ask, what makes this dish any different than Beef Bourguignon? There are differences.

Boeuf Bourguignon is a dish from the Burgundy region in eastern France and the dish calls for Burgundy wine.

Boeuf Provençal is from the Provence region in southern France and Côtes-du-Rhône wine from the Rhône Valley is used.

Boeuf Bourguignon is beef, beef broth, wine, garlic, onions, bouquet garni, pearl onions and mushrooms.

Boeuf Provençal is beef, wine, vegetables, garlic and herbes de Provence. I can tell you the herbes de Provence makes an immediate difference.

Both are larded with lardons (non-smoked bacon).

This is where the technique of braising comes in and adds even more difference.

In Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy) the meat is browned in a Dutch oven, rolled in flour, placed in a 425⁰ oven for 10 minutes to bind the flour, then the fond (the brown stuff on the sides of the Dutch oven) is deglazed from the walls of the Dutch oven, then all the ingredients are added back to the Dutch oven and cooked several hours at a low temperature. (I have made this many times – the Julia Child version. It is a lot of work. Your elbows are moving at all times.)

In Daube de Boeuf Provençal (Beef Stew of Provence) the beef is browned and then the ingredients are placed in a daubière (a ceramic braising pot) and cooked in stages. The first day the meat and vegetables are marinated in wine overnight, the second day the pot is slow cooked for a very long time, then cooled and on the third day it is reheated and served. This is done to meld the flavors.  This dish has a far lighter flavor than Boeuf Bourguignon, better for the summer.

As it turns out, for me Daube de Boeuf Provençal is the easier of the two dishes to make b/c I have a crock-pot and a propane BBQ pit.

There are two more versions of Daube. New Orleans, my home town and a one hour drive from where I live, is home to the Creole Daube and a Daube glacé. The Creole Daube adds green peppers, creole hot seasoning and tomato sauce. The glacé I have no idea how to make and it looks a little weird to me. I’m not “into” jello and meat.

The Daube I make does call for tomatoes. I use Roma (plum) tomatoes skinned and diced. I will also use orange peel. I will add mushrooms.  Some people add olives but I don’t think this dish needs it.  I use a subtle Chianti wine. I have Côtes-du-Rhône here but the label I have is a little too fruity for my taste. I’m a “dyed in the wool” hearty Cabernet Sauvignon, oak-tannin, Napa Valley man. I’m not a fan of fruitier dry red wines. The idea for me is I want the wine not so fruity b/c everything else in the pot is natural. I want the meat and the vegetables to stand on their own with compliment. The Chianti is more fruity than Cabernet, but more dry than Côtes-du-Rhône.  Chianti is actually a Sangiovese grape from the Chianti region of Italy and has a red cherry and spice flavor.  But, whatever red wine you like, use it.

The other thing I use is herbes de Provence with lavender. Lavender is typically left out of the French version of herbes de Provence. Herbes de Provence is a mixture of savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano and lavender in the American version.

How easy is this dish to make? Very!!!

Brown the meat on the BBQ (or in a pan). Chop the meat into big squares and place at the bottom of the crock-pot. Layer all the vegetables but mushrooms, add the herbs, then the wine, cover and leave in the frig overnight. Next day, place the crock-pot on low heat for 6 to 8 hours. Half way cooking adjust the seasoning and add the mushrooms. Let cool, place the pot back in frig. Next day spoon the dish into a Dutch oven and cook covered for an hour on a very low simmer and serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

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Top Round and bacon:

Day 1: Preparing the stoneware:

2 lbs. top round (or chuck, or bottom round)
2 strips bacon (If smoked, soak bacon in a pot of hot water for 20 minutes to neutralize the smoke flavor)
2 stalks celery peeled and chopped
4 medium carrots peeled and chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic sliced
4 oz. whole white mushrooms (stemmed and cut into quarters)
4 strips of orange peel, (use a potato peeler)
4 Roma (plum) tomatoes peeled and chopped
1 tsp. herbes de Provence
2 cups red wine
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. corn starch (to thicken the gravy)

Brown the meat on the BBQ pit.

Chop into big squares and then season with salt and pepper.  Place at the bottom of the pot.

Boil water in a pot for 10 minutes then turn off heat. Place the bacon in the hot water for 20 minutes to remove most of the smoke flavor. Cut into strips. Place over the meat.

Add the garlic. Layer in the other vegetables.

Cut an X into the top and bottom of the tomatoes. Drop the tomatoes into two cups of boiling water no more than 1 minute.  Immediately you will see the tomato skin start to separate. Remove quickly from the water with tongs rinse in cold water.  Peel off the skin then chop the tomatoes and add to the pot.

Add 1 tsp. herbes de Provence then pour in the wine. Cover the stoneware pot in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.  Do not stir the ingredients, leave as you layered them.

Day 2: The next morning place the stoneware pot onto its burner, cover and cook 6 to 8 hours on the low setting. Do not stir, leave as you layered the pot.  Half way through add mushrooms and check the pot – remember do not stir.  When done turn off pot and let cool. Cover in plastic wrap and put back in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 3: When ready to serve pour off all the liquids into a two cup bowl.  Add one cup of the cold liquids to a sauce pan and then add one Tbsp. corn starch to the fluids and whisk.  Heat the sauce pan and whisk until the corn starch begins to thicken. This will thicken the gravy.  Add it to the Dutch oven.  Add the rest of the liquids to the Dutch oven, spoon the solids into the Dutch oven, adjust the salt and pepper, stir, cover and cook 45 minutes on a very low simmer to heat the food nice and hot for serving.

Make mashed potatoes and spoon the dish over the potatoes. The meat is completely tender but the vegetables are still al dente.  This dish is completely incredibly amazingly perfect.

Oh man don’t this good?

Can it be that easy?

Someone say yes.

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Eggs Benedict as it turns out is very easy to make. But, you have to really love the person you are making it for b/c there are a lot of pots to clean when you’re done.

This dish is a very simple concept really but for some reason it has developed into an extravagance of effort. Eggs Benedict is nothing more than a fancy name for an egg yolk sauce (aka Hollandaise Sauce) on the top of more eggs (poached), a muffin and a meat (usually Canadian Bacon but I use Black Forest Ham).

Hollandaise Sauce

The Hollandaise Sauce is simple. For every raw egg yolk you put into the sauce pan (minus the egg white) add one tablespoon of water.  Whisk until the heat makes the sauce thicken.  You don’t want scrambled eggs.  Then add the butter and the lemon juice and keep whisking. Remove from heat.

4 egg yolks
4 TBSP water
4 TBSP butter (clarified)
Lemon juice (add to taste)
Lowry’s Season Salt (dash on top)

Poached Eggs

The poached egg is actually the hardest step. To make life easy when making poached eggs use the biggest pot you have and fill it with water and add white wine vinegar. Bring to a slight boil. Crack an egg on a big spoon; gently slide the egg off the spoon into the hot water. Watch the egg boil for 3 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and place it in a pan with a paper towel to absorb and drain the water. Or, I use a two part steamer pan so the eggs will drain while the hot water in the bottom pan keeps them warm.

1 big pan of water
2 TBSP white wine vinegar

Black Forest Ham

I use Black Forrest Ham b/c it is more flavorful and sweeter and then I brown it both sides in a non-stick fry pan. I get the butcher to slice the ham ¼ inch thick.  I cut the ham to fit nicely on the muffin.

I use a regular English Muffins and toast it.

Place the muffin on the bottom, then the ham, add the poached egg, then add the egg yolk sauce (aka Hollandaise Sauce), then a little Lowry’s season salt. BOOM! You got Eggs Benedict.

Over, done, eat up, love on the Chef – that would be me. Give me kisses and junk.

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I know what you’re going to say, “I hate Brussels Sprouts”.  I know, I know, I haven’t always been a fan of them either.  But this recipe I’m absolutely certain will find its way on your table.  And, now that the weather is starting to cool, you will find Brussels Sprouts in abundance in the produce section.  It has nuclear levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin A and bunch of other stuff that sounds like it should be good for you.

This recipe comes courtesy of a friend of 40 years who once studied at the California Culinary and resides in the San Francisco area with his dear wife Cheryl, the one and only, Mr. Ed Doty (Queue: rock guitar music).

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Ingredients:

• Bunch of Brussels sprouts
• 1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire
• 1 TBSP minced garlic
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

After washing, cut off stalk end and chop spouts into quarter chucks.

In a two quart pan on high heat get olive oil hot.  You will want to fry the Brussels sprouts for a couple of minutes.  When the oil is hot add the sprouts and turn several times coating the sprouts in oil.

Add the garlic and stir.  Keep turning another minute or two, add the Balsamic and Worcestershire, salt and pepper, turn off heat and cover.  Let the sprouts now steam in the pot for about 8 minutes or so until al dente, serve as a side.

Can it be that easy?

(Someone say yes.)