 What A Week!
This past week was the week from H-E- double hockey sticks because
right after I sent out the newsletter, I underwent surgery to have
a torn meniscus repaired on my right knee. It was pretty painful,
but my doc assures me that after the recovery period and if I do my
exercises, I'll be better than new. Yeah, sure.
In any case, it appears that vegetarian dishes are getting a lot of
attention when I do them, so I've followed up with another one this
week. I borrowed the recipe from a well-known restaurant in New
York called the Red Cat. Tempura battering and frying is probably
the only way you can get me to eat green beans, and the dipping
sauce is pretty darn good, too. I think you're going to enjoy this
one.
In just a couple of weeks we'll begin production of our winter
series of Kitchen Guy episodes and our big news is that we'll be
producing all future episodes in High Definition! Kitchen Guy HD --
we're out buying extra make-up for me -- will give you
extraordinary detail in everything I cook and I think you'll really
appreciate the upgrade in technology on our part.
Please take note that I've added a new culinary product line in
addition to those that I sell online through Open Sky. My first is a line of stove-top
smokers that I think you'll really enjoy for yourself and I hope
you'll also consider it as a great and unusual gift for your
friends who cook.
As always, I appreciate your interest in the newsletter and
hope that you'll forward it on to friends, spreading the word
worldwide about Kitchen Guy - the Tastiest Two Minutes in High Definition
Television!
All the best,
Chef Jim
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Video of the Week:
Tempura-Style Green Beans
>>Click here to play
video<<
Recipe:
1 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/8 Tsp. mustard, dry
4 tsp. Tabasco pepper sauce
3Tbsp. light soy sauce
3/4 cup honey
4 large egg whites
3 cup flour
2 3/4 cups club soda
1 pound green beans, trimmed
canola oil, for frying
salt
Put Dijon, dry mustard, hot sauce, soy and honey in a saucepan
over low heat. Whisk to incorporate. When sauce is warmed through,
transfer to a bowl.
Whisk egg whites to soft peaks. Whisk in flour and club soda. Heat
oil to 350.
Dip beans in batter and let excess run off. Carefully lower into
hot oil in small batches. Cook until golden about 3 minutes. Remove
to paper towels to drain. Salt immediately.
Let oil return to 350 before frying succeeding batches.
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Kitchen Guy's New Product
Line:
The Stove-top Smoker
Here's an exclusive
for
Kitchen Guy
Newsletter Subscribers.
I am now carrying a full line of
stove-top smokers. The standard smoker, pictured above, includes
four varieties of wood chips and a recipe booklet/cooking guide. I
experimented with this device on a bunch of different foods and I
was just blown away with the added dimension of flavor I got when I
gently smoked meat, fish, poultry or vegetables right on my
stove-top. Every smoker kit includes four one-ounce containers of
smoking chips in these flavors: cherry, alder, oak and hickory, the
most popular flavors, of course. The 160-page guide, including
scores of recipes, will get you on your way to being a smoking
expert in no time! No need to fire up your outdoor grill any longer
or use the offset low-heat method. It's the simplest smoking method
you'll every find and I know you'll be pleased with the
results.
I'll send you your very own Stove-Top Smoker Kit that includes four
varieties of smoking chips and a complete recipe and smoking guide
for this special price. Click on the PayPal button below to
purchase your Stove-Top Smoker Kit today!
Everything you need for only
$59.95
Plus
$12.50 Shipping & Handling
(Note:
This is not an Open Sky Shop product)
 
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Chef
Jim's Tips
This week's video recipe employs deep-fat frying, meaning that you
will be using a large quantity of vegetable oil. What should you do
with all of that oil after you finish making this recipe?
Vegetable oil remains remarkably stable, even after spending time
at frying temperatures. It does eventually "wear out," but you
shouldn't throw it out because it can be used as many as four
times. A word of caution, though. Frying potatoes or vegetables
usually doesn't cause any carryover flavors. But if you're frying
fish, I wouldn't re-use that oil to fry anything other than
fish.
Use a straining method to remove bits of fried food and crust to
clean the oil as best you can, then store in a clean container.
Re-use the oil the next time you're frying. You'll save money. And
you'll save on disposal costs, too.
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This Week's Open Sky Shop
Special
This
Sampler Pack of gourmet foods from Marx Imports is stuffed full of
specialty pantry items that have a long shelf life, tremendous
flavor, and a wide variety of applications in so many of your
recipes.
Contains: Fleur-de-Sel (8.8 oz bag), Da Rosario Organic White
Truffle Oil (8 oz bottle), Fennel Pollen (1 oz. tin), Aged Balsamic
Vinegar (3.5 oz bottle), Saffron Threads (1 gram jar), Bourbon
Vanilla Beans (1/4 lb. Bag), Dried Aji Panca Chilies (4 oz. Bag)
and Dried Porcini Mushrooms (2 oz Bag). Put your pantry on steroids
with this outstanding variety collection. Makes a great special
gift, too. Only $150.00. Click here to
view the full package. Be sure to check out the rest of the fine
culinary products in my Open Sky
Shop.
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From My Blog: Steak 101
Steak, how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways!
Vegetarians and vegans, perhaps you would enjoy looking
at this week's video again. Or you can read this and get
aggravated. Your choice.
I wrote about this several weeks ago: When I heard the
news from my daughter that my six-year old grandson ordered steak
on four consecutive nights for the first time in his life while on
a family vacation, it gave me unusual delight. I can't tell you why
I felt proud and satisfied. I just did. My family consists of
unabashed meat-eaters. Except for a brief period in her mid-teen
years when my daughter lost her taste for meat, all of us have
always enjoyed a burger, a steak, a roast - beef.
But I digress.
This is about cooking steak properly. And by properly, I don't mean
medium well or well done. In saying that, I'll let you in on a
little secret. If you go to a restaurant in a larger city and you
order a steak medium well or well done, it is unlikely you will get
the advertised cut on your plate. You'll get a cut that looks like
it, but the kitchen figures that at those levels of doneness -
most, if not all, of the character of the cut you ordered has been
cooked out. And you are likely to get a lesser quality cut.
So I advise that if you must have your meat cooked that
way, start out by ordering it medium. At least you'll get the
advertised cut. Then send it back and ask to have it cooked a bit
more.
Once again, I digress.
To my way of thinking - and I fully admit to my prejudices here - a
steak should be cooked to an internal temperature of no more than
medium. I, myself, prefer rare or medium rare. And I like the
outside charred. My favorite cut is rib eye, but I would never turn
my nose up at a New York. I'm not crazy about filet mignon because
its low fat content generally means there is less flavor in
it.
So ordering a steak "black and blue" means that you
want the outside really charred and the inside cool - barely
registering above the temperature the meat was when it came out of
the cooler. Ordering a steak charred medium rare, sometimes
referred to as "Pittsburgh," means the inner temperature approaches
about 120 degrees on a meat thermometer. It's still more red than
pink. Ordering your steak medium, means that the inner temperature
is around 140 and the color of the meat is pink.
(Just an aside: The term "Pittsburgh" refers to the
days before 1962 when the city was the center of the steel-making
industry and clouds of thick black smoke covered everything - even
to the point where headlights went on at 2 in the afternoon. After
1962, even with ongoing steel production, advanced air filtration
methods made it one of the cleanest cities in the country.)
Going into the degrees of grayness of medium well and
well done, generally means that any flavor that was in the meat
went up the air handling system in the restaurant kitchen. Do
yourself a favor: at least try it medium.
I do not marinate my steaks. The ingredients in
marinades frequently will have the effect of drying out the meat,
since the sodium content of the marinade will penetrate the outer
layer, working its way into the meat. I do not coat the meat in
Worcestershire sauce or any brand of steak sauce or, heaven forbid,
use ketchup to dunk it in. That includes after the meat has been
cooked and served to me, as well.
To my way of thinking the only way to prepare a steak
properly is with coarse salt and coarse pepper. These two in
combination will help form a delicious crust on the outside of the
meat.
Whether I'm grilling outdoors or with a cast iron grill
pan indoors, I think the presentation of the steak is very
important. I am a believer in grilling steaks at very high heat -
that's one sure way to get your steak "black and blue" or
"Pittsburgh." Sometimes, for steaks cooked to medium, you may want
to finish them in the oven, but if left long enough on the grill,
it will eventually reach the desired temperature.
Those beautiful diamond-shaped grill marks are
accomplished by starting your steak on the grill grates in a
southwest to northeast position. Do not force the meat to move,
otherwise you'll tear it. Meat will move when it's ready - that's a
promise - as there are sugars in the outer layer that will
caramelize. Take your tongs and test before moving the steak. When
it moves readily, change the direction of the meat so that it lays
northwest to southeast. Do the same for the second side.
So to answer my original question (Steak, how do I love
thee? Let me count the ways!). The answer is one. Properly.
OK, vegetarians and vegans. It's okay to look
again.
Follow me
on Twitter @KitchenGuyMT
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Kitchen Guy Weekly Newsletter is published
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live in western Montana, we offer personal chef services, catering
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Don't forget to visit the Kitchen Guy web site http://kitchenguy.biz. Our
Recipe Archive is now fully active and you can search by key word
when you're stuck for something to cook. We also have a full line
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Sincerely,
Chef
Jim Gray
Kitchen Guy
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