Open Source: Surf and Turf :)

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted to this blog. I feel really bad. It's kind of been on my new years resolution list that I just never get to. However stars aligned today and I got some REALLY nice dry age steak and scallops and Google+ just doesn't have enough feature to cover an instructional blog so here I am!

It's pretty cool to see that Blogspot is now Blogger and is integrated with Google+, I've been a pretty frequent Google+ user so maybe this is a good thing.

In any case, on to recipe!


Surf and Turf - Surf being pan sear sea scallops, turf being a beautiful piece of dry age ribeye. :) You'd think you can't go wrong there. Lol

this will be mostly on little tips and techniques than complex flavoring recipe, because I mostly kept it simple to preserve the nature flavor of the product here.

INGREDIENTS

1   0.83lb Dry Aged Ribeye

4   Sea Scallops

2   Strips of Bacon

1   Butchers twine or any kind of bake-able string
1   Tsb butter
Olive Oil 

Salt

Pepper

Steak Seasoning of Choice

DIRECTIONS

*Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

1. (optional) Place the cast iron pan in the oven during the preheating - this will help ensure the pan is nice and evenly hot when searing the steak. 
2. Tie the steak together gently with the butchers twine - Ribeye often has fatty pieces on the side that would curl up during searing, this will help keep it together and give it a better sear (thanks Eric for the tip!) 
3. Make sure the steak is at room temperature, then oil both side of the steak then rub it with pepper, steak seasoning, and salt liberally. - If you have time, you can presalt the steak around 1 hour ahead of time, this will   give it time to reabsorb the moisture draw out by the salt so it'll be salted from the inside while prevent steaming from the excess moisture on the surface.
4. Once the pan is hot, bring it to the stove top on high heat then drop the steak, sear about 3~4 minutes on each side.  Mmm.. enjoy the buttery meaty smell. x) - This should be medium rare for a 1 inch thick steak, if you like your steak more well done, you can finish it in the oven for 5 minutes after this step
5. Remove steak from pan and allow it to rest on a plate - Don't skip this step, this allow the steak to absorb the juices so it won't just all bleed out when you cut into it. Resist the urge to chow down right away.. I know it's hard. ;)

Pan Sear Scallops

We all know the delicious flavors of bacon wrapped scallops.. but I personally have never seen a bacon wrapped scallop with properly cooked bacon, it's always too floppy for my taste. So I thought.. how can I get the bacon wrapped scallop without the floppy bacon..? ;)

1. Remove the small side muscle from the scallops, rinse with cold water and thoroughly pat dry.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste - Scallop seems to be a little salty on its own already, so tread lightly.
3. De-glaze steak pan with ..Bacon on high heat, yes. I guess you can say it's "re-glaze" with bacon. lol 
4. Add the butter and oil to the pan on high heat. - You want to make sure the pan is smoking hot, this will ensure proper browning since scallop is full of moisture.
5. Once the fat begins to smoke, gently add the scallops, making sure they are not touching each other.
6. Sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. The scallops should have a 1/4-inch golden crust on each side while still being translucent in the center. 
7. Top with the crispy bacon you used to de-glaze the pan. :)

TASTING


The steak was amazing.. very tender, the fat seems to melt in your mouth, none of the chewiness that comes sometimes with ribeye, the fat in this steak was like butter, and the knife just cut straight through. Not sure if that's because of the dry aging or searing..

I always love ribeye for the fattiness and the full beefy favor. The seared crust was nice and really draws out the beefy flavor. Thanks to the resting, no bleeding when cut, but the meat itself was juicy. :)

Scallops were tasty, though I think I might've over salted a little so it was a little salty, not too bad. They were really juicy though, and I'm happy about the crust as well lol.

Hope yours comes out well! Enjoy :)

Sneak Peek: Noodles

Wow I haven't updated this site in too long.. have a lot of work to catch up with since the cruise trip. ^_^;; I promise I'll be better about it after my semester is done!

I've been making a lot of different types of noodle soup lately. Here's a sneak peek,:) I'll be following up with recipes soon!

Tonkotsu Japanese Ramen

Taiwanese Beef Stew Noodle Soup

 

Review: Plan B

Great gourmet burger place in Glastonbury, definitely a "plan A" I might say. :)

(Warning: Due to my spontaneous unplanned food cravings, the pictures in this post are brought to you by my Palm Pre.)

Plan B has a rustic feel, classic pieces recreated in new ways. The dining room area are lit by open dim incandescent bulbs and black crystal chandeliers. The bar has giant stacks of bottles lined up along the wall and classic wooden bar.

 Appetizer: Beef Wellington Bites
Plan B is supposes to always use never frozen organic ingredients so everything is really fresh and healthy. This beef wellington bites was really good, the beef was perfectly cooked. It's beef, mushrooms baked in a puff pastry with a blue cheese sauce. The beef is nice and pink center with a good char, well seasoned and it has the texture of a very tender fillet. I didn't really notice the pieces of mushroom though the flavor was there, the puff pastry was really well seasoned and buttery.. so tasty and goes great with the beef and garlicy blue cheese sauce, just melts in your mouth.. :D

Pretzle Burger with Parmasan Fries

What a sight. :) The burgers at Plan B are always pretty glorious, giant beef patties piled high with toppings. I actually have never tried this particular burger before, but it did not disappoint. This monstrous burger sits on a specially made pretzel bun with spicy mustard, lettuce, pickles, and cheddar. My burger came with some pink, just as I ordered. :) I really have to talk a little bit about this pretzel bun, it was really good, it's actually not HARD like a pretzel, it has a good chewy texture of a really good asian bread but with a thin skin of pretzels, the same kind of salty taste. The pretzel mixed really well with all the toppings, the spicy mustard and pickled played off that saltiness of the pretzel and keep you interested with the acidity. All the different flavors complements the beef and actually draws more attention to the nature flavor of the beef and the cheddar cheese just ties everything together. Mmm... plus since the beef patty was so thick it really preserved a lot of the nature juices in the beef.

The fries was really good too, it's the same thickness as mcdonlad fries and it's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, I was impressed how much parmasan was on each individual fries, it's as if it was cooked onto the surface of the fries. They most likely tossed the fries in the parmasan cheese right when it comes out of the frier so everything sticks perfectly.

Yup it was excellent, I need more of those fries.. haha :) I think this is my favorite burger out of all the ones I had there so far (italian job, baja, cajun). 

Plan B
120 Hebron Avenue, Glastonbury CT 06033


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Review: Szechuan Tokyo

I've been putting off blogging for too long! :( It's been really busy and kinda stressful since I started my new role at work, it's difficult being new again, especially since its a new field I need to learn everything and get a handle at the scope of the subject..I have to say, though I enjoy learning a broad range of subjects, I look forward to the day that I become a expert at something.

I kind of feel bad reviewing a meal so many days after the occurance, hopefully I can still remember everything well. I find the pictures really help me recall the qualities of the dishes.

This time I'm reviewing one of my favorite authentic Chinese restaurant around Hartford area, and hey, if I say it's authentic, it's pretty authentic. haha As you can see, Szechuan Tokyo has a pretty spacious dining area with some Asian decors, nothing too fancy:

I went with some co-workers for lunch, there was 8 of us so we had a family style meal as I order a couple of my favorite dishes for everyone.. I would recommend eating family style when you go to Szechuan Tokyo since their entrees are well sized for that purpose and you can get more varieties that way. Note that they have 2 different menus, one which is a menu book that is purely Chinese and another which is a single sheet with Chinese characters on it. I would only order from the Chinese menu if you're looking for something authentic, the english menu has the normal stuffs most American influenced Chinese places have.

So for our menu I ordered 7 dishes for 8 people (one of which was an appetitzer), and it was definately enough, we even had leftovers. :)

First up is the Braised Pork Riblets w. Black Beans. This is actually a appetitizer on the menu, but I'd say it's definately entree size, and for 7.95 it's a pretty good deal.

 

It's really good, the meat is really flavorful with plenty of black beans sauce, there is nice chunks of onion and hot green peppers in the dish that gives it a little kick. The rib is really tender around the bones, it tasted like the meat itself was marinated in the roast pork seasoning then stir fried in the black bean sauce, it's got that tad of roast pork sweetness to it that just keeps you wanting more. The only complain I have is that some end pieces of the ribs are used so it has some odd shape bone that is difficult to eat, and some people might even entertain the idea of having a piece of bone in their food. It doesn't bother me tho, it's pretty common in Asia.

I apologize for the blurry photo, we were kind of excited to eat so I had to take the pics rather quickly. This is the Dry Sauteed Chicken with Peppers.

This is one of the favorites around the table, I personally didn't get to eat too much of it (that's how fast it went away..haha). From what I had I thought it was pretty good, the chicken had a light crispy exterior, almost like it was fried before stir frying. The flavors were good, kinda spicy with the chili peppers and some nice crunch with the celery and to break the spice. The particular pieces of chicken I had were a little dry, perhaps it's different for some of the bigger pieces.

Chengdu Duck

Man, this duck kind of surprises you with the smoky flavor. You don't usually expect a lot of marinated flavor with duck since it's naturally flavorful, especially for roasted duck, the meat generally don't taste too much like anything other than duck (which is reallly tasty in itself IMO). This duck however is definately very well marinated with five spice before cooking, I suspect this duck was fried not roasted, or it was fried before serving, because the texture of the skin is definately a harder crispiness than how it would've turned out if it was roated. Overall I think the duck was really tasty, the flavors blends together really well to make a lip smucking savory taste that kind of lingers on your tongue. The meat itself was quite juicy, the skin a little too crispy, and the tip/leg end are a little dry, which is generally a common mistake for roasted meats.

Beef with Hot Chili Oil

Mmm.. this was my favorite. It's really spicy, with a lot of different kinds of hot chili peppers, including the szechuan peppers. Sichuan pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black or white pepper, or chili peppers, but has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth. Given the heat level of this dish I realy love the fact that the beef still tastes really good, that's a really important thing I'd say. Sometimes you get a spicy dish that all you taste is, spicy. Not this dish, you get the spicy flavors out of the oil and peppers, but the beef and veggies itself seems to have been stir fried before adding the hot sauce so it isn't completely obsorbed in the meat. That's how you get that tasty beef flavor along with the heat. Another note is that I noticed how tender the beef slices were, they were prepared in a coating of cornstarch and egg white (a common practice in szechuanese cruising, according to Lu), this serves to tenderize the meat and gives it that kind of sticky texture that adhere the sauce well. I really appreciate the cabbage, celery and cilantro in this dish as well, it just adds the freshness and that sparks of flavor.

Twice-Cooked House Smoked Pork Belly

Many people might not know, but the original "double cooked pork" was usually made with pork belly meat, which is the equivant of bacon meat in america. This dish was good as well, the pork were smoked in an traditional chinese flavor called "la lo", it's a pretty deep flavor that penetrates even the pork fat. It's kind of hard to describe.. but I guess it's kind of a roast salty smoky peppery flavor. Haha..The pork are cooked al dente so it's got a savory texture of the chewy skin/fat, and tender meat. There's big pieces of leeks and scallions in the dish as well, those flavors adds another dimension to this dish.

Bean Curd Home Style

This dish was good, not the favorites, but I think partially might be because we were used to the bold flavors of the other spicy dishes so this milder dish didn't stand out as well. The sauce is always important in a bean curd dish, since bean curd basically acts like a sponge and would easily absorb the sauce. This sauce was very garlicy and semi sweet, with a hint of vineger and heat. It goes quite well with rice.


Dry Sauteed Beef Tendon

I swear that I've gotten this same dish when I ordered their other beef tendon dish last time, might've been some kind of mistake. The beef tendon was stew tender and it's stir fried in a nice black bean garlic sauce, not really spicy. Pretty good.

All in all I would recommend trying out Szechuan Tokyo if you love spicy food, and remember to order from the Chinese menu! On a side note, they also offer live jazz on Thursdays and Friday which are usually quite good, so try it out for a nice after work hang out, though be sure to sit farther away from the speakers, it could get kinda loud. ^_^;;

Szechuan Tokyo
1245 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, CT 06110-2404



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Open Source: Grandma Ople's Apple Pie

I went apple picking the other week, and I picked at least 15lbs of apples..I always over pick when I go fruit picking. :P The funny thing is that I don't actually like eating apple on its own..! haha but this gives me a perfect opportunity to bake apples pies. :)

This is a apple pie recipe that I've been using for awhile now, it's absolutely incredible and really easy to make. (Modified from the original grandma ople recipe)


INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoon of lime juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 apples (try to have at least 3 different varieties) - peeled, cored and sliced

DIRECTIONS
*Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Toss all of the apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar, place in a colander set over a large bowl and allow to drain for 1 1/2 hours. Save the drained liquid (should have at least 1/4 cup).
   
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add the drained liquid from the apples, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer. Mix in cinnamon and lime juice.
   
3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
4. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Yumm-o!

 

Tip: Dicing Onions

(I'm demonstrating with the shallots I cut from the chili sauce) It's very easy to dice onions if you don't cut all the way through when you make your first horizontal cuts

Leaving just enough to keep the whole thing attached, so when you cut the cross sections the whole onion will be really easy to handle, you can even cut it with one hand! lol

Open Source: Chinese Hot Chili Sauce

I just happen to have leftover shallots so I had the idea of making an aromatic hot chilli sauce with some of the spices I have around in my spice cabinet. :) It actually turned out really well, smells amazing and it really spices up any food you add it to. Check it out, it's super easy to make.
 

INGREDIENTS:
5-6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 whole shallot (chopped)
1 tbspoon fermented black beans
3 cups of whole dry red chili peppers
1 tspoon of sesemi oil
1 cup of olive oil
sea salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:
*Note: make sure there's no water in the blender or jar when you store the sauce, it'll keep longer.

1. Blend chili peppers in blender/food processor into bits (you can try cutting it too, but it's kinda tough to cut dry peppers)

2. Heat the olive oil in the pan till hot, stir fry the chopped shallots till lightly browned
3. Lower the heat to medium low and add in black beans and red chili flakes, stir fry for 3 minutes (you can hear the popping sounds of the flakes in the oil, it smells awesome :) )
4. Add in the minced garlic and salt and turn off the heat
5. Drizzle the sesemi oil on the sauce and let it sit to cool.

Store the sauce in a glass jar, if you kept everything clean it'll probably keep for a coupe of months in the frige. :)