Posted by
manda on October 27th, 2009
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Ever since the new Julie & Julia movie came out, there’s been a flurry of boeuf bourguignon recipes! That being said, we wanted to stay authentic and so we looked up the original Julie Child recipe and it is a mouthful – lots of detail and precision which we can’t afford on a hectic weeknight. So we decided to try out this 1994 recipe courtesy Epicurious and Bon Appetit (go epicurious!) We halved the recipe and it was delicious. And so, with pride, we can say we’ve cooked our first French dish! Bon appetit
Continue reading Beef Bourguignon
Posted by
manda on October 18th, 2009
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(I wish I had the cooking knowledge and skill to craft these recipes myself, but until I finish reading thru my copy of The Professional Chef, foodnetwork will have to do.) That being said, this is another lovingly ripped-off recipe courtesy of Chef Tyler Florence: Shepherd’s Pie. We’ve made a few changes to the recipe (read: simplified) so here was our final recipe list
Mashed Potatoes:
3 pounds potatoes, thick chunks
1 tablespoon kosher salt
half and half
1 big pat of butter
2 dollops of sour cream
Tips: After the potatoes have been cooked and boiled, drain the water but return the potatoes to the pot and put on the lowest heat (it’ll cook off the remaining moisture so the potatoes aren’t watery!). Optional: add chives or roasted garlic.
The Good Stuff:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds ground beef
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups canned beef broth
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 bag frozen peas and carrots
Chopped parsley
2 tbsp A1 Steak Sauce (secret ingredient #1!)
Shredded Cheddar cheese (secret ingredient #2!)
Tips: Right before you put the beef+veggies into the casserole dish, mix in the A1. Also, after the casserole has cooked in the oven for 30mins, turn your oven to High Broil for 8-10 mins to get the potatoes nice, crispy golden brown. Sprinkle a little cheddar cheese on top
Continue reading Shepherd’s Pie
Posted by
manda on October 12th, 2009
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The saga continues! After rounding up a group of our most adventurous friends, we came back to try more of the tasty food. We had the tu dou tiao (cold potato slaw), niu rou mian (beef noodle soup), niu wei mian (oxtail soup), and more of the jiu cai he zi (chive pies) and yang rou jia bing (lamb burger). The tu dou tiao ($3) was good and cold, crunchy, marinated in a little fish sauce (we think!), topped with a teeny bit of cilantro and pepper flakes. The niu rou mian ($4.50) at Lanzhou Hand-made Noodles was amazing: freshly made thin noodles in a beefy soup along with thick yet tender slices of beef. If you’re feeling dangerous, add in a few drops of the table chili oil. Their niu wei mian ($5.50) was also good but the soup wasn’t as complex and the oxtail wasn’t as meaty.
We failed to snap a pic of the noodle dishes before we devoured them but there’s
Continue reading Golden Shopping Mall – Part II
Posted by
manda on September 3rd, 2009
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This is another Chef Michael Symon “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” specialty, but this time it’s BBQ! Daisy May’s BBQ in NYC was featured in the BBQ episode that aired last week and, in our newfound TBTIEA tradition, we went there the following day. The dish that Chef Symon raved about was the Oklahoma Jumbo Beef Rib: a Flintstonian, brontosaurus-sized, beautifully charred, juicy and delicious hunk of meat. Other dishes we tried were the Beef Brisket, which was cooked perfectly but unimpressive as it was served in a tiny little tupperware container (why they serve it in that, who knows). The Beer can Chicken was excellent, tasty, tender, crispy-skinned, and one of the best bbq chicken dishes I’ve ever had. For the sides, the mashed potatoes were great; the cajun dirty rice was surprisingly good; collard greens were only okay; cornbread was small but yummy. If you go, you must try the Sweet Tea – served in an old-fashioned Mason jar, it’s super sweet and spiked with mint leaves to give it a slightly more refreshing smell and taste. Polished wooden picnic benches for self-serve seating add to the BBQ-style atmosphre. If I had to compare Daisy May’s to my all-time favorite Virgils BBQ, it most definitely beats Virgils at wet-basted q, but Virgil’s is still my fav for slow n’
Continue reading Daisy May’s BBQ
