Pot Roast with Korean Flavors - Sponsored Post

I received a box of various globally inspired sauces and seasonings from Serious Foodie and have enjoyed using most of the products. The Moroccan Grill Spice Rub sits close at hand on my kitchen island so I can use it to toss on whatever I feel needs a little oomph--like the tuna salad I made for lunch the other day. I've also added it to chili, sprinkled it on roasted vegetables, and added it to a frittata. It's almost time to procure a replacement jar!

Serious Foodie makes several other products with the word "grill" in the name. We Minxes don't really grill much at all--maybe once or twice a year--so I had to be a little more creative with their offerings. I felt that the Korean Lemon Garlic sauce might work really well in pot roast, even if lemon is not a typical beef flavoring. I had to check it out anyway, and I didn't disappoint myself. 

I don't typically marinate meats before cooking, but I felt that if I was already disobeying the "grill" mandate, I couldn't also avoid the word "marinade" on the label. So I dumped the bottle into a zip top bag and added a chuck roast. The next day, I removed the meat from the sauce and browned it on all sides, careful not to burn the sugary residue from the marinade. Then the marinade went into the pan along with the typical carrots, potatoes, and onions. I upped the Korean flavor profile by adding a lot of garlic and some fresh ginger, and garnished the dish with scallions and sesame seeds. A drizzle of toasted sesame oil would not have been out of place, but I didn't think of it at the time. IMHO, it turned out pretty darn well. The dish tasted like traditional pot roast, but with an Asian twist. I'd definitely make it again, and I might add a few glugs of gochujang (Korean chile paste) or some gochugaru (Korean chile flakes) to add a spicy element to the dish.

Do let me know if you try it.

Pot Roast with Korean Flavors

A 2.5 to 3-pound chuck roast

1 10oz bottle Serious Foodie Korean Lemon Garlic Grill Sauce and Marinade

1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil (canola, vegetable)

1 beef bouillon cube

2 large yellow onions, quartered

1 2-inch knob of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into small dice

4-6 large cloves of garlic

8 ounces of button or cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and halved or quartered if large

2 good handsful of baby carrots

4-6 medium yellow or red potatoes, peeled, halved or quartered if large

Corn starch (optional)

Chopped scallions

Toasted sesame seeds

Place the roast in a zip top bag. Add the entire bottle of Serious Foodie Korean Lemon Garlic Grill Sauce and Marinade. Seal bag and refrigerate 6 - 10 hours or overnight. Fill the empty sauce bottle with water and refrigerate.

When ready to cook, remove roast from bag (reserve marinade), and pat dry. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a large wide skillet or dutch oven with lid. Sear the roast on both sides over medium-high heat until golden, being careful not to burn it (due to the high sugar content of the marinade). Once both sides of the roast have been seared, add the leftover marinade from the bag to the pan. Shake the marinade bottle of water to make sure you have all of the sauce residue and pour that into the pan. Add another bottle of water, the bouillon cube, onion, ginger, and garlic. Bring sauce to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Cover pan and simmer for 90 minutes, then add the mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes. Simmer another 60-90 minutes until the beef is fall-apart tender. 

If the sauce seems too thin, you can turn up the heat, take off the lid, and evaporate some of it. Or you can mix a few teaspoons of cornstarch in warm water until it forms a slurry and drizzle that in. Bring to a boil to activate its thickening action.

On each plate, serve some of the beef, carrots, potato, mushroom, and onion. Garnish with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. 

Serves 8. 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Clamburgers

This post was originally published on August 7, 2010.
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Clamburgers
While I liked the clams casino bruschetta recipe I came up with for the Chicken of the Sea recipe contest, I thought I could go one better. I thought, "why not try something more sandwich-y, like, clamburgers?"

(Yeah, go ahead, snicker like a 12-year-old boy. I'll wait.)

I like tartar sauce with fried clams, but I thought since this was for a recipe contest and all, I'd make a more upscale version flavored with lots of lemon, and call it "remoulade." And to give the sandwich texture, I'd put it on a toasted whole wheat English muffin. Because it's "healthful" and shit.

The resulting patties were like the love child of crab cakes and tod mun pla (Thai fish cakes). And amazingly economical - 2 cans of clams made 4 huge cakes for about $4. I'm betting these poor man's crab cakes would be even better if I left one can of clams whole and added a soupçon of Old Bay.

Clamburgers with Lemon Remoulade

Ingredients
2 cans Chicken of the Sea chopped clams, drained, juice reserved
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg white
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped onion
pinch each salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup panko
1 tablespoon canola oil
Lemon Remoulade (recipe follows)
1 medium tomato, sliced into 1/4" thick slices
4 whole wheat English muffins, toasted

Directions
Place 1 can of clams in bowl of food processor and pulse several times until the mixture is nearly a paste. Remove clam paste to a medium bowl and place second can of clams in processor. Pulse a few times to create small chunks. Remove and add to clam paste. Add garlic and onion powders, and stir in egg white and most of the breadcrumbs. If mixture seems too wet, add more breadcrumbs a teaspoon at a time. Stir in onion and salt and pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour and up to 4 hours to firm the mixture.

When ready to make burgers:

Heat a sauté over medium heat. Add oil. While pan is heating, remove clam mixture from refrigerator. Shape into four patties. Press into panko to coat on both sides. Add to pan when oil is hot. Fry on both sides until a nice golden brown.

Place one patty on the larger half of each muffin. Top with tomato slice and a dollop of the remoulade. Cover with smaller half of muffin.

Serves 4.

Lemon Remoulade
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons capers
5 cornichons, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard
grated zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use
--------------------------------------------------

For a side dish, I made baked potato "fries" and parsnip "fries." The parsnips burned (but we ate 'em anyway) and the potatoes didn't get as crispy as I would have liked, but they were tasty enough.

And once again, I neglected to take a photo of myself with the dish. But that was probably for the best, since I'm not all that keen on having my face plastered on a can of clams. I have a reputation to uphold, you know.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Do You Make Baltimore's Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich?

April is National Grilled Cheese Month and the Mt Washington Tavern is celebrating by hosting the 1st annual Grilled Cheese Sandwich Cook-off on Sunday, 4/10/2011. From 2-4 pm the public can watch top local chefs and home cooks battle it out for the title of Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich, plus enjoy a tasting of the contestants’ creations.

There will be two separate contests, one for professional chefs and one for home cooks. Home cooks can win a cash prize of $200, a $25 gift certificate to Mt Washington Tavern, and a t-shirt, so put on your culinary thinking cap and cogitate on coming up with a delicious, ooey-gooey, twist on one of America's favorite sandwiches!

Local celebrity chefs that will be participating include:
Patrick Crooks of Roy’s Restaurant
Chad Gauss of City Café
Bill Crouse of Slainte
Matthew Milani of The Rumor Mill
Darrick Granai of Baldwin Station
Kevin Miller of Widespread Concierge Services. (formerly of Ixia)

Admission to the event, which includes the cook-off and tasting, is $10, all of which goes to Moveable Feast. 

For more information on the event and the home cooks contest, visit mtwashingtontavern.com/events.

True Citrus Chat and Recipe Contest

I've posted in the past about True Lemon and its brethren True Lemon and True Lime. I really love these products because I never seem to have fresh lemons and limes in the fridge when I really want one. Especially in these sweltering hot days of summer when I want nothing more than a big glass of lemonade. Over the weekend I made myself a "virgin mojito" by putting a packet of True Lime, a spring of fresh mint from the garden, and a pack of Truvia in a glass of ice water. Not as much fun as a rum drink, but I'm not all that big on drinking alcohol when it's sweltering. Especially after I've come in from walking the dog and want something to guzzle.

My recipe is pretty basic, but the True Citrus line can be used in place of fresh citrus juice in more complex recipes, too. And True Citrus is kicking off a recipe contest starting today! All of the information can be found here and here. The winner will receive a $500 Visa gift card and 4 others will each receive a $100 Visa gift card - hello! Time to start tinkering with recipes.

Also today is a Ustream online chat with Diane Henderiks, the Dietician in the Kitchen. Diane is a culinary nutritionist, personal chef, culinary educator, and monthly on-air contributor for Good Morning America Health and will be discussing nutrition tips and all of the different ways you can cook with the entire True Citrus product line. Participants can ask Diane anything from the different ways they can cook with True Citrus, to general nutrition questions and more. To participate in the chat, click here or go to http://truelemon.com/community/live.html.

I'll probably not have time to chat because, well, I do have to *work.* If you participate and learn something interesting, please fill me in! In the meantime, I'll be contemplating recipes (as I usually do).

Avocado Parfait

Avocados are more versatile than one might expect. Their creamy, buttery goodness adapts well for desserts as well as savory dishes. In other words, they're not just for guacamole anymore.

I used the very adaptable avocado in a dessert recipe. "What?" you say, "in dessert?" Why certainly. I've seen recipes for avocado ice cream, so I thought - why not avocado pudding?  So I whipped up a lovely green pudding (bet you've never seen those three words typed together before) and decided to layer it with graham cracker crumbs and whipped cream to make a parfait.

So what does sweet avocado taste like? Hmmm...hard to describe. It's rich, certainly, with a flavor that is somehow...green. The small bits of citrus juice and vanilla I used did not assert themselves, allowing the avocado to shine. It was pretty darn good, actually, and I would do it again.

Avocado Parfait 

Avocado pudding:
2-1/4 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe avocados from Mexico (divided use)
2 Tablespoons lime juice (divided use)
2 Tablespoons sour cream
about 1 Tablespoon of heavy cream

1 cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon confectioner's sugar

2 graham crackers, crushed into crumbs

1/2 lime, cut into round slices about 4mm thick
Sliced almonds, toasted

Make avocado pudding: In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups of milk to a near boil. In the meantime, in a large bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar and 1/4 cup milk, whisking until smooth. Add cornstarch and flour and combine well. When milk has barely started to boil, gradually whisk it into the egg mixture. Return egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil and starts to thicken. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes longer, continually whisking. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour custard into bowl and cover with a piece of plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for half an hour.

While custard is chilling, place the flesh of one avocado in a blender with the sour cream and one tablespoon of the lime juice. Puree, adding dribbles of heavy cream if necessary, to facilitate blending.

Remove slightly chilled custard from refrigerator and whisk in the avocado mixture. If it has set too much or seems lumpy, give it a whiz through the blender or food processor with a dribble of heavy cream to help smooth it out. You should have a nice pale green pudding at the end of this process. Cut remaining two avocados into a medium dice. Toss with remaining tablespoon of lime juice. Fold into pudding. Place in refrigerator to cool completely, 2 hours.

To assemble: Whip cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Alternate layers of avocado pudding, whipped cream, and graham crackers, ending with a dollop of whipped cream. Garnish with toasted almonds and a circle of lime cut on one side and twisted.

6 servings

Recipe Contests

Last Fall, my cousin Susan brought to my attention a recipe contest sponsored by Scharffen Berger chocolate. The Chocolate Adventure Contest required not only that Scharffen Berger chocolate be used, but also at least one ingredient from the following list: fresh mint (any varietal), fresh or crystallized ginger, pandan leaf, banana leaf, sumac, raw honey, cacao nibs, fresh or whole dried chili pepper, Malbec, peanut butter, black-eyed peas, rice flour, papaya, cumin, paprika (any varietal) and smoked sea salt.

I figured a savory dish was in order and modified a recipe for chocolate salsa that I have used many times in the past, using chiles, black-eyed peas, cumin, and smoked sea salt from the "adventure ingredient" list.  I also contemplated doing a variation of the black barbecue sauce with pulled pork and rice flour pancakes that I made here, but I didn't have time to play around and make the recipe my own.

Here's the non-winning recipe, if you're interested. I mentioned it in this post from last October.

Chocolate Salsa

1 15oz can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained
3 scallions, white and most of green parts chopped
½ red bell pepper, diced
¼ c red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
14 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 teaspoons superfine sugar
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon smoked sea salt
3 Tablespoons Scharffen Berger Cocoa powder
4 Tablespoons minced cilantro (divided)

Place black eyed peas, tomatoes, corn, scallions, bell pepper, 3 tablespoons of cilantro, shallot and garlic in a large bowl and toss gently to mix.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the chipotle, sugar, vinegar, cumin, salts, and cocoa powder until cocoa is thoroughly incorporated. Pour over vegetables and mix well. Refrigerate for an hour to allow flavors to blend. When ready to serve, sprinkle on remaining cilantro.

Serve with tortilla chips as a dip, or as a side dish.