Cauliflower, Broccoli, leek and Fava bean Salad

Luke, I am your Fava, where have you bean?!

Fava beans....always scared the hell out of me. Not that their disgusting or hard to cook, it's just that I didn't really grow up on them and to be honest (whats the point in lying about a damn pea looking bean thing) have only had them a few times in my life.

so this is a fly by the seat of my pants, quick salad that I think ruled!

what you need:

broccoli

cauliflower

leek

fava beans

lemon juice

EVOO

red pepper flakes

S&P

Step 1: blanch un-peeled fava beans till outer layer startes to turn a light color, pull out of water and put in a ice bath. Repeat with the broccoli and cauliflower (blanch till they are tender). 

Step 2: add a bit of EVOO into a pan and saute chopped leeks till they are soft.

Step 3: de-shell fava beans and add to the saute pan with the leeks, cooking for only a few moments.

Step 4: in a bowl add leeks and fava, then add broccoli and cauliflower (make sure to cut into bit sized pieces if you haven't already done so, otherwise it could be awkward).

Step 5: make the vinaigrette by adding 1:1 ratio of EVOO and lemon into the same pan you used to saute the leeks in- to that add the seasoning and whisk together, the residual heat from the pan is all you need, no need to return it to heat. Once vinaigrette is emulsified add to salad and give a toss! 

sorry for lack of photos, I have some how misplaced my memory card in the heat of the moment......iphone will have to suffice fava the time bean.....

Fried Chicken with the fixings!

When having a hankering for fried chicken I always wish I could just click my heels 3 times and be blasted back to my Mom's house, but since she lives too far, and eating fried chicken in San Francisco has become luxury dining I decided to take matters into my own hands. 

I have been going nuts for some full fat fried chicken, I need my fix!...normally I make most fatty dishes kinda healthy, I didn't want to sully this dish with making it diet...so get on your sweats and lets get fatty! 

(that being said, I can't help myself for at least being somewhat health conscious, didn't affect the crunch factor one bit)...

The Chicken

Pre-Soak

what you need:

Chicken (bone in, skin on very important)

3/4 C. Milk

2 T. non fat plain yogurt

pinch cayenne 

few drops tabasco

fresh torn sage leaves

salt

pepper

dash cumin

Whisk all ingredients together, add clean chicken to mix- put a lid on it, and pop into the fridge for at least 30min.

The Dredge

What you need: 

1:1 unbleached AP flour and fine ground whole wheat flour

pinch cayenne

salt/pepper

paprika

Canola Oil

3 T. Butter

Step 0: In a cast iron skillet heat oil and butter till it foams when you drop a piece of flour in it

Step 1: whisk dry ingredients in a large container that has a lid.

Step 2: remove a soaked piece of chicken, lightly shaking excess and add to flour mixture, cover with lid and give it a good shake. gently tap to remove the over abundant amount of flour and drop in fat bath.

Step 3: cook evenly on each side, usually 7min. depending on size of piece- remember the bone in takes longer than bone out- adjust oil temp, if you notice burning.

Gravy

(the best part, almost)

what you need:

chicken bits/fat

2 T. Butter

2 T. Flour

1 C. Milk

Step 1: Once the chicken is done, remove most the excess oil from the pan, leaving about 1 T. of pan crunchies and grease.

Step 2: Heat pan crunchies with butter and add in flour, whisk till becomes a nice brown shade.

Step 3: Stir in milk and allow to boil, stirring constantly. Once thick remove from heat and sprinkle with paprika.

Serve with mashed potatoes and something green and seasonal....

Mashed Potato 

tips/tricks:

::cut into small even pieces, for even cooking.::

::once drained return to pot and heat gently, removing any excess water that maybe left, at this point your potatoes will start to break apart and become somewhat mashed.::

::heat butter and milk before adding to potatoes, otherwise you will be making glue.::

::don't be lazy, use a hand masher, less dishes and the less over worked your potatoes are the less dense and gluey they will be.::

anyone can make mashed potatoes, but few make good ones...just sayin'

Damn good Easter Ham w/ blood orange honey glaze

During my formative years of cooking I was making tofu, a lot...and one particular Easter I made a vegan casserole, that unfortunately didn't over shadow anyones meat/cheese dishes....anyways now that I have my grown up pants on, my own kitchen, and I eat meat, I want to make Easter Dinner- and well what is Easter without a Ham and Potatoes Gratin??! 

I am good at cooking vegetables and I really enjoy it, however I am still trying to learn about meats, cuts ect. for some reason in my head I though a ham is a ham? It didn't occur to me that most hams that people eat are pretty much pre-cooked, cured or smoked and practically ready to go. I wanted to make my ham from scratch and scoffed at the idea of paying $50 for a ham..screw that! So I got some local 'fresh ham' from the butcher for $3.50 lb and couldn't figure out the cost difference....well the joy of cooking educated me on that particular reason....unbeknownst to me I was going to be dealing with this ham for many more hours than planned...and well to some this may be a bummer, but for me one of the reasons I enjoy cooking is the challenge...my challenge with this ham was insert flavor so it doesn't just taste like a pork tenderloin.

so first we must brine!!!!!!!

The Ham!

5-7 lb'er

Brine Time:

A vessel large enough to add your ham and brine with a lid.

Water, enough that you can completely cover the ham with the brine.

a generous scoop of sugar 

a generous scoop of salt (think the salton sea)

pepper corns

red pepper flakes

herbs

cracked garlic

bay leaves

Step 1: Put vessel with all ingredients minus Ham on the stove. Bring to boil, stir till sugar and salt are dissolved.

Step 2: Remove from heat and allow for a cool down.

Step 3: Put Ham in large vessel and cover with cooled brine, put in fridge for up to 3 days, rotating every time you decide to peak on it.

Now to cook the piggy!

you need:

3 cloves garlic

2 T EVOO

fresh herbs

Step 1: Make a slurry of all of these ingredients.

Step 2:  remove pork from brine and pat dry, make a hatched pattern in the fat of the pork.

Step 3: Lather slurry all over porky, making sure to get both front and back, season with pepper as well.

Step 3: Pop into a 450˚ oven for 30min, flip and cook for another 30min, re-baste with remaining mixture.

Step 4: Reduce heat to 350˚ and cook for another hour  

post brine, after the rub down

after an hour in the oven

Lets get Glazed!

you need:

2 large blood oranges (sliced)

1/2 honey

1/4 blood orange juice

1/4 good mustard

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp orange zest

1 clove garlic grated

Step 1: in a sauce pan add all ingredients except sliced oranges and bring to a boil, allow to simmer and slightly reduce.

Step 2: remove ham from oven and place orange slices underneath ham. 

Step 3: Glaze ham completely and pop back in oven, cook till ham reaches an internal temp of 150˚, take it out and allow it to rest for 30min. before carving!

it's that easy, and way cooler than pre-made! this was served with an amazing potato celery root gratin, recipe will be posted!

my apologies for lack of photos in this write up, hanging out, drinking and pre-blogging don't always mix...living the moment....