Kitchen Conservatory on Twitter

Kitchen Conservatory, a marvelous cooking emporium where I teach the occaisional class, is twittering their instructor's favorite tools. Here is a little vignette of mine. My Michael Grave's Memphis tea kettle is in the foreground. I use it practically every morning-despite it being a collecter's item-making my tea or my coffee (I always make my coffee in a French Press). The little red bird on the spout whistles when the water is ready.

Second is my Wolf range which I also use every morning to heat the kettle. After cooking in restaurants for so many years, it is difficult for me to use household equipment, so my home kitchen is equipped with this Wolf professional range, It suits my needs very well.

In the background is one of my Le Creuset pans, some of which I have had since I lived in Chicago 25 years ago.

Grilled Flank Steak Aloha

Grilled Flank steak with some Hawaiian influences-grilled pineapple slices and coconut Jasmine rice with edamame and vegetables.

1/4 cup Mirin

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced fresh ginger

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons of sesame oil

1/2 pineapple peeled and sliced

1 flank steak about 1 1/2 pounds

In a large flat container, combine the wines, soy, garlic, ginger, pepper, and sesame oil

Marinate the flank steak at least 2 hours, or overnight

Grill over medium hot coals 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare

Let the steak rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing

Brush pineapple slices with marinade and grill for 2 minutes on each side

Serve with coconut Jasmine rice and Asian dipping sauce

Asian Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons of sesame oil

2 Scallions, thinly sliced

1 Teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 Teaspoon of Chili-garlic paste

Combine all ingredients, and serve with flank steak. Also good with egg rolls, pot stickers and any kind of won ton.

Pan-Seared Ham Steak with Brown Sugar, Pineapple, and Raspberries

This was a tasty breakfast, served with grits to soak up all those salty-sweet juices. Served, as always while watching all the Sunday political shows. Sadly missing was Beaulah, my beautiful 14 year old Standard Poodle-she is no longer with us. I miss her so, she would always be underfoot whenever I cooked at home, demanding a taste of whatever I was making-she had a very developed palate.

1 pound slice of bone-in ham steak

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup dry sherry

1/2 pineapple, cut into chunks

1 pint of raspberries

In a heavy skillet, brown the ham steak

Add the brown sugar and let melt

Add the sherry and pineapple chunks

Add the raspberries just before serving

Serve with grits

Bacon, Lettuce, tomato, and Fried Egg Sandwich

This was Independence day breakfast. I have started purchasing eggs from a new woman. She grow several breeds, among them the Araucana (they produce the blueish green eggs), Banties (they are quite small), and several others that produce brown eggs. I promise I'll visit her hen houses and give you better information in the future. They live a great chicken life and have the run of 2 1/2 acres during the day and return to their houses at evening. She refuses to butcher her chickens and so she sells off her roosters-only retaining breeding stock. She has no idea what to do with her retired hens.

I'll be going to a barbecue later this afternoon, but that is several hours away so I thought a little breakfast was in order. Farm Fresh Eggs is one of the most eloquent phrases I can think of , but just in case you have never tasted anything but mass produced factory farm eggs, real eggs are deeply flavored, richly colored beauties.

Also I grew the lettuce in a pot on my deck, while I enjoy having it there to clip as I need it, it is too pathetic and ugly to photograph. My mom, dad, and one uncle are terrific gardeners-I guess I didn't get the green thumb.

Miso Glazed Strip Steaks

Here is a really tasty grilled dinner with some Japanese influences. First up is a spinach salad simply dressed with lemon juice and sesame, next the steaks are marinated in a miso paste flavored with garlic, ginger, and sesame, and last we have grilled corn with wasabi, ginger, and cilantro butter.

Spinach salad

1 pound fresh spinach

Juice of 2 lemons

Splenda or sugar to taste

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

Freshly ground pepper

Sesame seeds for garnish

Mix the lemon juice with the sweetner, soy, sesame oil, and pepper

Toss the spinach with the dressing and allow to sit for about 1/2 hour, the spinach should be slightly wilted

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds

ButterGrilled Corn With Wasabi, Ginger, and Cilantro

I usually soak my corn with the husks still intact for at least 1/2 hour before placing them on the grill

1/4 pound butter

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Wasabi powder to taste-I used 1/2 teaspoon

Cream the butter and add the rest of the ingredients

Form the butter into a cylinder, and wrap with plastic or parchment paper and place in the refrigerator to chill

Slice the butter and let it melt across the grilled corn

Miso Glaze (enought for 4 steaks)

3 Tablespoons of miso

3 Tablespoons of Mirin

1 Tablespoon of sherry

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Freshly ground pepper

Combine all of the ingredients

Reserve 1/2 of the mixture

Brush the steaks with the miso paste and let sit for 1/2 hour

Grill of medium hot coals until your desired degree of doneness

When the steaks are cooked to you liking, remove them from the heat and brush with the reserved paste

Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes before serving

Post Dispatch says Gallagher's Fried Chicken is Best in the St Louis Metro-East Area

If my posts have been far and few between lately it is because I have been on some fried chicken odyssey. In May the St Louis Post Dispatch began a contest for readers to vote for their favorite fried chicken. The Post then visited the top 5 restaurants and reviewed the chicken with large color photos and a continuing dialogue that also included their web site. To make a long story less tedious, Gallagher's was named best. Upsetting Hodak's (a restaurant specialising in fried chicken since time immemorial) reign. Since then we have been seating record breaking crowds, who knew St Louisans loved fried chicken so much?

Originally we only served fried chicken on Sundays, and it was the only thing we served on Sunday, family style. Since the article was published we have added it to the regular menu as so many people were arriving for fried chicken every night of the week. Many became irate that we didn't offer fried chicken all the time eventhough the article clearly stated it was only available on Sundays. Fried chicken done properly is not an easy task.

Our chicken is fresh-never frozen-brined for at least 12 hours, then hand breaded, and fried in small batches. The traditional sides are corn custard, mashed potatoes, gravy, long simmered green beans with ham, biscuits, and a home style dessert made by Mrs Gallagher. Seriously, I've had one long-time cook quit over it all-he wanted to cook somthing "fancier". We reworked all the recipes to expand the numbers being served, as well as purchasing new equipment. It was almost like starting over as all the recipes had to be tested and re-tested. All new equipment has its own learning curve to it until everyone is used to working with it.

The first week the article came out we served 310 dinners, there was a 2 hour wait for tables, and another 45 minutes before I could get food to the table. Keep in mind previous to the article, we usually served betwee 150 and 200. One disgruntled guest declared that the Post must have been drunk when they named us best. Last week I am happy to report we served 380 guests with minimal waits for tables and 8 minutes for me to get chicken to the tables. Since we do not share the chicken recipe, here is a picture of one of our lovely servers taking a tray of the platters of food to the table.

Moorish Zucchini Salad

Just in time for the local zucchini crop, I give you this Spanish-moorish salad.

1/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 pounds small zucchini, thinly sliced

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup raisins

Several threads of Saffron

1/4 cup minced Italian parsley

1/4 cup minced mint

Juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to your liking

Brown the garlic in the oil, to flavor it-discard the garlic, after the oil is flavored

Briefly saute the zucchini until al dente

Remove the zucchini to a mixing bowl

Add the pine nutes to the saute pan and toast them

Add the pine nuts, raisins, Saffron, lemon juice, parsley, and mint to the zucchini, mix and let marinate for 2 to 3 hours in the refrigerator

Serve on a bed of salad greens or on grilled bread slices

Tragedy

One of our most favorite clients, Traci, perished in a horrible auto accident last week. She was a delightful woman with a lot of spunk. I always enjoyed bantering with her. Here she is enjoying appetizers and drinks with her husband. He is gravely injured still in the hospital. She also leaves behind a daughter in high school. So sad.