Greek Orzo Salad

So that time of year has rolled around again, that time of year that every foodie loves so much, yes Thanksgiving is nigh at hand.  Bring on the turkey,. the dressing, the cranberry sauce, the Greek salad.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrpt.  That's me making the record player needle scratching sound.  Yes, this is my Thanksgiving month post but this month I'm going non-trad for a side offering.  I like to do this from time to time, pull a fast one on the family and serve something they're not expecting.  Oh, we still have the usual stuffing and mashed potatoes and such, but sometimes a little variety is merited.

So, give this simple pasta salad a try, for T-day or just for a Greek night anytime of year.  I'd go great with my Greek Lemon Chicken with Dill Sauce.

Ingredients

12 oz Orzo Pasta
6 oz Artichoke Hearts
1 Tomato
1 Red Onion
1 Green Bell Pepper
8 oz Feta Cheese
4 Oz Kalamata Olives
1/2 teaspoon Cavender's Greek Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Lemon Pepper
Juice of 1 Meyer Lemon


Cook pasta according to directions on box.

Drain and cool.

Coarsely chop tomato, onion and bell pepper.  Note, a cucumber, instead of the bell pepper, would be more traditional, but I'm not a big fan of raw cuke, so I've subbed the bell pepper for my greenery.  Feel free to sub a cuke back if you don't want to anger the Greek gods.

Place in food processor with artichoke hearts

Pulse until finely chopped

Add this mixture to the orzo

And blend thoroughly.

Coarsely chop your kalamata olives

Add olives and Feta to the salad

Add seasonings.  Note these include a tasty little seasoning blend called Cavenders Greek Seasoning.

This stuff tastes great, and I never seem to use it as much as I would like.  Really reminds me of the Peloponnese.

Don't forget the lemon.  I like to use Meyer lemons for this when I can get them.

But regular will work fine if you must.  Add the juice to the salad:

Mix and serve, maybe with a few more olives for garnish:

Until next time, Opa! And Happy Thanksgiving...

Chris

Texas State Fair Corny Dogs

So I don't get out to the Texas State Fair much these days.  It's just too crowded and there's a few too many carnies for my liking, but one thing I always loved about this annual fest were the corn dogs, or 'corny dogs' as we grew up calling them here in Texas.  If you've never had a corny dog fresh from the fryer at the State Fair of Texas, well, my friend, you've missed out.  They are so flavorful, the batter so crispy on the outside, so flakey and buttery on the inside...such a treat.  Even though I don't do the fair anymore, I still get a hankering for these babies.  What do to?  Well, make my own, of course.

The folks that fry these fancy little feasts on a stick, Fletchers, purports to have invented the corny dog, and who am I to argue with them.  They won't budge on their secret recipe, though, so I experimented around with some various corny dog recipes I found until I got one that tasted pretty close to what I had at the fair.  Give 'em a shot.  They're surprisingly simple to make, particularly if you do them 'mini style' as I've done here.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 Tablespoon corn oil

2 Tablespoons honey

10 hot dogs

10 wooden skewers 

1 Quart Peanut Oil


Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix

Add egg, buttermilk, corn oil and honey to this, stir until a thick batter forms

Heat peanut oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  I use a small saucepan and fill it up to about an inch and a half below the top.  This should be about a quart or so of oil.

Next.  Prep the hot dogs.  First off, get good quality all-beef hot dogs.  I find the Hebrew National brand to be quite good.  They make a jumbo size frank that is close to twice as thick as a regular run o the mill hot dog.

I find these work better for corny dogs, as they are easier to skewer, give you more meat, and a larger surface area for that delicious batter to coat.  Now, one of the difficulties with making your own corny dogs at home is getting them to fry up perfect.  Problem is, most people don't have a deep enough fryer to fully immerse the corny dog so that it cooks evenly.   And you don't want to lay the corny dog down in a wide shallow fryer, as they float and thus all sides won't cook evenly.  So, the solution, making half length mini-corn dogs.

This way, a simple sauce pan can hold enough oil to fully immerse the corny dog.  It works great, and if you tell me you are sad because you are getting a smaller dog, I will simply point out, as our friend mathematics will tell you--just eat twice as many, and you'll get the same amount.   See, no problem at all.

So, take the franks out of their packaging and cut them in half.

Try to make them all even lengths so they'll take about the same amount of time to fry.  Next, skewer them with a wooden skewer.  You can probably find the flat Popsicle-like sticks that they use at the fair if you look hard enough, but I just use the cheap skewers I keep on hand in a kitchen drawer from when I make Satay or Shish-Kababs.  These work fine.  Make sure you skewer them almost all the way though so the frank won't come off when you're frying.

Next, pour some of the batter into a tall glass

Dip hot dog in the glass of batter

until well coated

Note, let some of the batter drip off of the dog before you move it over your hot oil, otherwise you'll have some drip off in the oil and make little batter pearls that you'll have to fish out before they burn. Anyhoo, plunge the battered dog down into the oil

and fry for two minutes or until golden brown on outside.  Something like this:

Repeat with the rest of the hot dogs.  Note, if you're brave, you can probably fry two at once, but really they cook so fast you probably should just do one at a time.  Hot oil is not something to trifle with, and I treat it with respect.  The bamboo skewers I use are nice because they are long and allow me to keep my hands far from the hot oil.


As each corny dog is done, place them on paper towels to drain.

Then serve them with some good old cheap yeller mustard or the condiment of your choice.

All, note that crispy, golden batter on the outside, bready and sweet on the inside--heaven on a stick, my friends.

Y'all be sure to try these soon, ya hear!

Chris

Salmon Croquettes

When I think of salmon croquettes, I find myself pronouncing the 'L' in 'saLmon' in my head, because that's how we all said it when we were kids.  We were backwards Texans and just didn't know no better.  Yes, these little fried delicacies were a staple in my household growing up, and I loved them them, so I thought I've revisit them now and see if I can recapture the magic of what my mom made way back then.

Thing is, I have no idea exactly how mom made them, so I've sort of re-engineered this recipe from the bottom up, and while they don't taste exactly like my memory of 'saLmon' croquettes from Mom's table, they do taste pretty good.

Ingredients

15 oz salmon
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 oz green onion, minced
1 oz celery, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 cup cooking oil

First off a word of warning.  Try to avoid using plain old canned salmon.  It's not only a bit dodgy as far as the salmon flavor is concerned, but it's chock full of pin and spine bones that you'll either have to pick out or serve to your guests, and nobody wants crunchy-style croquettes.

Instead, use the foil packets of salmon--these are boneless and seem to contain a higher quality of salmon.  

Heat oil in skillet to 375F

Mince green onions and celery

Place salmon in food processor with 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1 egg, green onions, celery, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and old bay.

Pulse until well combined.

Shape mixture into small patties.

Dust patties in rest of the breadcrumbs

.

Reserve until oil is heated

fry for a few minutes then carefully flip over and fry until both sides are crisp and golden brown

serve immediately

Until next time,


Chris

Savory Split Pea Soup

So, August has sort of become soup month here at An Eat'n Man, and lo and behold, the month rolled around and I hadn't cooked any new soups for the blog.  Well, I've been tied up with some other projects, but I looked through my archive, and I found I had this top notch Pea Soup from a few years ago that I cooked.  The recipe is great, inspired by Francois over at FX Cuisine, though I modified it heavily for my own use.  The photos aren't really up to my new standards, but I'll replace them when I get round to making this soup again (it's more of a winter soup, as it's so hearty) but until now I give you, split pea soup.

Ingredients

16 oz Green Split Peas
3 Large Carrots, diced
2 Russet Potatoes, diced
1 Large Onion, diced
1 Leek, slicked into thin rings
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
8 oz Smoked Ham, diced
1 bunch Parsley
1 bunch Thyme
1 bunch  Sage
1 Bay Leaf
1 Celeriac, diced
6 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil

The hardest thing about making this soup is of course splitting all those darn peas--it takes forever.  Okay, just kidding.  The peas come already split--they naturally split when they are dried.  They are, of course, hard as a rock when you get them, so soak them overnight in water to soften them.  Discard that water when you drain them the next day and use fresh, clean water for the boil.

Dice onion and saute in olive oil until golden
Mince garlic and add, cook for one minute

Dice carrots, potatoes and celeriac

Add them to the pot with the onions and garlic.

Slice your leek into thin rings and add.  Only use the white and light green part of the leek, discard the leaves and rootlet ends.  Here's the part to use:

Slice 'em like this:

Dice ham and add

Note, most recipes for this soup would use a smoked ham hock or ham bone to add the flavor.  I don't for two reasons.  One...I've had bad luck with using hocks or ham bones that I've acquired at the store--they sometimes turn out to be rancid, and I've ruined some soups and bean dishes because of this.  By using actual slices of smoke ham, I get the same flavor, intensified, and a little more protein in the soup.  Trust me, its a great way to beef up your soup--or maybe ham it up would be more appropriate.

Add the water to the pot

Tie herbs with cooking twine

and add to the pot

Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 1 hour

Remove herb bundle

Puree soup with hand blender

Serve right away:

Note, this makes a very thick soup--if you prefer it a little thinner, add a little vegetable broth after you have pureed it, and simmer for a few minutes more.

Until next time,


Don't split 'til you've had this soup.

Chris