My wife and I just returned from a much needed cruise to the Bahamas. We had a great time just kicking back on the beach enjoying the weather and a cool island drink. On the ship they had several restaurants as well as the main dining room, and overall I thought the food was pretty good. This was my first cruise and I really wasn't prepared for the amount of food you could sample on the ship. In the main dining room you could order as many appetizers, entrees, and desserts as you liked. At our final dinner I ordered two of everything, I was on vacation, why count calories! They also had a Johnny Rockets that was all you can eat, as well as a pizza shop and deli that were all you can eat as well. It was food overload.
I thought the dishes served in the main dining room really stood out. One of my favorite dishes was the escargot in a parmesan garlic butter sauce. I have eaten a lot of different types of foods, from frogs legs to snapping turtle, but this was my first time eating escargot and I thought the snails were delicious. The parmesan garlic butter sauce really complimented them, and when I ate it on a piece of warm sourdough bread, it was really good. The next dish that really stood out was the pan roasted duck with cherry jus. The duck skin was crispy and the meat was tender. The cherry jus had a nice balance of savory and sweet. It was served with braised red cabbage and fried potato cakes. I really enjoyed all the different elements of this dish. The best appetizer I had was an oxtail broth with diced vegetables and small pieces of oxtail. The broth had great depth of flavor.
I have sweet tooth and I had two desserts that really were outstanding. The first was a bittersweet chocolate souffle served with an espresso cream. The souffle was light and airy with a nice chocolate flavor. The waiter served the souffle and then created an opening in the center and poured in the cream. The espresso cream added a nice coffee flavor that always tastes good with chocolate. I could have eaten two of them. The second dessert was probably one of my favorites dishes I had the entire trip. It was a banana praline caramel parfait, but it was molded into the shape of a piece of cake. It had a creamy consistency with a nice banana flavor with the pieces of praline mixed in. The slice of parfait was placed on top of the caramel sauce. I enjoyed it so much, I may try to re-create this dish in my own variation.
I definitely will be taking a cruise again not only for the sun and sand, but more importantly the food!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Kids & Brownies
Recently when I have been coming home from work, my kids have transformed my living room into a make shift kitchen. They have pots, pans, rolling pins, ricers, and bowls all laid out. I asked them what they were doing and they said, "cooking like you". My daughter would even throw one of my white kitchen towels over her shoulder exactly like I do. I have to admit it was pretty cool to see my kids emulate my behavior in the kitchen. My son even asks for real ingredients to use, but I had to deny that request if I didn't want heavy cream and eggs all over my furniture. Maybe one of them will follow my foot steps into the kitchen, only time will tell.
In the past I have let my kids help me in the kitchen, especially when I bake. They really like to add ingredients to the bowls and use the hand mixer. This past weekend I told them that we would make brownies. I'd figure it would be something fun for the three of us to do, and give me an opportunity to develop my own brownie recipe.
Before we even got started, my daughter indicated she wanted to hold one of the boxes of semi-sweet chocolate, so I let her, and a few minutes later my son TJ came and told me to come into the living room. There I see my daughter with an open box and an unwrapped piece of chocolate. I guess I couldn't blame her too much, who doesn't love chocolate. I rescued the chocolate from the couch and finished getting all of the ingredients together.
The kids and I went into the kitchen and started melting the chocolate, and getting our dry ingredients together. Once the chocolate was melted, I couldn't help but let them taste the melted chocolate, that may have been a mistake, because they wanted to keep eating it. We finally finished our brownie batter and put it in the oven. You would think the kids would be standing by the oven waiting for them to get done, but my little ones could care less. When I pulled them out of the oven they smelled great. We let them cool, and after dinner we tasted them and they tasted really good. The kids loved them. I will post the recipe once I test it again.
In the past I have let my kids help me in the kitchen, especially when I bake. They really like to add ingredients to the bowls and use the hand mixer. This past weekend I told them that we would make brownies. I'd figure it would be something fun for the three of us to do, and give me an opportunity to develop my own brownie recipe.
Before we even got started, my daughter indicated she wanted to hold one of the boxes of semi-sweet chocolate, so I let her, and a few minutes later my son TJ came and told me to come into the living room. There I see my daughter with an open box and an unwrapped piece of chocolate. I guess I couldn't blame her too much, who doesn't love chocolate. I rescued the chocolate from the couch and finished getting all of the ingredients together.
The kids and I went into the kitchen and started melting the chocolate, and getting our dry ingredients together. Once the chocolate was melted, I couldn't help but let them taste the melted chocolate, that may have been a mistake, because they wanted to keep eating it. We finally finished our brownie batter and put it in the oven. You would think the kids would be standing by the oven waiting for them to get done, but my little ones could care less. When I pulled them out of the oven they smelled great. We let them cool, and after dinner we tasted them and they tasted really good. The kids loved them. I will post the recipe once I test it again.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Making Changes
I told myself that I really need to be more proactive about blogging, but between work, the business, and my family, I really just haven't had the time. Since I really don't believe in excuses, I won't let this be one. I am going to make a real effort to blog at least once a week. I have been in the lab coming up with new dishes, and will be sharing the recipes for people to try and give me feedback.
You may have also noticed I changed the layout and design, hopefully you like it, I do! People have mentioned to me that they have tried to subscribe to the my blog, but since they didn't have a gmail account they couldn't. I added a "Follow By Email" gadget to eliminate this. Hopefully everyone you would like to subscribe will now be able to to easily follow the blog.
My little ones (2 year old daughter and 3 year old son) and I will be making brownies tomorrow, so it should be real fun and crazy time in the kitchen. There will be a definite blog entry for tomorrows adventure!
On another note, I shot two more cooking segments today. We had a real good time shooting. I will be posting them in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for them.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Shrimp & Grits
I had the idea to shoot a few cooking spots, showing people how to make some of my favorite dishes. The first dish I prepared was Shrimp & Grits with Tomato Habenero Jam. Below is the video, along with the recipe. Let me know what you think.
Quick shout out to my producer LeCarlo Beatty, who did a great job putting this together with me.
Chef Troy
Shrimp & Grits with Tomato Habanero Jam
Serves 4
Ingredients
Polenta
1 ½ Cup Polenta
6 ½ Cups Salted Water
5 Tablespoons of Butter
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper
Tomato Habanero Jam
5 Roma Tomatoes, Peeled, Seeded, & Diced
2 ½ Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 minced Shallot
1 Tablespoon minced Ginger
1 Habanero Pepper
¼ cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 tbsp of Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Pepper
Shrimp
1 lb Peeled and Deveined Shrimp
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
½ tsp of Cumin
Salt & Pepper
4 scallion Stalks thinly sliced
2 tablespoons Parsley
4 minced garlic cloves
Olive Oil
Directions:
Polenta
Bring water to a boil and add Salt to taste. Pour the Polenta into the boiling salted water in a thin stream, while whisking to avoid lumps. Once Polenta is added to the water, bring to a boil and then reduce to medium low heat. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes until the water is absorbed. Then remove from heat and add butter and cream, then add Salt and Pepper to taste.
Tomato Habanero Jam
In a saucepan heat Olive Oil on medium heat. Then add shallots until they become translucent. Then add tomatoes, ginger, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Halve the habanero pepper and remove the seeds, then add the 2 halves to the pot. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Let mixture reduce for about 20 minutes until it reaches a jam like consistency.
Shrimp
Rinse and pat dry shrimp. In a bowl add shrimp and then season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and cumin. Ensure spice mixture evenly coats the shrimp. In a pan heat Olive Oil. Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink. Then add garlic, scallions, and parsley and cook another 2 – 3 minutes.
Serving
Spoon polenta on plate or in a bowl. Spoon shrimp and herb mixture on top of polenta, and then spoon Tomato Jam on top of Shrimp.
Serve Immediately and Enjoy!
Quick shout out to my producer LeCarlo Beatty, who did a great job putting this together with me.
Chef Troy
Shrimp & Grits with Tomato Habanero Jam
Serves 4
Ingredients
Polenta
1 ½ Cup Polenta
6 ½ Cups Salted Water
5 Tablespoons of Butter
1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper
Tomato Habanero Jam
5 Roma Tomatoes, Peeled, Seeded, & Diced
2 ½ Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 minced Shallot
1 Tablespoon minced Ginger
1 Habanero Pepper
¼ cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 tbsp of Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Pepper
Shrimp
1 lb Peeled and Deveined Shrimp
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
½ tsp of Cumin
Salt & Pepper
4 scallion Stalks thinly sliced
2 tablespoons Parsley
4 minced garlic cloves
Olive Oil
Directions:
Polenta
Bring water to a boil and add Salt to taste. Pour the Polenta into the boiling salted water in a thin stream, while whisking to avoid lumps. Once Polenta is added to the water, bring to a boil and then reduce to medium low heat. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes until the water is absorbed. Then remove from heat and add butter and cream, then add Salt and Pepper to taste.
Tomato Habanero Jam
In a saucepan heat Olive Oil on medium heat. Then add shallots until they become translucent. Then add tomatoes, ginger, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Halve the habanero pepper and remove the seeds, then add the 2 halves to the pot. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Let mixture reduce for about 20 minutes until it reaches a jam like consistency.
Shrimp
Rinse and pat dry shrimp. In a bowl add shrimp and then season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and cumin. Ensure spice mixture evenly coats the shrimp. In a pan heat Olive Oil. Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink. Then add garlic, scallions, and parsley and cook another 2 – 3 minutes.
Serving
Spoon polenta on plate or in a bowl. Spoon shrimp and herb mixture on top of polenta, and then spoon Tomato Jam on top of Shrimp.
Serve Immediately and Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Adventures in Baking
This past weekend my wife and I were throwing around ideas of things we could do for Valentines Day this year. My Brother had mentioned some plans he was thinking about doing for his girlfriend, and when I mentioned them to my wife, I promptly was asked, "why can't you do things like that for me?" In an effort to be somewhat romantic, I told her that we should bake some cupcakes together. I am a huge fan of Food Network's, "Cupcake Wars", but I'm chef not a baker, so I knew this would be a good chance for me to get outside of my normal comfort zone.
I started digging through some of my books and looking for basic baking techniques, did some google searching, and then came up with a rough cake batter recipe (I will post it below). My wife and I put the kids to bed, and began our baking. I have to mention, my wife and I do not work harmoneously together in the kitchen. The old addage, "there are too many chef's in the kitchen" truly applies to us. I setup our mis en place before we put the kids to bed, and assigned my wife to the hand mixer, while I measured out all of the dry ingredients. We were able to get the batter together quite quickly, but my wife and I thought it looked extremely light. Most people probably would think that would be a good quality, but I wanted to make sure the cake had a nice density to it as well. It was too late to adjust anything at that point, so we pushed ahead and poured the batter into our cupcake pan, and put them in the oven. About 15 to 18 minutes later they were done, and we pulled them out. As my wife began to remove the cakes from the pan and put them on a cooling rack, we both initially thought that they were way too light, but I told myself lets just wait and see until they were completely cooled.
Now that the cakes were out of the oven, it was time to move onto the icing. We decided to make fresh vanilla buttercream, so I had my wife whip the butter until is smooth and airy, and then blended in the confectioner sugar, and the vanilla. Everything was tasting pretty good. I then go to add my heavy cream and this is where I ran into problems. The cream and butter were not incorporating together, the butter was separating from the cream. I basically had heavy cream and sweetened butter in my bowl. At this point I was ready to scrap the separated buttercream and go with a whipped cream icing, and then I did some quick research and found that the butter was too cold to incorporate with the cream. My heavy cream was actually still probably to cold as well. I put on a pot of water and brought it up to temp so it started to steam (double boiler), and sat my bowl of separated icing on top, and began whisking. As the butter melted and cream came up to temperature it started to incorporate, and finally I had a beautiful buttercream.
The cupcakes were cooled by this time, and they had firmed up as well. My wife then iced the cupcakes, but we were both skeptical on how they would ultimately taste. I had tasted the batter and it was pretty good, but I wasn't sure how the final product would come out. My wife and I both tasted a cupcake and they were really good. The cake was moist and light, the buttercream was creamy and had a nice vanilla flavor. We were actually quite impressed with ourselves. I told my wife we had a keeper with this recipe! We will definitely be trying this recipe again, but expanding the flavors now that we have a good base. I am not sure how romantic this was, but it was definitely fun!
Recipe
Yields about 18 - 20 cupcakes
Cake Batter
1 1/2 Cups - Cake Flour
1 1/2 Cups - Self-Rising Flour
1 Pinch of Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
1 1/4 Cup - Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 tsp - Pure Vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (2 3/4 sticks) - Softened unsalted butter
4 large eggs (room temperature)
2/3 Cup Buttermilk
1/3 milk
1. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer and whip the butter until it's airy (about 3 minutes). Add sugar and cream butter and sugar together until they are fully incorporated.
2. Add Vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and incorporate.
3. Then add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next.
4. Combine cake flour, self-rising flour, kosher salt in another bowl
5. Add portion of the dry ingredient mixture to your egg/sugar/butter mixture and incorporate fully. Then add portion of the buttermilk and incorporate. Repeat these steps until all of the dry ingredients, buttermilk, and milk are all incorporated.
6. Your batter should be light and airy.
7. Put your batter into your lined cupcake pan and cook for 15-18 minutes on 350. Do not over fill.
8. Once they are done, from your pan and let cool
Buttercream Icing
2 Sticks - softened Butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 Cups - Confectioner sugar
1 1/2 tsp - Pure Vanilla extract
1/2 cup - heavy cream
1. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer whip butter until soft and airy
2. Add Sugar and Vanilla to butter and whip until it is fully incoporated.
3. Add heavy cream to the mixture. It should incorporate, if it doesn't put mixture over a double boiler and whisk until it starts to incorporate and remove from double boiler.
4. Ice cupcakes when they have cooled.
The recipe can be used to make a cake as well.
I started digging through some of my books and looking for basic baking techniques, did some google searching, and then came up with a rough cake batter recipe (I will post it below). My wife and I put the kids to bed, and began our baking. I have to mention, my wife and I do not work harmoneously together in the kitchen. The old addage, "there are too many chef's in the kitchen" truly applies to us. I setup our mis en place before we put the kids to bed, and assigned my wife to the hand mixer, while I measured out all of the dry ingredients. We were able to get the batter together quite quickly, but my wife and I thought it looked extremely light. Most people probably would think that would be a good quality, but I wanted to make sure the cake had a nice density to it as well. It was too late to adjust anything at that point, so we pushed ahead and poured the batter into our cupcake pan, and put them in the oven. About 15 to 18 minutes later they were done, and we pulled them out. As my wife began to remove the cakes from the pan and put them on a cooling rack, we both initially thought that they were way too light, but I told myself lets just wait and see until they were completely cooled.
Now that the cakes were out of the oven, it was time to move onto the icing. We decided to make fresh vanilla buttercream, so I had my wife whip the butter until is smooth and airy, and then blended in the confectioner sugar, and the vanilla. Everything was tasting pretty good. I then go to add my heavy cream and this is where I ran into problems. The cream and butter were not incorporating together, the butter was separating from the cream. I basically had heavy cream and sweetened butter in my bowl. At this point I was ready to scrap the separated buttercream and go with a whipped cream icing, and then I did some quick research and found that the butter was too cold to incorporate with the cream. My heavy cream was actually still probably to cold as well. I put on a pot of water and brought it up to temp so it started to steam (double boiler), and sat my bowl of separated icing on top, and began whisking. As the butter melted and cream came up to temperature it started to incorporate, and finally I had a beautiful buttercream.
The cupcakes were cooled by this time, and they had firmed up as well. My wife then iced the cupcakes, but we were both skeptical on how they would ultimately taste. I had tasted the batter and it was pretty good, but I wasn't sure how the final product would come out. My wife and I both tasted a cupcake and they were really good. The cake was moist and light, the buttercream was creamy and had a nice vanilla flavor. We were actually quite impressed with ourselves. I told my wife we had a keeper with this recipe! We will definitely be trying this recipe again, but expanding the flavors now that we have a good base. I am not sure how romantic this was, but it was definitely fun!
Recipe
Yields about 18 - 20 cupcakes
Cake Batter
1 1/2 Cups - Cake Flour
1 1/2 Cups - Self-Rising Flour
1 Pinch of Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
1 1/4 Cup - Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 tsp - Pure Vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (2 3/4 sticks) - Softened unsalted butter
4 large eggs (room temperature)
2/3 Cup Buttermilk
1/3 milk
1. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer and whip the butter until it's airy (about 3 minutes). Add sugar and cream butter and sugar together until they are fully incorporated.
2. Add Vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and incorporate.
3. Then add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next.
4. Combine cake flour, self-rising flour, kosher salt in another bowl
5. Add portion of the dry ingredient mixture to your egg/sugar/butter mixture and incorporate fully. Then add portion of the buttermilk and incorporate. Repeat these steps until all of the dry ingredients, buttermilk, and milk are all incorporated.
6. Your batter should be light and airy.
7. Put your batter into your lined cupcake pan and cook for 15-18 minutes on 350. Do not over fill.
8. Once they are done, from your pan and let cool
Buttercream Icing
2 Sticks - softened Butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 Cups - Confectioner sugar
1 1/2 tsp - Pure Vanilla extract
1/2 cup - heavy cream
1. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer whip butter until soft and airy
2. Add Sugar and Vanilla to butter and whip until it is fully incoporated.
3. Add heavy cream to the mixture. It should incorporate, if it doesn't put mixture over a double boiler and whisk until it starts to incorporate and remove from double boiler.
4. Ice cupcakes when they have cooled.
The recipe can be used to make a cake as well.
Monday, January 3, 2011
I love the Holiday's!!!
I love the Holiday's because of the delicious food that seams to be endlessly available at every turn. You get to visit home and sample your Mom's homemade favorites. This year I actually decided to make a few desserts. My Mom wanted to taste my Sweet Potato Cheesecake, so I made one for her. Then I made a Creme Brulee Bread Pudding to take to my in-laws for dinner. Everyone seemed to really enjoyed the desserts. I actually turned some folks into Bread Pudding fans.
On Christmas Eve, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and they had lobster tails on sale. I bought a few and then purchased some salmon. Decided to make blackened salmon with Belgian Ale poached lobster tails, and Creamy herb rice. Everything tasted really well. My wife and I really enjoyed it!
Blackened Salmon with Beer Poached Lobster & Creamy Herb Rice
On Christmas Eve, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and they had lobster tails on sale. I bought a few and then purchased some salmon. Decided to make blackened salmon with Belgian Ale poached lobster tails, and Creamy herb rice. Everything tasted really well. My wife and I really enjoyed it!
Blackened Salmon with Beer Poached Lobster & Creamy Herb Rice
Monday, December 6, 2010
Holiday Meals!
I will be preparing delicious Christmas Meals to order. Checkout www.troystaste.com to view the complete Menu and Pricing. This would be a great holiday present! You have an option to purchase items individually, whether you need a main dish, side items, or desserts. Happy Holidays!
Chef Troy
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