Prime Cuts

Everyone has their secret recipe. It’s their “go-to” for drop by/quick dinners, and always a grand slam with family and friends. I have to tell you, I’m really bad at keeping secrets. So, prepare yourselves folks. I’m about to share an all time fav, and it’s just in time for the cooling weather — chili.

Really, chili, Jessica? Well. I’ve been to enough chili cook-offs to know that everyone has their preferences, but I will happily boast that my soon-to-be-not-so-secret chili has never received a negative comment from vegetarians or carnivores alike (many of them were surprised it doesn’t have real meat).

Here’s REALLY great news: it only takes 15 minutes and you can keep all of the ingredients on hand (I strongly believe you should always have your go-to meal in your pantry for surprise guests). It cooks up a hearty batch which is more than enough to feed eight people, and if you’re a calorie counter this will be sure to please.

Ingredients

* Morning Star Soy Crumbles – I always keep a few packs in my freezer, they serve as a great ground beef substitute
* Small/Medium white or yellow onion, chopped
* 14 oz can kidney beans, drained – if you have black beans on hand those will work
* Two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes – typically I pick one flavored one like Italian herbs or garlic and onion
* 28 oz can diced tomatoes
* Chili packet –  taco seasoning can work, too. NOT fajita seasoning, I made that mistake once. Ew.
* 14 oz can unsalted yellow corn, drained
* Salsa – Pace will work fine, just something to add a kick
* ½ cup Splenda or sugar

You could add:
* Shredded cheese
* Sour Cream
* Rice (sometimes put my chili on top of rice to bulk it up)
* Fresh Spinach (it will wilt with the warm chili, but it’s a great way to add in some greens)

Preparation

You only need one pot to make this recipe, so pull out whatever large-ish pot you prefer. Spray cooking spray or a splash of olive oil on the bottom of the pot over a medium heat. When heated, add in onions and soy crumbles. Cook until soy crumbles are completely warm throughout, stirring frequently (otherwise they’ll stick to the bottom of the pot).

Add in chili packet and reduce heat to medium-low. Throw in tomatoes and beans and mix well let simmer until warm, stirring occasionally. Add in sugar and corn and add salsa to taste. Should only take 15 – 20 minutes to heat up this incredible dish!

Feel free to add over rice and/or spinach, add sour cream and cheese. Feel really cool for scoring a hot chili recipe? Hope you enjoy and go ahead, I give you permission to share with your friends!

Recently we received a question in the comments section from Melissa Leon, a faithful Prime Cuts reader, asking for a list of the essential kitchen tools/gadgets for the home chef.  I think this is a great idea for a post and am happy to give the chefs perspective on what a home cook should have.  By tools and gadgets, I mean things other than the basic set of pots, pans, table cutlery, and working stove top and oven.

Joe’s List of 10 Mandatory Kitchen Tools

Many of these are common items that most people will already have, but I want to offer my opinion on the best type, for durability, performance, and functionality. I suggest that when shopping for these items you browse the web for restaurant supply sources and order from there. Home cook supply shops tend to be stocked with overpriced and over complicated versions of what chefs have been using professionally for years.

1. KNIVES -  You really don’t need many, but the few you own, or better yet, use on a day to day basis, should be durable, sharp, and suited to your hand/body size. Avoid buying all purpose knifes that are completely serrated; you will never be able to make precision cuts, or sharpen them. The only serrated knife you really need is a long thin bread knife. Other than that, you should have an all purpose chefs (butcher knife), filet knife, boning knife, and paring knife. Buy quality and you will most likely never have to buy them again.

2. CUTTING BOARD, SHARPENING STONE, AND STEEL -  I include these as one category because they are essentially secondary requirements for using knives, it doesn’t make sense to have knives without them. The best cutting boards are the simplest ones, the white, synthetic, plain board type. They are dishwasher safe, will never warp, can be bleached clean of any stain, and are ruggedly durable. For the sharpening stone and steel, you need not spend a fortune, but buy a stone that has at least two coarseness, and steel that feels smooth but not slippery, and learn how to use them well.

3. TONGS – Simply put, buy yourself some basic metal, restaurant style tongs in both short and long lengths. The tongs that come in home grill sets, are clumsy and weak, and they make you want to reach for the turning fork, which you should never, ever use.

4. VEGETABLE PEELER – A strong wide peeler with a good grippy handle, and replaceable blade, is very important. You will thank yourself when you are doing the thanksgiving mashed potatoes, or worse yet, trying to work your way into a butternut squash.

5. MIXING BOWLS – A good set of three, large, different sized, metal mixing bowls, is a huge personal favor. From breading stations, to salads, to multi phased dessert prep, if you want the ability to make impressive restaurant quality food at home, you will need more than your soup and cereal bowls.

6. BOX GRATER – You may have a grater, but do you have a real box grater? It should a four sided mechanism with four different shredder types, at least two of which are the standard grater style, just varying in size. The other two shredder types are less important, but it should also have a strong sturdy, and comfortable handle, and good strong welds holding it together.

7. RUBBER SPATULA – These are at times the only things to truly fit into oddly shaped surfaces. Many rubber spatulas are also heat proof and perfectly suited to working right in a hot pan loosening a sticky omelet, or scraping the last bit of melted chocolate out of the bowl and onto your brownies.

8. WISK – The wisk is like the box grater, you probably have one, but is it a good one? Strong and sturdy with a large handle, the wisk is the ultimate mixing tool. For making fresh whipped crème, mixing a simple batter, or marinade, anything that needs to be mixed can be done better with a wisk, so why not have a good one.

9. STRAINER – There is most likely a colander in the house for making spaghetti, but this is not the same as a good strainer. Your strainer should be metal and moderately sized, with a long handle, and a clasp, or bend opposite the handle side for resting on the edge of a pot or bowl. In the restaurant there are countless sauces, stocks, and purees that are finished or made better by passing through a specifically sized strainer, at home you can probably get away with just having one.

10. BRUSHES – You should have two types of brushes, one for meats, and one for everything else. Basting your ribs with barbeque sauce is best done with a synthetic, dishwasher safe brush with heavy large bristles, while glazing the tops of your sticky buns requires a brush that is much more delicate, with shorter, softer bristles.

With these tools you should be able to accomplish more than 90% of all home cooks ever will, and you will be able to do it well! You will not have to spend a ton to get them, but, buy simple, durable equipment and maintain it well. You should have it forever because most chefs’ tools are meant for a lifetime of abuse!

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Photo by: fah-lo-sue

There are times in life where having a nice cut of beef for dinner is great but then there is the time when you have the tri-tip trifecta. What is the tri-tip trifecta you ask? It starts with a glorious cut of beef stuffed with sausage and two types of cheeses. This my friend, is something of glory. By no means is this meal my “last meal” but it comes pretty damn close. It all started one summer evening over drinks, we were talking about how one could make one great meal even better, that’s when I heard about the tri-tip trifecta. My friend Nicolette told us what it was and when we heard about it our mouths watered, we almost went to the market to make it right then.

We first tried with two different tri-tips, one stuffed with mild italian sausage and the other with hot italian sausage; the hot was better. We used sharp, white english cheddar and gouda; both were awesome. The first time we tried it we made an amazing coffee-based rub for it, it was amazing but we thought we could do better. The second time we replicated the trifecta and made a brown sugar and scotch wet rub; this was absolutely ethereal.

The best part about the trifecta if done right is that both meat flavors are balanced well, the cheeses are strong but not overpowering and the rub will be tasted subtly in every bite. This is a meal you should come hungry to, you should skip lunch, maybe even breakfast. The trifecta needs to be paired with something great to drink, I decided to pair it with a nice 18 year old scotch, pair it right and you will not be disappointed. As amazing as the trifecta was, it needed to be balanced with fingerling potatoes and grilled asparagus. This mixture was the right amount of texture, starch, and love. As we gathered around the table to eat there was moment of silence as each person was served, it wasn’t in awe of the trifecta itself but that the complexity and fullness of the meal just made sense. Everyone ate pausing for moments, to understand and take in all of the flavors that was being presented in an almost perfect succession. This meal wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t a Michelin star dish, it was simple cooking perfected by people who really love the journey and the taste of food. By people who love sharing their lives around the table one meal at a time. The tri-tip trifecta brought us to the table but we stayed because of each other. Make it, enjoy it, love your friends and family.

Ingredients

Rub
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp paprika
3 tbsp chili powder
3 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp crushed coriander
pepper and salt to taste
1/2 cup fine scotch (the better the scotch, the better the rub)

Trifecta
3lbs. tri-tip
2lbs. hot italian sausage
1/2lb. sharp white cheddar
1/2lb. gouda
kitchen string

Preparation

Rub
Mix contents until fully mixed, this is all about your personal taste, I started with small quantities until I found something I liked. I like heat and scotch so my recipe definitely reflects that, rework accordingly.

Trifecta
Make two cuts along the side of the tri-tip, almost like you’re going to butterfly it. You’ll have essentially two pockets, this works better as the tri-tip stays together better.
Cut the sheathing off the sausage and remove it. Stuff the sausage into the two pockets.
Cut cheese into small cubes, mix and stuff. (At this point the tri-tip should be about twice it’s original size)
Tie the tri-tip so it holds everything in, you don’t want the cheese melting out onto the grill or your oven.
Apply the rub evenly and allow it to rest for at least an hour before cooking.
Cook at 350 until desired doneness is achieved.

We’re very happy to announce the newest version of Prime Cuts.  With this update comes both a completely new logo and blog design.  Both the logo and blog were designed by Coffee House Ideas.  We worked really hard with Eric and Justin Rasmussen to ensure that the logo and new design matched what you’ve come to love about Prime Cuts.

Realizing that most of you connect with us via an RSS reader, we wanted to call your attention to the updated design.  If you haven’t stopped by the actual website in a while, head on over and take a peek.  We’re really proud of the updates and are still continuing to make several tweaks and other updates.

I really like the changes and was getting bored staring at the same blog day in and day out.  I’m curious to know what you think.  Do you like it?  What’s ONE thing you want to see around here?

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So I’m back, I am alive, and I still eat a steak every night after I cook about 50 to 100 for my steakhouse customers…and guess what I wanna talk about, steak…OMG!

In particular I want to address flank steak, which although quite similar, should never be confused with skirt steak.  Flank is a relatively inexpensive, thin, trapezoidal shaped, lean, very specifically grained steak. Flank does not cut into typical American portions very well due to its shape, and for this reason flank is often thinly sliced AGAINST THE GRAIN, and served a few slices per person.  Have I said flank enough times yet?  I’m gonna say it some more.

Flank is a steak that I have never featured on one of my menus but I have prepared it in restaurants I have worked in prior to Caminito, and I occasionally have used it as a special.  The most recent time I prepared it was perhaps my favorite, and the inspiration for this post.

Browsing the local farmers market one day I found some excellent grass-fed all-natural flank steak.  The steaks were, on average, a bit smaller than their domestic grain and corn fed cousins, but the color and texture were phenomenal, deep ruby red colored, with little to no fat or sinew on them at all.  I was so impressed, I had to buy them!

Now came the challenge of how to prepare these steaks.  I know you are all asking “how would preparing a steak of any type be a challenge to a beef loving carnivore such as yourself Joe?”  The challenge lie in the fact that I am a restaurant steak guy.   My steaks are pre-cut and ready to go on the grill the second they are ordered.  Flank however is not this way.  It is a steak that is better left whole during the cooking process and sliced immediately prior to consumption, rather than before it is cooked.

The difficulty for this is what happens when only one customer orders this steak? Or worse yet when two customers order it at different temperatures?!  The answer, as with all great cuisine, is a simple one: don’t give people the option, and serve as a family style entree, for two or more people to share.  As far as the temperature is concerned, the more well-done inclined eaters are welcome to have the end pieces, while the other folks can enjoy the nice medium rare interior…nuff said!

With this thought in mind I was planning a menu for a few of my favorite customers of all time, a family of five who I know love the family style dining.  Flank to the rescue.  I used two of my smaller than average grass-fed flanks for the five of them and with sides and salads was more than enough.  However, flank steak on its own does not have a lot of fat, and therefore is not the most flavorful piece of beef, so I needed to do something to flavor it up a bit.

The perfect thing for a steak with a high ratio of surface area to interior mass is a spice rub.  There is almost more outside to flank than inside, and this is the perfect combo for developing a delicious and flavorful crust.  Taking a recipe from the archives I decided to use my basic black peppercorn rub.

There are a few points to take into consideration when applying this spice rub though.  The first is that you want to develop a crust, which is a dry thing, not a wet soggy one, so start with dry steak before you apply the seasoning.   This can simply be done by firmly patting your steak with a few layers of clean paper towels to remove excess surface moisture.  Next, liberally apply the spice rub to completely coat the entire exterior of the steak; patting it firmly onto the meat. You will know you are done when the exterior of the steak is completely dry with a complete spice coating. I like to let my seasoned steak rest for 10 minutes before putting it on the grill, if during this 10 minutes any of the exterior becomes moist, just add more spice rub to make completely dry again.

For grilling and serving there are a few good (correct) ways to do it.  The steak and your grill need not be lubricated with cooking oil because the dry steak should not stick to your grill.  To doubly ensure that sticking does not happen, get your grill decently hot before cooking (medium-high at least).  Flank is thin steak so for medium rare it will not take long, no more than 5 minutes per side.  But please, please, please, let this steak rest for at least 5-10 minutes before you attempt to slice it.  This is done in order to retain the precious juices inside this wonderful meat, the exterior crust will help act as a barrier as well.   Now that you have waited patiently, get out your sharpest, thinnest, longest knife, and sharpen it some more.  You are now prepared to begin slicing your masterpiece,  do so with great care, AGAINST THE GRAIN, and about 1/8″- 1/4″ thick.

Fan out your slices artistically on a serving platter, taking special care to make sure that you display a good portion of both the seasoned crust and perfectly cooked interior.  You will now be faced with the great and painful dilemma of chefs and cooks across the globe: Actually serving this beautiful display, and watching your hungry guests devour with ravenous speed this wonderful and under utilized cut of beef, while making a disastrous mess of your meticulously plated family style steak dinner.

You could, if you wanted to, follow this method for any steak, but it truly works best with flank.  As I mentioned before, flank is relatively inexpensive and readily available (even at the farmers market) so why not try it.  I was certainly glad I pulled this dish out of the archives..and oh yeah, my family of five LOVED IT!

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Photo by: TheBittenWord.com

Today my friend Jessica Randazza comes by to hang out and share a recipe that her grandparents brought over with them from Sicily.  Jessica currently serves as an account executive and social media manager for a food public relations agency in Seattle. Because she grew up as the daughter of an executive chef and in an Italian family, she uses food as a way to bring friends and family together. When she’s not hanging out in the kitchen, she can be found tweeting or sharing her thoughts on the communications on her blog.

For years it has been a tradition to return home to Birmingham, Ala. each Labor Day weekend and while the trek home is primarily to see my friends and family, the time that I spend with them is always centered around food.
The list of out-of-this-world cuisine that my hometown could easily consist of 100 items, but unless I’m feeling overly ambitious, I never have a chance to savor them all.

That said, there are two things that I ALWAYS make time for — southern food and my family’s favorite, “basta with the gusta”.

Southern food can mean a lot of things, and it actually doesn’t matter what it is. I’m satisfied with cornbread, sweet tea, mashed potatoes, fried pickles, mac and cheese…really anything. And since I didn’t go home this year, I threw a birthday (which also happens to fall around Labor Day) celebration for myself centered around all southern cuisine. But the basta was still missing.

Now I’ll be honest, I have no idea what “gusta” means or if I’m even pronouncing it properly. But its based on a Sicilian peasant dish my grandparents brought over from Italy, and it’s a Randazza classic.

My friend, Carson, has heard me rant and rave about the dish for years.  Being the incredible friend she is, she knew I’d want it for my birthday and called up my mom and asked for the recipe — surprisingly something I never thought to do. As it turns out, it’s REALLY easy.

Jessica’s “Basta with the Gusta” Recipe

Ingredients

Chopped medium yellow onion
2-3 zucchini cut into 1/4” circles
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese to taste
8 oz spaghetti or a noodle pasta cooked al dente
Olive oil

Preparation

In a large-ish frying pan, cook your onion with a splash of olive oil over medium heat until it starts to caramelize. Throw in 2/3 of the chopped zucchini with the onions. Cook until warm. Pour in the chicken stock, heat until warm.

In a separate pan, pour in olive oil to cook the remaining 1/3 chopped zucchini. When it begins to brown, sprinkle breadcrumbs and coat both sides (there should be enough oil in the pan to help the breadcrumbs stick). Pull off the heat and plate.

Pour chicken stock mixture over pasta and stir thoroughly and plate. Add breaded zucchini and Parmesan on top and mangiare!

A simple dish with an surprisingly exquisite flavor profile…and now I know I don’t have to wait to have a taste of home.

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BRR! Who turned off Summer? I’m not sure how things are going across the REST of the country, but here on the East Coast? WOW.  Summer decided to run away like a scared kitten, leaving the first frosty traces of Fall to take charge.

While I am one of those “Summer People” (yes, I get cold when it’s 70 degrees outside, I would wear flip-flops 365 days a year, if I could, and I think that having sand between my toes is one of the greatest pleasures in life), there are lots of things about Autumn that make me blissfully happy:

The firestorm of color when the leaves begin to change.
Picking apples straight out da’ orchard.
Hoodies.
Jeans.
Kids being back in school.
Carving pumpkins (or turning them into pies!)
Snuggling underneath my down comforter.

and …

Homemade soup.

Ohhhh, MAN! Do I love soup! I’m a junkie for it. It’s one of those things that always makes me feel good. And when it’s homemade? There are few things that are better. Sadly, many people are daunted by the thought of making soup from scratch, which is more than a little unfortunate, as it almost always kicks the stuffing out of anything you can get from a can.

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, though. *Psst! Come closer (I won’t hurt you)!*

Making soup … is easy. I mean, REALLY easy. All it takes is a little time (and, sometimes, not even all that much of it). Even if you think you can’t cook, I’d be willing to bet you can pull it off. As the nip of Fall creeps further into our lives, I’m sure to post more than a few of my favorite soup recipes, but I’m going to start with the one that gives the most bang for the buck, the most excellence for the effort.

I ask you: is there anything better than homemade chicken noodle soup?

Melissa’s Better-Than-Your-Mom’s Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

2 split, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts**
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly-ground pepper
2 quarts chicken broth (use the low-sodium kind)
2 large ribs of celery, diced
3 large carrots, diced
1 cup wide egg noodles
1/2 minced fresh parsley (if you like)
**If you want to make this impossibly, nay CRIMINALLY, easy, get a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from your grocery store, shred the meat and put it right into the pot.

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken breasts on a large baking sheet (one that has a good edge on it). Rub the pieces of chicken liberally with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with the Kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper. Roast in the oven til the skin is golden brown and the meat is cooked through (about 1/2 an hour or so). Remove from the oven and allow to cool (otherwise, you’ll burn the bejeezus out of your fingers; I speak from experience here).

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock/broth over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and celery & allow to cook for about 20 minutes (until the veggies start to get tender, but not mushy). Remove the skin from the pieces of chicken, and dice (or just tear) the meat into chunks. Add the meat to the pot. Add the egg noodles and cook at a simmer or low boil for about 10 minutes. Add the parsley, and you’re ready to serve!

It’s true, it would be difficult to find a recipe that’s easier. It’s low on time-commitment, low on effort, easy on your bank account, and BIG on return. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I think I’m gonna make a pot right now.

When she’s not getting her soup on for Prime Cuts, Melissa DelGaudio keeps things simmering over at Honeybee Consulting. Check her out there, or see what sort of stew she’s in on Twitter today!

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Photo by: pinprick

Today on Prime Cuts TV we wanted to talk about properly decanting wine.  Not too many people seem to do it but it can do so much for a bottle of wine.  While there are many different types of decanters out there, today we focus on explaining the reasons behind decanting and demonstrate how to properly do it.

[viddler id=96b98fec&w=437&h=288]

Do you decant your wine?  If you do decant, do you notice a difference in taste? Thoughts?

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