Gunthar's Cooking Adventures

From a memory. I need to figure ratios and post a proper recipe in the blog.

A quick dinner tonight. I kind of planned it the other day. I took shallots, garlic, herbs from the garden, mushrooms and sauted them in olive oil. Then added a cup of cabernet sauvignon and reduced it until dry. Removed the veggies from the pan, added a bit of butter and olive oil. Tossed in a seasoned hunk of flank steak. Cooked that to medium rare and set aside to rest. Put the veggies back in the pan, added some beef stock, butter, and half & half. Reduced to proper consistency.
Served with mashed potatoes, and stirfry of cauliflower, bok choy, spinach and broccoli, and a green salad. Glasses of Layer Cake Cabernet added to the meal.

Chinese Eggs and Tomato
For the eggs
3 or 4 eggs, well beaten
1 T butter, cut into small cubes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper
pinch of MSG (if desired)
1 tsp fish sauce (if desired)
Slurry of 1 tsp cornstarch to 1 T water (divided use)
Glaze of oil in pan

For the tomato
1 or 2 tomatoes cut into medium dice (rough chop)
2 scallions, chopped
1 T oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 T ketchup
Rest of the slurry

Heat wok or deep frying pan to medium high heat.
Stir egg ingredients except for the oil and slurry. Oil pan with a decent glaze of high smoke point oil.
Add egg mixture and cook, stirring, until the butter is melted then add half the slurry. Once the eggs are soft scrambled return them back into the bowl. It's fine if there is some raw egg still in the bowl, it will be cooked again.
Put the oil into the pan and heat then add the chopped scallions. Stir fry for a minute until they are cooked and beginning to wilt.
Add tomatoes and rest of the ingredients.
Cook until the tomatoes break down and a nice thick sauce is forming, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs and toss together until it all kind of comes together.
Serve over rice.

You can make this with pretty much any ingredients you like. Add garlic or ginger or mushrooms if you wish. Adjust seasonings to your taste. Everyone in China makes it different, though they all agree the ketchup is a must.

And now to what everyone really wants, recipes.
I had a couple of leftover pieces of raw chicken in the fridge from when I made Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan the other night and needed to get them cooked up. I know April loves shish kabob so decided to surprise her.
Marinade:
1/4 c olive oil
1/3 c honey
1/3 c low sodium soy sauce (regular soy sauce can make it too salty)
2 T lemon juice
1 - 2 T finely minced fresh ginger (the more the better in my book)
1 - 2 T finely minced fresh garlic
1/4 tsp (or more) paprika
1/4 tsp (or more) chili flakes
Good pinch of kosher salt and pepper.
Either dice up chicken breast or make chicken thighs into long strips. Add to marinade in a large bowl or, better, gallon size ziplock bag with air pressed out. Let marinate for 30 minutes to 24 hours. The longer it sits, the more flavor it has.
When ready to cook. Make a bed of coals, or start your gas grill to medium heat. You can broil these as well. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning.
Get some cherry tomatoes, whole mushrooms, chopped onion, bell pepper, pineapple, or whatever turns you on ready. Thread chicken onto skewers. You can have chicken and vegetables interspersed or make skewers all of chicken and all of vegetables. I prefer the flavors to mingle a bit. Once the skewers are complete, drain the marinade into a small saucepan and reduce the juices until it is a bit thick. Use this to brush onto the skewers as they cook. Also, the mushrooms I had were pre-sliced and wouldn't fit on the skewers so I took a handful as well as the small bits of onion that wouldn't fit and even a couple of the meat scraps left over and tossed them in a saute' pan with a drizzle of the marinade and cooked until softened.
Grill shish kabobs until the meat is done, turning often. I can't say how long because it depends on the size of the meat and heat of the fire. I'm sure you can figure that bit out.
I served this over Ginger Rice.
In a heavy saucepan add neutral oil and heat over medium high heat. Add minced fresh ginger and garlic and let cook until you can smell it nicely. Add a cup of rice, unwashed this time, and stir in the oil until it starts to toast and you can smell the wonderful aroma of toasting rice and aromatics. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir once, cover and set over low heat for about 20 minutes. When done, stir rice and serve it. You can also add a bit of butter at the end to make it extra rich.

Chocolate Cream Pie
I was a bit bored today and realized I had the ingredients for this easy and lovely pie. I adore cream pies but never make them. My mother made great cream pies, mostly from Jello Pudding mixes. I still remember how much I liked her pistachio cream pie.
Instead of whipped cream, you can make a meringue for this.

YODER’S AMISH CHOCOLATE PIE
Straight from grandma's kitchen, Yoder's Amish Chocolate Pie is smooth, silky, and practically melts in your mouth.
Each slice is satisfying without being overly rich. We love topping it with gobs of whipped cream and sprinkling with chocolate shavings.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 9- inch baked pie crust
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings
Instructions
In a large sauce pan, whisk together the sugar, flour, and cocoa.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, yolks, and vanilla. Pour into the sauce pan.
Turn the heat to medium and stir in the butter. Bring to a simmer and allow to thicken.
Pour into the baked pie crust and smooth the top. Let cool at room temperature for 2 hours and chill in the refrigerator for an additional 2 hours.
Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Avocado Balsamic Glazed Chicken

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
4 slices mozzarella cheese
2 avocados diced
3 tomatoes diced
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar for drizzling

You can either keep the breasts whole or butterfly them. I prefer butterflying because it is easier and quicker to cook them and maintain the doneness.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk the vinegar, honey, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, and S&P together until combined. Pour into a gallon sized ziplock, and add the chicken. Seal and toss to coat the chicken then press out the air and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can just leave this in the bowl but turn the chicken several times to make sure it all gets well marinated.

While the chicken is marinating, combine the avocado, tomato, basil, salt, and pepper. Gently mix.

Heat grill or broiler to medium high. Grill chicken until done then top with the cheese and let melt for just a minute or so. Plate and top with avocado mixture and drizzle of balsamic.

Rick Bayless Steak Tacos
Stolen from his page, but too good to pass up.
1 lb skirt or flank steak
3T + 1T lime juice (divided use)
2T Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves either finely minced or better grated on a microplane
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 T vegetable or olive oil
salt
2 lg avocados, slightly soft, flesh scooped out
For serving
warmed tortillas, quartered limes, pickled or grilled onions, chunky salsa

Combine 3 T lime juice, Worcestershire, garlic, cumin, pepper, oregano, oil, and 1/2 tsp salt. Place meat in a ziplock bag or large dish and pour marinade over.
Refrigerate an hour or so. Any longer and the meat starts to break down and get mushy.

Prepare the grill. A half hour before cooking, heat a gas grill to medium high or prepare charcoal fire until the fire burns down and coals are covered in ash and hot.

While heat is...um...heating, prepare the topping.
Mash the avocado lightly so it is mashed but still chunky. Stir in 1 T lime juice and 1 tsp salt. You can add tomato, chopped onion, cilantro, jalapeno, cumin or whatever if you want, but just the seasoned avocado is great.

Grill the meat. Wipe off most of the marinade and lay meat over hot part of the grill until grill marks appear. Flip to sear other side then move to cooler side of grill for about 3 or 4 minutes per side for medium.

Remove the meat from the grill and let sit for 5 - 10 minutes then slice into thin pieces across the grain. Sprinkle meat with a good finishing flaky salt if you have it.

To serve: warm the tortillas. Put a bit of steak on the tortilla then top with avocado, pickled onion, salsa, and a squeeze of lime.

Creamed Corn
2 small bags or 1 large bag or several cobs of fresh or frozen corn
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1/3 stick unsalted butter
salt, white pepper, sugar
1 T flour
Add corn to heavy saucepan. If using fresh corn be sure to scrape out all the
milk from the cob. Add cream and butter then bring to a simmer. You can
add a bit of water if it looks too thick.
Simmer, stirring frequently to prevent scorching, for an hour.
Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
Continue simmering for two more hours or until corn kernels begin to
break down.
Thicken with a bit of flour if it is too thin and cook for 10 minutes to thicken up.
Do a final taste test. If more sugar is needed then sprinkle it in and make sure
it cooks in.
Serve.
Spend the next day eating nothing but celery in penance.

Make a paste of garlic, rosemary, thyme, kosher salt, cracked pepper and olive oil in the mortar.
Cut up a large roasting chicken and spread paste over the meat.
Put in baking pan and top with whole shallots, lardons, pepper flakes, salt and pepper, olive oil.
Roast at 460 F for 20 minutes.
Pour a cup of white wine over and return to the oven.
Roast for another 20 - 25 minutes until chicken is golden and shallots are tender and caramelized.
Serve with tossed green salad and fresh baked crusty bread.