Cranberry Trio Thanksgiving Appetizer

Cranberry Trio

Mini tuna melt with cranberry sauce

Whole wheat bread, toasted and cut in 4 pieces
6oz solid white tuna packed in water, drained
2 T cup green olives, minced
3 T Dried cranberries
Minced parsley
2 T mayonnaise,
1 T finely chopped red onion
1 t capers, drained
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t fresh lime juice
1/2 t lime zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium tomatoes, seeded and small diced
4 ounces provolone cheese, thinly sliced and cut in in 4 pieces

Cranberry sauce
1 pound fresh cranberries, washed and dried
1 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 orange, zested and juiced

For the sauce, start by combining the cranberries, sugar and water in a medium sauce pan. Stir to blend. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer and add the cinnamon stick, allspice and nutmeg. Stir to blend and simmer for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Some of the cranberries will burst and some will remain whole. Add the orange juice and zest, stir and allow to cool before  using.

Fot the tuna mixture,and in a small bowl tuna, green olives, Dried cranberries, parsley, mayonnaise, red onions, capers,  black pepper, lime juice, lime zest, salt and  tomatoes. mix well, and let sit in the fridge for at leas 2 hours, to let the flavor develop, and the cranberries to rehydrate. For the assembling, on the toasted bread, put approximately 1 tablespoon of the tuna mixture, and cover up with the provolone cheese. on a broiler, right before serving, melt the cheese. when done, top with some of the sauce previously made.

Brie on cracker with Cranberry-Orange marmalade

Brie on cracker with Cranberry-Orange marmalade

1 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, washed and cut in half
1 Brie log
Crackers
1 large orange, pealed and cut in small pieces

For the marmalade, start by melting butter, and then adding the cranberries. Later when the mixture starts getting soft, add orange and orange juice and sugar. Cook slowly for 20 minutes. Cool down and Store.For the assembling, cut the brie cheese on the chosen shape, and place on on side of the cracker. then put 1/2 a tablespoon, of the marmalade partly on top of the cheese and on the cracker. finish with a thin piece of orange zest.

Brie on cracker with Cranberry-Orange marmalade

 Apple-cranberry curry chutney and Ham Spirals

Apple-cranberry curry chutney and Ham Spirals

8oz cream cheese, softened
1 large green onion, chopped
3-4 (8-inch) whole wheat tortillas
6 oz black forest ham
Chutney
4 cups golden delicious apples, pealed, cored and small diced
2 cups Red onions small diced
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 t powder ginger  
1 t turmeric
1 t yellow curry powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t cardamom
1 t allspice
1 t nutmeg  
salt to taste

For the chutney, start by heating a large sauce pan, and adding all the spiced on low fire to toast them and bring out the oils, which will improve flavors. Then add some oil, and start sauteing the onions for 2 minutes. Add apples, move for a couple of seconds, and after is all well mixed add sugar and vinegar. Cook slowly for 30 min, on low heat. Cool down and store.

Combine cream cheese (when soft) and green onions.Spread about 2 T of cream cheese mixture, and cover for complete the  tortilla's surface. Spread 5 to 6 thin slices of ham on top of the cream cheese, and finish by spread 3 T of chutney. For the assembling roll up; wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove plastic -wrap; cut each roll into 1/2 inch slices. this item can be frozen for later use.

Apple-cranberry curry chutney and Ham Spiral.

Mango-Havanero Chutney

Mango-Havanero Chutney

5oz. mangos (partially green), peeled and chopped
3oz brown sugar, lightly packed
3oz cider vinegar
1 T golden raisins
1/4 lemon (including peel), seeded and chopped
1 tbsp. fresh ginger, chopped
½ cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ tablespoons vegetable oil

1oz medium dice red onion

½ Ounces fresh pineapple juice

Kosher salt and fresh ground white pepper

10 or more havanero peppers (seeded and minced)

1/4 t Cumin seeds

1/4 t Coriander seeds

1/4 t Mustard seeds 

1/4 t Paprika

1/4 t Ground cinnamon

1/4 t Ground allspice

1/4 t Ground cloves

1/4 t Ground nutmeg

1/4 t Curry powder

1/4 t Cardamom powder

Peal and small dice the mango.

In a sauté pan add all the spices to toast them and bring out the oils. Then add the oil and the onions and sweat until soft. Add the ginger and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Finally add the mango and cook for 1 more minute.

In a separate bowl, combine the pineapple juice, vinegar, and sugar. Add this mixture to the pan. Stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a bare simmer and reduce for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Add the raisins and minced havanero and transfer to another container over an ice bath.

The five elements of Taste

First, we need a basic understanding of taste sensory mechanisms. Have you ever accidentally picked up someone else’s drink or taken a bite of food, thinking it was something else? You may like the accidentally ingested item perfectly well, but find yourself sputtering, because the taste is so different from what you expected.

Knowledge of this process sets the stage for designing products that exploit the complex chain of events involved in taste perception, for example in designing reduced-salt products that still taste salty, or in sweet tasting products with lower sugar. Part of tasting is in the expectation, and a major part of flavor is imparted by smell. Hold your nose and you lose a lot of flavor, but can still perceive the basic tastes. Salt still tastes salty and lemon juice still tastes sour. Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami compose our current list of tastes. Other flavors have been described as tastes in other cultures. Some involve texture, temperature or other sensations, such as metallic, minty, fatty, spicy or astringent. To be considered a taste, rather than a flavor, however, requires a dedicated sensing mechanism.

Taking its name from the Japanese, umami is a pleasant savory taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, which occur naturally in many foods including cheeses, meats, rich stocks, soy sauce, shellfish, fatty fish, mushrooms, tomatoes and wine. Aged or fermented foods also provide umami. On the other hand, umami is also commercially produced and it is known as monosodium glutamate (MSG). Meaning deliciousness, umami becomes a natural flavor enhancer ingredient that brings depth and balance to your food without drowning subtle tastes. Umami ignites flavor and awakens taste buds. As the taste of umami itself is subtle and blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavors, most people don’t recognize umami when they encounter it, but it plays an important role making food taste delicious.

In the past several years, many western researchers have begun to recognize a fifth taste, akin to the savory taste long recognized as the fifth taste in Japanese cuisine. Called umami, this fifth taste does not have a simple English translation. Rather, for some people it refers to a food’s savory characteristic; for others to the richness or fullness of dish’s overall taste, and still others, the meatiness or meaty taste of a dish.

Often food professionals and others refer to tastes in addition to sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Typically, they describe something as pungent, hot, spicy or piquant or something that is astringent, sharp or dry. None of these terms, however, fit the definition of a taste, as none are detected solely by taste buds. Rather, these sensations are detected by nerve endings embedded in the fleshy part of the mouth. These nerves, when “irritated” by the presence of compounds such as piperine (the active ingredient in black peppercorns) or capsaicin (the active ingredient in chiles), register a burning sensation that the brain translates as the hot and spicy “taste” of Szechuan or Tex-Mex cuisines, for example.  

 Some of the food items high in Umami are; Sea food (Kombu, Seaweed, Katsuobush/Dried bonito flakes, Niboshi/Small dried sardines, Bonito, Mackerel, Sea bream, Tuna, Cod. Prawns, Squid, Oysters, Shellfish), Meat (Beef , Pork, Chicken). Vegetables (Tomatoes, Shiitake mushrooms, Enokitake mushrooms, Truffles, Soy beans, Potatoes Sweet, potatoes, Chinese cabbage, Carrots, asparagus) and other ingredients like Parmesan Cheese, Green tea, soy sauce, Chicken Egg, Oyster Sauce.

Everything old is new again. The “new” taste, umami, was identified almost 100 years ago, in 1908, by Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University. After identifying umami, Dr. Ikeda introduced the new seasoning monosodium glutamate, or MSG, which has a strong umami taste. It was first marketed in 1909. Dr. Ikeda was later named one of Japan’s top 10 inventors by the Japanese Government Patent Office
The MSG Controversy, despite government reports claiming that MSG is safe, in typical doses. Yet, The FDA requires labeling products that have free amino acid products added, acknowledging that some people do have problems after its consumption. Because the complaints continued, to summarize recent data and evaluate the safety of glutamate salts. The invited experts concluded that a maximum intake of 16mg/kg is safe, but called for further research on the effects of high MSG doses in the presence of impaired blood brain barrier function.

All sorts of diseases from diabetes and obesity-related complaints, to migraines, asthma, retinal damage, neurological problems, birth defects, and learning disabilities have been attributed to the consumption of MSG and other free glutamate-containing foods. Many websites warn consumers to avoid free glutamate-containing food additives, and test kits are being developed to detect their presence in foods.

The perception of food safety is more important to most people than the perception of good taste.

Menu Items I Made for the precentation of my study case

Mixed Berries Smoothie

Mixed Berries Smoothie

4 oz frozen strawberries

3 oz Frozen cranberries

6 oz blackberries (Reduced)

4 oz Almond milk

1 fresh straw berry

¼ t stevia

“Blend strawberries Cranberries and almond milk with half of the stevia. Pure and reduce blackberries with extra sugar. Use black berry to garnish martini cup, and pour previous blend. Garnish with some dots of syrup and a sliced strawberry on top”

 Winter tossed salad with Vanilla bean Vinaigrette.

Salad

1 oz escarole

1 oz Belgian endive (3 to 6 pieces)

 1 oz kale

1 oz carrot

¼ oz water crees

Vinaigrette

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon hot water
1 ½ tablespoons honey (or to taste)
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
¼ teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper

“Mix all vinaigrette ingredients together. Cut in chiffonier escarole and kale, and slice carrots to make mini carrot sticks. Mix chiffonier vegetables, half of carrots and 2 T of vinaigrette. Clean the pieces of endive fill 6 of them mix chiffonier mix and arrange on plate. Top with water crees and sprinkle some more dressing on the sides of the arrange”

Rhubarb chicken breast, with pickled Jalapeño-Asparagus and Mashed Potato.

Chicken

1pound fresh rhubarb, chopped

½ cups chopped onion

¼ cup of celery

½ t stevia

¼ cup cider vinegar

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cloves

4 to 6 large strawberries

¼ cup stevia

½ teaspoons mustard seeds

½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

8 scallions

2 boneless skinless chicken breast

“Sautee half of the rhubarb, onion, celery and a third of the strawberries with coconut oil for 5 min. add spices and mustard seeds wait a minute and then add vinegars.  When done take half of the chutney style sauce and blend to make a glaze. Add remaining rhubarb and strawberries and adjusts seasoning. Marinate chicken with part o the glace, and reserve rest for the plating. Grille mark chicken and finish in the oven.”

Puree

2 gold Yukon

½ Almonds (paste)

Parsley

Garlic

Salt

“Peal, cut and cook potatoes. Mix with almond paste, garlic, half of the parsley and salt. Reserve parsley for plating”

Pickle jalapeño-Asparagus

10 pieces Asparagus

1 Jalapeño

2 cloves of Garlic

1 T Pickle spice

1½ cups of Apple cider vinegar

1 t salt

“Clean ingredients mix in a container and let sit for at least 24 hours”

Decomposed Pina Colada dessert

Glazed Pineapple Madagascar.

Two fresh pineapple slices

Coconut oil

1 t Green pepper corn drained

3 T Orange juice

1 T Honey

3 T Dark rum

“Melt coconut oil in a hot sauce pan. Add slices of pineapple and brown them. When brown add green peppercorns, honey and orange juice, and carefully off the heat, add rum and light it on fire. Let the alcohol burn and sauce reduce and take of heat.”

Piña colada Ice cream

2 cups of pineapple
1/4 cups stevia
pinch salt
1 cups of coconut milk
1 teaspoons vanilla

“Blend ¾ of the pineapple with coconut milk. Cut in small pieces remaining pineapple and add to the mix. Add sugar, salt and vanilla and put in ice cream machine until done”

Dessert Competition at the Boy Scout Summer Camp 2010 in Oregon

 At this year's Summer Camp, they thought it would be cool to have a Dessert Competition for the adults scouts, so me and Michael and some other scouts came up with a few crazy ideas, we put them together with just camp material and made an insane/super tasty combination.

Our creation that gave us the first place (on a two dessert competition) was a Chocolate torte, which is a flour less cake with walnut chunks and crunchy bacon. we had two sauces, a caramel rosemary and a chocolate orange zest. and it was all complained by a strawberry compote and chocolate shavings, with a crispy bacon half dipped in chocolate. Enjoy!

Michael (left), Me (center) and Ryan (right)

Starting the platting

Ryan (left) and me (right)

Working on the chocolate sauce

It was a really hot day, which didn't really helped on the platting, but it tasted good

Working on our improvised assembling line in the only table there was

Getting the Strawberry compote portioned.

Love how simple you can make thing kind of things, i just cut a bunch of star berries and cook them for about an hour with some sugar, water and walnuts.

Me and Ryan

Covering the torte with the orange zest choc sauce

Giving the final touches and realizing the sun is ruining everything :(

The final product (with some technical problems due the 100 degrees and the direct sun light we had)

Both teams tasting each others desserts.

And people after been a bit skeptical about the bacon with the chocolate realized how amazing the taste was and finally agreed with me that there's nothing better than bacon and chocolate together.

Plate Presentation Ideas, by Some Great Chefs

1. – (From Cooking with Johan - Plate Painting) The idea of drawing on a desert plates with the different sauces, by conniving the colors and doing different shapes is really interesting. The way the shapes and lines get together in the plate is just amazing, especially when you give natural shapes like ocean waves, or like grass being moved by the wind. I don’t know how it could work having either lot of different sauces so you can actually math the 2 or 3 sauces with each of the deserts in a menu or just having around 4 or 5 sauces that would be used in all deserts in a restaurant.

The ones that I especially like are when Chef Johan does three lines, and then makes this circular shapes across the three lines giving a wave sensation in the different colors, and the one with two lines of different colors around the whole plate, and he puts little dots of the opposite color in both of the lines and then just makes lines in opposite ways.

 

 

2. – (From Eleven Madison Park - New York, NY & Masa's - San Francisco, CA) The idea of having a sauce simulating like little bubbles is actually really appealing to me, because is not just a garnish, or a simple sauce over the plate, but something that give high impression, and different visual texture. Also the colors, having big bubbles, the colors will be darker and stronger, and having small bubbles the color will be lighter.

3. – (From Masa's - San Francisco, CA) The idea of stocking the different items of the plate one over the other one, even though I think there is no easy of eating makes a gives a really good looking dish, the different colors and textures come out in a strong shock that makes you want to try it.

 4. – (From the French Laundry in Napa Valley with Thomas Keller) The idea of having classic idea, in a simple way, is for me the most successful idea there is. For some people eating is not just flavor and how fancy the plate is, but the memories it brings when you eat it. When I saw the dish with the egg and the toast inside, the memory of my usually Sunday’s morning German breakfast with my family came in to me, and even though I wasn’t eating I felt like at home. This kind of plate is doing perfect for my point of view hat garnish is not needed because just the item itself I perfect. It is important to know that this idea is hard to get, because if you don’t know your costumer, you can’t make work this idea.

 

5. – (From Michael Mina - San Francisco, CA) The concept of trio is an idea I would definitely try in the future in my restaurant, because it give you the opportunity of not just try a succulent dish, but you can actually try three different versions of it.

6. – (From Gramercy Tavern NYC) The idea of placing the cracker on top of the bowl and then putting the garnish over the cracker and the soup I think is very interesting. It gives you the impression of a well elaborated plate and it help so your garnish says where you wanted it to stay.

 7. – (From Gramercy Tavern NYC & Eleven Madison Park - New York, NY) The idea of keeping certain level of richness on the plate to create shine is something that really works. There is something on people that when they see something shiny the like it. And in this to plates (especially the left one) you can even feel the texture, and probably make up a flavor profile for it. Having an appealing, colorful, shiny and well designed plate is equal to success. 

8. – (From Master Chef goes large - Michelin style BBC) I really like the way all the element of the side dish are incorporated around the center of the plate (the main protein). They are not just a stack of vegetables on a side with sauce on top. They are accommodated in a way that you have a nice flow in the plate, colors are distributed and has a contemporary presentation.

9. – (From Plating Sauces and Garnishes) I like the idea of drawing irregular lines with following certain patron in both sides of the dish and with the powder on the other sides. Then how the chive lies in the plate, gives a really good contemporary complement. 

10. – (From Plating Sauces and Garnishes Part 2) there is something about this two plates that is just amazing/ both of them are based on the same shape (like a water drop). In the first dish (on the left) the two drops looking at opposites ways with the different colors dots really calls your attention. The second plate is based on one drop, which on the tip has the protein and then it is followed by the garnish.

11. – (From The Art of Cooking) the combination of infusions, and caramels, and syrups in a garnish for deserts is a really impressive contemporary way of garnishing. The irregularity of the shapes and portions is what it gives part of the perfect touch and blend of color

12. – (From DESSERT PHOTOS) the idea of staking ingredients between the chocolate or crust layers is really interesting. You will visualize a chocolate sandwich, which is a popular idea, but applied in deserts making.

13. – (From L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon - New York, NY) this idea of making a balloon out of candy to then transform it in the crust of the up side down cup for the desert is just beautiful and impressive. As you can see the making of this wonderful piece of art is just amazing, and really complex, but totally worth it.

Linguiça Calabresa

Linguiça Calabresa - Brazilian Smoked Sausage

The name Calabresa comes from the Calabria region in southeastern Italy which is the origin of this sausage. This sausage is made with pork fully cooked, and beef can be added to it. It can be served as a cold cut appetizer, can be grilled, or sautéed with vegetables for pasta. Linguiça calabresa, like many other sausages, is generally served as part of a heavy meal, typically accompanied by rice, beans, and other pork products. Feijoada, for example, is a traditional Portuguese dish and brazil’s National Dish incorporates linguiça calabresa in to their beans, ham hocks, with the Farina (which is a roasted seasoned Yucca Flour). Linguiça calabresa is also used in Francesinha, a traditional Portuguese dish, from Porto. It can be incorporated in its sauce, giving it a distinct flavor.

Outside of Portugal and Brazil, linguiça Calabresa is also popular in Goa (once a Portuguese colony in India), Southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Okinawa, where it is often known as Portuguese sausage. In Hawaii, McDonald's restaurants serve breakfasts featuring Portuguese sausage, a regional variant of its usual menu.           

Spaghetti Feed

Jorge Kleiss (left), Michelle Seale (center) and Tom DeLorenzo (right).

On Thursday night I decided to go and help out the people from Boise High, which were organizing a found racer towards the baseball team. The event was an Spaghetti feed of all you can eat pasta. Organized by Mr. Tom DeLorenzo and Mrs. Michelle Seale, and some other parents and the baseball team, we had to cook for over 100 people that showed up hungry and ready to eat. At the Kitchen, we cooked for over 5 hours to make enormous quantities of salad, pasta, and of course, tomato sauce (both veggie and with meat).

Here is the vegetarian recipe we used that I have to say worked perfectly and it was very very tasty. Enjoy!

Check this article by Nicole Holten of my Han Bread Recipe

Bread, butter and buns: BBD#27 - Pan de jamón (Ham bread): "Yesterday I had the opportunity to learn how to make this wonderful bread from a great cook from Venezuela, Jorge Kleiss. Excellent timing, ..."

Check this article on Idaho's Melting Pot about ME and my Empanadas

Idaho's Melting Pot: Venezuela: "Name: Jorge KleissBorn in: Mérida, VenezuelaIn Idaho since: January 5th, 2008 Jorge came to Idaho to attend the Culinary Arts program at CWI..."