We Ate That

Leftovers do not always need to be treated like a second class citizen.  In fact sometimes you can mix and match your leftovers and create an amazing dish. We did just that a week ago after making our Chicken Biscuits with Honey Butter & Hot Sauce and Cocoa Rubbed Steak With Bacon-Whiskey Gravy. We made both of these recipes within a few days of each other and had a ton of left overs.

Our Chicken Biscuits came out great, everything about that recipe was killer. We ended up with a lot of biscuits and some chicken cutlets leftover. The steak recipe was not as successful, but we did end up with a nice gravy. It dawned on us that the gravy would go perfectly with our biscuits. Since we had just made these biscuits we knew what we were going to make, A poached egg on a biscuit with bacon-whiskey gravy.  We thought about it for a second longer and decided to add a chicken cutlet as well.  We ended up with a Chicken Biscuit topped with Poached Egg & Bacon-Whiskey Gravy

Ingredients:

• Homemade Biscuits (See recipe here)
• Bacon Whiskey Gravy (See recipe here)
• Eggs

Directions:

1. Make Homemade Biscuits according to the provide recipe
2. While Biscuits are cooking, make the gravy according to recipe above
3. Once biscuits and gravy are done poach your eggs
4. To poach your eggs to your desired consistency using a pan made specifically for poached eggs 

If you do not have a pan like this follow these directions: 

1. Half fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add a hefty pinch of salt.
2. Meanwhile, crack the egg into a small jug or bowl and add a drop of vinegar.
3. Stir the boiling water vigorously with a balloon whisk until you have a whirlpool then immediately slip the egg into the centre, lowering the jug a couple of centimetres into the water.
4. Turn the heat down low, and cook for three minutes – use a timer to prevent overcooking.
5. Drain the egg on kitchen paper, and serve immediately. If you're poaching it in advance, drop it straight into a bowl of iced water instead, or it will carry on cooking; to reheat, simply warm the egg through in a pan of gently simmering water.

Results:

Man this thing was better than we ever expected. We thought these recipes would work well together but sometimes you just never know. The bacon whiskey gravy was perfect on top of both the poached egg and the chicken cutlet. When you bite into the biscuit you get all of the flavor from the gravy followed by the runny yoke of the egg. The biscuit helped to soak up the excess yoke and gravy. There is not much else to say about this dish except you will want to make this. 

We found this recipe browsing through some other food blogs. One of our favorite blogs is Serious Eats, where they have a section called Cook The Book.  This is where they help promote cook books by showing recipes from a newly released cook book.

This recipe comes from Mario Batali's latest cook book, Molto Batali.  Mario Batali is one of the most recognized and respected chefs working in America today. Mario has 11 restaurants located in New York City alone with others located in Las Vegas, California and even Singapore. One of his newest ventures is the gourmet market Eataly.  Eataly is the largest artisnal Italian food and wine marketplace in New York City.

We really enjoy pesto sauce, it is easy to make and has refreshing flavor thanks to the herbs.  The only thing is often times pesto sauces all tend to be basically the same. When we saw that it was a Spicy Pesto Sauce we knew instantly we were going to make it. We love spice and heat, but one other thing that caught our eye is that Batali used Almonds in the recipe.  Traditionally pesto sauce is made with pine nuts, so we were very interested to see how the Almonds would work.

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 to 10 as a first course, 6 as a main, active time 15 minutes, total time 15 minutes

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, lightly packed, washed and spun dry
• ½ cup mint leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• ¼ cup sliced blanched almonds
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus ¼ cup
• ¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Siciliano plus ¼ cup (Pecorino Ramano)

Directions:

1. Bring 8 quarts water to boil in a large spaghetti pot and add 2 tablespoons salt.
2. Place the basil, mint, garlic, Serrano chilis, red pepper flakes, fennel seeds and almonds in a food processor and pulse 3 times to start the chopping process.
3. Add the ½ cup oil and pulse 4 or 5 times to create a thick paste, (not a thin oily sauce). Add cheese and pulse once to mix in, season with salt if it needs it and remove to a container with a lid. 
4. Carefully pour ¼ cup more olive oil over to create hermetic “lid”, cover with seal tight lid and refrigerate. This pesto will hold in the fridge like this for 2 weeks. Makes 1½ cups.
5. Place 1 cup of the pesto in a large warm salad bowl.
6. Drop the pennette into the boiling water and cook to one minute less than the package instructions. Just before it is done, carefully ladle ¼ cup of the cooking water into the bowl with the pesto. 
7. Drain the pasta in a colander and dump into the bowl with the pesto and the water. Toss gently like a salad about 30 seconds until nicely coated and serve with a scant dusting of the cheese over each portion.

Results:

Our first impressions of this dish was "woah that's spicy".  It was not an over powering heat, but it was certainly there. If you do not enjoy heat in your dishes we would suggest steering clear of this recipe, or just omit the peppers.

Since we do like heat we were very happy with this dish. Adding the cooking water to the pesto before mixing it with the pasta really helped to enhance the dish. It added a small amount of liquid to the pesto which helped the sauce mix together with the pasta. The fresh herbs really come through in this dish, especially the mint. We have never used mint in a pesto sauce before but it worked nicely.  The almonds added texture and crunch and paired well with the freshly grated cheese.

Another key to this dish is making sure your pasta is cooked al dente. The term "al dente" comes from Italian and means "to the tooth" or "to the bite", referring to the need to chew the pasta due to its firmness. Pasta will continue to cook even after you remove it from the stove. Taking it off of the stove early ensures that your pasta will not end up over cooked.  It is also important to season your water with salt. It helps give the pasta added flavor.

We will be making this dish again for sure. It is a Should Eat and offers a perfect base meal for you to make your own additions such as grilled chicken or sweet Italian sausage.

One of the best things in the world is a homemade biscuit. Fresh out of the oven they are hot and flakey. Once they are split open and covered in honey butter there is no better breakfast (well there is, just wait for it). A good biscuit recipe however is hard to come by and this recipe was said to be the best ever.  Since we like to put best ever recipes to the test, we decided to try this one.

We ended up changing our minds there is one dish better than a fresh biscuit covered in honey butter.  It is a fresh biscuit covered in honey butter topped with a crispy piece of fried chicken and hot sauce.  It is the perfect combination of sweet and savory.

The honey butter adds the sweetness, while the fried chicken and hot sauce provide the savory. They are especially perfect for a weekend brunch after a long night a drinking. We have had many versions of this dish out at numerous restaurants, but we have never made it at home. Now that we have the recipes in hand we will find out if we will still be going out for Chicken Biscuits or making them from the comfort of home.

This recipe is a bit long but it includes making 3 things, be sure to check out all of the photos.

Ingredients:

For the Honey Butter:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Biscuits:

• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring your work surface and rolling pin
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 2 1/2 cups buttermilk 

For the Chicken:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon chile powder
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 whole eggs, beaten
• Vegetable oil as needed

Directions:

For the Honey Butter:

1. Bring 2 tablespoons of water to a boil in a small pot. 
2. Slowly whisk in the butter, piece by piece, letting each piece melt completely into the water before adding the next one. Add the honey and salt, and whisk everything together until you have a shiny, well-combined liquid.
3. Let the honey butter sit in a warm area of the kitchen, or over the lowest possible flame on the stove, until you’re ready to use it. It’s important to keep it warm so it will spread easily—and the longer you let it sit, the better the honey butter will be. 

For the Biscuits:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. 
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. (If you don’t have a sifter, you can use a whisk.) 
3. Add the vegetable shortening. Using a pastry cutter, or holding a butter knife in each hand, cut through the shortening and flour in an X-shaped motion until the shortening is mixed in. Be careful to break up any large pieces. You should end up with lots of little pebbles.
4. Add the buttermilk and use your hands to mix everything together, turning the mixture until it forms a dough. Then keep turning and kneading until you’ve got a roughly shaped ball of dough. If things get sticky, add a little bit of flour. 
5. Flour a board or countertop well, and turn the dough out on it. 
6. Flour your rolling pin, and then roll the dough out until it forms a round about 1/2 inch thick. Fold the dough round into thirds, like you’re folding a business letter. Slap the dough down hard with the palms of your hands to really bring it together, and then roll it out and fold it in again. Do this 7 times in all, skipping the folding step the seventh time. Reflour the work surface, the dough, and the rolling pin as you go. 
7. Flour a 31/2-inch round pastry cutter, and cut out as many rounds of dough as possible (you should have 8 to 10 or so). Reflour the cutter as you go.
8. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, lay the biscuits on it, and put it on the middle oven rack. At about the 10-minute mark, turn the baking sheet so that all the biscuits bake evenly. 
9. When the biscuits are baked through and the tops are golden-brown (about 20 minutes), pull them out of the oven. Using a big pastry brush, coat the tops of the biscuits with the honey butter. The biscuits will be very soft and flaky inside, with just a little bit of crispness on the outside. Serve them while they’re hot.

For the Chicken: 

1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and set aside. 
2. In a pie pan or shallow bowl, combine the flour and chile powder. Place the eggs and buttermilk in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour. Dip each piece in the egg mixture, then coat in the flour once more. Place the chicken pieces on a plate and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.
4. Add enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of a 12-inch skillet with sloped sides. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the chicken in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook the pieces on both sides until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side.

The Honey Butter:

How to roll out and fold the biscuits.  This is what helps to create the layers inside your biscuits. 

The Chicken:

The Results:

What can we say, we came away impressed with this entire dish.  Sometimes when making a recipe things don't come out as planned, see our Cocoa Rubbed Steak.  Other times however you hit the jackpot and the dish comes better than you imagined. 

The biscuits were actually the best that we have ever made on our own. In the past our attempts to make biscuits never turned out a quality product. Now we have a go to recipe   The biscuits had the perfect texture, when you pulled them apart you could see the flakey layers.  The dough was seasoned so well that you could eat these biscuits without butter and they tasted great, but lucky for us the recipe included honey butter. The honey butter was quite simple to make aenhanced the dish by adding a touch of sweetness. You could stop right here and you would have an amazing breakfast, but we had even more to add.

The chicken came out great also, it was lightly battered and had the right amount of fried cripsyness.  The batter consisted of the buttermilk and seasoned flour which with the chili powder added a bit of heat.  The chicken was placed on the bottom of the biscuit and drizzled with honey butter.  We then added a fair amount of Franks Hot Sauce on top of the honey butter.  When we took the first bite we knew it was perfect.

This entire recipe is a Should Eat, and further more it should be eaten for breakfast, lunch and or dinner.

Sometimes you read a recipe and say "Man this sound so good I have to make this". Well that is exactly what we said when we saw this recipe in the latest version of Food Network Magazine. Steak, Bacon and Whiskey what could possibly go wrong.  Unfortunately some things are too good to be true and in the cooking world sometimes things just do not turn out as well as you thought they would.  This recipe was one of those things that just didn't turn out as well.  You may be asking i"f it didn't turn out good why would we post the recipe?" Part of the reason we started this blog was to help people find recipes worth making and also recipes are not. Who knows you may be able to make some changes that will fix whatever went wrong.

Ingredients:

The Steak

• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt
• 3 1-pound New York strip steaks (about 1 1/2 inches thick)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

The Gravy

• 4 strips bacon, diced
• 1 leek (white and light green parts only), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whiskey
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Make the steak: Mix the cocoa powder, both paprikas, brown sugar, cayenne and 2 teaspoons salt; rub on the steak and bring to room temperature, 30 minutes.
2. Make the gravy: Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; set aside. Add the leek to the drippings and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
3. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the whiskey, then return to medium heat; if the alcohol ignites, let the flames die out. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the mixture is reduced by one-quarter, about 8 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy coats a spoon, about 7 minutes. Stir in the butter, reserved bacon and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
4. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, about 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter; when it melts, add the steak and sear until a dark crust forms, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Season with salt. Slice and serve with the gravy.

The Spice Rub:

Making the Gravy:

Results: 

Let us start by saying we did not follow the recipe to the letter.  Instead of using a cast iron skillet, we used the grill. We point this out because it may have lead to the ineffectiveness of the recipe. We did however get some nice grill marks!

Ok so what happened, well the steak just tasted like a steak.  It was not bad, but it didn't taste like anything. We didn't get any cocoa flavor, no smoked paprika or anything else in the dry rub. We are willing to bet a lot of this was due to using the grill instead of the skillet.  A skillet would have helped keep all the spices on the steak while the crust formed.  On the grill, it is likely that once the juices started running off the steak so did the spice rub. As a result say goodbye to all of our flavor. These are the things that happen sometimes, and we would be lying if we didn't think this outcome was because we put it on the grill.  We had our fingers crossed it would work, but we made a mistake.  Had we cooked it properly we are still not sure how good this would have been and we do not plan to find out.

While the steak did not come out right, the gravy on the other hand was very good, after a few fixes.  We had some issues with the gravy.  The flavors and ingredients all worked extremely well in the gravy, the issue came in with the cooking time and method.  After the heavy cream is added into the mixture the recipe says to reduce the heat to a simmer for about 7 minutes until the gravy coats a spoon.  Well after cooking this for over 15 minutes it had reduced but not thickened and the steaks were done.  As you can see above we put it on the steaks and ate, but it was more of a broth than a gravy.

After we ate, we were happy with the gravy.  It had such good flavor we knew we had to fix it and use it for something else.  So we decided to crank up the heat and reduce it as much as we could.  Guess  what? it did reduce to where it should have originally, it just needed to be cooked on higher heat. Now with an actual gravy we were able to fully appreciate it.  We ended up using it on top of toast and a poached egg as a eggs benedict.

Even though the steak came out a loser in the recipe, we did find the gravy making the effort worth it.

The Steak is a Should Not Eat

The Gravy is a Should Eat

We love Lemonade, but it is hard to find good lemonade.  All you see these days is pre-mixed lemonade loaded with sugar.  We wanted to make a quick and easy homemade version using yes Real Lemons! So we stumbled upon a recipe claiming to be the best lemonade ever.  With all of that boasting we had to put it to the test, so without further adieu, the best lemonade ever (we will see).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup freshly squeezed organic lemon juice,  6 organic lemons
• 1 cup white sugar (I passed on raw because I didn’t want the hint of molasses flavor)
• 1 cup filtered water
• 6 cups filtered water
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 – 3 drops yellow food coloring (optional) 

Directions:

1. Place 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Stir until it is dissolved, and remove from heat. Let cool.
2. Combine sugar water, lemon juice, water and vanilla extract in a 2 quart pitcher. Stir to combine. Serve over ice

Results:

This is not the best lemonade we have ever had.  It is however a very good recipe.  The lemonade is not overly sweet, but it is a bit too sugary for our taste.  Kids will almost certainly love this recipe. We liked it better after watering it down a bit.  It was extremely fresh with great lemon flavor.  The addition of the vanilla was quite unique and refreshing, it helps set this recipe apart from some others you may have seen.  

If you enjoy lemonade, this is a quality recipe but do not expect to be making "the best ever".