Vodka Cream Sauce

I swear it isn't alcoholic...

I believe that we got this recipe from Bon Appetite magazine in about 1990.  Anyhoo it is easy and awesome so that makes it "awesy."  The vodka extracts something from the tomatoes that is hard to describe. It just changes the acid in the tomato somehow.

You'll need;

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small or 1/2 large onion (chopped)
• 1 can (28oz) of those awesome San Marzano tomatoes (squished)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup vodka
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 Tbsp chopped chives

Put the butter and oil in a skillet with the onions over med heat.

Saute for 5-8 minutes until translucent.

Add the tomatoes and bring back to a simmer.

Simmer until most of the liquid is gone.  This takes about a half hour -- do it slowly so that you don't scorch the sauce.  When it is ready a spoon dragged through the sauce should leave a clear area behind.

Add the vodka, cream and crushed red pepper.  Stir in and bring back to a simmer.  Let it thicken (10 min) and then add the chives.

Serve over your choice of pasta and garnish with a handful of Romano cheese.

Somebody remind me to turn off the flash when I take food pics.

Sous Vide Steak

Steakhouse goodness!

As promised here is the lowdown on my sous vide steak process.

You'll need

• a couple of high quality steaks
• fresh rosemary and thyme
• some steak seasoning
• a vacuum sealer (or ziplock freezer bags)
• a sous vide rig (see my article for options)
• some steak butter (optional -- I'll post recipe later)

I season each steak and seal them up with one sprig each of rosemary and thyme.

These can be frozen or used right away.  The only difference is how much time they will spend in the water bath.  Minimum one hour from thawed and minimum three hours if frozen.

Set the water bath to 125 for medium rare steaks.

When the water comes to temp drop in the steaks and wait the requisite time.

After the sous vide bath, get the steaks out, pat them dry with paper towels and re-season.  Discard the rosemary and thyme.  They won't look very appetizing because they lack that charred outer crust.

 

Sear the steaks with a torch or 40 sec on each side in a very hot skillet.

 

Just look at the nice even crust that cast iron delivers.

Top with the steak butter and enjoy.

Steak is part of a well-balanced diet...

Julian's Chicken

The breast for the 1%.  (It's rich, get it?)

Pounded Chicken Breasts with a Sherry Cream Sauce.

Julian has made us this recipe many times and it is one of Dustan's favorites.  Here it is in simple form.

You'll need;

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 shallots (minced)
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sherry
• 1 pint whipping cream (I use the heavy)
• salt pepper and smoked paprika to taste
• chopped parsley for garnish

Pound the breasts out to half their original thickness using the bottom of a pan.  I dispense with the plastic wrap and use 2 flexible cutting boards.

Lightly (and I mean lightly) dust the chicken with salt pepper and paprika.  The paprika is my addition and was a happy accident.  Once I had cooked some other chicken that I seasoned with paprika in my pan and it had colored the butter.  I used the same pan to start this recipe. It tasted great. That should give you an idea how little smoked paprika to use.

The recipe calls for 4 , but these were huge chicken boobs.

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a skillet on med to med-hi heat and cook the chicken about 4 min per side until it is mostly cooked.

Remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil.  Keep warm if possible.

Put another Tbsp of butter in the skillet and brown the shallot.

Add in 1/4 cup of the sherry to deglaze the pan, and then add a cup of the cream.

Reduce over med-low heat until it thickens. This only takes about 5-6 minutes.

Add the remaining sherry and cream and reduce a bit again.

Add back the chicken plus 4 Tbsp butter and finish cooking the meat.  This should take about 8-10 minutes. Make sure that the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  I don't see how it couldn't be at this point.

Add parsley to the sauce and stir through.

Remove and plate the breasts.  Sprinkle a little parsley over for color.

Serve with veggies and/or potatoes, but make sure that your side dish tastes good with sherry cream sauce all over it because that is what you will wind up having.

This meal needed a green veggie...

like maybe some French green beans, or peas w/pearl onions.

Quick Roasted Potatoes

40 min start to finish.

I made these to go with Julian's Chicken.  They only take 40 - 45 min to bake and have a good flavor, but do a fantastic job of absorbing the leftover sauce on your plate when you smash them.  The mustard gives them a background bite that allows them to stand up to the sherry cream sauce on Julian's Chicken.

You'll need;

• 1 - 1.5 pounds of baby dutch yellow potatoes quartered (or fingerlings cut into 1/2 in pcs)
• 1 Tbsp coarse ground mustard
• 2 Tbsp butter (softened)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional) 1 Tbsp chopped chives for color

Although I usually use Baby Dutch potatoes, I went colorful.  Bad move.
Different colored potatoes cook at different rates.  (The purple ones were awesome)

Preheat your oven to 425F and grease/butter/spray a small baking dish (9x9)

Place the quartered potatoes in a bowl and dust with salt and pepper.

Add the mustard, oil, and softened butter.  Add chives if desired.

Stir until the mustard and butter has coated all the surfaces of all the potatoes.

Spread out over the base of the dish making sure that none of the potato faces have adhered to each other.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 45 minutes stirring once halfway through.  Test for doneliness with a fork or paring knife.  It should enter the potato with no resistance.  (Resistance is futile)