LME™ Five S's

This combines my five basic food groups. Big, tender, succulent shrimp. Baby scallops, so lovely sweet. Crispy, spicy chorizo sausage. Spinach for some color and texture. Spaghetti for substance.

The key - as always - is not to overcook the shrimp and scallops. If you think they're undercooked then that means they're done. A good scallop is actually raw in the middle but warmed through. It can be a bit mentally tough to get there if you're not into raw fish, but you gotta grow up and get there.

Serve this for a group of people: you can plate it all in a large serving dish and bring to the table. It presents well and is very aromatic.

So much so, everyone asked for seconds...and Becky was snarfing up the left over sausage bits left in the pan. Food hoarder she is....

8 large shrimp peeled, deveined, and butterflied
About 20 baby scallops
2 big handful's of spinach, large stems removed, torn to pieces
2" link spicy chorizo sausage, sliced thin.
Three large cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ pound of spaghetti
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Grated Parmesan.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile....

In a skillet add about ¼ cup of olive oil and heat to medium-high'ish. Add the chorizo and cook like it was bacon, getting it to near crispy. The oil should start to take on a red tinge. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, being careful it's not browning.

Add your spaghetti to the boiling water. Set your timer for one minute less than what it takes to cook the pasta al dente. You now have that many minutes left....

Add the shrimp and cook each side for about 45 seconds. Remove the shrimp to a bowl; add in the scallops to the pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove the scallops but keep the pan on. Add an additional ¼ cup of olive oil to the sausage:garlic mixture and keep on.

The following is going to happen within one minute. Read up, prepare, and focus.

Pasta should be nearly done. When timer goes off add the spinach to the pot. Count down from one minute. While that's going....

Crank up the olive oil to medium high and add back in the shrimp and scallops. Get it sizzling.

Drain the pasta:spinach in a colander after one minute. Right after you pour it return it to the pot. You want it wet. Don't burn yourself.....

Add in about ½ of the olive oil from the pan to the pasta, toss to mix, and then plate into a large bowl. Top the pasta with the shrimp/scallops/oil/sausage.

Serve immediately and top with Parmesan.

Lou's Most Excellent Spanish Eggs

"Do you know how to fry an egg?" asked Eduardo.

And there I was, being challenged, in my own kitchen. The talk of making omelet's and fritata's with lots of olive oil had been discussed at length up to this point. This man knows his olive oils and he definitely is telling me he knows how to fry an egg. I'm struggling. I'm thinking.

"But of course. You, uh, you know, uh....use a lot of olive oil. About this much," and I pinch my two fingers together to about 1/8 an inch.

"No, no," he replies. And he takes his thumb and index finger and and spreads them to a width of 1/2 an inch. That's a lot of oil.

In fact, in Spanish, the equivalent saying of "he can't make a piece of toast" is "he can't fry an egg." Everyone in Spain knows how to fry an egg.

They take it up one level. And when you fry an egg Spanish style, you get it.

Eggs
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

In a non stick pan - this will really help - pour about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of olive oil into it. Heat it up to medium high: add about two drops of water to the pan while heating. When they begin to pop your oil is ready. Do not get it to smoke point but to just near.

Add the eggs. Here I put two in some small bowls and poured in together - it was a little easier since I was making four.

They'll sizzle pretty hard. Take your spatula and loosen them from the bottom and lap the hot oil over the top of the eggs. Gently swirl the pan to get the same effect.

These will cook fast - perhaps in less than a minute. When the whites look set, using a slotted spoon, remove from the oil, plate, and add some sea salt.

Dive in, savor the runny, hot - but not set - yolk. Serve with crusty bread to pick up all that stuff on the plate. Yummy.

Lou's Most Excellent Breakfast Tacos

Few things other than this can start your day any better.

Breakfast tacos are a funny thing. They're either great or absolutely lousy, with the latter being the usual case here in DC (assuming you can get them to start with). Super easy to make, a taco like this is immensely satisfying. I ate two - I could'a eaten four more.

The tortilla is what really makes or breaks these things. Fresh, flour tortillas (fajita sized) work great. However, if you have access to fresh corn tortillas, give those a shot. We used a brand (corn) from La Tortilla Factory. They're the best packaged corn tortilla's I've come across.

Cooking potatoes for breakfast is also a pain: they take too damned long. Here I've made the potato chunks a little smaller and cooked with the onion, over medium heat and covered, to speed the cooking. It cut the time in half.

This is also a great breakfast to feed a small army who stayed over. Very scalable.

You can add other stuff to these things too. Breakfast meats (chorizo, breakfast sausage, ham, bacon) go great in them but don't go overboard - it's easy to over load these things.

[For four good sized tacos.]

5 eggs (I used 5 whites and one whole egg)
1 medium red skinned potato, coarsely peeled and chopped into ¼" chunks
1 small onion, cut into ¼" chunks
1 whole pickled Jalapeno (or 8 presliced ones), diced
1 TBS canola oil
½ can (8 oz) refried beans, reheated according to directions
Grated cheddar cheese
4 flour or corn tortillas
Salt & pepper
Picante sauce or favorite salsa

In a large, non-stick skillet, add 1 TBS of canola oil over medium heat. Add the the potato and onion, toss in oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and saute for about 5 minutes uncovered. Add the Jalapeno pepper, toss, and cover with a small, domed lid and let cook for another 4 - 5 minutes.
Meanwhile....

Preheat (over medium) a small skillet that can hold the tortillas. As that's going on.....

Beat the eggs together with a pinch of salt and a few cranks of pepper.
When the potatoes/onions are done add to the pan and scramble together.

Reheat the tortillas in the small skillet, one at a time, and set aside covered in a clean kitchen towel.

Spread a layer of beans on the tortilla, top with a generous helping of eggs, and top with grated cheese. Add picante/salsa/hot sauce to your content.

Feed the dog when you're finished.

Lou's Most Excellent Steaked Salad

I'm trying to watch it with not just how much I'm eating, but what it is that's actually going down my gullet. Two chins are enough.

Change gears here. I love red meat. Steak, BBQ, burgers, anyway that you cook a cow I'm likely to like. The problem with red meat is this little thing called saturated fats, which leads to a host of problems later on in life as I'm oh so slowly (and sometimes quickly) finding out.

Come the Italians to the rescue, and it's not olive oil or anything Mediterranean mind you. God I love my ancestral country. They've got an answer for everything. Piedmontese Beef. I'm telling you, the first time that Pam The Butcher at Wagshal's told me about it I didn't believe it. Pointing to an ink jet print out on the display case I figured it was fraudlent. How can beef - prime beef at that - be lower in saturated fats, cholesterol, etc. The way it's told is that it's better for you than skinless chicken breasts. The cows are bred to be leaner, and the way they're fed, managed, etc. leads to a leaner cut...even when that cut is considered prime by USDA standards.

None of this makes sense. But I'm buying it because a) it tastes great and b) we'll know soon enough as soon as I get my cholesterol tested again.

And yes, the shit ain't cheap. Sorry. NY strips run around $25/pound (which is what prime usually goes for) while sirloin is around $18/lb. But how much is your health worth? [You obviously don't have to use Piedmontese beef here - any good quality NY strip will work.]

Steak Salad - a good, healthy, and satisfying one at that. Serves two.

1 one pound trimmed, Piedmontese NY strip
2 TBS Montreal steak seasoning*
1 TBS canola oil
6oz of your favorite bagged/packaged salad mix (spinach/frisee/arugula/mache)
1 good tomato, cut into eighths.
1 small shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TSP high quality balsamic vinegar
1 TBS really stinky blue cheese, finely crumbled
Salt & pepper

*You can usually buy this prepackaged in the spice aisle. If you don't have any, as I didn't, mix your own using 2 TBS of sea salt, 1 TBS coarse ground black pepper, 2 TSP crushed red pepper flakes, 1 TSP cracked fennel seed, 1 TSP dried garlic, 1 TSP hot paprika, 1 TSP dried rosemary and 1 TSP dried thyme.

Two hours before serving, take the steak out, rinse and pat dry, and then generously coat with the steak seasoning. Set the steak on a wire rack and let sit at room temperature, uncovered and undisturbed, for two hours.

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Rinse and dry your lettuce mix. Set in fridge to keep cool.

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 - 7 minutes. You want this searingly hot. Meanwhile....

In a large bowl add the olive oil, balsamic, shallot, garlic, a generous pinch of salt and more-than-a-few cranks of fresh black pepper. Vigorously mix with a whisk.

Add the canola oil to the pan, wait till it shimmers, then add the steak. It should immediately sizzle to the point where you feel slightly uncomfortable being near it and/or questioning my judgement. Cook about 2 minutes on the first side, flip, then place the pan in the oven. Cook in the oven for about 4 minutes. This will give you a rare steak, which is what you (should) want. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside, steak still in the pan.

Add the salad to the dressing and lightly toss to coat. Add the tomato and blue cheese crumbles and fold in. Set the salad into large bowls.

Slice the steak to your desired thinness (thin works better than than thick). Place on top and enjoy.

Goes good with a nice crusty bread; you could even make a sub out of the whole mix. A wrap too.

Lou's Just OK Chicken Fricasee

Not the most excellent...but good. Better than edible. What it really is is a dish your grandmother used to make to feed an army of starving mouths living on a budget. I tried to update it (still a starving mouth, but not living on too tight a budget) but the result is the same: it's chicken in a pot with veggies.

A little - well, a lot - more tender and healthier too. I would venture to call it kid friendly if your kids like carrots, celery, and turnips (which you can leave out). Best of all this is SUPER fast and easy; comes together in one pot in under 30 minutes and slow cooks for hours in the oven at low temp.

1 whole chicken breast, bone in, skin on
3 cups chicken broth
2 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 "poultry" bouquet garni*
6 carrots, chopped into 1" pieces
6 celery stalks, chopped into 1" pieces
1 turnip, baseball sized, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1.5 TBS flour
Salt & pepper
Canola oil

*You can buy a poultry herb mix usually all done up in those plastic herb boxes. If not, make your own with 1 sprig rosemary, 5 sprigs time, and 5 sprigs sage.

On a cutting board, place the chicken breast, skin up, and smash once with the base of your palm or a small sauce pan. All you want to do is break the bone (not yours, the chickens, dip-shit) down the middle so it lays a little flat. Sprinkle the breast with about 1 TSP of salt. In a five quart Dutch oven, heat up 1 TBS of canola oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken breast, skin side down, and brown for about 3 minutes. Flip over onto the bone side and cook another 3 minutes. Brown on each side as well. Set the breast aside, reserving the fat in the pot.

Reduce heat to medium and add the onions. Saute for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds. Then add the flour and stir into the onions; it will become pasty. Cook like this for about a minute.

Add one cup of the chicken broth and stir, the broth will become thickened. Add another cup, mix, and then the final cup. If after the second addition the broth is very thin - like soup - only add another half cup.

Bring to a light boil and add the bouquet garni. Simmer for about 5 minutes and then add the carrots, celery, and turnips. Bring back to a simmer and remove the bouquet. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Halve the chicken breast and cut each piece into thirds. Add to the pot, stir to mix, cover, and place in the oven for about 3 hours or longer.

The chicken will be very tender when finished. Remove as many bones as you can - they'll just come right off - but warn everyone that some smaller ones might still be present. Serve with noodles or rice.

Lou's Most Excellent Greco Chicken Sandwich

Left over chicken. What to do with it?

My mother always turned it into chicken salad which, to this day, I'm not fond of. But my buddy Jim brought some precooked chicken over to us from Canales Brothers Deli (I was a bit under the weather) and I made some pita sandwiches out of them the next night.

The problem with the pita is that bites aren't universal. You get a bite of this, bite of that, and on a rare occasion a bite of the whole thing. This is not a complaint, but rather an observation. I'm a whole kind'a bite kind'a guy. Hence the beauty of the sandwich.

Here's what I did. It's quick, easy, and damned tasty. Also pretty healthy when you think about it. This makes enough for two sandwiches.

1 half a large, boneless chicken breast, precooked (salt, pepper, garlic)
2 Roma tomatoes, each sliced into about 5 slices.
½ a cucumber, peeled and thick sliced (same dimensions as tomatoes)
2 kosher dill pickles, sliced lengthwise into 4 strips
Feta (your choice)
4 TBS Greek style yogurt (I used non-fat Fage Total)
1 TSP Herbs de Provence
Hummus
2 demi baguettes (from Bonaparte Breads via Wagshal's) or hard, crusty sub rolls.
Extra virgin olive oil
Optional: pitted kalamata olives


In a small dipping bowl, add 1 TBS of boiling water into the Herbs de Provence. Let rest for five minutes. Mix the herbs into the yogurt.

Cut the chicken into long, thin strips. Drizzle with about 1 TBS of olive oil and let sit for about 5 minutes. Preheat a skillet to medium.

Cut your bread lenghtwise and toast to a nice, crisp brown. While toasting, quickly sear the chicken in the pan to just warm it up; you do not want to brown it. Add more oil to the pan if necessary.

On the bottom bread slice spread a generous amount (about 1½ TBS) of the yogurt-herb mix. Layer some chicken slices, feta to your liking, pickle slices, cucumbers, tomatoes, and drizzle with a little olive oil. On the top sandwich half spread about a TBS of humus or more. Add a few pitted olives, if desired. Place the top on and spike the sandwich with long picks to hold it together.

Cut n' serve.

Lou's Most Excellent Easy Migas

"If that dog gets near my fuckin' breakfast I'm gonna kill him." - JKF, October 11, 2009.

My wife, JKF, has that in common with the dog b/c if you get near his breakfast he's likely to kill you too.

JKF also introduced me to migas, which is a Mexican style of scrambled eggs with tortilla's in them. It's a great way to use up staled corn tortillas...if you have them.

And most often, one doesn't. But tortilla chips work just fine.

I should not be eating eggs. If you haven't guessed it by the blog here, I pretty much eat anything with reckless abandon and I shouldn't. Eggs are LOADED with cholesterol. I mean, they're a cholesterol delivery vehicle. One egg gives you about 80% of your daily USDA recommended cholesterol intake. Now think about a three egg omelet with cheese, ham and fried in butter. Buttered toast on the side and you're done.

Egg whites, however, are virtually cholesterol and fat free. But they taste like egg whites and are watery and just ick scrambled up.

Compromise here: 2 parts egg white plus 1 whole egg. Sure, it's still running high with fat & cholesterol but tastes pretty damned good. In this recipe, which is for two, I use 5 whites plus 1 whole, which still works pretty well.

5 egg whites + 1 whole egg [extra large sized eggs], scrambled
3 TBS chopped onion
1 Jalapeno pepper, minced
1 big handfull of tortilla chips
¼ cup of cheese of your choice (fontina used here)
Canola oil
Salt & pepper

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a TBS of canola oil to the pan and the onion. Saute for about 3 minutes. Add the Jalapeno and saute for an additional minute and then add the eggs all at once.

Let the eggs sit for about 30 seconds, just until it's solidifying on the bottom. Crush the chips with your hands and add to the eggs, continuing to cook the eggs the way you normally make scrambled eggs. With 30 seconds left on the clock, remove from the heat, add the cheese, toss to mix and voila.

You can eat these alone or put them in a tortilla to make a breakfast taco. Judy went for the taco but I went with a bagel on the side since they were fresh from the Old Georgetown Bagelry.

Lou's Most Excellent Four Figgy Chicky

And there I saw them, probably the last ones I'll see for awhile: fresh figs.

I love fresh figs. Plain, wrapped in melon, served with cheese, hot, cold, you name it. If there were a natures candy, these would be it.

While perusing through The Silver Spoon, I found a recipe for chicken stuffed with mushrooms, ham, and mascarpone. Looked pretty tasty but it a) required two ovens to really get it going and b) didn't have figs.

With some modifications, here's what I came up with. The amounts, funny enough, are pretty easy to remember. And while the recipe looks long this actually comes together pretty fast.

4 boneless chicken breasts
4 fresh figs
4 slices cooked ham
4 large mushrooms
4 TBS mascarpone
4 sprigs fresh parsley
4 TBS butter
4 garlic cloves
¼ cup kosher salt
A lot of toothpicks

Brine the chicken: In a two quart bowl add 1 quart of cold water and the salt. Smash the garlic cloves with the flat end of a knife (it's OK to keep the skins on) and add to the brine. Stir to dissolve the salt.

Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry. Cut off the tenderloin, if present, from the breasts. Take each breast and slice horizontally to about ½ inch from the end and unfold. Sandwich each breast between two pieces of wax paper and pound with a mallet until the chicken is about ¼ - ½ inch thick. Don't beat the shit out of it; be gentle in your pounding since you don't want to tear it.

Place the chicken in the brine - tenderloins too as they're your snack while cooking - and set in the fridge for 20 minutes. Meanwhile....

...remove the stems from the mushrooms (and discard) and slice each mushroom into 10 even pieces and mince the parsley. In a skillet add 2 TBS of butter and bring to a bubble. Add the mushrooms and a big pinch of salt and gently saute over medium heat just until the mushrooms begin to turn brown. Add the parsley, stir up for about 30 seconds, remove the mushrooms and set aside keeping the leftover fat in the pan. Meanwhile...

...take each fig and slice into four, round pieces. In a small skillet add 1 TBS of butter and bring to a bubble over medium heat. Add the figs and let brown on each side for about 4 minutes; you should get a nice crust on these. Remove the figs and set aside.

The dog, at this point, knows something good is going on and assumes the feed-me-I'm-you're-best-buddy-pose.


Now, here's where the bitch of this process comes in: stuffing the breasts. Lay each breast flat on a cutting board. On one side of the breast add a slice of ham, ¼ of the mushrooms, ¼ of the figs, and 1 TBS of mascarpone. Fold the other half of the chicken over and using toothpicks - and a lot of creativity - seal the chicken to make a pouch. By my fourth one I finally got this to kind'a work.


Further proof it doesn't have to look good to taste good. You could also use kitchen twine to do this (as my buddy John suggested this morning) but I wasn't thinking. Next time I'll most likely do that. Note that I'm using big toothpicks - they're actually small bamboo spears about 5" long that you can find in many Japanese markets. Very handy.

In the same skillet you cooked the mushrooms add the last TBS of butter (extra if there isn't enough from the mushroom saute) and brown the butter over medium heat. Cook the breasts two at a time; if your skillet is large enough do four but you want at least 1 inch between pieces. Each should cook about 3 - 5 minutes per side; cover the chicken while cooking so it retains the heat. Since your chicken is pretty thin and the insides are a little warm too it will cook fast. If you have space in the pan throw a few of the tenderloins in just to cook them.

Remove the toothpicks prior to eating (duh) and serve with pasta, if you like.

Lou's Most Excellent Green Chili Mayo

This one is pretty simple, assuming you have some green enchilada sauce left over. This was pretty good, as evidenced by my finger in the stuff.

If you don't you could achieve a satisfactory result with the following:

1 small can of Hatch chili peppers, loosely drained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ yellow onion, minced
¼ TSP salt
Up to 1 cup chicken broth
Corn oil
Flour

Sweat the onion in 3 TBS of corn oil until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, saute for 30 seconds more, then add 1 TBS of flour. Stir until blended and pasty; thin to a gravy with the chicken broth. Add the peppers, loosely cover and simmer for 15 minutes on low heat.

The Mayo

½ cup of Enchilada Verde sauce or the above quickie sauce
1 roasted poblano pepper, peeled and seeded
8 - 10 pickled jalapeno slices
¼ mayonnaise

In a mini food processor add the sauce, poblano and jalapeno slices. Process until smooth and nearly uniform in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Add the mayonnaise and then process an additional 30 seconds.

Lou's Most Excellent Soba Chicken

Look! No garlic!

This is an excellent, fast, and light meal that we like to cleanse ourselves with after a week of heavy, greasy eating. What's nice about it is the freshness conveyed while filling you up. While some of the ingredients may not be household staples (mirin), they last a long time in the fridge.

You can grill the chicken breasts (preferred) or sear on a hot skillet.

Also, as this dish is served at room temperature (!) there's no need to rush any of the steps. As such, this is also a great meal on a hot day.

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz soba (buckwheat) noodles
1 bunch green onions
10 oz baby spinach leaves
1 medium cucumber
1 TBS toasted sesame seeds
2 TBS mirin
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TSP sesame oil
1 TSP chili oil

Bring a large pot of water - about 4 quarts - to boil.

Cut the tenderloin off the chicken breasts and then filet the breasts length wise.

Finely chop the white ends of the green onions halfway up into the green part and save. Reserve the green parts too.

Peel and quarter the cumber, remove the seeds, and then filet each quarter. Julienne the cucumber into 2 inch, very thin strips.

In a medium bowl mix all the liquid ingredients along with the green ends of the green onions. Remove half the mixture and reserve for later. Marinate the the chicken in the bowl for 5 minutes and then immediately grill or sear. Do not overcook the chicken; once it begins to turn opaque half way around the edge, flip, and cook for an equal amount of time on the other side. Total cook time is about 4 - 5 minutes, pending the thickness of the chicken.

Put the spinach in a large strainer. Boil the noodles for 5 minutes in lightly salted water (about 1 TBS). Slowly pour the noodles over the spinach thereby lightly blanching the spinach. Immediately run cold water over the noodles for about 1 minute to cool them down.

Add the remaining sauce - minus the green onion strips - into a large bowl and toss in the noodles. Dish up noodles (a large soup bowl works best). Slice the chicken into thin strips against the grain and set on top of the noodles. Add as much cucumber and chopped green onions as desired and finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Voila....

A nice addition to this dish is Sriracha chili sauce too.

Lou's Most Excellent Cucumber Gin & Tonic

Gin and tonic is that drink that your drunk aunt on your dads side would always get. As the evenings would wear on, the more she asked for them, the more they got diluted down by her daughter-in-law.

No need for a snarky remark about how dirty the house or misbehaved the kids are, right?

Here's an update to the G&T. I was inspired by this from Hendrick's gin : they suggest you garnish the G&T with a cucumber slice.

Why not add the cucumber into it?

Try it: you'll like it. A lot. It becomes our drink of the summer when it's just too damned hot.


2 English (seedless) cucumbers, coarsely peeled, quartered and chopped*
Gin
Tonic
Soda water
Salt

In a blender or food processor, add the cucumber, ½ cup of cold water, and a big pinch of salt. Liquify for about 1½ - 2 minutes. Strain the pulp through a mesh strainer and reserve the juice; discard the pulp. Do not force the pulp through the strainer as you just want the juice.

In you favorite G&T glass fill to the top with ice. Follow these ratios:

1 part gin
1 part cucumber juice
1 part tonic
1 part soda

Stir to mix and serve. The juice will also keep in the fridge for about 3 days. Dot experiment with these ratios too; I find that 2 parts tonic gives that extra fizz but then adds more tonic flavor hence why I add soda. Get the flavor you like and have fun doing it.

*Figure about 1 cucumber for 2 -3 drinks, pending how big you make them.

Lou's Most Excellent Chicken Fajitas

According to Rob Walsh in "The Tex-Mex Cookbook," the first fajita originated in 1973 at Ninfa's, located on Navigation Street in Houston, TX.

Of course, any claim like that is surely met with controversy as others claim it was invented much earlier, perhaps the 1940s when Hispanic ranch hands using typically undesired cuts of meat (head, intestines, diaphragm) would marinate these in lime juice and serve them on flour tortillas with all the fixin's. At an outdoor festival in 1969, Sonny Falcon took skirt steak, some salt and pepper, and cutting against the grain made little chunks of meat out of it and wrapped it in a tortilla. On and on and on....

Here is a great recipe for chicken fajitas. It has some elements of the classics and then some. You can do this with skirt steak too; just follow the same procedure except cut the steak against the grain when finished. This is also one of the few instances where I use a commercial spice blend in my cooking: Stubb's Chili-Lime Spice Rub . It's quite good.

1 pound of chicken breasts, filleted
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TSP table salt
1 TBS ground cumin
2 TBS olive oil
Juice of two limes (lemons can be a sub)
Stubb's Chili-Lime Spice Rub

In a bowl large enough to put the chicken in, add the garlic and salt and with a spatula mash into a paste. Mix in the cumin, then the olive oil and then the lime juice. Toss in the chicken and coat; place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Get your grill going. You can do these on the stove too but the grill is preferred. A hickory-based fire is awesome here.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and sprinkle some Chili-Lime rub to each side (as much as you want). Gently press the rub in with your fingers.

Grill chicken over direct heat for about 1½ - 2 minutes per side. You don't want to over cook it, hence why you filet them to start with. Cut each piece of chicken, along the grain, into about 5 - 6 strips.

Serve immediately with warm flour tortillas and your favorite condiments, such as salsa, sour cream, cheese, and the suggestions below.

Pico de Gallo
- ½ medium minced yellow onion
- 2 Roma tomatoes, seeds removed and cut into ¼ inch bits
- 1 Jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and minced
- Juice of one lime
- Combine all the above ingredients and add a big pinch of salt

Grilled Onions & Peppers
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and cut into ½ inch strips
- 1 bell pepper (color doesn't matter), halved, seeds removed, and cut into ½ strips
- 2 Jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, and cut into ¼ inch strips
- Combine the onion and peppers in a large bowl.
- Sprinkle ½ TSP salt and 7 - 10 cranks of black pepper, toss, and then toss in about 2 TBS of olive oil.
- Rest for 10 minutes then grill over high heat in a grill basket or a hot pan.
- Get a good char on these but take them off before they get floppy. You want them to stay crunchy.

Lou's Most Excellent Blue Cheese Dressing

You are not going to find a better blue cheese dressing than this.

Anywhere.

Really - you won't.

Once you have this you will never go "back to the bottle" and will sneer in mild disappointment at every restaurant that has blue cheese dressing as an option.

I got this from my buddy Jim who in turn got it from a cookbook by Paul Prudhomme, whom I had the honor to meet for all but 14 seconds at the 2008 Fancy Food Show.

"Hi Chef Paul - I'm a big fan of your blue cheese dressing."
"Thank you. I have a new one that you should try."
"Really? Great! I'd like to know..."

And by then he was talking to some other schmuck and giving his autograph.

I've modified it a tinge (more garlic and chili powder). Also make this eight hours or even a day before you need it: it's much better the second day as the flavors have had a chance to blend together.

½ large white onion, coarsely chopped
5 garlic cloves, coarsely minced
1 egg
½ cup buttermilk (lowfat or fat free - doesn't matter)
2 cups canola oil
6 ounces of crumbly blue cheese (typically Danish)
1 TSP ground white pepper
1 TSP table salt
½ to 1 TSP cayenne pepper
¼ TSP chili powder

In a food processor add the onion and garlic and puree until smooth, about one minute. Add the egg and salt and process for 30 seconds, then pour in the buttermilk while the processor is running.

With the thing still whirling away, slowly pour in the oil in a continuous stream. Add 2 ounces of the blue cheese and white pepper and process for another 15 seconds.

Pour the dressing into a glass bowl (if you use plastic it will wreak of blue cheese forever). Add the remaining blue cheese and the cayenne and chili powder.

This comes out pleasantly spicy with a tinge of smokiness. You can leave the cayenne and chili out, or reduce the amounts, and you still have a great dressing.

Serve on a wedge of cold iceberg with bacon bits, chunks of tomato and red onion. Good times, good times.

Lou's Most Excellent Spaghetti Carbonara

Too many people mess with this dish up by adding additional ingredients, like cream and onion. I’ll eat it, hell, I’ll even order it knowing that it may come out not like mine unless I know in advance it has peas in it. WTF is that all about?

I’m a big fan of fresh pasta except here. The preparation can be a bit tough on delicate pasta so dried works best because it has a higher crunch factor. Also, fresh pasta takes on a lot more water than dried and can wind up becoming gummy here.

I’m always one for adding more stuff to everything I make…except this. Carbonara shouldn’t be fucked with and everyone loves my carbonara and that’s the proof. Try this recipe and you’ll see why. Proof to my obsession with this dish? My old roommate in grad school (Liz) and I tried to coteam on making carbonara and we got into a huge fight about it. There wasn’t enough bacon and I flat out didn’t want to help her because of that reason alone. Happily we laugh about it today. But…well…still…never mind….

This recipe happens quickly, like restaurant kitchen quickly. Assuming no distractions you can easily have this done in 15 minutes or less (once you have the water boiling) from start to finish.

1 pound spaghetti
½ pound of pancetta (substitute thick cut bacon if unavailable)
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 large eggs, room temperature
¼ cup dry white wine
¾ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 TBS fresh grated Pecorino-Romano cheese
2 TSP minced parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Extra Parmesan for serving, if desired

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil according to the pasta directions. You will cook the noodles to al dente, which is critical to great carbonara. Start cooking the pasta when you’re ready to proceed below.

Heat the 2 TBS of olive oil in a skillet over medium/medium-high heat. While heating, cut the pancetta into dime sized chunks. Add the garlic cloves and pancetta and cook until browned; discard the garlic. Drain the oil, reduce heat to medium and add the wine. Simmer until the wine is cooked into the meat, about 5 minutes.

While pancetta is cooking, in a very large bowl scramble the eggs. Add the cheeses, parsley, and 5 – 8 cranks of fresh ground pepper. Mix thoroughly.

By this time your pasta should be near al dente. When ready, QUICKLY drain and then pour the pasta – still a little wet – into the cheese/egg mixture. With salad tongs quickly toss – don’t stir – the mixture together; the egg mix should start to coddle. Sprinkle the pancetta over and toss together.

Serve immediately on warmed plates.

If using pancetta instead of bacon you may need to add a little more salt. Also, if you don’t have Pecorino-Romano you can do without; just add more Parmesan. The trade off is you won’t have the flavor bite one should get with carbonara – it should sting your nose just a little with some pungent aroma in the steam rising off the plate. That bite, along with the bite of the al dente pasta and crisp pancetta, is what makes this great dish.

But it’s still great without.

Lou's Most Excellent Greens & Pasta

I love pasta and I think I’ve said that multiple times. But “pasta” is not a vegetable and you gotta eat your veggies.

Escarole, fortunately, is a vegetable. In fact, it’s a pretty rough vegetable in that this stuff will clean. you. out. And done right – famous last words – it’s pretty damned tasty.

done-right (dŭn rīt) v. 1. Cooking something otherwise healthy with ingredients that typically are artery clogging. adj. 2. Any food product not worth eating if described as such.

Here is a pretty good side dish that will give you a good dose of veggies and satisfaction of a nice, starchy thing-you-wanna-eat. If “done right” and you can keep the calories and fat down on this so you don’t have to feel so guilty about eating it.

As described below you prepare the pasta and escarole at the same time. This requires a fair amount of stove power and coordination. If you’re not into that (or only have one six quart pot), prepare the escarole first and then the pasta.

½ pound pasta, preferably linguini
1 large head of escarole
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ sweet onion, sliced very thin
¼ cup dry white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper

Bring two-six quart pots of cold water, four quarts in each, to a boil simultaneously.

Cut the bottom ¼ of the escarole off, separate all the leaves and give them a quick rinse with cold water in a colander.

Add 1 TBS of salt to each pot. Add the pasta to one; cook per directions on the box MINUS 1 minute. At the same time add the escarole to the other (you may have to do this in three bunches as it won’t all fit at once).

Cook (blanch) the escarole for about 90 seconds then pour into the colander and run cold water over it for about one minute to cool it. Carefully squeeze out excess water while being careful not to crush the escarole.

Heat 3 TBS of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes…then the garlic and cook for 30 seconds…then add the escarole and wine. Simmer until wine cooks off, about 3 minutes. By this time…

…the pasta should be done. Drain well in the colander and transfer to the pan with the escarole. Turn heat up to medium high. Once the ingredients start to sizzle cook for two more minutes, continually tossing. Season with black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt as desired.

I recently served this as a bed for sable fish that was cooked with some white wine and shitake mushrooms: it was pretty tasty.

Lou's Most Excellent Skinny Omelet

I love a runny, egg over easy. The warm yolk covering my eggs and plate are great, especially when you have an ample bread product to mop it all up. Mmmmmm.

Unfortunately a single egg has about 220mg of cholesterol and current guidelines recommend that an adult consume no more than 300mg in a single day.  So, a three egg omelet cooked in butter with ham and cheese served along side a bagel loaded with cream cheese?  Maybe some bacon or sausage for good measure?   Do yourself a favor: don't do the math and just enjoy the glorious moment.

But back to my original recipe here.  I love a runny, egg over easy.  In fact, I like two of them.  Duck eggs preferred (these are WONDERFUL) to tell the truth but they're sometimes hard to find.  So this morning, having woken up with a mild hangover due to two gin & tonics followed by a Lou's Most Excellent Margarita courtesy of Manuel at Guapo's of Tenleytown, I needed help.

I needed eggs.

Here's a great way to get that runny yolk - from one egg - but the fullness of three.  Yes, yes, it's not the same as three whole eggs but it's as close as you might get.

3 eggs
Non-stick spray

Salt & Pepper

Heat a 6" non-stick skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Throw a few drops of water in and if they sizzle, you're ready. Give a light coating of non-stick spray, more if your skillet is a little older.

Crack one whole egg into one side of the skillet.  The egg should start to bubble upon hitting the pan.  Crack two egg whites into the other side.

With your spatula, GENTLY move the yolk-containing egg to the center of the pan while tilting in the opposite direction, allowing the runny whites to move to the other side.

Once the white has begun to fully set, break the yolk with your spatula and spread it down the middle of the frying egg.  Fold it along this line like an omelet and serve immediately.