Kitchen

Wow. What a wonderful day in the studio yesterday! The players were A+++ fabulous and the singers absolutely perfect! Ok, I’m gonna name drop: Ross Copperman, Brandon Kinney, Dave Rowe, Kyle Ryan & Jeremy Lutito… if you know those guys you may have an inkling of how much fun we had…
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This Tuesday I was lucky enough to have three strong, capable men over to erect my new tipi – gratitude and respect going out to Chancy, aka Chester, Steve, aka Mikky and just plain Eric … (I want an alias).

To show my appreciation, I put a lunch together that turned out pretty all right. At 8am, I mixed together a marinade of the following: 2 TBSP jerk seasoning (Trader Joe’s), 1 cup olive oil, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice, 1 cup soy sauce and 1TBSP crushed red pepper. Poured it over 2 lbs of boneless, skinless grouper filets in a large casserole dish, covered and let it marinade 4 hours (2 will do it).

Then I peeled 2 lbs eggplant – either the little Asians or the big guys work – cut them into 1 inch cubes and spread on 2 cookie sheets… brush with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. (Both Le Creuset and The Sili Gourmet have fabulous, silicone basting brushes that are dishwasher safe and won’t shed bristles onto your food.) Roast in a 425 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
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Hi Musical Foodies,

Had an impromptu kitchen concert last night with my friends Chancy Rogers and Brandon Green… if you haven’t heard Brandon yet, never fear — you will… great singer and writer. Chancy operated the video camera and when we get things edited, I’ll start posting video/audio clips for what I hope will be your listening and viewing pleasure…

Meanwhile, I want to share this cooking experiment before I forget what I did. I made a tandoori spice inspired marinade:
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My Key West friend, Jeffrey, asked if I had a good recipe for etouffe… haven’t made it in awhile – great idea! …

I think the keys to a successful etouffe are in the roux and the stock. First the roux: I like to fry 4 or 5 strips of bacon for the grease (then remove the bacon to a paper towel to drain), but a combo of good olive or vegetable oil and butter is great too. To feed 6, use about 1/3 cup bacon grease & butter or oil & butter, heat in a large skillet over medium until just bubbly… then add 1/4 cup flour and stir or whisk constantly, maybe 15 minutes or more, until peanut butter brown. Then add a medium onion, chopped, about a cup & a half chopped peppers (bell & poblano, jalapeno if you want heat), 2 stalks chopped celery and 2 cloves minced garlic… saute about 5 minutes to read more »

Ok, I’ll admit that I’ve lived in a form of denial for years — about fried food… I’ve refused, across the board, to deep fat fry ANYthing in my kitchen, yet I will eat the french fries and fried chickens and fried okra at a meat and 3… if I don’t see or perform the procedure, I can more easily ignore the health and fat gram factors… hmmm, wonder how fried ostrich would be…

But yesterday I mistakenly bought chicken tenders instead of breasts… had 3 hungry friends visiting and thought, what the heck, I’ll try frying these birds.
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For the tuna:

1.5 cups chopped fresh cilantro leaves (hey, the stems taste good too, don’t be too fussy)
1/3 to 1/2 cup sliced jalapenos (seeds included if you can take the heat)
1.5 TBSP grated fresh ginger (juice included)
3 or 4 grated or pressed garlic cloves
3/4 to 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar (or splenda)
1/4 cup olive oil (as good as you got)
1 TBSP wasabi paste or 1/2 TBSP wasabi powder

sliced avocado to gar read more »