Thursday, January 27, 2011

Day 89: Baked Corn Chips...


Looking for a quick, easy alternative to regular party snack?  Look no further.  This recipe I threw together for a party and was well received.  Doesn’t take long to make, and it, and when you’re done, you’ll end up with enough to last quite a while.

Enjoy...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Day 88: Beef Rice Noodle in Worcester Sauce...




Well it’s day 88, and I must resist the urge to make a Back To The Future joke.  Instead, I will get back to my series of stir-fries.  This is another no frills, simple, quick thing you can throw together in minutes after getting home from work.

It's a variation of a Japanese stir-fry noodle dish, in which they incorporate Worcester sauce.  It sounds odd, but once I tried it, I was hooked.  It’s a fantastic dish that I wholly recommend.

Enjoy...

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Day 87: Strawberries Foster...



I recently got a new job which required me to buy the latest version of Final Cut Studio, and while I waited for the job to start, I decided to familiarize myself with the new program.

Naturally I decided to film my latest recipe, Strawberries Foster.  Modifying a recipe for the classic Bananas Foster, I think I’ve created something very special.  If you want to impress guests, there aren’t too many ways to wow than doing a flambe´!

This dish is best served over ice cream, and you can’t do much better than the Caramel Pineapple Ice Cream I posted this week.

So sit back, and take a couple of minutes to watch my very first cooking video!

Enjoy...


Strawberries Foster from Keith Savage on Vimeo.



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Day 86: Caramel Pineapple Ice Cream...


I’m all about enhancing flavour.  Having spent years learning to cook, I’ve learned a few tricks that help enhance the flavour of a dish, and my favourite is caramelization.  You don’t get that kind of flavour from poaching or boiling - Dry heat and frying generate infinitely more taste out of food, and that’s why I stick to it.

So a while back, when I got round to making ice cream, I got the idea, “Why don’t I caramelize the sugar before adding it to the cream?  I mean, I need to heat it anyway to dissolve the sugar!”  So this thought led me to making this a regular habit, when making ice cream.  White sugar is so one dimensional and screams like an angry cave-man, “SWEET!!!!.”  I like more complex flavours, and caramelization delivers that.

So last week I had a party to go, and I had a pineapple sitting around feeling neglected.  It looked at me saying, “Hey, baby.  You better eat me, or I’ll go bad!”  I had already decided I wanted to bring ice cream, so it was a no brainer that I was going to make a pineapple ice cream - and that I was going to caramelize the sugar.

Enjoy...

Monday, January 17, 2011

Day 85: Rice Omelette...


Wow!  85!!  Only fifteen more recipes to go and I’ll have created 100 unique recipes of my own!  I’ve been cooking a long time, if only I’d have started this long ago and I would have something like 500 or more!

At any rate, I thought I’d continue with my breakfast kick, before I get back to more stir-fries and desert (keep watch, because this week I have a desert that will heat things up so much your clothes will likely burn off!).

Today it’s the rice omelette.  I first came up with this one years ago, and it started because I had leftovers that I had to do something with.  This was the result.  By chance I had created one of my favorite breakfast dishes, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s easy to make, cheap and fast.

Enjoy...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Day 84: Orange Shortbread...


I had a New Years Eve party to go to, and having been on a stir-fry kick for so long (and it being the holidays), I thought I’d make up a cookie recipe.  I’ve made everything else, but lately I’ve been lacking deserts.

Without further ado, I started with a shortbread recipe, and then stamped my own groove onto it.  Most of my recipes are dead easy, but this one’s a bit more complicated than usual.  But don’t let that stop you from trying it.  I’ve made many mistakes in creating it, and thankfully it’s a resilient enough recipe that you can make mistakes every step of the way, and there’s always a way to undo it without ruining the thing.

The complication arrises from the use of an orange syrup you need to make.  If it’s too hot, it’ll burn the butter.  If it’s too cold, it won’t mix with the butter.  It’s easy to avoid the first mistake, because as long as the sugar syrup isn’t boiling, it won’t be hot enough to burn anything.  If it’s too cold to mix in (which I’ve done), don’t worry, you can scrape out  the syrup, butter and all, and melt it in a pot, and return it to the bowl to mix.

This is a delectable cookie that melts in your mouth, and is much softer than what you’d expect from a shortbread cookie.

Naughty cookie cutters are optional.

Enjoy...

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Day 83: Fried Egg Sandwich...


Some of you may be wondering why such a simple dish is being served up here, well, because it’s so simple it’s often overlooked.

I used to eat fried egg sandwiches for breakfast every day when I was going to high school, and I thought recently, “Why not try it again?  I’m a much better cook than I was in high school!?”

Back in the day, I used powdered garlic and what not.  Today I use real garlic, and my own, home cooked bread.  I can honestly say it’s better than ever.

Enjoy...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 82: Beef Rice Noodle in Peanut Sauce...


The night had come faster than I had noticed.  Absorbed with work, it was my growling stomach that told me of the late hour.  Alas, I had not gone to the grocer store, and I was short on ingredients.

What to do?

I improvised.  I took what I had and did my best.

It’s an old saying that, “Art thrives on restrictions,” and I found that to be so true here.  Without the normal ingredients I would use for a stir fry, I managed to make one of my favourite dishes to date!

Enjoy...


Thursday, January 06, 2011

Day 81: Chickpea and Corn Falafel...


It’s been quite a while since my last posting, what with the holidays getting in the way, but with this being the first post for 2011, I thought I’d start it off with a bang!

This story began off with me looking at the can of Chickpeas and corn on my shelf and thinking, ‘What the hell am I going to do with that?”  I don’t like beans much, and rarely use them.  The only reason I had them was because I bought some to put in a soup I made for a friend.  With one can left over, I was at a loss.  Then it came to me.  “Falafel!  It’s made out of chickpeas.  And I have a can of corn too, who says you can’t make Falafels with corn?”

In no time I was throwing this all together and breaking out my dutch oven to do some deep frying.  Most of the time when I improvise the outcome ranges from good to okay, but in this case, it was AMAZING!  I’ve outdone myself with this one.  They are totally delicious, healthy, and amazingly they aren’t greasy!

This is one of the ones I’m going to be remembered for.  Now I only need to make it out to the Middle Eastern Bakery to get pita and make sandwiches!!

Enjoy...