Culinary Hall of Fame Blog

Ted's Terrific Bean Soup

The weather is turning cool here in the great land of the U.S.A and Pam made this soup the other night for her brother’s family who will be on their way to Arizona real soon. It is named after my Father in Law, Ted Taggart, although my Mother in Law says he had nothing to do with it origin, but I guess I shouldn’t go there right now…It is a real hearty soup, especially on a cool evening. Give it a try and I think you will agree…

Ted’s Terrific Bean Soup

Makes 6 hearty servings

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken stock
2 pounds chicken thigh, uncooked
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup corn, frozen
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon rosemary, dried
1 teaspoon basil, dried
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 28 ounce can tomatoes, whole, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 pound Polish sausages
2 cups ham, cut into cubes
1 24 ounce jar Randall Great Northern Beans
1 24 ounce jar Randall Pinto Beans

Preparation:

Pour chicken stock into a large kettle. Add chicken, onions, celery, corn, garlic, parsley, rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Skim the broth if foam appears.

Remove from heat. Remove the chicken from the broth to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove the bones and cut the meat into small pieces. Reserve.

While the broth is simmering, place the sausage into a heavy skillet and cover it with water. Simmer the sausage for 15 minutes and drain. Once the sausage is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.

Add the deboned chicken, sausage slices, and the cubed ham to the broth and return to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add the Randall Beans and continue to simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve in large warm bowls with fresh baked bread and soft butter.

Satay Pasta Salad

Recently I was recruited to do some “How To” videos for the web. We had a crew in to video 17 recipes, this being one of them. Pam and I put this recipe together the night before, combining several recipes and it came out just perfect! Give it a try…I know you will like it!

Satay Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Cavatappi pasta, cooked and chilled
2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced 1/2 inch
1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
1/2 each orange and red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
2 scallions (green parts), sliced diagonally
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of Sriracha Sauce or more
juice of I lime

Preparation:

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing.  Pour your desired amount over the pasta and toss to fully incorporate. Add the chicken to the dressed pasta and fold in. Now, top with the asparagus and peppers and push them into the pasta and chicken. Top with the scallions and sesame seeds. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Cranberry and Fuji Apple Mold

I made this cranberry sauce two years ago for a Christmas party we were having at our house in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was a big hit, especially for my neighbor’s Mom who happened to be in town. Apparently she raved about it long enough that my neighbor, Dave, requested the recipe for her. She planned to have it this Thanksgiving, but sadly passed away this week. So in her honor, I share this recipe with you and hope it is a hit at your house too.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Fuji Apple

Ingredients:

One 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
1 large Fuji apple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

Preparation:

Line an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap and spray the plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries with the apple, sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook over moderately high heat, stirring frequently until the cranberries are completely broken down and the sauce is very thick, about 15 minutes. Scrape the cranberry sauce into the prepared pan and refrigerate until chilled, about 5 hours.

Invert the jelly onto a serving plate and remove the plastic wrap. Garnish with fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs. Slice with a serrated knife before serving.

Make Ahead: The cranberry sauce can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Serve chilled.

Note: Leftover cranberry sauce is always great as a spread on sandwiches.

From a recipe found in Food and Wine Magazine.

In 2005, an online friend and fellow chef posted a recipe over a Chef2Chef.net and I kept it for all these years, knowing that at some point I would make it. That day came yesterday. I was standing in a newly found Asian Mega Store here in the Valley of the Sun. The fresh fish were stacked on an iced table a hundred feet long. Thought I had died and gone to Heaven!

Fresh Fish Market

The chef’s name is Michael Alvarez, Spoony to his online buddies! We have never met in person (yet) but have stayed in touch and now over at Facebook. I spotted the red snapper and immediately the recipe came to mind. “Let’s do it” I thought and toss in a couple of Pompano as well. I’ll be eating those tonight! On with the recipe…

Slash and Burn Snapper

Ingredients:

1 cup mushroom soy sauce (or regular soy sauce)
2 bunches green onions, green part only
2 tbsp. grated ginger
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tbsp. minced garlic
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 each serrano peppers
5 large leaves of basil
3/4 cup olive oil
4 whole snappers

Procedure:

Combine first 9 ingredients in a blender and blend. While blender is running, slowly add olive oil to emulsify.

Take whole snappers and rinse well in cold running water. Cut 3 medium sized x s on each side of the snappers. Put into a bowl and cover with marinade. Let sit in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Take a heavy bottom saute pan and get it screamin hot. Sear snapper on one side for almost a minute, then flip and do the same. Repeat with the other fish.

Transfer them onto a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until done. Serve with cilantro rice, black beans and Beurre Blanc with Lime and Cilantro.

That is the recipe as he wrote it. I was shy of cilantro but the recipe worked perfect. I did mine outside on the grill at about 350 degrees and it took about 18 minutes. (Clean your grill and oil the grates well just before placing the fish on it) I did not rinse the fish either…took it right out of the marinade and off to the grill we went!

Marinated Red Snapper

The risky part of grilling the snapper is that you are going to have to turn it over half way through the process. You have to be patient. Don’t play with your food while it is cooking. It is the reason most cooks can’t get a good sear on their scallops. They feel like they have got to move them around in the skillet. Let it be. Let the sear or crust happen and the fish or that scallop will form its crust and release. About 10 minutes into the process, carefully flip the fish over with an oversized spatula and let it finish undisturbed.

Spoony's Slash and Burn Red Snapper

Let that fish rest a bit while you finish up your sides, then carve it table side or do like we did, place the platter between yourselves and get after it. The skin is crispy and charred and the flesh is soft and full of flavor. Dig in and give Chef “Spoony” a Thumbs Up!