Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

TFR's editor here wishing y'all happy holidays and lots of good food! Chef Tabbit is on vacation but will return with more recipes in a week or so :)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Playing with Chocolate

It appears I may have become addicted to chocolate. This semi-sweet semi-double feature is all about how you can have fun with chocolate.

first off is different flavored chocolates. I used all 3 different types of chocolate: white, milk, and dark, flavoring each differently. The white chocolate got mint, the dark got moca and the milk chocolate stayed its original flavor.

All 3 followed a similar recipe of milk, cream, and either gelotin or egg yolks as a thickening agent.

Thickening methods
There are two ways to do this that I know of; the first is using egg yolks mixed with a little bit of sugar. I used three per mixture, but bear in mind that if you mess this one up you'll have bits of scrambled egg in your chocolate, which is rather gross, but if you pull it off it makes such a smooth mix. The key is to set aside a bit of the mix in a cold bowl and completely mix the egg until you can find no lumps, then returning it SLOWLY back into the mix.

Method two requires you buy packets of gelatin, and this stuff is dangerous - well, not like it's gonna kill you, but too much and you'll have a chocolate brick. To correctly use the gelatin take one and ONLY ONE packet and soak it in tap water for about 10 minutes, then slowly stir into the mix. Proper setting takes an hour or so in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Multi-purpose milk chocolate blend

1 cup cream 35%
1 1/4 cup milk.
1 1/2 cups chocolate

Flavoring

2-3 drops pure mint extract
1 cup Coffee of your brewing preference

• To start take a sauce pan and add the cream and milk, then simmer to a rolling boil,
• Add your chocolate, keep the heat low. Stir the mix until all the chocolate is melted and blended evenly.
• This is where you can add you're special flavoring, each of the two should be treated differently.
- For mint, add one drop and take to taste. If the mix isn't minty enough add another drop, repeat until you have the desired minty taste.
- For coffee take your cup of preferred brewed coffee and add it slowly to your mix, using the same tactic as the mint. Bear in mind you can always add more, but you can't take away.
• Finally, take your mix and add it to a small container and let chill in a fridge.

Now what can you possibly do with this flavored chocolate jello/liquid? Frankly anything you can think of. Add it to milk or hot chocolate for a kick of flavor, to ice cream, or your coffee. Those of you that are more adventurous you can add about half a shot of brandy and make a chocolate shot.

Got different flavor, method, or use for these? Tell me in the comments below!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Rich Delicious Fudge

HOLY FUDGE CAKES! Yes I ventured into the delicious world of chocolate this week, and it was delicious. Originally I was afraid cause I had heard it was a pain to make, man was I wrong. This recipe is great for adding to ice cream, plates for a dessert tray or just straight with a big tall glass of milk.

This recipe is rated V, though any sweet-toothed critter can enjoy it (you dogs out there.)

Delicious fudge:

•1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
•2/3 cup (5-oz can) evaporated milk
•2 T butter
•1/4 tsp salt
•2 cups mini marshmallows
•1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
•1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional: Chopped walnuts of pecans

1. Add sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and salt in sauce pan and bring to a medium boil, stir occasionally for 5 minutes
2.Stir in marshmallows, chocolate chips, and vanilla extract, mix until everything is melted.
3. Pour into 8x8 baking pan or cake pan lined with tin foil and set in refrigerator or leave on counter if you feel like tempting your self.
4. once firm remove from pan and cut into delicious pieces.


If you try my recipe, please rate it and/or leave a comment. I also like hearing about variations to the recipe, and may edit the blog post to include these suggestions. :3

Monday, November 16, 2009

Egg in a Basket

Sadly Today's post comes without pictures, due to a horrid mini USB
accident.

Moving right along. Breakfast is always a weird meal for me; If
I'm up at a reasonable time to eat it I never do because I
overslept. However, if I'm awake, normally it's time for lunch.
This easy treat is now the reason I get up at the right time.
Originally my curiosity was sparked while watching V for Vendetta;
at one point in the movie he makes "egg in a basket," and it
looked delicious.
Egg in a basket

V+ This recipe contains meat at the the cooks digression, but does contain animal byproducts

•1 Piece of bread big enough to cut a 1 inch hole in.
•1 egg
•Extra virgin olive oil
•butter

Optional: Bacon bits, diced onions, salt pepper, chives, cheese.

1. Cut a 1 inch hole in the middle of your bread. You can also use
cookie cutters if you wanna brighten up your morning.
2. Add olive oil and butter to a sauce pan and set to a low heat.
3. Place your pieces of bread in the pan, then pour or crack them
in the middle of your bread to your preference.
4.Let cook till the underside of your egg is hardened then flip,
leave cooking to favored consistency.

If you try my recipe, please rate it and/or leave a comment. I also like hearing about variations to the recipe, and may edit the blog post to include these suggestions. :3

Monday, November 9, 2009

Chicken Yakitori

A sweet and simple Japanese dish - no, not ramen but Yakitori. It's a very simple and quick way to add a lot of flavor with very few ingredients. Yakitori uses a sauce called tare, which is very easy to make. I prefer my Yakitori as a kabob, but it also works great in white meat burgers and meat balls.

A note about the ingredients: Mirin is also know as aji-mirin, I learned this after a long and painful 10 minutes at the store looking and asking around.

Herbivores take warn - contents are meaty, however vegetables and starches can be added at the user's discretion, so as to compliment or dominate the meat.

Yakitori tare sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons soy

3 Tablespoons mirin

3 Tablespoons sake

5 teaspoons sugar

1 pound chicken breast (cut into bite sized pieces)

Optional: Onion

Photobucket

• Mix together soy, mirin, sake, and sugar in a large freezer bag to the ratio of one mixture of tare sauce per pound of chicken. Also, take a your skewer sticks and soak them in water for at least 10 minutes if you're using wood ones.

• Dice green onion and chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, about an inch.

• Mix chicken and marinade mix into a large freezer bag and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.

• Take chicken and onion and skewer on kabob sticks in alternating order or personal preference.

• Grill Yakitori skewers all the while basting with leftover marinade.

Photobucket

Serve with rice or Grilled asparagus

If you try my recipe, please rate it and/or leave a comment. I also like hearing about variations to the recipe, and may edit the blog post to include these suggestions. :3

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Fiery Chili

Personally I love making chili - it lasts quite a while, tastes great, and is a reliable source of protein after a workout. Fairly simple but extremely delicious. This recipe was adapted off of a gift I was given for "Ass-kicking Chili," a name which was dead-on in more than one way.

WARNING: This recipe is rated O+ - contents contain meat, of a sufficent amount to please carnivores, but include other ingredients of a vegetable-variety. It should not be attempted or consumed in the presence of sensitive herbivores.

Ingredients (makes about 1 gallon of chili):

2 lbs ground meat (preferably beef, but turkey and chicken also work)
extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 29oz can tomato sauce
1 29oz can crushed tomatos
1 14oz can crushed tomatos
2 12oz cans of chili beans (rinsed)
2 12 oz cans kidney beans (rinsed)
1 Cup water or beef stock
1Tbs cumin
1Tbs cayenne pepper powder
1Tbs corinander seed
1Tbs chipotle chili pepper
1Tbs garlic powder
4Tbs chili powder

Photobucket

Optional:

1 +Tbs habanero powder (depends on how spicy you want it)
Shredded sharp cheddar, or cheese of your choice.
1+ Tbs flour

Step 1:

To start, take your large onion and cloves of garlic and chop them finely. Saute in large sauce pan with olive oil, using as much as you need so that nothing sticks. The garlic should be a light brown color and the onions transparent.

Step 2:

Add your ground meat and mix around till you no longer see any pink.

Step 3:

Here is where it all comes together. Literally - just throw everything into a large stew pot. Let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. For thicker chili you can add a small mixture of flour and water until it reaches desired thickness. Whether you want to thicken it or not, let it continue cooking for another 20 minutes.

Step 4:

Enjoy! After it has cooled enough so that the only burning you get comes from the peppers and spices, of course. Sprinkle or smother with cheese as desired.

If you try my recipe, please rate it and/or leave a comment. I also like hearing about variations to the recipe, and may edit the blog post to include these suggestions. :3

Photobucket

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Welcome to the Food Revfurlution

Hello there, I'm Chef Tabbit. I decided to set up a blog where I'll be posting the results of my forays into cooking, featuring a variety of different recipes from all over the world, from the exotic to the just plain tasty.

The Food Revfurlution will be updated about once a week. Some things too look forward to include:
- Guest chefs
- Fun and/or rare ingredients
- Health tips

Follow along, try it yourself, or offer feedback! How did it turn out when you made it? Did you add a twist to my recipe? Do you have a suggestion for something you'd like to see in the future? Reader participation is encouraged!

The debut recipe will be posted soon, cheers for now.