Jack is Cooking Stickers pt 2!!!

Well Hello Internet!

So there has been some more sticker action!

This time my friend peter went to a Hockey game, and he took a sticker with him!

Heres the picture from that!

Man that ice is bright!

Now i just have to find somebody who's got tickets to see the Yankees in the World Series!  that would be awesome to have a sticker there!

anybody going?

Jack is Cooking Stickers!!!

Well Hello Internet!

so i got some stickers made up for my website, and i plan on plastering them all over NYC.  so if you live here maybe you will see some.

But more importantly - is when i give them to other people - and THEY start putting them places!

so my friend Caitlin, text messaged me this picture the other day.  This is just too awesome!  i can't wait to start seeing this all over the place - especially when its not by my own hands!  YES! FREE ADVERTISING!!!

i can't believe how good it looks!

Thanks Caitlin!!!

Jack is Cooking Penne Alfredo with Sausage

Well Hello Internet!


For this recipe you will need:

Pasta
half an onion
two cloves of garlic
some sausage - i used Sweet Italian Sausage from Herondale Farm (www.herondalefarm.com)
Parmesan Cheese (3/4 cup)
Light Cream (half-3/4 cup)
Butter
Parsley (optional. i didn't have any, but its good if you have just a little)

Jack is Cooking in Tennessee (part 2)

Well Hello Internet!


So its been a super busy day down here in Nashville!  Mee and I cooked up a storm, a thai storm!  we cooked for 5 hours straight!  Make sure you check out her blog.  www.princessknowitall.com


there were four dishes that we made,

Tom Yum Khaa, Thai fried rice, Pad Thai, and a Curry, which is a mixture of Massaman Curry and Red curry.

These episodes are super legit!  we had a film crew, and people to help prep and clean up and everything!  its like i hit the big time!  anyhow, as such the videos are gonna take a couple of weeks to be finished, but once they are they will be up!

Here is some pictures in the mean time.

Ingredients!

Al the Cameraman,

Ingredients for soup

Broth

Al, and Mee

so Stay tuned!  these episodes are going to be super awesome

Jack is Cooking in Tennessee

Well Hello Internet!


There has been no new recipe as of yet this week, but by the end of the weekend there should be a few new recipes!

tomorrow i am flying down to Tennessee, to film some cooking recipes with Princess Know it All, who has an excellent blog!

so check out both of our sites, and by the end of the weekend there should be a whole bunch of deliciousness!

Jack is Cooking Butternut Squash Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce

Well Hello internet!

Last night for dinner i went all out and made ravioli.  From scratch!  That's right i made the pasta dough, and the filling, and the sauce.
But i can't say that I did it all alone, i had help from my good friend Julie - who also took most of these pictures!
Not only was this extremely delicious, it was easy to make and also lots of fun!

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on a side note, if one were to peruse the archives, they would find that the first video i ever made for jackiscooking, way back in 2007 was butternut squash ravioli.  except when i made it then, it was pre-made frozen ravioli!  This is much better!  check out that post here.
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Heres what you will need:

For the Filling:

one butternut squash.
one leak (or an onion)
a couple of cloves of garlic
salt and pepper

For the Pasta Dough:
2 cups of flour
3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons of water + some extra

One egg for the making of the Raviolis

For the Alfredo Sauce
half a cup of butter
1 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1 cup of cream
Garlic
Parsley
Pepper.

First, we cut the squash in half and took out the seeds.  Then we roasted it with the flesh side down for 30 minutes at 375° with a little olive oil.

While this was cooking I made the pasta dough.

I put 2 cups of white flour in a bowl, and made a well in the center.  In this well i put the 3 egg yolks, and the 4-5 tablespoons of water.  i slowly worked flour in from the sides until i had a dough.  (if necessary, you can add more water)

Knead this ball of dough for 10 minutes, and then coat it in oil and let it sit for another 10 minutes.  This will allow gluten to develop.

Heres my ball of dough:

While the dough is sitting, and the squash continues to roast, it is time to saute the leek and garlic.  so take your leek (that has been cleaned thoroughly and diced) and add it to some melted butter in a pan.  cook this for about 5 minutes and then add in the garlic (also diced).

If you've been counting my minutes, you will have figured out that about 30 minutes has elapsed now, and so the squash should be ready to come out of the oven.  Remove it from the oven and let it cool.

 

The Leeks should also be done at this point so those can be taken off the heat, and also allowed to cool.

Next up comes the mixing of the filling.  Scoop out the squash into a bowl and get rid of the skins.

Mush it up real nice with a fork, and then add in the leeks.  Mix these together until they are well incorporated.

Now its time to return to the dough!  So cut the ball in half and roll out they two halves until they are really thin.  If you have a fancy pasta roller, you can use that.  If you have a rolling pin, you can use that also.  But I have neither!  So i decided a wine bottle would work really nicely!

Now comes the time to make the raviolis!  Take maybe 1 or 2 tablespoons (depending how big you want the raviolis) of the squash mixture and put them in little balls over one layer of the dough.  (remember!  you want to get as mush use out of this dough as you can, so place the balls well.

Take the egg for the ravioli and mix that up.   brush it everywhere on the dough where there is not squash.  next take the other sheet of dough and place it on top.  press down in between all the balls.  now its starting to look a little like ravioli!

Cut between all the ravioli, and press down all the edges - sealing inside all that squashy goodness!

Next bring a pot of water to boil.

While the water is boiling, it is a good time to start making the Alfredo sauce.

Take the butter and melt it in a pan.  Add in the cream.  Stir and simmer.  Add in the cheese, and let it melt.  add in the garlic, salt and pepper.  if you have any parsley that is nice too.

ok put that to the side.

The water has now boiled!  so its time to cook our ravioli.  just a few at a time.  i made 10 ravioli, so 5 at a time, which is essentially a serving.  or a little more, these are pretty filling!

Fresh pasta, takes no time at all to cook.  maybe 2 or 3 minutes. Ravioli conveniently will let you know when they are done, because they float!  so when they float you can scoop them out and serve.  Put some of the delicious Alfredo sauce over it, and thats it!

So that's it!  and as always, (well normally always in my video blogs) the first bite on camera!

Special Thanks to Julie - who provided much help in the preparation, and also most of the photos!

Jack is (was) Cooking Pastrami - back in july

Well hello internet!

This post is a little unusual, because i am not actually cooking pastrami right now. But i did! this past summer! and man oh man was it delicious!

Heres what made me think about it:
today i decided to bite the bullet and spend 17 dollars on a Reuben Sandwich from Katz's Deli.

i eat maybe one of these a year.

but they are the most delicious thing probably ever.

so!

it made me remember, that i can actually make this myself! it just takes a month...

Heres how i did it.


Ingredients:
4 tablespoons black peppercorns

2 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons dried thyme
12 bay leaves, crumbled
4 teaspoons whole cloves
1/2 cup minced garlic
4 teaspoons whole juniper berries, plus 2/3 cup crushed juniper berries
32 cups (or 8 quarts) water
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cup kosher salt
1 (8 to 10 pound) beef brisket
1 1/3 cup coarsely ground black pepper

In a bowl mix the peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, garlic, and the whole juniper berries. in a giant pot - big enough to hold 32 cups of water! Mix the Water, the Sugar, and the Salt, until everything is dissolved. Remove from heat and add in the spice mixture from the bowl. let it steep like tea, for an hour (or until the water is no longer hot! if the water is hot when you put the brisket in, it will start cooking the brisket)

Place the brisket in a glass or plastic container - (like a 5 gallon bucket!) Pour the brine over the brisket until it is covered completely. Cover and refrigerate for 3 weeks (YES 3 WEEKS!), turning the brisket every couple of days.

Get your smoker going.  follow what ever instructions come with it.

Remove the brisket from the brine, and dry it.  At this point you can get rid of the brine!

Next Take 2/3 cup crushed juniper berries and 2/3 cup of ground black pepper and throw it in a bowl.  (i used a coffee grinder to grind both the juniper berries and pepper corns into a nice chunky mixture)
Take this mixture and start rubbing it into the brisket,  like your giving it a massage...  Really get it in there you know?!

anyways, make sure the whole thing is covered in the pepper mixture.

Place the brisket in the smoker and smoke for about 1 hour per pound. so 8 or 9 hours. Remove from the smoker and then place in a steamer, and steam it for another hour.

The steaming is the secret step to make it deliciously juicy.


heres the finished sandwich
on rye bread
with sour kraut,
and swiss cheese
and mustard

Jack is Cooking (Baking) Sourdough Bread 10/12

* update *

this loaf is the most perfect loaf of bread i have made!
hopefully i will be able to repeat it!


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Well hello Internet!

Tonight I baked a new loaf of bread, and I think this is the best one
yet! I've carefully recorded everything I did this time so if I can
repeat this and get exactly the same results I'll know I've got it!

Here's what I did this time

I took 1 1/2 cups starter and mixed it with 3 cups of water and 4 cups of flour

I let it sit for 7 hours

Then I removed 1 1/2 cups of the sponge and put it back in my starter jar for the next loaf

To the sponge I added half a cup of olive oil and one tablespoon of salt.  Then I added between 2 and 3 cups of flour - until the dough was just right - that is until it was just past sticky. I believe this is the most important part, and what I have been failing to achieve in the past.

So I let the dough autolyze for about 15 minutes before shaping the loaf. Then I let it rise for 2 hours

I baked it in the oven for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, and then 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Jack is Cooking Fried Rice

Well Hello Internet!
Tonight I very quickly whipped up some Thai fried rice.
I plan on making this again with the method on video

Here's what I used
Green and red peppers
Carrot
Onion
Garlic
Tomatoes
Ham
Egg
Rice
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Lime juice
Sugar

Instructions:

Cook the rice

In a wok - or skillet -  over medium high heat fry up the onions and garlic and the carrots for one minute. Add the peppers and chopped up ham. When everything is soft - but still retains a slight crunch - move everything over to one side of the pan. In the now clean side of the pan, scramble and egg. When the egg is 2/3rds of the way cook mix back in the vegetables. Once the egg is incorporated, add the rice. Mix well and add the soy sauce (to taste), fish sauce (to taste), and sugar. (instead of sugar you can also use sweet chilli sauce).  Stir fry for 5 minutes or so, until it's cooked. Turn off the heat. Add the chopped up tomatoes, and the juice of half a lime, mix and serve.

Chop the other half of the lime into wedges, and serve along side individual servings.

Jack is Cooking Macaroni and Cheese from a Box - and making it better!

Hello Internet!

For This concoction you will need any kind of macaroni and cheese that comes in a box. it usually will cost anywhere from 49¢ to $2.00

then whatever you want to put in it!

here are some things i reccomend
sausage
peas
garlic
onions
broccoli
peppers
bacon

and pretty much anything else you can imagine that you think would be delicious!

so this is a pretty lazy one, but one day i will make a real macaroni and cheese video.

www.jackiscooking.com

Jack is Cooking Some More Photos of Food

Well Hello Internet!

Over the weekend I was up at my parents farm - Herondale Farm - and i took some photos of the farm stand, filled with all the good stuff from the Fall Harvest.  All the delicious looking vegetables come from Sol Flower Farm.

Check them out, and if you have the chance - check out the farm too.

Jack is Cooking Updates to the website

Hello internet!

Well i've added some new features to the website, which may not be noticed at first, but you may find them very useful.  The first feature is a Search bar.  It should be on the top right...

you can use this to search for anything on jackiscooking.com

The next feature that will also making browsing easier is the Cooking Cloud.  It is also in the right menu bar of the website, and contains different ingredients that i have used over time.  It is automatically arranged by the frequency of use of the ingredient, with the most used ingredients a larger font.

Apparently the ingredient i use the most is Cheese!  It also appears that after arranging itself by use, once it gets to ingredients i've used only once it turns alphabetical.  All very sensical if you ask me.

Also i have made it easier to comment, so now anybody can comment, not just people with Google accounts!  So Comment away!  Feedback is always good.

And finally, and probably the most important, is i have added more ways to subscribe to the blog, including an Google, Bloglines, Netvibes, Newsgator, Yahoo, and Atom -  which is an RSS option.

RSS is pretty cool,  you can get it to automatically come into your mail program, or other RSS readers.

All the different ways to subscribe are in the right menu bar.

So, Search, Comment and Subscribe away!

Jack is Cooking a Spanish Omelette (Tortilla)

Well hello Internet!

Tonight I am making a Spanish Omelette, also known as a Tortilla.  My mom used to make this for me all the time when i was a kid.  its delicious and very easy to make.  I have thrown in a little twist to the standard omelette but otherwise the method is the same.

First I put some onions and potatoes that I had sliced very thinly into a pan with a good amount of olive oil. Next I added some broccoli, but only the stalk of the broccoli which I also sliced very thinly.

Here is everything in the pan:

i cooked everything in the oil over a medium low heat for about 20 minutes.  then i turned the heat up quite high just for 5 minutes, to give the potatoes a little crispy edge around the outsides, and to get the onions to caramelize just a bit.

after that i took 4 eggs that i scrambled and poured them over the potatoes

let that cook a little bit and then when the omelette is mostly cooked its time to flip it.  you need to use a plate.  slide the omelette onto a plate so that the uncooked eggs are still on the top.  now then holding the plate in your strong hand, put the pan upside down over the plate.  then flip!

cook it for just a minute or two more and then slide it back onto the plate.  and your done!

its good with some salad, and some toast.

its quite filling so i will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow also!

Ingredients list:

Eggs
Potatoes
Broccoli
Onions
s+p
olive oil