Jack is Cooking Kale and Tofu with Tahini Sauce

Well Hello Internet!

on thursday night i made a delicious quick stir fry!  a nice relief after eating so many pastries and BBQ!  

this ones pretty easy and super delicious to make.  

heres what you need:

tofu (cut up into small cubes)

kale

garlic

olive oil

hot sesame oil

soy sauce

brown rice vinegar

sriracha sauce

tahini

sesame seeds

so first!  i heated up some 4 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of hot sesame oil added to it.  when it was real nice and hot i added in the tofu

The trick here is to get the tofu really nice and krispy.  this is attainable but it really takes some patience.  also i have found that while yes it will stick a little bit, if you wait long enough it unsticks!

after the tofu becomes nice and brown and krispy- add in the garlic and the kale

once the kale has cooked down just a little bit (you don't want to over cook it!  just cook it just enough)

its time to add in the sauces.  so i put in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of tahini, 1 tablespoon of brown rice vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of sriracha and then sprinkled a bunch of sesame seeds on top!

and there you have it!

i ate it plain, but you could cook some rice, or some quinoa, or some millet to go along with it!

mmmm mmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Tarts and BBQ for july 4th

Well Hello Internet!

what a july 4th!  we had our annual BBQ up on the farm.  This year i went with an old classic: Pulled Pork.  I (and Also Roland!) slow smoked 2 9 pound pork butts to pulling perfection!  and it was delicious.

we dry rubbed the pork and then coated it in our secret Raspberry - Chipotle BBQ sauce, and YES! its a SECRET! so i can't tell you how to make it!  ;-)

but the pork heres the trick:  you need a smoker.  you need it to be at around 225°.  after that its roughly 1.5 hours per pound.

Pork is generally cooked when it reaches 165° at its internal temperature.  however to pull it you want it to be at around 190° at its internal temperature.  this took us roughly 15 hours or so to smoke. 

after it reaches 190° it needs to rest for an hour or so.  and then in the final touch we put it back on the grill to warm it up just a little bit before the pulling.  and then a couple of forks and the whole thing should just fall apart into a delicious heap of stringy melty meat. mmmmmmmmmm

to go along with this, Julie made her Delicious Kale Salad recipe, which i hope she will post up here one day.  also she made a delicious Thai Peanut Noodle Salad.  Cooper made his Excellent Potato Salad, and his Awesome Cole Slaw to put inside of the pulled pork sandwiches.

Heres the plate! (photo courtesy of Rockin Moe...)

but wait.... thats not all!  i also made a super abundance of tartes!  freshly learned from my recent stint at pastry school!  All in the style of a Mandala!  This one has a lime curd base, and has raspberries surrounding blueberries and oranges spiraling towards the kiwi center crossed by strawberries

these smaller ones also have lime curd in them and have stawberries, blueberries, kiwi and orange

This tarte i poached some peaches, and put them over an almond cream filling with blackberries in the center

This next one, i made in the style of a Tarte Bourdalou, but didn't have any sliced almonds so i used blackberries instead!  a nice fresh summer touch.  it has poached pears over almond cream

and a linzer torte.  this one has a raspberry filling inside of a hazelnut crust

more fresh fruit!  this one has pastry cream in the filling, and has strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, golden raspberries, orange, and a kiwi

This tarte has the same fruits as the before mentioned, and the same filling, but was designed by OTO

a close-up

and then i made two tarte aux pommes- however with a twist of my own.  i love the almond cream so much that i put the almond cream inside under the apple compote and then topped them with apples in a nice design

and then!  we loaded them all into the car along with some other tartes, and come cakes, and FIREWORKS! for an awesome finale of tartes and fireworks! 

i can't believe that i didn't take a picture of the beautiful Old Glory Fruit Tarte that julie made!  but you can see it in there in the car on the bottom right!

mmmm mmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Pea Souffle

Well Hello Internet!

the other day (actually a couple of weeks ago... this post got lost somehow) i made a pea souffle with my newly learned knowledge of making souffle.  

apparently souffle's are very easy to make!

all you need is to make a bechamel, and egg whites, with whatever filling you want!

heres what you will need:

flour 1 tablespoon
butter 2 tablespoons
milk 3/4 cup
salt and pepper
a little nutmeg

frozen peas
garlic
an onion (chopped up)
salt and pepper
paprika
olive oil

6 egg whites
a pinch of salt

pepper jack cheese (grated)  you could use cheddar, or any other cheese of your own fancy.

preheat the oven to 450°

So First!  i sauteed the peas, garlic, and peas, in a little olive oil and flavored them with some salt and pepper and some paprika.  when they were all done i put them in my blender and blended it until it was a fine mush.  or one might say a purée...

Next!  i made my béchamel.  that's pretty easy.  first you melt the butter.  then you add the flour to the butter, and mix it together.  then you add the milk stirring constantly.  when it comes to a boil it should be a pretty thick mixture.  yum yum!  this is an important base to lots of different recipes.  i like to add a little nutmeg for flavor.  after it was done i mixed the pea purée into the béchamel.

then i took my egg whites and whipped them up until they were nice and stiff.  after that i took the egg whites and folded the béchamel purée mixture together.  really really fold these!  no mixing!  you must keep the fluffiness of the egg whites or it won't work!

after that i filled some ramequins half way, then put a nice little bit of cheese into each one, and filled them up to the top with more of the mixture.  and then a nice coating of cheese on top!

into the oven, and cook them until they have puffed up and gone nice and golden brown on top!

mmmmm mmmmm delicious!