Cajun Chef Ryan - Feeling & sharing a world of cooking ~ more than your average Cajun

Cajun Blackened “Prime” Rib Roast

November 4th, 2010 · 14 Comments

Rib roast fresh from the butcher

A rib roast or “Prime Rib” is obtained from the same cut of meat that a rib eye steak is derived, the rib section of the beef animal. However the term “Prime” is often used incorrectly in labeling cuts of meat that is actually a rib roast. Prime rib is not named after the quality grade of USDA Prime, but rather, its name is a reflection of the majority of the primal cut. Culinarily, the term “prime” refers to the highest USDA grade of beef, and is only given to the finest beef. The most notable feature of the “prime” designation is the even marbling and creamy layer of fat, and then the other factor is the age of the animal at slaughter.

The primal beef rib accounts for about 10% of the total carcass weight, and consists of ribs 6 through 12 as well as a portion of the backbone. The eye meat of the rib is not a well-exercised muscle and therefore is a very tender cut of beef. The rib also contains a large amount of fat marbling compared to the rest of the beef animal carcass, therefore, producing rich, full-flavored roasts and steaks.

Carving station with a rib roast on buffet, sliced to order

Most folks who enjoy rib roasts and "Prime Rib" typically will recognize the carving station as depicted in the image on the right. This is the typical method of serving a rib roast on buffet, and any restaurant worth their salt will also cook the rib roast early in the day, and keep them at temperature throughout the shift. Most prime rib aficionados prefer their meat cooked medium rare to rare, so it is a challenge to hold the roast at temperature without continuing to cook the meat. The setting on the holding cabinet should be 140º F, and this is optimum temperature for holding a roast for extended periods.

I learned this recipe years ago by an old colleague of mine, Chef Paul Prudhomme.

A few notes about this recipe: 1.) If you don’t have a commercial hood vent or exhaust fan system over your indoor kitchen stove, oven, or griddle, this dish may smoke you out of the kitchen. But it’s worth it! Moreover, you can also cook it outdoors on a gas grill; a charcoal fire does not get hot enough to "blacken" the steak properly. If you have a smoke detector in your house, you will be able to determine if it is working correctly. This is NOT a dish to prepare in an apartment building with a central fire alarm system wired into your smoke detector. It causes great excitement! Also, you can be guaranteed you will meet your landlord.

2.) Be sure to read the entire preparation steps once before even attempting this recipe, it takes more than a day to prepare.

Ingredients
10	Lb	Rib Roast, (4 bones)
¼	Cup	Fresh cracked black pepper
¼	Cup	Garlic powder
¼	Cup	Salt
3	Cups	Onions, julienne
½	Cup	Cajun Spice blend

Procedure Steps:
1.	Remove fat cap off top of meat (a butcher can do this for you) and reserve for later use. Place the roast, standing on the rib bones, in a very large roasting pan. Then with a knife make several dozen punctures through the silver skin so seasoning can permeate meat.
2.	Pour a very generous, even layer of black pepper over the top of the meat (the pepper should completely cover it); repeat with the garlic powder, then the salt, totally covering the preceding layer. Carefully arrange the onions in an even layer on top so as not to knock off the seasoning. Place the fat cap back on top. Refrigerate 24 hours.
3.	When ready to cook the rib roast, preheat the oven to 550º F, and roast until the fat is dark brown and crispy on top, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Refrigerate until well chilled or at least 3 hours. This is done so the juices will solidify and the steaks can be cooked rare.
4.	Remove the fat cap and discard. With the blade of a large knife, scrape off the onions and as much of the seasonings as possible and discard. Then with a long knife, slice between ribs into 6 steaks (4 will have bones); trim the cooked surface of meat from the 2 pieces that were on the outside of the roast. Season and cook in your favorite way for steaks.
5.	TO CAJUN BLACKEN THE RIB STEAKS: Sprinkle the steaks generously and evenly on both sides with the Cajun Spice blend, or about 4 teaspoons for each steak and pressing it in with your hands.
6.	Heat a cast iron skillet over a very high heat until it is beyond the smoking stage and you see white ash on the bottom of the skillet, or at least 10 minutes, the skillet cannot be too hot for this method.
7.	Place one steak in the hot skillet (cook only one side at a time) and cook over a very high heat until the underside starts to develop a heavy, black crust, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the steak over and cook until the underside is crusted like the first, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining steaks.

To Serve: Serve each steak while piping hot along with a side of grilled corn, boiled Cajun new potatoes, and broccoli (optional).

Yield: 6 steaks

Another view…

Cajun Blackened Rib Roast Steak is served

Bon appetite!
CCR
=:~)
©2010 CCR

→ 14 CommentsTags: Barbecue · Cajun · Entrees · Recipes

Poached Pears with Pomegranate Chardonnay Sauce

November 3rd, 2010 · 26 Comments

Poached Pears with Pomegranate Chardonnay Sauce, stuffed with apricots, vanilla wafers, and pistachios.

This is a delightfully light yet chic dessert that can be made days ahead and then plated and served when guests are ready for dessert. And at only around 250 calories per serving, this dessert treat is a healthy alternative for the sweet tooth on your guest list. The sauce for this poached pear dessert is created from reducing and thickening the white wine pomegranate juice poaching liquid, creating a white wine pomegranate sauce.

It was been years ago since poached pears had crossed my kitchen prep table, and this time it would be with a different stuffing and a new accompanying sauce. At Elmwood Medical Center around the 1988 time period, where the executive chef title on my chef jacket indicated I also had responsibilities for menu creation, and with the help of dietitians we developed a healthy dessert alternative using fresh pears and cheese. At the time it was poached pears with sage Darby cheese, which was quite a bit of prep work since the cheese is a hard variety. Imagine having to prep an entire case or two of these pears, peeling, coring, and stuffing about 150 to 200 pears is quite a time consuming challenge. This poached pear version was served with a raspberry coulis sauce, and was quite popular among our clientele.

Today’s recipe for the poached pear is stuffed with chopped apricots and crushed vanilla wafers along with some chopped pistachio nuts. And don’t worry, it is written to yield only four pears! Actual prep time is about 30 minutes, cooking is another 30 minutes, and resting time is at least 2 hours. Hands on prep and cooking are less than an hour of effort.

Ingredients
4	Large	Bosc pears
2	Cups	Water
2	Cups	Chardonnay or any white wine
1	Cup	Pomegranate juice
¼	Cup	Sugar
¼	Cup	Honey
4	Each	Whole cloves
4	Each	Dried apricots
8	Strips	Lemon rind
2	Tsp	Vanilla extract
1	Tbsp	Cornstarch slurry
4	Each	Vanilla wafers, crushed
½	Cup	Pistachios, coarse chopped, divided

Procedure Steps:
1.	Peel the pears then core from the bottom without going all the way through leaving the stem side intact. Then slice just less than ¼ inch from the bottom of pear to form a flat base for the pear to rest on when serving. Set the pears aside.
2.	Combine the wine, juice, sugar, honey, cloves, apricots, lemon ride, and vanilla extract in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil. Add the pears, cover and allow to simmer for 20 minutes or until pears are tender.
3.	Using a slotted spoon, remove the pears and apricots, and transfer them to plate then allow them to chill for at least 2 hours.
4.	In the meantime, continue to simmer the poaching liquid until reduced to 2 cups liquid. Combine the cornstarch with about two tablespoons of cool water and dissolve until smooth, then whisk in the cornstarch slurry into the liquid reduction. Continue to simmer for about 10 minutes on low heat.
5.	Coarse chop the apricots, and combine them in a small bowl with the crushed vanilla wafers and ¼ cup of the chopped pistachios. Fill the cored out cavity of each pear with the apricot, vanilla wafer, pistachio mixture and pack well.

To Serve: Place one pear on plate then ladle ¼ of the sauce over the pear, sprinkle to garnish with ¼ of the remaining coarse chopped pistachios.
Yield: 4 servings

Another view…

Four of the poached pears ready to serve.

Bon appetite!
CCR
=:~)
©2010 CCR

→ 26 CommentsTags: Desserts · Recipes · Vegetarian · Weight Watchers

Shrimp and Corn Soup

November 2nd, 2010 · 16 Comments

Shrimp and Corn Soup

This soup is relatively quick to prepare, and if you use some canned ingredients it comes together nicely in a wonderful tasting potage. Reminiscent of chowder, minus the potatoes, but if you added a couple cups of diced and blanched potatoes this would extend the volume and yield as well as change the flavor profile. The green chilies add some heat to the soup, and can also be obtained from using canned diced tomatoes with green chilies if desired.

Heck, even the French are not immune to using shortcuts in the kitchen, listen to this segment on “How to Cook French, With Shortcuts”, an interview with Dorie Greenspan, as featured on NPR radio yesterday, where she reveals how to make a French version of Sheppard’s pie, or Hachis Parmentier. Click the link above to read the interview, or you can listen into the interview which is embedded below.

You always have to remember that a culinary recipe is a guideline, as ingredients and quantities can be altered to a degree to suit individual flavors, tastes, and personal preferences. However, this does take some skill, but practice is the only way to gain the experience, and with practice comes confidence. For instance, this could become a crab and corn chowder, and when omitting the shrimp and tomatoes, but using crab meat and potatoes in direct substitutions, or 2 pounds cleaned crab meat, and 2 ½ cups diced and blanched potatoes. The timing of the ingredients would remain the same in this substitution.

Above, I said “culinary” as a distinction because pastry, bakery, and bread recipes are more of a science, and typically recipes must be followed much more closely to the ingredients, amounts, and times than do any other preparations.

Sometimes you want a recipe that allows you to have something on the dinner table in less than an hour, while maximizing your grocery dollar, and not costing you so much and this one takes about 45 minutes to prep, cook and serve. And if you halve this recipe you can save a lot more at the grocery, but altering the yield to only 8 servings. And at only 230 calories per serving, this one also saves you in the healthy energy category also. Now if you were to replace the shrimp in this recipe with crab meat, the cost and calories would change accordingly.

Monique made this recipe as part of my birthday dinner on Sunday. We celebrated my 30th birthday….for the 19th time! Along with the soup we had a salad of Mesclun Greens with Caramelized Onion, Apple, and Gruyere Cheese, and then finished with Stuffed Poached Pears, and these recipes will appear soon.

Ingredients
2	Cups	Onion, chopped
2	Cups	Green bell pepper, chopped
8	Cloves	Garlic, minced
1 ½	Cup	Cream cheese, fat free, softened
4	Cups	Skim milk
1 ½	Cups	Creamed corn (or 1 15-ounce can)
1 ½	Cups	Whole kernel corn (or 1 15-ounce can)
2	Cans	Cream of mushroom soup, low-salt
2 ½	Cups	Diced tomatoes (or 2 10-ounce cans)
1	Can	Green chilies, chopped
2	Lbs.	Shrimp, 31-40 count, medium peeled and deveined
To taste		Salt and white pepper
½	Cup	Green onions, chopped

Procedure Steps:
1.	Heat a large stock pot coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté for five minutes, then add the garlic and continue to cook until soft.
2.	Turn the heat to low, and add the softened cream cheese and stir until melted. Add the milk, corn, soup, diced tomatoes, and green chilies. Stir well and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3.	Add the shrimp and stir well, allow the soup to simmer another 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and cooked through. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

To Serve: Ladle 1 cup of soup into bowl and garnish with a pinch of chopped green onions.
Yield: 16 one cup servings

Another view…

Shrimp and Corn Soup

→ 16 CommentsTags: Soups · Weight Watchers

Italian Turkey Slaw Roll

October 29th, 2010 · 18 Comments

Italian Turkey Slaw Roll

You all know that Ben brings his lunch to school everyday, well, if you didn’t know already, you do now. We do this for several reasons, first and most important is that we have complete control of what he gets to eat, meaning a healthier lunch meal, and second, it costs way less than the money he would spend every day in the lunch line at school.

This particular sandwich is a real hit! And with the smoked and roasted turkey breast, pepperoni slices, shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese, Italian dressed coleslaw, fresh tomato slices, and fresh green pepper slices, this sandwich is not only tasty, but has a healthy variety of vegetables also. And not just for school lunch either, this is one good sandwich!

The Italian dressing recipe which I have linked goes to a creamy version that I have used from Emeril’s inspiration, it is a creamy Italian dressing, but you can use any Italian dressing you prefer.

Ingredients
2	Each	Hard rolls, split
6	Slices	Tomato
16	Slices	Pepperoni
4	Ounces	Smoked, roasted turkey breast, thinly sliced
2	Ounces	Shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
1	Cup	Shredded cabbage, or coleslaw mix
½	Medium	Bell pepper, thinly sliced into rings
2	Tbsp.	Italian dressing (see recipe)

Procedure Steps:
1.	On the bottom halves of the hard rolls place 3 tomato slices, 8 pepperoni slices, 2 ounces of the turkey slices.
2.	Take the shredded mozzarella, shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix and the Italian dressing and mix well, then portion half of the mixture onto the top of sliced turkey breast on each roll.
3.	Cover with the top half of the hard rolls, and slice each sandwich in half. Serve immediately, or package each half into a zip-type bag and place in the lunch kit with an ice pack to keep cool.