Someone sent me a video link last summer, showing someone
spiral cutting a hot dog. The wienercision was done by Blake Smith from
Chow.com, and I remember wondering if this technique would work with parboiled
Italian sausage.
Oh, it worked. It worked real good. By the way, I was going
to provide a link to the aforementioned video, but Blake ended the demo by
putting ketchup on his hot dog, so forget it. Okay, fine, since I did steal his technique, here you go.
Not only does this look very cool, the technique also
provides a significantly greater amount of surface area, and when you’re
talking about grilling meat, it’s all about the surface area. You could brush
barbecue sauce on an un-helixed Italian sausage, but here you’re literally
flavoring the sausage inside and out.
And if you're skeptical about how well barbecue sauce goes
with Italian sausage, take it from someone who ate one; it’s a match made in
backyard barbecue heaven. I’d like to wish all you a safe and very festive
Memorial Day weekend, and I hope you “spring” these curly “Q” sausages on your
guests. Enjoy!
You’ll have to excuse the smaller than usual blog post, but
I just flew across country, and boy are my arms tired…sorry, not arms, I meant jokes.
Anyway, I’m back at my mom’s for a few weeks to help her out after some
shoulder surgery, and despite a very late, turbulent, and sleepless flight, I had just enough energy left to post this marble potatoes video.
I generally try to stick with ingredients that can be found
at any large grocery store, and I hope that’s the case here, but to be honest I
really didn’t care, as these were just too damn cute not to film.If at all possible, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
This rich and creamy, smoked turkey and spring pea
fettuccine recipe is inspired by a pasta I learned long ago, working at my
first real chef job in San Francisco.
You may have heard me mention Ryan’s Café
in the past, especially if you’ve tried our famous chicken Marsala, and it was
at this same restaurant where I learned what I still consider one of the best
pasta recipes ever.
As I mention in the video, the original was done with smoked
chicken, but for whatever reason smoked turkey is much easier to find at the
market. I blame the sandwich industry, but no worries, as the turkey is just as
good. There’s just something very special about the way the creamy, slightly
sweet, aromatic sauce pairs with the smoky meat. Which reminds me, this is also
wonderful with leftover ham.
Regarding what many would consider the dangerously large
quantities of cream, I’d like to take a moment to do some math. The recipe
makes four appetizer size portions. There’s about 1 3/4 cups of cream used,
which is roughly 350 calories worth of butter-fatty goodness per serving. To
put that into perspective, those two small ladles of dressing you used during
your last trip to the salad bar had about the same amount. So, long story
short, relax.
Anyway, now that I’ve armed you with a comeback for when
your (probably too thin) friend questions your copious cream usage, I hope you
give this very simple, but extraordinarily delicious pasta recipe a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 small or 2 large portions:
8 oz dry fettuccine noodles, boiled in salted water
I can't believe it's almost Memorial Day weekend! Seems like just yesterday I was watching people shoveling snow and scraping ice. Of course, I live in California, and that was on the Weather Channel, but still, seems like yesterday. I blame my beloved Golden State Warriors for making the playoffs, and throwing off my seasonal clock.
Anyway, the upcoming long weekend is considered the official start of cookout season, and to celebrate I thought I'd repost this collection of grill-friendly recipes. By the way, in addition to looking and tasting great on their own, these dishes all have a proven track record of pairing well with cold beer. Enjoy!!
