Cameron Hughes Wine shoot: Roast Chicken & Ciabatta Salad

It's starting to look a lot like summer! White wines are very popular right now, and my job was to make something to pair with Cameron Hughes Lot series #212, a Carneros Chardonnay.

For the shoot I decided to make my version of roast chicken and bread salad you would find at Zuni, a very popular SF restaurant. I first brined the chicken overnight in a very simple brine of water, sea salt, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and bay leaves.  The brining adds such great moisture and flavor to the chicken.  I highly recommend doing this with any roast chicken, or pork.  The chicken was then rubbed with an herb butter (butter, salt, paprika, white pepper, chopped parsley) and prepped for the oven.  The twist on this recipe is that the chicken is then roasted on top of the bread for the bread salad.  Its ripped and placed into a pyrex baking dish, lightly oiled and salted.  The chicken, depending on the cuts, is then placed on top of a few slices of citrus which is then placed directly on top of the bread.  

In the 375* oven for about 45 min, the bread will absorb all of the delicious juices from the chicken and produce an amazing tasting bread salad.  Finishing the bread salad off with a simple balsamic vinaigrette and some dried currents and chopped parsley puts it over the top.  

The shoot was great. Jake did a fabulous job and everything looked just as it would on the Food Network.  Enjoy the shots and go visit www.chwine.com and check out some wine!!

Blue Moon Recipe: Turkey Sando & Potato Salad

Come the holidays you always have some leftover turkey, or roast meat of some kind.  The idea behind this set of recipes was to utilize leftovers and make a pairing to go with Blue Moon's signature beer the Belgian White. 

I love sandwiches. They are perhaps my favorite food. So, naturally a turkey sandwich was in order.  To make things a bit different and to better pair with the Belgian White, I constructed a home-made aioli with roasted garlic and lemon zest to be used as the spread on the toast.  In addition to the sandwich, I developed an easy potato salad recipe to add to this leftover inspired meal. The potato salad used red potatoes, egg, green onions, chives, and your familiar character list for a potato salad.  In addition, I used some bacon, lemon zest, and apple cider vinegar.  

Both the sandwich and salad turned out fabulous, and my roommates were going back for more. These recipes are very easy, and a great way to use leftovers.  Enjoy!


Potato Salad
2 lbs Red potatoes
4 stips of Bacon, chopped
3 Green onions, chopped
1 -2 Hard boiled eggs chopped
¼ cup Mayo
¼ cup Chives, diced
2 tbsp Whole grain mustard
Roasted garlic, 2 big cloves
1 tbsp Vinegar (apple cider is best)
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 tsp sugar or honey
1 tsp fresh cracked pepper

Method:
Boil potatoes for 30 min until soft. Remove, strain and let cool.  You can also use leftover roasted potatoes as long as they are not totally soft.  In a small mixing bowl, combine mayo, mustard, chives, onions, vinegar, roasted garlic, and lemon juice and zest. Mix well.  Once the potatoes are cool, chop into desired size, quartering usually suffices.  In a large mixing bowl, combine potatoes, egg, and mayo mixture.  Stir well.  Add bacon and stir again.  Chill and serve as a side!

 

Asian Beef Lettuce Cups w/ Macadamia Nuts

So, the story goes I had a pound of ground beef and didn't want to make tacos, bolognese, or a burger.  I was craving something asian, heavily spiked with ginger.  My friend Darcy put the idea of lettuce cups into my head... so that was my starting point. The wok came out, along with the usual suspects; soy sauce, ginger, chili paste, mirin, brown sugar, brown onion, green onions, and cilantro.

With the wok on high, I added a bunch of ginger, chili paste, thinly diced onions, and the ground beef.  Once the onions where of desired caramelized color, I added a bunch of soy, sugar, mirin, and brown sugar.  I let this cover the beef and let stew away for about 20 min until the liquid was almost fully absorbed by the meat.  At this stage I added some chopped green onions and a little more seasoning to taste, mainly ginger and chili paste.  

With the beef pretty much ready, and some butter lettuce cups standing by, I stired in some toasted & crushed macadamia nuts, jullianned mint, and some chopped cilantro.  The mixture turned out great. The crunch of the mac nuts and the sharp taste of the mint added good depth to the salty and sweet beef.  This is a fun dish and can be easily used as an appetizer for a large party, or a main dish to feed four. 

Blue Moon Recipe: Grilled Chicken Salad

In this edition of the Blue Moon recipe development, Summer grilling was the theme.  I wanted to do something a bit different and also something on the lighter side. I decided on a beer marinated chicken salad. My little twist was to grill some romaine lettuce for the salad.  This adds a nice smokey and charred flavor to the otherwise tasteless lettuce.  Dressed in a creamy sauce, this chicken salad is great for a warm summer day.  Grab a couple of Blue Moon's and enjoy a great lunch with friends!

BMBW Grilled Chicken Grilled Salad
Ingredients:
2-4 chicken breasts (depending on # of people)
1 head of romain lettuce
1/2 bottle of BMBW
1/4 cup of honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 avocado, diced
Orange slices.
1 tbsp mayonnaise
Olive oil
Balsamic
Pepper
1 Orange, juice & zest

Blue Moon Recipe: Cedar Planked Salmon!

In the most recent Blue Moon recipe development, I was asked to do something a little different for their new release.  Blue Moon is releasing a Vintage Blonde Ale which is made with the juice from Chardonnay grapes and sold in a 750ml bottle, rather than your normal 12oz kind.  So, I was asked to make an elevated dish to be paired with the craft beer.  The idea was to find a dish that would traditionally go with a white wine, like chardonnay, and riff off of it to create a dish that would match nicely with the Blonde Ale.  I chose Salmon as my vessel, and the subtle twist is grilling it on a Cedar Plank.  Not uncommon, but not your everyday salmon filet.  

So, on a sunny yet windy San Francisco day, I made another trip to the grill.  After smothering the salmon in a lemon-herb butter, it got planked up and thrown on the grill.  During the cooking process, I ended up snapping about 30-40 pictures.  Who knew butter on top of wood would produce flames? Fat and fire. Great friends to photographs!  

The salmon turned out surprisingly light, flaky and smokey.  An incredible tasting dish accompanied by some roasted Jalapeno cous cous, charred asparagus, and my favorite, grilled bread.  A wonderful fish dish served on Mother's Day.  

Chef's recommendation: Buy some Cedar Planks for your grilling season! Super easy, and a fun twist on grilling!

Cameron Hughes Food & Wine Pairing: Shrimp & Arugula Pasta

For our first food and wine pairing shoot, the wines were whites, and the menu was to be simple and elegant.  Two cameras were set up in the Hughes Family kitchen, and it was Jake and I getting the production underway. The filming began with a few stumbles here and there, but then we got rolling and knocked out two segments in 8 hours... long day, but totally worth it.

Thanks to Jake & Jess for making this happen! Watch for the video soon!

 Ingredients:
½ pound of Fresh pasta (dried works too)
½ pound of Shrimp (peeled & de-veined)
1 bunch of Arugula
1 clove of Garlic, chopped
1 Shallot, diced
¼ cup White Wine (Lot 240, Albarino)
¼ cup of Toasted Pine Nuts
¼ cup Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped
¼ cup Basil, Chopped
Olive oil
Salt

In a large pot, boil water with salt for the pasta.
In a large skillet, turn heat on high and add a drizzle of olive oil.  Add the garlic and shallots, and cook until the shallots are soft, about 3 min.  Add the shrimp to the hot skillet and begin to cook on high heat, turning occasionally to cook both sides.  Once the shrimp begin to turn pink, add all of the arugula to the pan, with a pinch of salt. Turn the heat down to medium, and let the arugula wilt a bit and continue stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, drop your fresh pasta into the boiling water.  Fresh pasta only takes about 3-4 minutes to fully cook.  Once the pasta is ready, strain from water and transfer to the skillet with the shrimp and arugula.  Toss well and try to coat the noodles.  Move to a serving dish and garnish with pine nuts, parsley and basil.  Serves 2.

Blue Moon Recipe: Honey Glazed BBQ Chicken Wings

I love chicken wings. A lot of people love chicken wings. One of America's biggest food debates is over chicken wings.  Traditionally, these suckers are fried, then tossed in a Louisiana style hot sauce.  I decided to twist this up a bit for a Blue Moon summer grilling recipe.  First I took the wings and let them soak in a mixture of Summer Honey Wheat Ale, honey, fresh squeezed orange, and some orange zest.  Separately in a sauce pan, I added half a bottle of the Summer Honey Wheat Ale, a good amount of Franks Red Hot, Honey, and fresh squeeze orange. I let this simmer and reduce until it became a glaze.

The wings then went on the BBQ.  Basting every now and then with the marinade, the wings cooked until nicely caramelized.  Once finished, they were thrown into the glaze on the stove and coated.  

I'm not trying to stir any big debates, but these wings were incredible.  The BBQ added a wonderful char and flavor. The sauce was perfectly spicy and sweet.  My friends and I ended up licking the plate!  This all was also accompanied by a very simple roasted corn salad, which added nice balance to the wings.  

Get those grills ready and impress your friends with this one!

Summer Honey Ale Glazed Chicken Wings
12 Chicken Wings
1 Bottle Summer Honey Wheat Ale
1/4 cup of Clover Honey
2 tbsp Hot Sauce (Im using Franks red hot, any hot suace will do. Add more if you like it spicy)
Orange peel
1 tsp White Pepper
salt


Roasted Summer Corn & Arugula Salad

4 cobs of corn
1 shallot, diced
1 lemon, juice & zest
1tsp honey
1 bunch of Baby Arugula
1 Handful of Flat Leaf Parsley
3 Tbsp Extra Vigin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Lentil soup with BACON.

I don't think I have ever had left over lentils in my fridge to date. So, I took the opportunity to try out a soup... it was screaming split pea. The nice thing was that the lentils were already cooked, so this was a very fast meal to make.  I started by cooking bacon. I mean, really, why wouldn't I?  After my 2 strips were nicely crisped, i drained the fat, then added the lentils into the pan and began the re-heating process.  Once bubbling, I added some home made chicken stock and let the soup hangout for a bit.  Eventually I took a stick blender to it with just a touch of cream.  Ready to serve, garnished with parsley, Parmesan, and some big chunks of bacon.  

The soup was delicious, and perfect for a cold foggy SF day.  Easy tip, leftovers make a great and easy soup. Just add stock!

Blue Moon Recipe: Summer Honey Ale Brined Pork Chops

In this latest edition of the Blue Moon Recipe development, the task was summer grilling and the beer was Blue Moon's Summer Honey Ale.  Brining has become very popular in lots of restaurants, and is a great way to treat pork.  I took this idea and added the Summer Honey Ale to my brine along with a handful of other classic brining ingredients.  The bone-in pork chops sat overnight and acquired all those lovely flavors.  To accompany, I used some more of the beer to make a Mustard Ale sauce. A light gravy which added a great compliment to the pork.  

The pork chops turned out awesome.  Moist and juicy, there was plenty of drippings on everyone's chin.  I served these up with some classic mashed potatoes, cut with some Ricotta cheese, and a take on "apple sauce," which was caramelized onions and sauteed apples with some spices. This dish is very easy to execute, and very delicious.  Don't forget to enjoy with a Summer Honey Ale!

Summer Honey Ale Brined Pork Chops & Mustard Ale Sauce

Brine:
4 Bone in Pork Chops (the thicker the better, boneless works as well)
1 bottle Summer Honey Wheat Ale
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup Clover Honey
1 Orange, squeezed & rind added
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
2 cups water

Sauce:
1/2 bottle of Summer Honey Wheat Ale
2 Tbsp Honey
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Mustard seeds
1 tbsp Salt

Scallops, Steak, Scotch and a 30th Birthday.

 It's pretty flattering when your friend decides he'd rather eat at your house than go out to a nice dinner in SF. So, for my friend Chris' birthday, we put together a feast of great ingredients, a comprehensive menu, and lots and lots of wine.  

The request was surf & turf. Scallops mainly, and then whatever to follow. So, I decided to try something new, something old, and create a well balanced meal.  A small lightening bolt struck when discussing the scallops; lentils.  I have had a protein served on top of lentils before and absolutely loved it. I thought, why not seafood? The idea was a riff on bacon & scallops.  Using plenty of bacon in the lentil cooking process, as well as finishing it with some crispy bacon bits. The scallops were lightly pan seared in some coconut oil, along with some beautiful U-15 white shrimp. The dish turned out great. A lot of cleaned plates, and a few "are there more scallops?" 

The second dish was some beautiful bone-in NY steaks I did florentine style, accompanied by my 'Itallian Chimichurri.'  The steaks required very little seasoning since they were of such high quality.  Salt, pepper, olive oil, and a bit of the chimichurri sauce, they were grilled to medium rare. The chimichurri uses white balsamic, instead of red wine vinegar, and basil instead of mint.  I also added a squeeze of fresh lemon to keep it very acidic.  The steaks were served on top of watercress and topped with some crispy shallots.  A fabulous compliment to the scallops, and great with all the amazing red wine at the table.  

And finally, a shout out to the guests.  It's not often that people are featured on the blog, but I'm taking this moment to thank the frequent test eaters & guests of Kellan's Kitchen.  We may have had a few too many glasses of scotch in addition to the wine, so let this be a disclaimer for the blurry photos.  Big thanks to Chris, Cara, Keith, April, Matt, Anna, Darcy, Kristy, and Christina!!

 Matt & Anna, and a bottle of scotch in the foreground.

 April & Keith lookin' sassy.

  

Christina posin'

 Darcy at a 7.

Cara drinking Chris' scotch.