Sean Reiser

Hi I'm Seán Reiser, this is my Personal Blog

“A person is what they think about all day long”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ham Steak with Apples

Nothing better than apples and any pork product.  Here's a quick and simple dish I made last night and served with green beans and rice.  

Ingredients 

  • 1 - 2 lb ham steak
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 apple cut into cubes (I used a Fuji Apple)
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  1. Preheat a 12" (number 10)  cast iron skillet under medium-low heat.
  2. Add the butter to the pan allow it to melt
  3. Add the ham steak to the pan.  Fry from 3-4 mins on each side.  Remove from pan.
  4. Add the cider, apples and cinnamon to the pan. Deglaze the pan (Scrape up and bits of ham that stuck the pan).  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5-10 mins (depending on how hard / soft you want the apples)
  5. Combine the water and cornstarch in a bowl.  Add to the pan and stir as the mixture thickens.
  6. Return the ham to the pan,  Flip and stir to cover the ham with the apple mixture.  Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Share and Enjoy!

   

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon in a Creamy Cheese Sauce

I'm not a person who generally cares for Brussel Sprouts.  This was yummy (although I did bribe myself with cream and bacon fat).  Real discussion with my better half:

BH:  "Butter, Cheese, Cream, Bacon ... that's a lot of fat".

Me: "You want me to eat brussel sprouts, right?

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces (300 g) bacon, cut into strips
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 20 oz Brussel sprouts (I used frozen ones if you use fresh cut them in half)
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 3 Tablespoons chopped garlic
  • 1 heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup grated mozzarella
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Fry the bacon in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat until crispy. I used my 12" cast iron pan.  Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel lined plate to soak up some of the oil. Set aside.
  3. Drain most of the bacon fat from the pan, leaving about 1-2 tablespoons for added flavour (adjust this amount to your liking). In the same pan, melt the butter, then add the Brussels sprouts and season with salt and pepper. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and cook while stirring occasionally, for about 6 minutes. The edges should start crisping and slightly charring. 
  4. Add in the garlic and stir it through the sprouts for a minute, until fragrant. Pour in the cream, reduce heat down to low and allow them to simmer until tender (another 3-4 minutes).
  5. Add the bacon in and give everything a good mix to combine all of the flavurs together. Top the sprouts with the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Bake until cheese is bubbly and sprouts are done to your liking (about 15 minutes).
  6. Season with a little extra pepper before serving.

Share and Enjoy!

Edit: 12-1-2018

Potential Alterations:

  • Use fresh sprouts and cut them in half
  • If it's a little thin before you put it in the oven mix together 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water into a slurry and add if before you put it in the oven.
  • Anne felt I should've reserved some bacon and used it as a topping when it was done.
  • Before you pull it out of the oven put turn on the broiler for 2-3 mins to brown the cheese.
   

Boneless Leg of Lamb

Made a Leg of Lamb for Easter

Ingredients

  • 1 (5-lb.) boneless leg of lamb, rolled and tied
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1 5oz jar of minced garlic in olive oil

Directions

  1. Rub salt, pepper and rosemary into the roast
  2. Cover roast in the minced garlic
  3. Let roast stand for at least 30 mins
  4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  5. Put roast in oven
  6. Roast for about 1 hour (until the internal temperature is around 135 degrees
  7. Let roast stand for 15 mins before slicing

Share and Enjoy!

   

Pork Roast with Cranberry Glaze

Ingredients

1 Apple, diced 3 teaspoons cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons orange juice 1 (16-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce 1 (3 to 5-pound) pork roast

Steps

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, apples, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in orange juice and cranberry sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, and set aside. Place pork in a shallow roasting pan and cover with about half the cranberry mixture. Insert a meat thermometer. Roast 1 to 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with the remaining sauce. Meat is done when thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Remove meat from oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before carving.
   

Cooking on a Chamber's Stove

For Christmas, I got to cook on a Chamber's Stove, Model D. This makes me think how far backwards we've come in the last 50 years because there are features in this stove that just don't exist in the stoves we buy today at Sears. Here's a list of things that makes this stove better then any stove I've cooked on in my life.
  • Unlike modern ovens, this one is super insulated. If you use if like a regular oven, where you set a temperature and just let it cook, you use less gas then you do normally. But that's not the best part. The oven is designed to specifically cook with the gas off. Let's say you're making a 15lb turkey. After seasoning and dressing the turkey you'd preheat the oven to 500, put the turkey in with the gas on, in a half hour (or so) turn off the gas and let it cook in the oven for another 3 hours (keep the door closed at all costs). Not only does this use less gas, but because the oven is cooling as your food cooks, it's almost impossible to burn things cooking this way.
  • Do you see that circle on the upper right where the 4th burner would be? That's a thermowell, which is super versatile. As the name suggests it's a well that gets hot. It's deep enough so you can drop a pot of vegetables in it (With EVOO and Seasonings), fire the gas for 10 mins, turn it off let it cook for 30 mins and you have roasted veggies. You can use it for small baking, roasting small meats, baking potatoes, making soups, stews and chilies. It's basing the cross between a tiny oven and a burner.
  • The burners themselves are different then ones I've used. Any gas stove I've used has had one large round head per burner. This stove has daisy burners. Basically, there are 4 heads per burner. This gives allows you to cook more evenly since more of your pan's surface is being heated.
  • I'm sure you noticed the huge griddle on the left. Although that's interesting it doubles as a broiler (the griddle lifts up and you can broil underneath). Instead of bending down to broil a chop, you can do it simple from the cook top.
There's a large market for these older stoves, because you can't buy anything like it today. Although it lacks features like a self cleaning oven this would be the stove I want should I be outfitting a kitchen.
   

Oxtail Stew

My grandmother used to make a delicious Oxtail Soup. I've been working on reconstructing the recipe. This is close, a little more of a stew then a soup but is becoming a favorite.

Ingredients

3 Lbs Oxtails 1 15oz Can Tomato Sauce 16 oz Beef Stock 1 tsp Italian Seasoning 2 16 oz can stewed tomatoes 2 Medium Carrots, roughly chopped 2 Stalks, roughly chopped 2 cups cut up string beans 2 cloves garlic, peeled and diced

Steps

1) Add Meat, Tomato Sauce, Italian Seasoning, Garlic, and stewed Tomatoes to crockpot. 2) Cook for 6 hours on low (3 hours on High). 3) Add remaining items to Crockpot 4) Cook for an additional 8 hours on low (4 hours on High). 5) Skim the fat (I skimmed 2 pints of fat from the last time I made this) 6) Serve and Enjoy! 7) I tend to serve over noodles or rice.

Alternate Version

I've also used short ribs, which don't need as much time in the crockpot. Short ribs cook faster then Oxtails so add all the ingredients up front and cook for 8 hours on low, 4 hours on high. (Picture above is the short ribs version).
   

Crock Pot Chicken Soup

An old friend of mine asked me to post this... Nice and simple chicken soup

Ingredients

2 small onions or 1 large, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 stalks celery, diced 2 large carrots or 6 baby carrots, sliced 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon basil 1/4 teaspoon thyme 1/4 teaspoon sage 3 pounds whole broiler/fryer chicken 4 cups chicken stock

Steps

1. Place all ingredients in slow cooker in the order listed. 2. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours (or high 4 to 6 hours). If liquid begins to boil, reduce heat to lower setting. 3. One hour before serving, remove chicken and allow to cool for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Remove chicken from bones and return meat to slow cooker. 4. Cover and cook the additional hour. 5. Share and Enjoy!

Variations

1. Add 1/3 cup long cook rice at step 2 2. Set aside half of the spices and add at step 2 3. If you don't have stock handy, use 4 cups of water with 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon or 2 Bouillon cubes (opt for the lower sodium versions) 4. Add peas or other vegetables.
   

Skillet Ribeye

I prefer to do Steak on the Grill or the Foreman, but when I have a nice piece of red eye I like doing it under high heat. Here's what I do.

Ingredients

2 steaks (sirloin strip, rib-eye or other), 8 to 10 ounces each and about 1 inch thick 2 Peppers (I tend to use different colors to add color to the dish) 1 Onion 1 Clove Garlic 1 tbs Vegetable Oil Kosher Salt Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Steps

0. Remove steak from fridge an hour before cooking to let it comes to room temperature 1. Preheat Oven to 500 Degrees 2. Season 1 side of the Steak with the Salt and Pepper to taste 3. Chop the Onion, Peppers and (Peeled) Garlic 4. Under medium heat, heat the cast iron pan, add oil and sauté the onions, peppers and garlic 5. Remove vegetables 6. Raise Heat to High, Let pan get hot 7. Add steak seasoned side down, Season top side with salt and pepper, cook for 5 mins 8. Flip Steak 9. Transfer pan to oven 10. 5 mins for rare, 10 mins for medium rare, 13 mins for medium 11. Let stand for 5 mins 12. Add veggies back to pan and serve Share and Enjoy!
   

Stir Fry Sesame Beef

I know the frozen veggies are heresy to some. A quick and simple sesame beef stir fry that I enjoy.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds steak sliced into strips
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds
  • 4 tbs peanut oil
  • 1 16oz bag Bird's Eye Asparagus Stir-Fry

Steps

  1. Mix soy sauce, sugar, oil, garlic, and onions in a large bowl.
  2. Add Steak to Mixture. Marinade for at least 30 mins, overnight is better
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan
  4. Add the steak to the pan (leave excess sauce in the bowl)
  5. Stir fry Meat until Brown
  6. Add excess sesame seeds, sauce and veggies
  7. Boil and simmer
  8. Share and enjoy!
   

Christmas Roast Beast with Roasted Veggies

Made a small Roast Beast for Christmas this year. The Girlfriend did the prep work on the veggies and potatoes while I prepped the meat and did the cooking. Merry Christmas! Share, Enjoy and God Bless Us, Everyone.

Ingredients

3.5 Lbs top loin beef 2 medium onions 3 carrots 2 sticks celery 1 parsnip 1 bell pepper 8 red potatoes 1 bulb fresh garlic 1 tbs Oregano 1 tbs Basil 1 tbs. Rosemary 1 tbs Thyme 3 tbs kosher salt 2 tbs fresh ground black pepper 2 tbs Garlic Powder 4 tbs olive oil

Steps

Setup the Beef

1. Remove roast from refrigerator, let stand for 15 mins. 2. Mix together the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 3. Coat all sides of the roast. 4. Let Stand for 20 mins.

Prepping the Veggies

1. Peel carrots, garlic and onions 2. Roughly chop the carrots, onions, pepper, red potatoes parsnip. Add to roasting pan. 3. Add garlic, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme to roasting pan. 4. Drizzle with 2 tbs of olive oil

Searing the Meat

1. Add remaining olive oil to frying pan. 2. Sear each side of the meat for 2 to 3 mins. 3. Add meat to roasting pan.

Cooking it All

1. Preheat Oven to 350. 2. Insert thermometer into Meat 2. Put Roasting Pan in oven 3. Reduce Heat to 300. 4. Cook for about 70 mins (until thermometer reads 140,the temperature will rise 10 degrees after cooking). 5. Let roast stand for 20 mins before carving.
   

Seán Reiser

#NewYorker #DrupalDeveloper #InfoSec #Photographer #GEEK #Whovian #MYSTie #LetsGoYankees #LongSufferingJetsFan #NAKnight #Quinquagenarian #GenerationX #CommitAwesome

I'm a 54 year old Flushing, Queens based technologist who specializes in developing, supporting and maintaining websites built in Drupal.  Past experience includes project management, technology team leadership and application development positions for Windows and DOS applications in Clipper, FoxPro, Access and Delphi.  I am open to contract and full‑time opportunities.

I am an avid photographer and all around geek.

 

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