Kitchen Inferno

2012-01-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

I've been reading the January 2012 issue of Food and Wine, and I've found a couple of really fascinating dishes. Thomas McNaughton, a 28 year old chef from San Francisco's Flour + Water presented a recipe for Parsnip Triangole with Aged Balsamic Vinegar. I didn't change his recipe other than I made raviolis instead of triangoli. The sweetness of the parsnip and caramelised onions with the buttery Balsamic sauce just perfectly balanced. This dish really does require a genuine aged Balsamic vinegar-most cheap supermarket Balsamics are not very good.

Dough
2 cups "00" flour-I used all purpose
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tespoon Kosher salt

Chef McNaughton makes his dough in the processor, I just made it the old fashioned way of placing the flour on a pastry board making a well in the center and cracking in the eggs. Gradually stir the flour into the eggs until a soft dough forms, knead briefly wrap with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1/2 hour.

Filling
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup finely diced parsnips
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon Champagne vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the parsnips and 1/2 cup water, cover and simmer until tender-about 15 minutes. Uncover and raise heat to evaporate any excess liquid. In a processor, puree the vegetables, fold in the cheese and season with the vinegar and some salt to taste. Let cool.

I used my hand crank pasta machine and rolled the dough to number 6 out of 7-one being the thickest and 7 being the thinnest. Chef McNaughton cuts his pasta dough into squares using a fluted pastry wheel, fills the center with the parsnip puree with a pastry bag, moisten the edges and fold the squares in half to form a triangle. I just placed the dough over my ravioli form, pressed it into shape and just spooned the filling in the center of the square, moisten the edges of the dough, top with a second sheet of pasta, and press the dough. Unmold your ravioli.

For serving
1 cup unsalted butter
snipped chives and parsley
Aged Balsamic

Cook the ravioli in boiling salted water-cook to al dente about 5 minutes. Meanwhile melt the butter in a saute pan, when the ravioli are cooked, lift them into the saute pan and coat with the melted butter. Add some of the pasta water 2 Tablespoons at a time until a nice creamy sauce forms. Garnish with the herbs and drizzle the aged Balsamic vinegar over the top.

2011-07-13T12:14:00.001-07:00

Making Goat's Cheese

1 quart goats milk
1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar
Salt to taste

Heat the milk to 180 degree-I used my candy thermometer.

Add the vinegar or lemon juice, stir and et sit a few minutes to let the curds form-the curds ar small, not large like cottage cheese.

Stir in the salt and pour the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth.

After the whey has mostly drained of gather the ends of the cheescloth and tie it around the handle of a wooden spoon, let the cheese drain overnight in the refrigerator-be sure to keep a bowl under it to catch any more drips of whey.

I added some grated garlic, fresh chives, and hot chili flakes-very tasty.

2011-06-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Perfect Summer Dinner

Crab Louis on grilled asparagus, rotisserie game hens basted with garlic butter and fresh herbs, and a beautiful rose from Tavel.

Crab Louis Dressing

1 cup mayonaise

1/4 cup chili sauce

1/4 cup diced sweet red pepper

2 scallions, minced

Grilled corn, scraped from one ear (not traditional)

Mix thoroughly and chill until ready to use.

1 pound of crab

Romaine, tomatoes, grilled asparagus, and juice of one lemon.

To assemble the salad just lay the romaine out on a salad plate and top with the asparagus, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top.

Toss the crab with the dressing and mound on top of the asparagus, add chopped tomato and garnish with chives. The addition of corn to the dressing is not traditional, but I think corn and crab have such complimentary flavors that I often combine them-especially now as the corn is fresh and local. I also garnished the salad with Nasturtium leaves and flowers-they are edible and quite welcome in a salad. The flavor reminds me of arugula and peppery watercress, and I just happened to grown them on one of my flower boxes-they also make a really striking display in a flower box.

The hens were easy, I brined them a couple of hours and threaded them on a spit and roasted them while I brushed them with a garlic-herb butter-I used Tarragon, Rosemary, and Thyme. Serve the chicken over a fresh herb salad.

I've never been a big fan of rose wines, mostly because the ones I've had have been the sweet cheap ones from California. This rose from Tavel is another story. It is fruity with strawberry and watermelon flavors, but not sweet like those sickening "White Zinfandels"-Apologies to all the white zinfandel fans. but I usually hate your wine.

2011-05-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Spring Celebration

It has been such a busy Spring I haven't had the time to write this blog. Maybe now that Summer is here things will slow up a bit. Here is a dinner we had in May to celebrate some personal accomplishments.

We took some time out recently to celebrate some personal goals met. I've had this bottle of Calvados sitting around since Christmas and needed an event to open it. I grilled veal loin chops and sauced them with a reduction of stock, cream, and Calvados. On the side I served an apple stuffed with ham and rice-also very tasty to sop up the sauce.

We set the dining room table with all the good stuff and the women guests even got to wear tiaras.

First of all the Calvados was exquisite, the apple actually grows in the bottle-I can't imagine trying to do that-I always wonder what happens in a wind storm; I just see an orchard with broken tree limbs and glass everywhere. Of course I had to try a snifter of it-just to make sure it was good.

We also had a salad of oranges, radishes, and onions dressed with a little salt and olive oil.

2011-05-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

History Museum Gala

Last week we hosted the Monroe County History Museum fundraiser. The museum rents out all three floors of the restaurant and we are closed to the public. My favorite hors douevre of the evening was this platter of cured Italian cold cuts with Focaccia bread made by Tim, one of th guys in the kitchen. Tim doesn't like his picture taken, but I did manage to sneak a picture of him while he was patting out the focaccia. On the meat platter I included Genoa salame, Mortadella, Coppacolo, Proscuitto, olive salad, and some Italian cheeses.

2011-04-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Grilled Swordfish with Grapefruit Avocado Salsa

I'm on a grapefruit and avocado obsession lately. The textures and flavors are so complimentary-the rich and accomodating avocado a perfect backdrop for the assertive and sweet-tart grapefruit. Mixed with a bit of salt, lime juice, and cilantro it turns into an quick and easy salsa that I spooned accross grilled swordfish, which had been marinating in lime juice and a touch of honey.

2011-04-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Watercress, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

I picked up this homegrown incredibly fresh watercress this week at Farmer's market. I supremed the grapefruit, catching all the juices as I peeled and segmented the sections. I added a couple teaspoons of rice wine vinegar and some salt. pepper, diced scallion, and olive oil to make a vinaigrette. Toss the water cress in the vinaigrette and drain. Arrange the grapefruit segments and avocado slices over the cress and drizzle with additional vinaigrette.

2011-03-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

Stir Fried Noodles with Spring Vegetables

1 pound fresh Asian noodles

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

2 stalks of scallion, sliced

1 carrot, julienned

1 stalk of celery, sliced

1 red pepper, julienned

1/2 pound asparagus tips

1 cup small peas, I used sugar snaps instead

3 tablespoons of oyster sauce

2 teaspoons Maggi seasoning sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine (Mirin)

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

3 tablespoons sesame oil

Boil the noodles and drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Heat the wok and add the grapeseed oil.

Stir fry the vegetables, starting with the carrot, then the peppers, etc. cooking the sturdiest vegetables first.

Add the oyster sauce, Maggi seasoning, rice wine, and sugar, cook 30 seconds.

Add the cooked noodles and cook one minute. Add the sesame oil. Add the reserved water if needed. Heat through and serve.

2011-03-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Bleuberry Coffeecake

I got this recipe from a large book called "Great American Baking"-there are no author credits. I bought it used from a disgruntled chef leaving the business. I have alot of blueberries for some reason and this looked appealing to me. Dough: 1 package dry active yeast 1/4 cup warm water1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup milk, scalded and cooled 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/4 cup butter, melted 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour Dissolve the yeast in the water, let it sit for 5 minutes until it becomes foamy, add the sugar, milk, salt, egg, and butter. Begin adding the flour 1 cup at a time, knead until smooth and elastic. I just mixed it all up in my Kitchen Aid and left it on the dough hook for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn to coat and cover the bowl wtih a towel or plastic wrap, place in a warm place to rise until doubled-about 1 1/2 hours. Filling: 2 cups blueberries 3/4 cups sour cream-I used blueberry yogurt 1 egg 3 tablespoons brown sugar Combine the blueberries, sour cream or yogurt, and egg-reserve the brown sugar. To assemble the cake: Roll out the dough into a 13" by 10" rectangle, and place it on a greased baking sheet. Make 3" cuts at 1/2" intervals along the long sides of the rectangle of dough. Spread the blueberry-sourcream mixture down the center of the dough. Sprinkle the reserved brown sugar over the berries. Fold the short ends of the dough up over the filling. Criss cross the strips along the side up over the filling. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Cover lightly and let rise for 1 hour. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

2011-03-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

Party Gras

My Crawfish Boil class at Kitchen Conservatory. I met alot of new friends and got to see a couple of people who have taken some of my previous classes. Carnival season is over, time to repent and eat alot of fish and begin to get ready for Easter and the ham and lamb eating season.

2011-03-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

Celery, Leek, and Carrot Mimosa

Sometimes some realy simple ingredients are what I crave. Here is an example. The celery and leek are julienned and blanched, the small carrots are blanched whole. The vegetables are arranged on ruby greens-does that sound oxymoronic?, because it is really just red lettuce. the vegetables are topped with chopped hard cooked egg and toasted Hazelnuts.

The salad is dressed with:

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon mustard

1/3 cup hazelnut oil

Salt and pepper

Chopped fresh tarragon (optional)

Stir well before drizzling over the salad

Mimosa doesn't always mean Champagne and orange juice and everyone's favorite breakfast drink. The Food Lover's Companion describes it thusly "A garnish so named because it resembles the yellow mimosa flower. Consisting of finely chopped, hardcooked egg yolk, it is sprinkled over salads and vegetables." I added the egg whites as well and the hazelnuts on my own.

2011-02-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

Zucchini Pudding Souffle

This recipe has been on my to do list for quite some time, but it always just seems to get passed over. So finally in the middle of winter way past zucchini's shining hour in the Summer garden, I get it accomplished (better late than never). It comes from Richard Olney's book "Simple French Food", and it is a lovely little thing. Richard, in his beautiful prose recommends it as "a prelude to an amicable chunk of rare meat".

They are just twice baked souffles, but they must be baked in individual molds or a ring mold, not the traditional souffle pan. After the souffle is baked and collapsed, and cooled, it is unmolded, brushed with some cream, dusted with parmesan, and placed back in the oven for 20 minutes, until the souffles rise slightly again and brown nicely. I baked them the second time on top of a tomato sauce. They possess a delicate and fresh zucchini flavor.

1 pound small zucchini

salt

Grate the zucchini and salt liberally, place it in a colander and let the excess water in the zucchini drain for 1/2 hour. Press all the liquid out of the zuchinni and rinse, tie the zucchini into a clean tea towel and continue to wring out all of the excess moisture.

Make the Bechamel

2 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons of flour

3/4 cup milk

Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

3 eggs, separated

Butter, to grease the molds

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and stir in the flour. Stir cook for 3 to 4 minutes, the flour should not brown. Add the milk and continue to cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Let the bechamel cool slightly and fold in the zucchini and egg yolks. Taste and correct the seasonings.

Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form, stir 1/3 of the whipped whites into the bechamel mixture to lighten the batter, fold in the remaining whites.

Bake in a bain marie in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Let the souffles cool slightly and unmold.

Pour some tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven proof pan and place the souffles on top of the sauce.

Brush the souffles with heavy cream and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Place the pan in a pre-heated 450 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until the sauce is hot, and the souffles are puffed and browned.

2011-02-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

Crepes Poulet Lyonnaise

Poulet Lyonnaise was a dish that was served to the first class voyagers on the Titanic the night it sank 99 years ago this April. In the original recipe the dish is an elegant bonelss chicken breast with a delicious tomato and onion sauce, but I don't care for chicken breast and I had some chicken thighs in the refrigerator, so I braised the chicken thighs in the same sauce components used for the breasts. When the meat was cool, I pulled it and strained the braising liquid. I stuffed some crepes with the pulled chicken and sauce. This is a very easy and tasty recipe.

6 chicken thighs

2 T vegetable oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/3 cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 T tomato paste

pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to tastte

In a large deep ovenproof skillet, brown the thighs in the oil over medium high heat.

When the thighs are browned on both sides, remove from the pan and lower the heat. Add the onions and saute them, stirring often until they are golden brown and caramelised.

Add the tomato paste to the onions and stir to slightly caramelised the paste.

Add the wine and stock, bring it to the boil and reduce for about 2 minutes, add the sugar, salt and pepper.

Return the thighs to the pan and and baste them with sauce and place the pan in a preheat 350 degree over for 25 minutes until the thighs reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Serve the thighs like this with some potatoes lyonnaise or rice, and if there is leftover chicken, pull it and stuff it into crepes to get a second dinner out of this recipe.

2011-02-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

Eckert's Country Store

I taught a class in the new culinary center at Eckert's in Belleville. The Eckert's began planting orchards and selling their crops in 1830. Today eighth generation Chris Eckert and his wife Angie oversee this multifaceted farm-to -table market. In addition to the grocery store, they sell plants and nursery items and there is a restaurant as well.

The beef case and the cheese case are especially enticing. The beef is locally grown and processed, some coming from the Eckerts herd. The cheese case is also remarkable for it's selection of artisinal and European cheeses.

My longtime friend Lana Shepik heads up their culinary and cheese programs.

Here are some pictures of the classroom as my assistants prep the stage and my recipes

The menu was "Steak House at Home":
Crab cakes with Roasted Pepper Aioli

Mayfair Salad

Grilled Ribe Eye Steaks sauced with Port, Buttermilk Blue Cheese and Pink Peppercorns

Cauliflour and Potato Gratin

The Eckert's bakery supplied cherry pies

The class also sampled a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Muscato'd Asti rom the wine department.

I want to thank Lana, Angie and my assistants Desi and Chris for all their help.

2011-02-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

Keith Richard's Bangers and Mash

I just finished reading "Life", the recently published autobiography of Keith Richards. He is brutally honest, it's all there-the ridiculus amount of drug addiction, the egos and ambition, the obsession with American Blues-not so much about the sex, Keith isn't a kiss and tell kind of guy. My favorite parts of the book deal with his music, the drug interludes are pretty tiresome. The recording and concert stories are already legendary-we've been reading about them since the 1960's, but his telling of them makes for a fresh and fascinating narrative even if alot of it is rehash. His love of the guitar and creating a hard driving rock version of authentic blues is the true Keith Richards story.

I was just out of college in 1976 when the Stones played in Louisville. I was living with Aunt Shirley and Uncle Keith in Louisville, while looking for some kind of employment. I never got a good job in Louisville, but I had a great summer with my aunt, uncle and cousins. And I got to see the Stones live at Freedom Hall. It was their "Tour of the America's '75" and it was just thrilling. I wore a Hawaiian shirt and Elton John sunglasses-trying to look cool-I'm glad there are no photos. The Stones were controversial in this Bible thumping city-I remember people were up in arms about the song "Sympathy For The Devil" . People considered it downright Satanic, and of course the opening number featured the giant inflatable penis which Mick Jagger rode to the center of the stage. I guess I need to get off Memory Lane and get to the food.

On page 525 of the book he gives his recipe for bangers and mash-He enjoys cooking for himself.

I don't really want to copy his recipe here because you need to read it, but I will say he loves to add carrots, peas, and onions to his "mash". He also uses HP Sauce with it. HP Sauce is a tamarind based English bottled steak sauce. I also added my own touches to the dish, when I sauteed some onion and sweet pepper with the "bangers"-I also deglazed the pan with some sherry to make a little sauce. It is delicious-sometimes I don't know why English food gets such a bad rap.

2011-02-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

Salmon, Peas, and Punxsutawney Phil

I'm getting tired of the heavy roasts and braises of Winter. Spring is 6 weeks away and despite all the snow and ice we're getting this year, I felt like making this salmon and pea dish. I think salmon and peas are pretty much a Spring classic. And just this morning Punxsutawney Phil has confirmed my early Spring thoughts, by predicting an early Spring.

This salmon dish has three parts;first I made a stirfry of pea tendrils and sugar snap peas, the roasted salmon sits on the stir fry, and a spoonful of sweet pea hummus tops the salmon, garnished with some crisped pita chips.

For the Stir Fry
2 cups pea tendrils, sliced into 1" pieces
2 cups of sugar snap peas, cut into 1" pieces
2 scallions, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1/4 cup sesame oil

Get the wok hot with the grape seed oil, add the cumin first to bloom the flavor, then add the scallion, garlic, sugarsnaps, and tendrils-two minutes at the most, you want the vegetables to retain some crunch.

Toss the stir fry with the hoisin sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, and sesame oil.

For The Salmon
Mix together equal parts of whole grain mustard and hot pepper jelly, I used a Habenero jelly.

Spread the mustard mixture evenly over the salmon, and roast in a preheated 400 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your piece of fish.

For the Hummus
2 cups of baby frozen peas
2 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 or 2 lemons-depending on how tart you like your hummus
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup of fruity green olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in the processor and puree together until smooth, scaping down the sides of the processor bowl as needed.

Taste for seasoning and adjust with more lemon, salt, cumin, pepper, or olive oil. If the hummus is too thick you can thin it with more juice, oil or a bit of water.

This is delicious served with pita bread cut into triangles and crisped in hot oil flavored with some ground cumin.

2011-01-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Bluecoat Gin

This was a special Christmas gift. As a matter of fact I got alot of esoteric booze for gifts this year-I may not have to stock the bar for months (who am I kidding?). Here is a picture of the Christmas liquor presents. Bluecoat is a small brewery in Philadelphia, the product is not widely available-this particular bottle was shipped from California as it is not available in Missouri. It has an ardent cult following. Read the whole story here. This gin has alot of delightful citrus and the always present juniper. It is quite smooth with a depth of botannical flavors-it is the polar opposite of the overly flowery Tanguery. I made a martini to highlight Bluecoat's pronounced citrus qualities. In a shaker filled with ice, pour in some gin, a dash of dry vermouth, a couple dashes of orange bitters, shake and strain into a chilled glass and garnish with orange peel. Olives or pickled vegetables, which are almost always complimentary to gin, would be sort of clunky and inelegant in this martini. I think the cobalt bottle with gold lettering is gorgeous.

2011-01-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

Asian Brussel Sprouts with Crispy Won Tons

This simple salad of brussel sprouts served on a crispy wonton are ridiculously addictive. I used this recently as a little hors de ouevre with cocktails. I just put out a big bowl of the salad with some wontons and let everyone chop stix a little salad onto to their chip. I sliced the brussel sprouts on my mandolin to get really thin shreds of brussel sprouts. Then I just tossed the brussel sprouts with the Asian dressing and let them marinate for 1/2 hour. In the meantime I fried some wontons and shook some martinis. I only made 1 pound and they were quickly gone, I wish I'd made more to keep some in the refrigerator for later.

1 pound brussel sprouts, trimmed of outer leaves, cored, and thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon hoisin sauce

2 Tablespoon sweet Thai chili sauce

1/4 cup dark sesame oil

Black and white sesame seeds to garnish

Mix up everything and let it sit a few minutes before serving.

I used chop stix to serve it with, but you could also use a tongs or spoon.

2011-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

Chalet Suzanne and Christmas Beef Wellington

A friend of mine just returned from a trip to Florida. In addition to playing alot of golf, she likes to tour factories. Forget the beach, swimming, and sunbathing, she prefers the factory circuit. This trip included a stop at the Chalet Suzanne resort in Lake Wales Florida. Go here for a virtual visit. It wasn't really the spectatular pink resort and its renowned restaurant that attracted her, but it was their soup canning plant, located on the resort's premises.

They can and market their famous restaurant's famous soups. The most famous is the Soup Romaine, which is called moon soup because it went to the moon as part of the Apollo 15 and 16's astronauts diet. I was the lucky recipient of a couple of gift cans of soup. On Christmas morning I utilised my much neglected can opener and used the Chalet Suzanne French Onion soup to make sauce for Beef Wellington. It was beefy and oniony, not really too much different from the stuff in the ubiquitous red and white can. The resort also boasts its own air strip just in case you want to fly in and pick up a couple of cans of soup-I highly recommend it.

2011-01-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas Fatigue

I am still recovering from Christmas fatigue. We celebrated with presents, of course, parsnip soup and Beef Wellington. This soup is so elegant and flavorful, sweet and slightly nutty-very warming and rich.

Peel and cut up 1 pound of parsnips

Peel and cut up 1 apple

cut up 1 small onion

two cloves of garlic, peeled

chicken stoch

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/4 cup heavy cream

Place the cut up vegetables in a soup pot and cover with stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft.

Puree the mixture and add salt and pepper to your taste. Bring the soup back to the simmer, thin with a little more stock if the soup is too thick, or reduce it if the soup is too thin. Stir in the sherry and heavy cream, simmer 1 more minute and serve.

2010-12-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Ham

This ham came from Schubert's in Millstadt Il. It takes a little sleuthing to find a good ham-most super market hams will not measure up to this beauty. I removed any excess rind, panited the entire exterior with Dijon mustard and sprinkled it with brown sugar. I decorated it with the ubiquitous pineapple, cherries, and cloves. Eating celebratory pork is one of those traditions which date back to the pagan practices of the Hessians and Norsemen (like the wreath and the Christmas tree)-where the pineapple comes in I do not know and I'm too busy right now to research it, but it probably has something to do with the Dole Corporation. I baked it in a 300 degree oven, covered with aluminum foil for 4 hours. Increase the temperature to 450 degrees and brush the ham with a syrup of pineapple juice and brown sugar every 8 to ten minutes until glazed and shiny about 25 minutes.

2010-12-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

Fruitcake-The Sarah Palin of Christmas Treats

Sarah Palin is much like a Christmas Fruitcake. They are both attractive packages-Sarah with her big hair and beauty contest looks, the fruit cake filled with jewel like colors of candied and dried fruits. And, of course there is also that old cliche "nutty as a fruitcake". Many people adore Sarah, many people adore fruitcake-many people detest both. Here is an easy recipe that I sort of like. The recipe came from another controversial person, chef Jeff Smith-who went down in disgrace after a brilliant career-it is from his "The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas"-although I've altered the recipe so much you wouldn't recognize it.

2 cups mixed candied fruit-chopped I used pineapple, orange and lemon peel-no citron

1 cup candied cherries, halved

4 cups dried fruitsI cleaned out the pantry of little bits of leftovers-plums, pineapple, craisins, apricots, golden raisins, and mango

1/2 cup brandy

1 cup butter-room temperature

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

6 eggs-room temperature

1/2 ounce of melted unsweetened chocolate

3 cups coppped nuts-I used half pecans and half walnuts

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brandy

In a large bowl, combine the candied and dried fruits with the brandy. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for at least 3 hours.

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, add the eggs one at a time. Add the chocolate, add the flour, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and baking soda. Mix until all is incorporated.

Fold in the fruits and nuts. Spread into greased 10 by 4 inch tube pan-I used mini-loaf pans. Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 2 hours and 10 minutes-less for the mini pans. Remove to a rack, and when cool enough to handle, remove from the pan and cool completely.

Brush the cake with half the brandy, cover and store for one week. Brush the cake with brandy every week and re-wrap and store until Christmas.

2010-11-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

Sweedish Meatballs

Bishop Hill IL is an historic village in central Illinois not far from where I grew up. It is a place my mother likes to visit for day trips, and she got this cookbook for me several years ago. Bishop Hill began as a group of Swedes seeking religious freedom in this country. They were a utopian, communal society which flourished for 15 years befrore disbanding shortly after the Civil War. You can see pictures of the chamring village and read more about its history here.

This book contains 6 recipes for Sweedish Meatballs, I chose to follow Alfhild Bergen Oberg's recipe. Ground Allspice and Cloves are two spices that all of the recipes have in common. Oberg's recipe did not include cream, many others did. I served the meatballs with mashed potatoes and a spoon of Sweedish Lingonberries. I also had some terrific beef gravy left from a brisket dinner, so I did not use Oberg's recipe for gravy, but I included it as written in the cookbook.

1 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs or crackers
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tbls butter
3/4 ground beef
1/2 ground veal
1/4 ground pork
1 egg
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon each nutmeg, ginger, ground allspice, and ground cloves
2 Tbls butter

Soak the bread in the cream for about 5 minutes. Saute the onion in 1 Tbls butter til soft, but not browned.

Mix the meats, the crumb mixture, onion, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves until all ingredients are well combined.

Shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls.

Brown the balls in 2 Tbls of butter.

Remove the balls from the skillet and make gravy (recipe follows), add the meatballs back to the skillet in the sauces and simmer ther for 30 minutes.

Gravy
2 Tbls of butter
2 Tabls flour
1 1/4 cup rich beef stock
1/4 tsp instant coffee
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour off most of the grease from the meat balls, add 2 Tbls of butter to the pan and lightly brown the flour. Add the beef stock and bring to the boil, whisking until the gravy is thick and bubbling. Taste for seasoning befor adding the meatballs back into the gravy.

My personal pet peeve about meatballs are that they are usually hard little hockey pucks of meat floating in sauce:making really good meatballs lies in forming the balls. It takes a light hand. You need to form them so that they stay together when browning and cooking, but to compress and pack them too tightly makes for dense and unappetising meatballs, so remember to always use a light touch.

2010-11-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

99 CENT BASKETS OF FRIED ASPARAGUS ALL WEEK-WE MUST BE CRAZY!

The powers that be-John and Susie, who own the restaurant-have requested more 99 cent fun from the kitchen. This week will be asparagus-check out our Facebook page and let us know what you'd like to buy for 99 cents, and we just might be able to make it happen.

2010-11-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Rack of Pork Stuffed with Apples and Dried Plums

Stuffing

2 Tablespoons butter

2 apples, peeled and sliced

1/4 cup dried plums

1 small shallot, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup diced celery

1 bay leaf

Fresh thyme leaves, or 1/8 teaspoon dried

2 Tablespoons fruit vinegar-cider or raspberry
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute everything except the vinegar in the butter until soft, but not browned.

Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, taste for seasoning, remove the bay leaf, and let the stuffing cool.

Prepare the pork rack and vegetables

You need a pork rack with the chine bone removed and the ribs frenched.

Brine the roast for 2 hours in 2 quarts of water with one cup of salt

Butterfly the loin without detaching the ribs, and lightly pound out the surface until it is flat and even.

Salt and pepper the surfae of the pork and sprinkle with some cognac or wine.

Spread the stuffing over the surface, and roll up the pork jelly-roll style, truss with string.

Place the pork on a roasting rack and roast in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1/2 hour.

Blanch the vegetables (I used turnips, potatoes, carrots, acorn squash, and onions-onions do not need to be blanched) until tender-crisp. Drain and hold until the pork has roasted for 1/2 hour.

Add blanched vegetables to the roasting pan, toss to coat them in the pork drippings, and place the pork rack directly on the vegetables, discarding the roasting rack, to finish roasting. Place everything back in the oven for about 1 hour, until the internal temperature of the pork registers 140 to145 degrees-Most safety guideline stipulate 150 degree, but that is too done for me. Let the roast rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

2010-11-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

Ardelle's Figs

One of our farmers is Ardelle Waltog, She supplies alot of spinach and tomatoes for the restaurant, but she also grows figs. During our recent Pumpkin Fest I bought all of Ardelle's figs with the intention of making preserves. They are very sweet and tasty. The recipe and canning are simple.

Weigh your figs, and use an equal amount of sugar.

Quarter the figs and mix with the sugar-add one thinly sliced lemon and the juice of one lemon, bring to a simmer and cook for about 1/2 hour until the jam is bubbly and thick.

Pack into sterilized jars, secure the lids and rings and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

2010-10-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Dia de Los Muertos

Here is a tray of beautiful bakery goods from Cherokee Street. There is quite a collection of

Mexican restaurants, bakeries, and Hispanic shops along Cherokee Street. This morning I was surprised with this gift box of breakfast goodies. I think the skulls look especially tasty-Happy Halloween.

2010-10-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

99 Cent Fried Green Tomatoes all Week

I know I already posted about our fried green tomatoes a couple of years ago, but this year the restaurant has been gifted with so many green tomatoes from several gardeners-just dropped off at the back door. GM James Gallagher came up wih the idea of this promotion, and I just love the idea, I think it's alot of fun. And a basket of fried green tomatoes are just perfect with a dry martini, a pilsner of Ale, or its Southern cousin iced "sweet tea".

I don't like the traditional fried green tomatoes, which are usually breaded with corn meal, I'm the heretic that uses beer batter. I know all of you green tomato purists are calling me names, but..... actually as I write this I'm missing that gritty-crunchy cornmeal batter, served with a homemade southern-style chili sauce like my aunt Viola used to make-maybe next year back to mah roots of cornmeal dusted green tomatoes with Aunt Vi's chili sauce.

2010-10-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Waterloo 1ST Annual Pumpkin Fest

Last week I was asked to be one of the judges in a pumpkin cook-off at the first annual Waterloo Pumpkin Fest. There were two ctergories-pie and other. We were all unaminous in the first place winners;a beautiful dark and spicy pie with flower cut-outs on top, and for other a delicious and moist pumpkin bundt cake with chocolate ganache.

In addition to the cook-off there were many other booths, crafts, live music, etc. It was a beautiful day and a perfect showcase for small town charm. The other judges were chefs Jennifer, Jeremy, and Dave-all from wonderful local restaurants and the country club.

2010-10-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Spicy Dill Green Tomato Pickles

The summer tomatoes are all gone, but the tomato plants are still producing. These hard little green gems are perfect for pickling. You need smaller firm tomatoes.

25 small green firm tomatoes, washed, cored, and quartered

1 3/4 cups white vinegar

1 3/4 cups water

1/8 cup pickling salt

12 cloves of garlic, peeled

6 hot peppers, I used Habanero for extra spiciness

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

6 large sprigs of fresh dill

Sterilize 6 glass pint jars, prepare lids and rings.

Bring the vinegar, salt, and water to the boil.

Pack the tomato wedges into the sterilized jars, add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, two cloves of garlic, one large sprig of fresh dill, and one Habanero pepper to each jar.

Ladle the boiling vinegar mixture over the tomatoes into the jars, wipe the rims, top with the lids, and screw on the rings-let cool and refrigerate. These pickles are not processed in a hot water bath, so they must remain refrigerated.

Let the pickles rest and mature at least 1 week for optimum flavor, but they keep well refregerated for up to 6 months.

2010-10-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

Dancing Mushroom Sauce

I bought these Hen of The Woods mushrooms at farmer's market last week. They grow locally here and can reach 40 to 50 pounds each-They are found in the forest around Oak trees. They don't seem to have the following that our Spring mushroom the Morel has. They are much revered in Japanese cooking where they are known as Maitake-Maitake translated to dancing mushroom, because the way they grow resembles a dance chorus. They are slightly nutty and earthy in flavor, and they also hold their shape after being sauteed or simmered in a sauce. They retain a firm bite after being cooked, which adds a nice texture to the sauce. I served the sauce with a roast chicken and stuffing.

Since I had a big juicy roasting hen, I made a chicken stock with the neck and giblets. I included the neck meat and diced giblets in the sauce.

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons minced shallot

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 pound fresh Hen of the Woods mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter

Reserved cooked neck meat and diced giblets.

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh minced parsley

In a sauce pan, saute the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in the butter for about 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the stock and wine, reduce by half

Add the cream and continue to reduce until you reach sauce consistency.

Fold in the reserved neck meat and giblets.

Tastte for salt and pepper and add fresh minced parsley.

2010-09-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Greek Chicken with Okra-Kotopoulo Me Bamies

I read about this dish on a blog about Greek food called Kalofagas. The writer is a Greek-Canadian who visited his mother in Greece this summer, and this is one of the dishes she made with okra and tomatoes from her garden. It just seems about perfect for this time of year, very earthy and homey for these early Fall evenings. Although the garden tomatoes are gone, I used a high quality canned San Marzano tomato from Italy.

I know alot of you don't care for okra because of the slime factor, but if you choose small okra pods, and do not cut into them this problem is minimalised. I added some baby rainbow potatoes (red, yellow, and purple) that wasn't in his recipe, rice or orzo would also be tasty. You can read his charming blog and get the recipe here.

2010-09-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Poached Fluke with Shellfish and Preserved Lemon

Poached dishes don't always sound appetizing-something about "boiled food"-but in fact they are complex and full of delicate flavor, especially when the poaching liquid is incorporated into a sauce that accompanies it. Poaching is not really boiling at all because the liquid should never boil, but just barely simmer, so that the food you're cooking has time to absorb some of the flavorfull poaching liquid as well as leaving their own flavors behind. It all starts with making a flavorful court-bouillon.

2 cups of water

1 cup white wine

1 onion, chopped,

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

bay leaf

1 teaspoon whole cloves

sprig of fresh thyme

Simmer the ingredients for 1/2 hour, strain the vegetables and spices out, and use this liquid to poach the fish and shellfish. I had some fluke, bay scallops, and mussels. The more varieties of fish and shellfish the better.

In dishes like this, I like to poach everything separately. Once all of the fish and shellfish have been poached, you can start the sauce.

1 cup court-bouillon

2 cups heavy cream

1 egg yolk

1 cup cooked fresh corn, scraped from the cob, scrape the corn "milk" into the sauce

1 quarter of preserved lemon, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Chopped fresh parsley and chives for garnish

Reduce the court-bouillon and cream by half.

Temper the egg yolk with the hot cream mixture and add it to the sauce, whisk thoroughly, at this point, do not let the mixture boil or the egg will cook too much and turned into scrambled eggs.

Add the lemon, juice, salt, and pepper and taste for seasoning-rember you are going to be adding all that fish and corn, so you can slightly overseason.

Once the flavors are just right, add the corn, fish, and shellfish to the sauce and just heat through-remember everything is already cooked.

Ladle into large soup plates and garnish with the parley and chives.

2010-09-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

Raspberry Coffee Cake

This is the first morning in a long time that it has been cool enough to turn on the oven and bake something. I found this really simple recipe online from chef Stephanie Izard-a "TopChef" winner. I have never seen a "Top Chef" show, so I don't know what her performance on that show was, but it must have been pretty good, as she won the competition. The coffee cake was only ok, not spectacular, but it was nice to have something just out of my own oven. It is a very straightforward and easy recipe-maybe too easy. If I make this again I will add some things like vanilla, lemon or orange zest-maybe some nutmeg or ground cloves.

Get the recipe here, there is a vidoe of Stephanie making this for a TV show.

2010-09-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Eggplant, Pesto and Mozzarella Napoleons

This should be my Summer of the eggplant, I've made so many eggplant dishes this year. I don't always have time to get all the recipes written, pictures taken etc to write a blog post about them. Here is one of them, it is a dish I will be using at Kitchen Conservatory later this week. At Kitchen Conservatory I will be using the dish as a starter course for a late summer Italian dinner. In this photo, I placed the Napoleon on top of some Angelhair pasta to make a large pasta dinner.

I admit I chose a pretty affected name for this dish, a Napoleon usually means layers of crisp puff pastry with pastry cream and fruit fillings with some sort of glaze over the top. Here layers of grilled eggplant are spread with pesto and layers of fresh mozzarella and glazed with roasted tomatoes and Balsamic vinaigrette. So if my pretentious name puts you off, just retitle the dish eggplant, pesto, and mozzarella stacks-but do try it because it is rich and tasty, but I still think Napoleon sounds sexier than Stacks-it's really tough being one of those "elitists" everyone seems to hate.

1 eggplant
1 pound fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil pesto
Roasted tomato vinaigrette

Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch slices.
Salt the slices and allow them to sit 1/2 hour, rinse well and dry with toweling.
Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil and grill 1 to 2 minutes per side.
Spread 1 teaspoon of pesto onto an eggplant slice, top with a thin slice of mozzarella cheese, and another teaspoon of pesto; repeat until you have stacks of three eggplant slices each.
Place the Napoleons in a 350 degree pre-heated oven just to slightly melt and meld the cheese.
To serve:Spoon a couple of tomato wedges and the Balsamic vinaigrette over the Napoleons. Here I served the Napoleons over angelhair pasta, but you could omit the pasta and place it on some salad greens or just serve it on its own.

Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

3 large cloves of garlic

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, pulse the leaves, garlic, nuts, and cheese until a crumbly coarse mixture develops. Drizzle in the oilve oil slowly, continually pulsing the machine-I like a chunky pesto. Season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette

4 Roma tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar (optional, but I like my vinaigrette slightly sweet, if you want a totally tart vinaigrette, omit sugar).

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

Place the tomatoes in a baking dish, cutside up, season the cut sides with the sugar, salt, and pepper. Strew fresh thyme over the seasoned tomatoes, drizzle the Balsamic over the tomatoes, finally drizzle the olive oil over them.

Roast the tomatoes in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

2010-09-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

Tomato Chutney

I was gifted with an abundance of tomatoes from my uncle's garden this past week-end. This is a really fast and easy condiment to put up. I used a recipe from Barbara Pleasant at Growveg Website, the recipe can be found here.http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=151

It is really excellent spooned along side roasts, grilled and smoked meats, or it can be one of the sides to a curry dinner. Chutney makes an unusual garnish to a cheese platter, and it makes a super quick hors de ouevre when spooned over cream cheese and served with crackers.

2010-09-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Stuffed Squid and Pan-fried Pork Dumplings

This started with some squid left from Saturday night's appetizer special, that I wanted to use. It wouldn't last into next week, so I decided to bring it home and stuff it. It is sort of a combination of Thai and Viet Namese recipes. I should also tell you there are alot of Italian-style recipes for stuffed squid. After stuffing the squid there was alot of the pork mixture left, so I just wrapped them up in won tons and froze them, of course I made a few to taste.

Pork and shrimp stuffing for squid and wontons:

1 pound ground pork

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and minced coarsely

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 scallion, minced

1 teaspoon Asain chili paste

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon sherry or mirin
2 tablespoons minced garlic

Combine all of the ingredients and mix well

I prefer small tubes of squid to stuff, just put a couple tablespoons of filling inside the tubes-do not overstuff as the stuffing expands and the squid shrinks. Secure the opening with a tooth pik.

I chose to make a Thai curry sauce for the squid and served some rice as well.

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 Tablespoons minced ginger

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced shallot

1 teaspoon Asian chili paste

1 Tablespoon red curry paste

Briefly saute the squid in a saute pan with a small amount of oil, about 1 minute on each side.

Remove the squid and add the ginger, garlic, shallot, chili paste, and curry paste, stir cook briefly and add the coconut milk.

Bring the coconut mixture to the boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the squid to the curry sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes, turning the squid half way through.

Top with some chopped nuts and fresh basil.

My method for pan-frying dumplings:

I pan-fried the dumplings, they could have been steamed if you prefer. To pan fry you need a saute pan with a tight fitting lid. First coat the bottom of the pan with a bit of oil, when the pan is hot, place the dumpling in the pan and let the bottom brown, add 1/2 cup water and quickly secure the lid. Let the dumplings steam cook for about 2 minutes. Remove the lid and let the water evaporate. Continue to cook until the dumplings begin to sizzle and brown. Any Asain dipping sauce would be appropriate.

2010-08-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Watermelon Pickles

This is fair week in both Sedalia, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois. Here in the agricultural states, fairs are a very big deal. So much excellence and personal pride on display. Barns and barns full of the showiest livestock and most beautiful produce. Missouri has a big wine competition, and of course there are competitons for baked goods, preserves, and many culinary acheivements. Since I couldn't make it to the fair this year, I thought I'd still enjoy the spirit of the events by putting up some watermelon rind pickles of my own.

I took a recipe from "State Fair Recipes" a compilation of blue ribbon winning recipes put together by Catherine Hanley. I used a recipe from Elaine Pretz from Portland Oregon. The pickles won a blue ribbon at the Oregon state fair, I don't know the year, but the book was published in 1993.

1 watermelon rind
1 cup pickling salt
2 quarts cold water
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon allspice
5 pieces cinnamon stick
6 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1 orange thinly sliced
extra cinnamon sticks to place inside the jars for garnish, optional

Trim all dark green and pink from the rind.

Cut the rind into 1 1/2" pieces.

Place 4 quarts of rind in a crock and brine it with the salt disolved in the cold water overnight in the refrigerator.

Drain the rind and rinse well.

Put the rind in a kettle and cover with cold water, bring the pot to the boil and simmer the rind for 8 minutes, drain.

Wash the kettle and add the sugar, water, and vinegar. Make a cheesecloth sachet for the allspice, cloves, and cinnamon and add it to the syrup.

Boil the syrup for about 5 minutes until it begins to thicken, add the rind and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the melon turns opaque, turn off the heat and let the melon cool in the syrup for 1/2 hour.

Meanwhile sterilize the jars and lids, bring the melon back to the boil and pack carefully into pint jars, ladle in extra boiling syrup to cover melon, leaving 1/4" head space at the top. Add a cinnamon stick to the jar if you like.

Place the lids on the jars and secure with rings, process the jars in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes.

Pickles need to rest for about 6 weeks before opening to achieve the best flavor.

2010-08-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

Paula Wolfert's 7 Day Preserved Lemons

I met Paula Wolfert several years ago when she was on a book tour promoting her book "The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean". It was a a cocktail reception for her, I can't remember who gave it, but the restaurant was beautiful-the food not so much. I'm such a big fan of hers, that I'm afraid I monopolised her much of the evening. Her recipes are always reliable as well as thoroughly researched-they are usually a sociology lesson as well.

Preserved lemons are a Moroccan ingredient used in many tajines, stews, and couscous dishes. But they are so versatile and are beautiful with anything fish, chicken or veal. Once made they last in the refrigerator for months. So I'll make this batch and they will be used up this winter in several recipes to come. I doubled the recipe to make a quart.

4 lemons, washed and quartered
2/3 cup kosher salt
Fresh lemon juice
Olive oil

Toss the lemon quarters with the salt and pack into a glass jar.

Muddle the lemons and salt with a wooden spoon.

Pour in enough fresh lemon juice to cover the lemons.

Let the lemons sit at room temperature for 7 days, shaking the jar each day to redistribute the juice and salt.

Add olive oil to top and refrigerate for up to 6 months.

2010-08-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Fresh Blueberry Daiquiri

1 cup fresh blueberries

juice of 1/2 lime

1 cup ice

1/2 cup silver rum

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Whip in the blender and pour into your favorite glass, garnish with a lime twist.

Perfect for Summer Sunday afternoons.

2010-08-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

Griddled Sweet Potato Polenta With Apple-smoked Bacon Greens

We're big fans of greens around here. They are abundant at the farmer's markets right now. Of course, cornbread is what most people serve with their greens, but I thought some polenta would work well and I wouldn't have to heat the oven for corn bread.

1 sweet potato, roasted al dente, cooled, peeled, and cut into 1" pieces

1 medium onion, caramelised in 1 tablespoon olive oil with a pinch of sugar

1 clove of garlic, minced

4 cups chicken stock

1 cup yellow corn meal

In a sauce pan, sweat the carlic in oil over low heat for 1 or 2 minutes, add the stock and bring it to the boil.

Whisk in the corn meal, whisking constantly to prevent lumps and bring it back to the boil.

Lower the heat and cook the polenta for 25 minutes to 1/2 hour, stirring often.

Fold in the onions and sweet potato, and pour into a 9" cake pan lined with parchment paper let chill and set up.

Unmold the polenta and cut it into wedges and griddle or grill them until they are browned and crispy.

For the greens:
1 bunch each of collards, turnip, and mustard greens, washed thoroughly. Cut out eh ribs and slice the greens.
2 rashers of apple smoked bacon cut in to 1" pieces and crisped in a skillet large enough to hole the greens.
1/2 cup onion slices, browned in the bacon drippings.

Add the greens to the bacon drippings and bacon, toss until the green begin to wilt, add 1 cup of chicken stock, season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste-greens can be bitter and a little sugar tames them. Simmer until the greens are tender, adding more stock if necessary-about 1/2 hour is all that is needed at this point.

2010-08-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Orzo and Corn Salad with Fresh Basil

St Louis is sweltering this week. It has cooled slightly, but really hot again today. We've been lucky enough to have been invited to a barbeque pool party ths afternoon. I'll be taking this light salad.

1/2 pound rainbow orzo, cooked al dente

Corn from two cooked ears of corn, scraped

1/4 minced onion

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons water

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and let marinate a couple of hours or overnight.

Basil and fresh corn are so right for one another-they are definitely the Brangelina of summer foods. Chiffonade is a simple technique for slicing delicate herbs and lettuces. Simply stack the leaves on top of one another and roll them up jelly roll style, then slice into thin strips. If you try to mince basil or hit the herb too hard with the knife it turns black, this technique cuts it up and preserves the color-some people use scissors.

2010-08-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Poblano Peppers

I picked up these beautiful Poblanos at farmer's market last week. I roasted these peppers, and gently made a slit in the side and carefully removed the core and seeds. I stuffed them with a mixture of black beans, rice, and corn, topped with some queso fresco. In cooler weather I would probably bake them in a chili sauce, but I just served them at room temperature and they were just perfect-spicy and sweet-very summery.

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 cup cooked black beans

corn, scraped from 2 ears of corn

1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

1/4 cup diced onion, sauteed

1 clove garlic, minced and sauteed

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of he ingredients.

Gently stuff the roasted peppers with the mixture and top with some crumbled queso fresco.

2010-07-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Saurkraut Potato Salad

1 quart of saurkraut, drained and rinsed

1 pound small red potatoes, cooked until tender and quartered

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced red pepper

1 cup green beans, blanced and cut into 1" pieces

1 cut blanched carrots, cut into 1" pieces

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup cider vinega1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon mustard seed

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil

Combine all of the ingredients and refrigerate a couple of hours-best overnight. If the salad is too soupy, drain off the marinade before serving, but the potatoes usually absorb alot of it.

2010-07-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Pork Belly

This is extremely rich and probably better suited for a Fall or Winter meal, but I had this pork belly, and I had to use it. Actually I only used a third of it and froze the rest for later.

2 1/2 pound piece of pork belly, rind removed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

2 carrots, chopped

1 small onion, sliced

2 stalks of celery, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

6 bay leafs

fresh thyme sprigs

1/4 cup sherry

I seasoned the pork with salt , pepper, fennel seed, bay leaf, and thyme. I smothered the belly with garlic, celery, onion, and carrots, doused everything with sherry and tightly double wrapped everything in foil. Roast the package at 200 degrees for 5 hours. Turn off the oven and let the belly cool in the oven for 2 hours.

Cut the belly into serving portions and crisp the fat side in a hot non-stick skillet until it is browned and crusty. I was going to discard the vegetables, but they were still in such good condition that I just served them under the belly. Some recipes call for making a sauce with the vegetbles and drippings, but there was just too much rendered fat for me to deal with.

This is almost flavor overload, so tender and succulent.

2010-07-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

My "New" Copper Pans

Well, at least new to me. We left early Saturday morning to look for some Holly trees, and on the way to the nursery we came upon an estate sale. It was still early and a couple of hours before I had to leave for work, so we went in. On the outside it was a neat and tidy brick bungalow located in the neighborhood known as Holly Hills, close to Carondelet Park. Inside it was crammed full of stuff. Curios, and curio cabinets, furniture, collectibles, and clothes. It was obviously someone's lifetime accumulation. It looks to have been a happy life, although everything was quite dirty and grimy. There was alot of religious iconography, several fur coats-each stylish in their era, fancy gowns, men's suits as well. Since it was the last day of the sale everything was half off.

In the corner of a very greasy, dirty kitchen was a sad little pan rack with several pans hanging on it-and a sign which read, set $35.00-there were 7 pans and 5 lids. Some of the pans were so covered in grime that you could barely recognize them as copper.

Several pans had their original price tags still attached and labels and care instructions still on the inside. I don't think they were ever used. After at least 5 hours of elbow grease and a couple tubs of Twinkle Copper Cream, the pans look beautiful. The half off sale price came to $17.50 or less than $3.00 per pan.

Note to Mom:Remember the time in South Padre and Mexico we went to all those flea markets looking for copper pans-well I finally found them.

2010-07-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

Mess of Tomatoes with Red French Vinaigrette

Growing up, my mom always had a jar of homemade salad dressing in the refrigerator-we also had all the bottled varieties, but my dad's favorite was mom's. We didn't call it Red French we just called it the homemade one, but I guess Red French would be a better description. I like it because it's not thick and heavy like some versions, it is more of a vinaigrette. It separates and must be shaken before using. For this tomato salad, I added some feta cheese, but blue cheese is also an excellent addition and a welcome change from all those creamy white blue cheese dressings. This isn't her exact recipe, but pretty close with a couple of additions.

We had an abundance of different kinds of tomatoes this week-Roma, beefsteak, heirloom, grape, yellow, etc.-so I just cleaned them and cut them up and tossed them all together with some feta, basil, and some home grown red onion from the Zakibe tribe and dressed it with Red French Vinaigrette.

Red French Vinaigrette

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoonsWorcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup olive oil (my mom probably used a vegetable oil)

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously, let the vinaigrette sit a couple of hours in the refrigerator, remove the garlic clove before serving.

2010-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Savory Ham and Guyere Bread

I read this in the New York Times Dining section last Wednesday. The article hyped it so much, I couldn't wait to try it. It was disappointing-maybe the article led me to expect too much or maybe I didn't have a glass of wine or cocktail in hand while I was sampling the bread. The article alluded that the French used this bread as an excuse to open a bottle of wine. It is sort of the poor cousin of Gougere. The recipe uses a quick bread or muffin type recipe, without the sugar, and replaces the sweet with a rich savory quality. It is called a cake because it is baked in a loaf pan or muffin tins.

I added olives to the recipe, and the olives were the best part of the bread, it just seemed so bland. No one hated it, but no one really liked it either, One of the cooks said it was good when he dipped it into his cup of spicy gumbo, another said it would be good with grape jelly-We had a chuckle at that laugh line-then I had him clean the fryers. Read the original article here.

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoonsbaking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup olive oil
6 ounces ham, diced into 1/4 inch dice-about 1 1/2 cups
6 ounces Guyere, 1/2 coarsely grated, 1/2 diced into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup roughly chopped olives

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray your loaf pan with a release spray

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, salt, and pepper.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the mile and olive oil.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, do not over mix. Fold in the ham, cheese, and olives.

Scrape the batter into the loaf pans and spread evenly.

Bake until golden and a pick coomes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool the loaf slightly, and unmold onto a wire rack-wait an additional 1/2 hour before slicing or the bread may crumble.

Afterthoughts:It might have been helped with a topping or spread like a chutney, tomato relish, or something mustardy.

2010-07-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

Collossally Fail Okra

Not everything turns out the way you plan. I bought this okra at farmer's market last week, and I knew even when I was buying them they were too big-but they just looked so beautiful. I stewed the life right out of these pods and was still left with a fibrous inedible mess-truly like chewing on a log. Which is too bad, because the sauce was a delicious sweet and sour curry. I'll try it again and I will never buy such large okra again.

2010-07-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Greek Ribs

These ribs are just so appealing, they are slightly tart from the lemon and red wine vinegar, savory from the oregano, slightly spicy from the pepppers, enticing with just a little smoke. And the texture combines succulent and juicy meat with a crispy fire licked crust.

2 Slabs of St Louis style baby back ribs

Marinade:

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1 cup minced onion

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 thirty-two ounce jar of Greek pepperoncini, including brine

1/2 cup fresh oregano, chopped

Salt to you taste and freshly ground black pepper

Prep your ribs by removing the silver skin along the backside of the ribs. Cut the ribs into 3 to 4 rib sections, and blanch in boiling water for five minutes.

Submerge the ribs in the marinade and let them marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

Bring the ribs to room temperature and roast them in the marinade at 300 degrees for a little over an hour, basting them every 15 minutes.

Drain the ribs and reserve the cooked marinade to use as a dipping sauce for the ribs.

Prepare a hot charcoal fire, and sear the cooked ribs until they are charred and crispy

To serve, spoon a bit of the cooked marinade with the pepperoncini over the top of the ribs and serve the remaining cooked marinade in a bowl to the side.

2010-07-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hegwood Family Reunion Potato Salad

I'm not going to the reunion, but this salad and especially this yellow Pyrex bowl reminds me of the many times I went to the reunion. This was my grandma Hegwood's bowl, and she loaded it with potato salads like this one many times. This salad is going to a Fourth of July Barbeque, and for once I'm not doing the barbequeing-which is quite all right with me-I enjoy other people's barbeque.

There really is no recipe for this salad, just boiled and diced red potatoes, hard-cooked and diced eggs, celery, onion, and pickles. Mix with mayonaise flavored with bright yellow hot dog mustard (French's). I sprinkled parsley on top, but grandma would have probably put egg slices on top with some paprika.

2010-07-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

Arabian Okra-Bamia

I've become a big fan of Middle Eastern cooking these days. The flavors of olive oil, garlic, lemon, cumin, coriander, and fresh mint can just be magical. The origins of this dish came from Claudia Roden's "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" originally published in 1968-my copy still has its original $3.95 price sticker still attached. I bought my copy used much later, in 1968 I was still in high school struggling with chemistry and Latin way before I decided I'd really just rather cook.

At Farmer's market this one farmer had his okra sitting right next to his beautiful yellow wax beans, so I bought some of each. Claudia's recipe contains just okra, onion, and tomatoes-I just decided to add the wax beans. I believe this would qualify as a "mezze" in Arabic or the equivalent of "tapas" or what has just become "small plates" on alot of American menus.

1 pound fresh okra

1 pound fresh yellow wax beans

1 medium white onion, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

2 large tomatoes, skinned and rough chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Juice of two lemons

Salt and pepper to your liking

Chopped fresh mint, parsley, and cilantro (about 1/4 cup total)

Blanch the okra and beans separately in boiling salted water until they are just done and still crisp-tender.

In a saute pan large enough to hold all of the ingredients, heat the oil and add the coriander, garlic, and onions; let these flavorings sizzle a minute or two-do not let them brown.

Add the drained vegetables and the tomatoes, simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes.

Off the heat, add the lemon juice and taste for salt and pepper. Fold in most of the fresh herbs, reserving some to garnish the top of the salad.

Best served at room temperature. Really good made one day ahead and refrigerated-just make sure it comes to room temperature before you serve it.

2010-06-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ma Kettle Meets Julia Child

The humble pork steak makes another appearance in my kitchen and proves you really can make a silk purse from the sow's ear, or at least her shoulder. The mushrooms are not eco friendly at all, they were brought in from Oregon, but I couldn't resist them. So the pork steak is the humble, mongrelish Ma Kettle in this narrative, while the morel mushroom is the pedigreed sophisticated Julia Child. While they may seem like an inconguous couple, they actually make quite a tasty dish.

For the steaks:

4 pork steaks (about 12 to 14 ounces each)

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup onion slices

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Brine the steaks for at least two hours before starting

Grill the steaks over hot coals to sear on both sides, place the steaks in a grill proof pan and cover with the stock, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover with aluminum foil and put to the back of the grill, and let simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is very tender. Replenish the fire if necessary.

For the sauce:

2 Tablespoons butter

4 ounces fresh Morel Mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

2 Tablespoons minced shallot

1/4 cup julienned ham

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup heavy cream

Saute the mushrooms, shallot, and ham in the butter.

Deglaze the pan with the sherry, strain the stock that the steaks cooked in and add it to the mushrooms.

Reduce the mixture by 1/3 and add the cream, reduce slightly until the sauce thickens, taste for seasoning and pour the sauce over the pork steaks.

2010-06-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

Weekend in The Country

Last weekend was Father's day, it was also my parents 58 th wedding anniversary and my mother's birthday, so I made a trip back home to see them all and celebrate. Eventhough I haven't lived there for going on 40 years now, I still consider it home. These pictures were all taken in and around Princeville and Camp Grove IL about 30 miles North of Peoria. They were taken at my sisters, my nephew's and at my uncles Bill's garden. My uncle Bill is an organic, seed saving gardner-his garden is just huge and also lush. The corn and tomatoes aren't ready yet, but we had new potatoes-red and white-green beans, beets, and onions.

We had a couple of barbeques and even a few nips of moonshine, brought back from someone's recent trip down South. Life in the country can be idyllic, but I don't think I could give up my city ways.

2010-06-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Corn Tortillas

Let me get this out-I am not a good tortilla maker-I just don't have a natural way with pastry, I don't know why because both my grandmothers made exceptional pie crusts, but not me. That doesn't stop me from doing it anyway. These tortillas are so simple and taste so complex and rich it is hard to believe that masa and water are the only ingredients involved. I don't have a tortilla press, I just roll the dough out between sheets of plastic wrap with a rolling pin, so they are a bit on the ugly side, so while they won't win the beauty crown they will win the personality contest with their charm and flavor.

2 cups Masa Harina
1 1/3 cups warm water

Measure the masa into a mixing bowl, slowly stir in the water-here is the catch, like most pastry the masa will absorb different amounts of water on different days depending on things like humidity-so it is the art to add just the right amount of water.

Work the dough with your hands it should be dense and moist, but not sticky or wet. You can add additional water or masa to get the right feel. One positive thing about working with masa is that you can't over work it like you can flour pastries.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 1/2 hour at room temperature

Get you cast iron skillet or griddle medium hot

Pinch off a golf-ball sized piece of dough and roll between your palms

Place the ball between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll out into a 6 to 8 inch circle

Place the tortill on the hot dry griddle-there should be a subtle sizzling

After 1 minute flip the tortill, it will probably puff up

After 30 seconds flip again for 30 more seconds remove the tortilla and keep warm until you serve them

2010-06-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Berenjenas en Escabeche

I started out making this dish before I could even name it. I bought this eggplant at Farmer's Market and planned to make this chinese garlic and ginger dish I love, but I couldn't resist the Rick Bayless recipe from my previous post, and I didn't think I wanted to mix Asian and Mexican, so I thought I would just take the Asian flavors (ginger, garlic, Mirin, sesame etc.) out and replace them with Mexican flavors of garlic, onion, Jalapeno, oregano, cumin, and Cilantro.

It appears that this is a common everyday dish in Argentina, as a condiment to all that grilled meat or as a sandwich topping. The eggplant was a superb compliment to the pork steaks. Eggplant is such a happy little camper and plays well with so many cuisines and flavors. The additions of mango juice and the mango salsa garnish isn't traditional but it was quite beautiful and the flavors all worked so well together.

1 eggplant, thickly sliced, liberally salted and let to drain for 1/2 hour

1 small onion minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 small Jalapeno pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin

1/4 cup Mango juice

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Chopped fresh Oregano and Cilantro

Rinse the salt off the eggplant and dry the slices

In a saute pan over medium high heat brown the slices in a little olive oil drain on paper towels

In the sam pan, add the onion, garlic, Jalapeno, and Cumin

Stir cook the flavoring over heat until they are softened, add the mango juice and vinegar

Reduce the liquid slightly-2 to 3 minutes-cool slightly and stir in the olive oil

Layer the eggplant slices attractively in a serving platter and pour the vinegar mixture over them

Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the chopped fresh herbs over the top

Optional Garnish:Fresh Mango Salsa

2010-06-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Puerco en Adobo

Pork with rich red-chili sauce, based on a recipe from Rick Bayless's "Authentic Mexican" book. Pork steaks are a St Louis regional dish you don't see often in other parts of the country. They are a slice from the shoulder. They have a bone and a cross section slice of several different muscles of varying degrees of tendernesss all held together by connective tissue. Here in St louis they are usually grilled and slathered in a sweet Kansas City style barbeque sauce. After reading one of Bayless's recipes I decided it would be perfect for pork steaks, he uses boneless pork loin.

4 pork steaks (10 to 12 ounces each)

8 dried chiles ancho, stemmed, seeded and deveined

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup diced onion

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leves

6 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1 cup mango juice (Bayless uses orange juice)

1 Tablespoon Splenda (or sugar)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a saute pan, toast the chiles in hot oil, drain them and cover with boiling water, let the chiles soak for several hours or overnight. Keep them submerged by weighing them down with a small plate.

In the same saute pan, saute the onion and garlic until caramelised and browned, strain the onions and garlic, letting the oil drain back into the saute pan.

Drain the chiles and squeeze dry. Place the chiles, garlic, onions, cumin, bay, oregano, and thyme in a food processor and puree, adding 1/2 cup broth and 2 tablespoons of the vinegar. Strain the puree through a medium mesh sieve.

In the saute pan with the reserved oil, saute the puree for several minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the juice and remaining broth and let simmer for about 45 minutes, partially covered. Stir and check the sauce often to make sure it is not sticking to the pan bottom. Season with the salt, sugar, and pepper.

Cool the sauce and take 1/4 cup of sauce and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of vinegar, marinate the pork steaks in this mixture for several hours. Refrigerate the remaining sauce until you are ready to grill the steaks.

Prepare the grill to medium hot-I always grill over charcoal-bring the pork and sauce to room temperature. Sear the steaks on both sides and grill several minutes. Place the steaks in a disposable foil pan, cover with the sauce and cover with foil, place at the back of the grill and simmer them gently over a low fire for an hour, replenishing the charcoal as necessary.

2010-06-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Honey Lavender Ice Cream with Golden Raspberries in Lavender Syrup

Here is a delightlgul ice cream that I have been making for years. It comes from the original "Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook" by Alice Waters. I usually don't care much for Lavender as a flavoring-mostly because it is just so easy to over do it and it seems like you're eating a bag of pot pourri. Here I used just a whisper of lavender to perfume the ice cream and also the syrup for the raspberries. One bite transports you to the South of France and sunny Provence.

4 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup robust honey (preferably one local to your area)

5 egg yolks

a lavender blossom

In a double boiler over hot water, whisk 3 cups of the cream, honey, and eggs. Whisk continually until the mixture thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the lavender blossom and let steep for 1 minute, taste for the lavender. If you want a more pronounced lavender flavor, let the custard steep longer. Strain the custard and chill thoroughly-I usually let the custard chill overnight to make the creamiest textured ice cream.

For the Raspberries:

1 pint golden raspberries, washed

1 cup water

1 cup Splenda (or sugar, of course-we're trying to cut down on sugar-the Splenda worked well)

1 Lavender blossom

Bring the water and splenda to the boil, add the berries and simmer til the berries just barely soften. Turn off the heat and add the Lavendar-again taste until you achieve the right Lavendar accent, remove the blossom and chill the berries until you're ready to serve them.

2010-06-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

French Barley Salad with Fresh Dill

This salad is an adaptation from one of the Moosewood cookbooks, I don't remember which one, and I first saw it on someone else's blog, which I can't remember either. It is a refreshing and healthy alternative to all the usual mayonaise laden summer salads. Dill seems to be the unwanted step-child of the herb garden. It is always a difficult sell in the restaurant, and it doesn't please serious wine drinkers. I am told that it is the Herb of the Year for the Herb Society. So let's give Dill a little respect and let Basil, Oregano, and Cilantro have a little rest.

2 cups of cooked barley

2 carrots, cut into bite sized chunks and blanched until crisp-tender

1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched until crisp-tender

1 sweet red pepper, julienned

1/4 pound mushrooms, quartered

1/2 cup toasted nuts-I used pecans

Dressing

Juice of two lemons

2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small shallot, minced

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, extra for garnish

Whisk the ingredients together and fold into the salad

2010-06-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

Fried Chicken at The Kitchen Conservatory

Last week I taught a class on Frying Chicken. Usually I do demonstration classes, but Ruth (she's the techie and scheduler at Kitchen Conservatory) talked me into a participation class. Demonstration classes are easier for me being a control freak as I am-at least in the kitchen. It's pretty hard to control everything in a participation class. It was quite enjoyable.

I started by dividing them into teams of three members each. I chose three different recipes and three different techniques for frying chicken. They started with learning to butcher a chicken. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this because I was too busy running from team to team and directing their knives-everyone was successful and no lost finger tips. They also had to make an old fashioned creamed corn dish, mashed potatoes (hand mashed and riced), cream gravy, and strawberry applesauce bread.

They had to do an electric deep-fried chicken, a kettle deep-fried chicken over an open flame, and a pan-fried chicken done in a cast iron skillet, in lard. Not surprising to me the favorite chicken was the one pan-fried in lard in the cast iron skillet. We won't worry about cholesterol for this one.

I'll probably repeat this class at some time in the future-who knew so many people don't know how to fry chicken.

2010-05-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

Roasted Radishes

I got these radishes at the farmer's market, grown by Mrs.Kruse of Columbia IL, and many St Louis area chefs and foodie types will know her. Her vegetables, herbs, and flowers are always just beautiful. The radish greens just seemd too fresh and healthy to pitch, so I began searching the web for radish green recipes-there aren't many. Last Spring when I was making the gumbo z'herbs I read Leah Chase's recipe (She is the remarkable chef/owner of Dookie Chase in NOLA)

and she used radish greens in her soup mix, before that I never considered eating radish greens.

I came across a recipe from St Louis's chef Gerard Craft of Niche restaurant, published in Food and Wine magazine. Chef Craft is a wunderkind guy who is garnering all sorts of awards and acclamations for his food. Sadly, since I work the nights he is open, I haven't been able to eat there yet, but absolutely everyone I've talked to really admires it.

I think the colors of these radishes are also lovely and unusual. The lavendar radishes were quite sweet, the red ones were the hottest. The greens were bitter, but tamed by the lemon juice and butter.

So Here is Chef Craft's recipe (not exactly word for word, but in spirit)

One bunch of radishes with greens attached

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, divided

Detach the greens from the radishes and thoroughtly clean the radishes and the greens.

Quarter the radishes and lightly brown them in an ovenproof skillet with the olive oil, place the radishes in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

When the radishes are tender, add 1/4 cup lemon juice to the pan, season with salt and pepper, reserve while the greens cook.

In the skillet, wilt the radish greens, season with salt pepper, add the remaining lemon juice and butter.

I served the radishes over the greens.

2010-05-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

Birthday

I had quite a little birthday celebration over the weekend. Cards, e-mails, presents, flowers, and a cake-I am a truly blessed man. 57 is the majic number this year.

We feasted on:

Roasted radishes-I'll do a separate post on them

Grilled corn on the cob

Rib eye steaks with chimichuri

Baked potato boats with asparagus and St Andre cheese

Chocolate cake with 7 minute icing and cinnamon ice cream.

2010-05-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

La Paloma

These are addictive, salty-sweet-tart-boozy-juicy, much more appealing than Margarita. Translates to English as "The Dove".

Salt the rim of your highball glass

Fill the glass with ice

Squeeze one quarter lime into the glass and toss in the ssqueezed lime

Add 1 shot of white tequila

Add a splash of fresh grapefruit juice

Top with Squirt

2010-05-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

Spit Roasted Leb of Lamb

The inspiration for this dinner is from my favorite taco stand. They serve a Tacos al Pastore that are quite tasty. You don't see these tacos any other place in town. They start with small corn tortillas topped with a marinated and grilled pork and pineapple-they are exceptional. I started researching this unusual taco. From what I understand it was an adaptation from Lebanese immigrants to Mexico. Today it seems to be made more often with pork than lamb, but I read that it started with lamb. I wonder why they didn't use goat because the flavor of goat and lamb are so similar.

In Mexico, the meat is vertically spit roasted with a pineapple at the top, so that the pineapple juices flow down, basting the meat. I have a small horizontal spit, so I had to brush pineapple juice over the roast as it turned. I roasted it for about 1 1/2 hours and let the leg rest for 20 minutes before slicing it, it was perfectly roasted to medium rare with lovely rosy, juicy slices of lamb.

I had every intention of making small corn tortillas for this, but as I said in my other post I had been doing yard work all day and there was no Maiz in the pantry to make them with, so I used a nasty store bought corn tortilla-it was still delicious. Add some rice and a fresh salsa made with pineapple, avocado, red onion, and jalapeno to turn a taco into a sit-down supper for Sunday night.

1 leg of lamb-I used a half leg, about 4 1/2 pounds

Marinade

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup pineapple juice

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeno, minced

Combine all the ingredients in a zip lock bag large enough to hold the lamb, add the lamb, and coat all sides, let the lamb marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

An hour before roasting, remove the lamb from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, drain off the marinade and place the leg on the spit, roast until medium rare-about 125 degrees, as your roast rests before slicing, it will continue to cook until the temperature reaches about 130 degrees-perfect for me. Baste the lamb with additional pineapple juice as it roasts.

Serve with a fresh pineapple and avocado salsa and some rice cooked with vegetables and a roasted poblano chili.

2010-05-03T05:32:00.000-07:00

Tequila Pineapple Martini

We spent all day Sunday working on the yard and planting containers. At the end of the day I shook up this special martini to enjoy while we sat on the deck to enjoy all the flora and fauna.

2 ounces Tequila

Pineapple juice

juice of 1/2 lime

Kosher salt

Pineapple spear, for garnish

Lime wheel, for garnish

Run a cut lime around the rim of you glass and dip in the salt to salt the rim.

Fill you shaker with ice, add the tequila, a splash of pineapple juice and the lime juice.

Shake vigorously, strain into the salted glass, garnish with pineapple and lime wheel, and enjoy your freshly planted environment.

2010-04-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

New Toys for More Playing With My Food

I purchased a couple of lights and a backdrop sweep. It will be fun to begin playing with the background colors and how the food bounces off it. Here is one of my first attempts. I photographed a glass bowl of pea shoots against a brilliant yellow back ground.

2010-04-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Egg Foo Yong

Growing up in small town Mid-America in the 60's, Chinese food was the most exotic food we knew. My family really enjoyed it when we made the 45 mile trek to Peoria, where the closest Chinese restaurant was located. My mom would always bring home some Chinese tea bags, because she said "It's always the best"-and, as usual, she was right. Egg Foo Yong is one of those Americanised Chinese dishes i really like. I think it makes a really elegant Sunday breakfast.

Egg Foo Yong is really just an unrolled omlet with bits of vegetabes and meat stirred in, and topped with a brown sauce. I used some pea shoots, bean sprouts, scallion, and left over lamb chop. Garlic, ginger, sesame, sherry, and soy sauce are always part of my Chinese cooking. I topped my eggs with a brown sauce made of chicken broth with the afore mentioned flavors and seasonings. I used some oyster mushrooms in the sauce as well, Shiitake would have been more appropriate, but they are my least favorite mushroom-I eat them once in a while, but I prefer these oyster mushrooms.

2010-04-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Persian Lamb Chops with Sour Cherry Rice

While putting together Easter and Mother's Day menus, I came across this dish posted by "Hummingbird" on one of the eGullet forums. I'll be changing the lamb to pork tenderloins for my Mother's Day menu. Despite growing some terrific lamb here in the Mid-west, Mid-westerners don't consume much of it. Likewise, in Iran, where this dish would have originally developed, no one would ever make it with pork. I also will not be calling the dish Persian-after all we are practically at war with these people. The dish will be retitled "Cherry Wine glazed Pork Tenderloin" (because I'm adding cherry wine to the sauce) with cherry rice pilaf. Or maybe I should drop the pilaf part and just call it cherry rice-some people might think pilaf is "too French sounding" . Whatever it ends up being called, it is quite a savorous combination of vittles.

This recipe calls for sour or tart cherries-not the sweet ones-canned or jarred in juice or light syrup.

Marinade

1 cup yogurt

1/4 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh ginger

Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients and marinate the chops a couple of hours or overnight. Hummingbird used leg of lamb, not chops, and she roasted it rather than grill it. This is enough marinade to cover 8 thick cut chops or a leg of lamb.

I grilled the chops over a medium fire. You have to be careful of flare-ups and not getting the fire too hot as the honey in the marinade burns easily.

Cherry Rice

1/4 cup carrots, small dice

1/4 cup shallot, small dice

1/4 cup celery, small dice

1/2 cup sour cherries, drained

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups Jasmin rice

3 cups of water

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped pistachios

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid, abd saute the vegetables and cherries for about 5 minutes until they are soft, but not browned.

Add the rice and stir to thoroughly combine, continue to cook until the rice becomes opaque and milky-two to three minutes longer.

Add the water and seasoning and bring the pot to the boil, cover and place in a 350 degree pre-heated oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender and fluffy.

Top with chopped pistachios and serve.

Cherry Wine Glaze

2 Tablespoons shallots, minced

1/2 cup sour cherries, drained

1/2 cup cherry juice

1 cup cherry wine

1/2 cup butter, cut into small cubes

In a saute pan, bring the shallots, cherries, juice, and wine to the boil, and reduce until the liquid is syrupy, mount the glaze with the butter and serve-this glaze does not hold, serve immediately.

2010-04-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

Roast Chicken with Fennel Confit

I took my fennel confit recipe and added some santa grape tomatoes to it and topped with some chicken, placed it in a roasting pan with some par-boiled rice and made a sort of one dish casserole. First I made the confit and parboiled the rice for about 5 minutes. I layered the confit on half the bottom of a pyrex baking dish, on the other half I layered the rice. I sauteed the chicken in a very hot saute pan only until the skin was browned. I placed the chicken over the confit and rice in the baking dish and added some chicken stock. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Uncover and bake further until the chicken is crisped again and the rice is tender-add more stock if necessary.

Fennel Confit

1 pound fresh fennel, thinly sliced crosswise

5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup golden raisins

2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds

Juice and zest of one orange

Pinch of saffron

1 pint of Santa grape tomatoes

Chopped fresh Cilantro

Salt and pepper

Saute the fennel and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes, the vegetables should be slightly soft, but not browned.

Stir in the raisins, coriander, juice, zest, and saffron. Stir-cook for another 2 minutes. Taste for the seasoning and add the grape tomatoes. Serve at room temperature, or proceed with the rest of the recipe and bake with the rice and chicken in a casserole. This is really good with any roast chicken or also with fish. Garnish with fresh Cilantro

2010-04-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Scallops with Papaya, Avocado, and Arugula.

I was developing this dish for a fish class at The Kitchen Conservatory that never never quite got off the ground. I really enjoyed the vibrant colors and the clean sweet flavors of the scallops and fruit snapped with the acidity of the vinaigrette and the bitter greens. I will definitely file this away for another day.

1 pound of scallops (these were bay, but sea scallops would work as well)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 papaya, peeled, seeded, and cut into strips, tossed with fresh lime juice

1 avocado, peeled, cut into strips, tossed with fresh lime juice

1 small red onion, cut into thin rings and soaked in ice water to tame

Fresh lime juice

5 cups baby Arugula

In a very hot saute pan, briefly sear the scallops in the oil, remove from the pan and toss with some of the lime juice, hold until you are ready to assemble the salad.

Spicy Orange Vinaigrette

1 Tablespoon of Champage or white wine vinegar

Zest and juice of one orange

2 Tablespoons of fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 Tablespoons chopped Cilantro

1 hot chili, seeded and minced

1/2 cup fruity olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine vinaigrette ingredients and mix well.

Lay the arugula on the bottom of a serving platter.

Arrange the scallops, papaya, avocado, and oinion slices over the arugula.

Drizzle with the vinaigrette and garnish with the Cilantro.

2010-03-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti with Brown Butter and Mizithra

One of the Gallagher's children's birthday was last week, and her favorite restaurant is "The Old Spaghetti Factory" so I recreated her favorite dish from that restaurant for her and her boyfriend's birthday dinner at the restaurant. That must be the most horrible and tortured sentence I have ever written, but I guess it explains this post. I have been to "The Old Spaghetti Factory" once, but I don't remember it well, or why I was there. It is a huge place located on "Laclede's Landing" on the St Louis riverfront. Laclede's Landing is a touristy area of shops and restaurants with a large number of pick-up meat market type bars-Spaghetti Factory is one of the touristy family style places, relatively inexpensive, large portions, great for families because it is located close to all the hometown teams-Rams, Cardinals, and Blues.

Mizithra is a Greek sheep's milk hard cheese that is made out of the whey from Feta Cheese. The cheese is like a mild feta, not quite as salty and pungent, a nice alternative to Parmesan for a change.

It seems that there alot of copy-cat recipes for this dish all over the internet, and it is quite simple

Here is the ratio:

1 pound cooked pasta

1/2 pound clarified brown butter

1 cup grated Mizithra cheese

Minced fresh parsley

I thought this dish was pretty simple and delicious, please note that Mizithra does not melt, it remains chewy.

2010-03-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Butterscotch Ice Cream and Date, Macadamia Nut, Coconut Cookies

This ended up being a little too rich for me, but the ice cream and the cookies were both delicious.

Butterscotch Ice Cream

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons of butter

1 Tablespoon rum

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups half and half

6 egg yolks

Heat the cream, sugar, butter until smooth and bubbly, add the rum, let the mixture cool.

Heat the half and half to the simmering point.

In a mixing bowl, whip the eggs, add some hot half and half to the eggs, the return the egg mixture to the pan of hot half and half. Whisk until the mixture thickens-do not boil.

Thoroughly combine the two mixtures and let chill over night before freezing in your ice cream freezer.

Date, Macadamia Nut, Coconut Cookies

1/4 pound butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 Tablespoons Vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup coarsely chopped dates

1 cup coarsely chopped toasted Macadamia nuts

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup rolled oats

Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until smooth and creamy, add the egg and vanilla.

Add the flour. Fold in the dates, nuts, and coconut.

Drop the batter by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, makes about 3 dozen cookies.

2010-02-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

Lunch at Le Perroquet Circa 1977

Jovan Treboyevic, a particularly brilliant Chicago Restaurateur passed away on January 13th-he was 89. He also owned Jovan's and a private dining club Les Nomades. I never met him, but I did have lunch at Le Perroquet in 1977. It was one of those unforgettable meals that food obsessed people always carry with them. The restaurant was located on Walton Street in the heart of Chicago's Gold Coast. It was pretty intimidating for me, but I was with two other people who knew their way around French restaurants and how to order.

You had to ride a beautiful old elevator of polished brass and scarlet velvet upholstery to the third floor where the restaurant was located. It was a hushed sanctuary of crisp white linens, gleaming and heavy silverware, and dining banquets upholstered in the same brilliant scarlet velvet as the elevator. There were also some tastefull and understated parrot motifs to reinforce the name.

I will never forget the cauliflour mousse that was my first course that day. It was revelatory to me to use a humble vegetable like cauliflour to make such an elegant and unusual (for me) dish. I have been thinking about this dish since reading Jovan's obituary. This is not his recipe, it is my own concoction-and not as silky smooth as his, and definitely not his carrot sauce-I'm pretty sure he would have considered that quite inappropriate. His mousse was sauced in a pristine white veloute.

Cauliflour Mousse with Carrot-Ginger Emulsion

1 head of cauliflour

1 shallot, minced

1 cup plus 1/4 cup heavy cream

3 eggs

Salt, white pepper, and nutmeg to taste

Blanch the cauliflour in salted water until tender-about 20 minutes.

Drain the cauliflour and return to the pan with 1/4 cup cream and continue to cook the cauliflour in the cream until it is totally soft and the cream is absorbed.

Cool slightly and puree the cauliflour.

Make a custard with the remaning cream and eggs, season and fold the cauliflour and custard together.

Ladel the cauliflour mixture into greased ramekins of timbales and bake in a Bain Marie in a 325 degree oven for about 30 to 45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool slightly, run a thin knife around the ramekin's edge and invert to unmold the mousse onto a serving plate. Makes 4 to 6 servings depending on the size of your molds.

Spoon some of the Carrot-Ginger Emulsion around the mousse.

Carrot-Ginger Emulsion

2 cups of carrot juice

2 Tablespoons of fresh ginger, minced

1 carrot, grated

1/4 cup cream

3/4 pound butter, softened slightly

Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

Combine the carrot juice, the ginger, and grated carrot in a small sauce pan and simmer for ten minutes. Puree the mixture and return it to the sauce pan. Add the cream and reduce the mixture to about 1 cup. Slowly whisk in the butter 2 tablespoons at a time. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

2010-02-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

Gumbo z'Herbes

I wanted to post one more New Orleans recipe I made recently, this was quite delicious. I didn't make a roux, so it's not a proper gumbo, but the flavors are superb and sometimes a lighter broth is more welcome than the thicker roux gumbos. This gumbo, also known as green gumbo has so many variations and greens that you can add-the more the better.

1 whole chicken

1 large ham hock

1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1" pieces

1 large onion, diced

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 green bell pepper, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly

1 bunch collards, cleaned and cut into 1" pieces

1 bunch turnip greens, cleaned and cut into 1" pieces

1 bunch mustard greens, cleaned and cut into 1" pieces

1/2 cup fresh tarragon leaves

1 cup minced parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Tablespoon sugar (optional)

1 cup long grain rice

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, bring 1 1/2 gallons of water to the boil, add the chicken and the ham hock, stew gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the chicken and hock from the pot and let cool.

Add everything except the rice to the broth in the stock pot, when the chicken and hock are cool enough to handle, pick the meat and add it back to the stock pot.

Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour. Taste for seasoning, if the green are too bitter add the optional sugar.

Add the rice and continue to simmer unti the rice is tender.

Spinach, beet greens, carrot tops are other greens often used in this gumbo.

2010-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Mardi Gras

I taught this menu twice this month at two different Dierberg locations, both classes were sold out, and several students said they were planning their own crawfish boils. I know I've posted about crawfish boils several times on Kitchen Inferno, but I don't know if I ever put up a recipe.

12 pounds of crawfish

3 pounds of shrimp-24-26 count

6 ears of corn, shucked and cut in half

3 pounds of red "B" potatoes

2 pounds of andouille sausage, cut into 1" pieces

3 lemons cut in half-squeeze juice into the broth

1 head of garlic cut in half crosswise

2 large onions, peeled and quartered

1 cup Louisiana hot sauce, such as Crystal

1/4 cup liquid crab boil seasoning-sold in most seafood departments and shops

1 cup dry crab boil seasoning, sold in most seafood departments and shops

1 cup Kosher salt

1 Tablespoon Cayenne

In a large stock pot, bring 30 quarts of water to the boil. Add the crab seasonings, lemons and juice, garlic, onions, hot sauce, cayenne, and salt-bring to the boil and simmer 1/2 hour-taste for saltiness and spiciness-the liquid should have a salty and spicy bite to it.

Add the potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the corn and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Add the crawfish, shrimp, and sausage, bring to the boil, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the Crawfish boil steep in the broth for 1/2 hour before serving.

Serve with melted butter and spicy mayonaise dips.

2010-02-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

Breakfast at Cafe Osage at Bowood Farm

I don't get to dine out that often, I'm usually working or cooking at home. This week I taught a class on Wednesday, prepared a wedding dinner on Friday, and a sold out prix fixe dinner on Saturday for Valentine'sDay. I was showing a little fatigue, so Sunday I slept in and we went out for breakfast. The Cafe Osage is a restaurant located in a greenhouse/nursery that is housed in an old automobile parts warehouse in the middle of an inner city neighborhood. The actual farm is located in Clarksville, MO. On their farm they grow most of the perennials, shrubs etc. that they sell-they also produce bison.

I enjoyed breakfast, but I was a little disappointed. The dining room is small and we were seated at an extremely small table for two next to the door. There were larger booths and tables that looked more comfortable for larger groups. The tablescape was plain-only a container of sugar and sugar substitute. In a restaurant located inside a warehouse filled with plants, I expected a small pot of herbs or ivy at least to center the table. Some tables were set with proper silverware and a nice cloth napkin, but our table only got napkins and forks. Cream was stirred into our coffee with the forks. Spoons and knives arrived after they were requested.

Cheese grits arrived luke warm with cold cheese shreds on top, which never melted. The grits had decent flavor with cheese already incorporated into them-they would have been better than the ones you get in most places if they had been a bit warmer.

I had corned beef hash with poached eggs. The hash was delicious and hot, but it arrived with one of my egg yolks already broken-at least the eggs weren't overcooked. Service was friendly, but they seemed a little stressed. The bill was presented rather cleverly in an old text book. It would probably be more festive to visit this place in the Spring when the outside areas and courtyard are filled with plants.

2010-02-09T08:31:00.000-08:00

Dr Pepper BBQ Ribs for Superbowl

We're not really big sports fans here, but any excuse to make ribs and have people over is ok with me. These ribs turned out really good-they are sticky and sweet, but not as sweet as the popular commercial sauces like KC or Sweet Baby Ray's- which I find a little too cloying.

I soaked the ribs overnight in salted Dr Pepper, remove them from the brine a couple of hours before you grill them so that they can dry well before you grill them. I made a simple dry rub of cayenne, cumin, and ground pepper and applied it before I put them on a very low charcoal grill. You must keep all the coals off to one side of the grill and place the ribs on the side without the coals so that it becomes an indirect heat and smoke source. Add more coals to the fire as the old ones begin to extinguish. It took over three hours and I estimate the grill temperature to have stayed between 275 and 300 degrees. During the last 1/2 hour of grilling, I began applying the glaze. The ribs were sweet and sticky, but they were not swimming in sauce. They were also juicy, tender and succulent. I should point out that I bought the ribs at Soulard Farmer's Market, from a local grower-you can never over state the case for good, fresh meat to start with.

Dr Pepper Glaze

2 cups Dr Pepper soda

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup molasses

Mix all of the ingredients and bring to the boil, reduce slightly until the mixture is thick and syrupy.

2010-02-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Chiliquiles

I'm not sure if this is Mexican or Tex-Mex, but I do know that Chiliquiles are probably now served in cities across the country. Maybe my cousin Kevin will read this and enlighten us, as he is an expert in all things Texan (he's an alum of Texas Tech, and a resident of Plano,Tx), since his wife is Mexican he's pretty knowledgeable about things Mexican. So Kevin, is it Mexican or Tex-Mex and what is the difference between Chiquiles and Migas?

Since I'm not an expert on Tex-Mex or Mexican, I just prepare things the way I want without regard to tradition or protocol. Here is my hands down favorite combination-no salsa, no tomato, and no sour cream-just onions, garlic, corn tortillas, chorizo, nopales, eggs, cheddar cheese.

First I crisp corn tortillas in a skillet with butter, I remove them and reserve them on paper toweling. In the same skillet brown the chorizo, add some chopped garlic and onion, add some beaten eggs and the crisped tortillas, add the nopales and stir cook until the eggs set, stir in some cheese. To serve, top with some more cheese and wrap the mixture in steamed flour tortillas-this is really simple and delicious.

2010-01-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

Last week we buried my beloved 96 year old grandmother. Of course we all talked of the many joys she brought to our lives-and food, not surprisingly, was one of the biggest. She was best known for her cream pies and her noodles. On the day ofter her service, my aunt Shirley, my cousin Kevin, and I made chicken and noodles for the family. Aunt Shirley was responsible for mixing up the noodle dough, Kevin rolled and cut the noodles, and I stewed the chickens and made the gravy. Like most women of her time, she had no recipes, she would just eye-ball the ingredients-a pinch of this and a fistfull of that and everything would just come together.

Since aunt Shirley was making the dough, she used aunt Betty's recipe (that would be aunt Betty Crocker).

3 eggs, whipped

2 cups flour (approximate)

Salt

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and let the dough rest, roll out the dough using plenty of flour and turning the dough often until the sheet of dough is very thin. Cut the dough into thin strips, and let the noodles dry-aunt Shirley lets her noodles dry overnight, but we didn't have that much time.

I stewed 4 chickens, picked the meat and let the broth simmer and concentrate. Drop the noodles into the boiling broth, the excess flour clinging to the noodles thickens the broth as the noodles cook and swell slightly, add the picked chicken to the pot and season with salt and pepper. We always serve chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes-this seems a bit starchy, but it's the way we love them.

I'm including a picture of my uncles, her son and son-in-law while they snoopervised our work to make sure they turned out like grandma's.

2010-01-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

Mussels with Black Garlic

Black garlic seems to be the "IT" ingredient of the moment. It was originally a food supplement used in Japan and Korea where it goes through a fermentation process which vastly increases its antioxident values. It has an extremely mild flavor-even more tamed than roasted garlic-really more of an after taste of sweet garlic. It is slightly sweet and has an under flavor of licorice, which I intensified by adding the fennel bulb and tarragon. For the past couple of years it has been showing up in the trendy restaurants of San Francisco and spreading from there. Of course, once a trend hits the Mid-West it is usually Passe on the coasts already.

2 pounds mussels, cleaned and scrubbed

1/4 cup minced shallot

1 head of black garlic cloves, sliced

1 fresh fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup white wine

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Fresh tarragon, chopped

Fresh parsley, chopped

Choose a pan that is large enough to hold the mussels whitout crowding them. It should be wide and shallow, but deep enough so the mussels can open without obstruction when you place a lid on the pan.

Heat the butter and oil and saute the shallot and garlic until they are soft. Add the wine and cream, salt and pepper. Add the mussels and scatter the herbs over them. Place the lid on the pan and bring the liquid to the boil. Cook only until the mussels open-no longer, or the mussels will shrink and become tough.

Serve with lots of crusty bread to sop up the juices.

2010-01-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

Pork Loin Stuffed with Ham, Swiss Cheese, Saurkraut, and Apples

1 boneless pork loin, about 4 pounds, butterflied and pounded

1/4 pound ham, thinly sliced

1/4 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cup saurkraut

1 apple, peeled and diced

1 pound carrots

1 pound potatoes

1 pound turnips

1/2 pound pearl onions

1 cup white wine

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

Sprigs of fresh Rosemary and Thyme

Lay out the butterflied and pounded loin with the cut side up. Cover the surface with a layer of the thinly sliced ham, follow with a layer of the thinly sliced cheese. Spread the saurkraut evenly over the cheese layer and scatter the diced apple over the kraut.

Roll up the roast jelly roll style and tie with butcher's twine.

Peel and blanch the vegetables, separately, place the vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan and toss with some melted butter and season with salt and pepper, Rosemary, and Thyme.

Brown the roast in a hot skillet with a bit of oil over medium high heat on all sides. Place the roast on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Deglaze the skillet the pork was browned in with 1 cup white wine-something fruity like Reisling is good, add 1 1/2 cup chicken stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Pour this over the roast and place in a preheated 350 degree oven and roast for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until the internal temperature registers 160 degrees.

Let the roast rest at least 10 minutes before carving.

Make a sauce with the pan juices and serve with the roasted vegetables

2010-01-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

Heavenly Hots

These are without a doubt the lightest, most tender, ehtereal pancakes south of St Peter's Gate. Amanda Hesser's Recipe Redux column in this Sunday's NY Times features this dish. Her descriptive adjectives for these cakes are "feathery, creamy, and tangy". The cakes are the creation of chef Bob Burnham-I could find no information on him other than what I read in the Times article. He once worked for John Hudspeth who opened Bridge Creek Cafe in Berkley in the 1980's. Hudspeth's friend, Marion Cunningham included the recipe in her "The Breakfast Book", also published in the 1980's.

Here is the recipe as printed in today's Times (and also in 1987), and here is my picture of what they looked like when I made them this morning. I paired them with some fresh blackberries and a very light blackberry syrup. Because of the ratio of flour to eggs and sour cream, they have a texture of custard or pudding. Be warned they are difficult to flip because the batter is so loose.

4 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 Tablespoons cake flour

2 cups sour cream

3 Tablespoons sugar

Solid vegetable shortening for greasing your griddle.

Whisk all the ingredients together except the shortening. Chill the batter overnight (I chilled it only for one hour).

Grease your griddle with the shortening. Whisk the batter again and drop the batter 1 tablespoon at a time onto the griddle. The cakes should spread out into circles no larger than 3 inches.

When bubbles begin to surface on the cake, flip the cake and cook briefly on the second side, the interior of the cake should be somewhat creamy. Serve with light syrup.

2010-01-11T15:02:00.001-08:00

Coq au Vin

This is a hopelessly frumpy and old-fashioned dish that never fails to charm and seduce everyone, when care is taken in the preparation. It can be a glorious chicken stew, but often it becomes a throw everything in a pot and cook for an hour, or something out of the crock pot to which chicken and wine were added. The literal translation is, of course, cock with wine, and is supposed to be made with roosters and red wine. Mushrooms and pearl onions are the traditional vegetabe garnishes, I added peas and carrots-probably a heresy of some sort, but delicious none -the-less.

Since Julia was my first French teacher-(food, wine, culture, language, etc.) I must reference her "The French Chef Cookbook" as my touchstone. I'm pretty sure she would not like adding peas and carrots to the dish, in fact she recommends peas as an additional side dish to the stew, but definitely not part of it.

To me the most important technique in Julia's recipe is to cook each component of the stew separately and then simmering them together briefly just before serving.

4 rashers of bacon

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 chickens, cut up into 8 pieces each

1/2 cup brandy

4 cups red wine

4 cups beef stock

2 Tblespoons of tomato paste

Bouquet Garnie -I used parsley, bay, and thyme

1 1/2 pounds pearl onions

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1 pound peas-I used frozen

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

Salt and pepper as needed

Render the bacon in a Dutch Oven, reserve the bacon and add oil to the pan.

Slowly brown the chicken, do not crowd the pan, do this in several batches.

When all the chicken is browned, put them back in the Dutch Oven, add the brandy and flame and reduce til almost totally evaporated.

Add the wine, stock, tomato paste, and bouquet garnie to the pot and bring it to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer over very slow heat until the chicken is cooked. Or place it in a preheated oven for 1/2 hour or 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

While the chicken cooks, prepare the vegetables. Each vegetable must be prepared separately. I start with a little butter in a saute pan, add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and saute over very low heat until the vegetables begin to soften and sizzle, just slightly browning them. Add a little stock as needed to prevent too much browning. Reserve the vegetables until the chicken is finished cooking and the sauce is thickened.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and hold, covered with foil to keep it warm.

Make a Buerre Manie with the flour and butter and thicken the wine-stock mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning, and reduce slightly until the flavor and thickness are correct.

Add the chicken, bacon, and vegetables back to the pot and simmer very briefly before serving-about 10 minutes-remove the bouquet garnie before serving. Really good with potatoes, rice or noodles.

2010-01-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

New Year's Dinner

New Years at Gallagher's was a great success. We had two seatings and both were almost totally sold out-the early seating on New Years is sometimes hard to sell-everyone wants to eat late on that evening.

We started with a platter of hors d'ouevres

Dates stuffed with Chorizo and wrapped with bacon

Muffuletta Bruschetta with olive salad

Deviled eggs with salmon caviar

Corn and crab fritters with slaw and barbecue sauce

Japanese beef skewers with wasabi and pickled ginger

Next was the lobster tail with brown butter served with red and gold beet salad.

The entree was Beef Wellington with Sweedish Lingonberry sauce.

Dessert was Bananas Foster, which the waiters made tableside on little rolling carts with portable burners.

2009-12-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

Petite Fillets with Green Peppercorns, Port Wine, and Stilton

Last week Whole Foods had a sale on Stilton, so I couldn't resist buying some. That paired with a call from my meat supplier about an abundance of 4 ounce steaks-accidentally cut too small-could I use them for a much reduced cost. Indeed I could use all of it. This is a great sauce for Winter, so rich and complex, we used to make it at the Richard Perry Restaurant to sauce pork tenderloin (Hi Rich if you're reading this-thanks for all the great food). The sauce can also be tweaked to complement chicken or lamb as well.

2 Tablespoons minced shallot

2 cups rich beef or veal stock

1 cup port wine

2 cups cream

1/2 cup green peppercorns-preferably brined-rinsed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup stilton cheese

Reduce the stock and wine with the shallots by half.

Add the cream and continue to reduce until sauce consistency.

Add the green peppercons and season with salt and pepper-remember the green peppercorns are already a bit spicy.

At the last minute, crumble in the cheese and whisk until the cheese begins to melt.

2009-11-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Palmiers

Traditionally Palmiers (Palm Leaf) are a puff pastry sugar cookie. Here I used a savory filling of sun-dried tomatoes instead of sugar. They are excellent with a glass of Champagne or a martini.

1 sheet of puff pastry makes about 15 slices, cut about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide.

1 large bunch of fresh basil

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

2/3 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup olive oil

2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Coarsely chop the basil, tomatoes, garlic,and pine nuts-I used a food processor-could be done by hand

Slowly fold in the oil and cheese

Spread the pesto in a thin layer over the top of sheet of puff pastry

Using the long side of the pastry, begin to roll it up jelly-roll style, when you reach the middle, stop and begin to roll from the opposite side until the two rolls meet in the center

Make 1/2 inch slices and bake on parchment covered baking sheets

I baked them at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes in a convection oven

2009-11-05T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hangtown Fry

This omelet became famous in the gold rush era of Northern California. Legend has it being served to both miners striking it rich in the gold fields as well as a popular request for the last meal for men about to be hung. It is a rich dish, and I don't prepare it too often but it is one of my all time favorite omelets. I fill my omelet with oysters, fried in cornmeal and a little cheese, then top with a little spicy chili-garlic sauce and another fried oyster. A little chopped scallion is also nice. Traditionally bacon is also part of the mix, but that is entirely too rich for me.

For the oysters:

Dust the oysters (3 to 4 per person, depending on the size) with a half and half mixture of corn meal and flour spiced with a bit of salt and cayenne.

Shallow fry the oysters in a saute pan until they are crispy and brown, drain on toweling.

For the omelet:

I use three eggs per person whisked with one tablespoon of water (water makes a fluffier omelet or use milk for a richer omelet), season with a bit salt and pepper.

Prepare your omelet pan and add the eggs, stir the eggs briefly until semi-set. place the fried oysters in the center of the eggs and top with a small amount of cheese. Begin rolling the omelet and flip it onto a serving plate. Garnish with some chopped scallion, a teaspoon of hot chili garlic paste and top with another fried oyster. Really good with a glass of champagne for a celebration brunch.

2009-10-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

Kitchen Conservatory Cooking Class

Another really terrific evening teaching a class at Kitchen Conservatory last night. I really do get to know alot of interesting people. I seem to do alot of talking at these classes, everyone is just so congenial. I started with the French Laundry's recipe for "Peas and Carrots". Almost any dish from that cookbook is challenging to say the least. Chef Thomas Keller's wit is on display here with this over the top dish. His idea of peas and carrots is this chive crepe filled with lobster and mascarpone, served with a sauce of ginger and carrot juice underneath and topped with a salad of pea shoots.

Next up were lamb chops with red currant-mustard buerre blanc served with pear-parsnip puree. Cognac, walnuts and chocolate filled the pie with cognac flavored whipped cream.

I took some liberties with the recipe as Chef Keller wrote it. For example to get 2 cups of carrot juice he starts with 3 pounds of carrots, put through a juicer-I purchased a good quality carrot juice from the health foods store. So of course I didn't have the carrot pulp to dehydrate, pulverize and turn into carrot dust to garnish the plate rims with. So I will present my mere mortal's interpretation of this food God's masterpiece.

Here are the steps, it could be done in a two day period.

1) Make the crepes

2) Make the lobster filling

3) Make the lobster glace and add to the filling

4) Make the carrot ginger emulsion

5) Make the pea shoot salad

6) Assemble the dish

Crepes

1 cup all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cup milk

4 tablespoons of melted butter

Place the ingredients in a blender and mix

Make the crepes in an 8" crepe pan, using about 2 ounces of batter per crepe

Place the crepes, presentation side down on parchment paper and cover until ready to assemble the crepes.

Lobster filling

1 pound cooked lobster meat-I used tails-chef keller used whole lobsters, but not the claw meat

1/4 cup chopped chives

1 tablespoon finely minced shallot

1 cup marscapone

1 tablespoon lobster glace-recipe follows)

Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

Combine the ingredients and mix well

Lobster Glace

Lobster shells

carrots, onion, celery. parsley, bay leaf. thyme

3 to 4 cups of water

Simmer ingredients for at least 1 hour

Strain the stock and reduce the stock to 1 tablespoon-cool before adding to lobster filling

Carrot Ginger Emulsion

2 cups carrot juice

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 carrot, grated

1/4 cup cream

3/4 pound butter, slightly softened

Freshly ground pepper and salt to taaste

Combine the juice, ginger, and grated carrot, simmer for ten minutes. Puree the mixture and return it to the sauce pan. Add the cream and reduce the mixture to about 1 cup. Slowly whisk in the butter a couple tablespoons at a time. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Pea Shoot Salad

1 cup pea shoots-I found them at an asian grocery store or you can sprout your own

Zest of one lemon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

Make a dressing with the zest, juice, oil, salt, and pepper

Wash and dry the shoots.

Toss the shoots with the dressing and let marinate 1/2 hour, drain before using.

To Assemble the dish:

Fill the the crepes with the lobster filling (about 1/4 cup per crepe), making a neat little package, lay seam side down on a buttered baking sheet. Brush the tops of the crepes with a little melted butter

Heat the crepes in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes

Ladle some sauce on the center of the plate, use the back of a spoon to spread the suce into a small circle. Place a heated crepe on the center of the sauce, and top the crepe with some pea shoot salad.

2009-10-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

Champagne, Fried Oyster Tostados, and New Art

We acquired a new painting this weekend. It is titled "Woodlawn #5" by William Quinn. It was painted in 1979 by Mr. Quinn when he was a professor of art at Washington University. He now resides and paints in Europe. It is a compelling canvas in the post expressionist style with gorgeous explosive colors. We opened a bottle of sparkling wine and nibbled on oyster tostados as we got acquainted and decided to fall in love with each other.

Corn tortillas, cut into canape size, crisped in hot oil and lightly salted.

Remoulade slaw made with green and red cabbage dressed with remoulade dressing.

Oysters dredged in cornmeal and flour and fried until brown and crispy.

Remoulade
1/2 cup mayonaise

1/2 cup creole mustard

1/4 cup chili sauce

1 garlic clove

1 scallion

1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Puree everything in the food processor.

Use some to dress the slaw, and reserve some to spoon on top of the oysters.

Garnish with sliced scallion and cilantro.

2009-10-25T08:03:00.001-07:00

Spaghetti For Breakfast

This was Sunday morning's breakfast, a take on the Italian Carbonara. Traditionally the eggs are just scrambled into the hot noodles and cooked that way. I fried the eggs in the bacon drippings and placed them whole on top of the pasta which had been tossed with the cooked bacon and a little cream. It was really luscious, with the yolk making a rich eggy sauce. Unbelievably I had no parmesan cheese-can you imagine a chef's refrigerator without parmesan?-scandalous! Definitely add the cheese if you have it, if not, it is still a most satisfying breakfast.

1/2 pound cooked spaghetti, with a couple tablespoons of the cooking water reserved

4 rashers of bacon, cut into chunks and cooked until crisped, reserve the drippings

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 or 2 sage leaves, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Place the cooked spaghetti in a sauce pan, add a couple tablespoons of pasta cooking water, add the cream.

Add the bacon to the cream.

Saute garlic and sage in the reserved bacon drippings, strain the drippings and return the drippings to the saute pan. Add the cooked garlic and sage to the spaghetti mixture.

Heat the spaghetti until it begins to simmer, turn off the heat and let the noodles steep while cooking the eggs. While the noodles steep they will absorb the cream.

Fry the eggs in the reserved bacon drippings, basting until the whites are set, but the yolk is still runny.

Place the pasta in shallow bowls and top with a fried eggs, top with salt, pepper, parsley, and parmesan cheese.

2009-10-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

Weiner Schnitzel , Spaetzle, and Apple Fritter

I'll be running this special in the restaurant for the month of October. German food isn't at the top of the food trends, which all seem to be fixated on Italy and Spain at the moment, but they seem to always be welcome this time of year. For this dish I bread crumbed some tender veal cutlets and quickly sauteed them. I paired them with some Spatzle and sauced the dish with a reduction of hard apple cider, veal demi glace, and bacon. I added some apple fritters for fun.

The cutlets were from the leg, trimmed and lightly pounded, then dredged first in flour, then egg, and finally the bread crumbs. Let the breading set for 1/2 hour in the refrigerator. Saute quickly in a hot saute pan with a bit of oil.

The spaetzle are really easy as well.

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

Salt to taste and add couple gratings of fresh nutmeg

Mix up the ingredients and let them rest for 1/2 hour before pushing through the spaetzle cutter, a large holed colander will work if you do not have a spaetzle cutter. Just place the cutter or colander over boiling water and force the dough through the holes. When they float they are finished cooking. Remove them and hold for serving. When it's time to serve them just reheat with a bit of butter in a saute pan.

For the sauce:

4 rashers of bacon

2 tablespoons of flour

3 cups of hard apple cider

1 cup veal demi glace (can substitute rich chicken stock)

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce I chopped up four rashers of bacon and cooked them in a sauce pan, add 2 tablespoons of flour and make a roux. When the flour is cooked, add 3 cups hard apple cider and 1 cup veal demi glace (you could use a strong chicken stock if you don't have the demi-glace, but the sauce will not be as sumptuous). Cook and reduce for a few minutes. Flavor the sauce with a combination of cider vinegar and sugar to taste. I start with a 1/4 cup of each and taste. Add more sweet or tart to get the right balance for you.

Apple fritters:

For the apple fritters, I cored and sliced the apples, battered them in my beer batter (I substituted the hard cider for beer in that recipe) and deep fried them.

2009-09-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Baetje Farms Bloomsdale

Local farm cheeses are everywhere. I picked this goat's cheese up at Soulard's Farmer's Market last week. Baetje farms is located in Bloomsdale Mo. and the shape of the cheese is reminiscent of the hilly terrain of Bloomsdale. In actuality the cheese is inspired by Valencay, a French cheese that was originally made in a pyramid form until Napoleon, after a series of loses in Egypt stopped at the castle Valencay where the cheese was produced and lopped off the tops of the pyramids. Ever since then the cheese is made with a flattened top-in France and Missouri. The cheese is rolled in ash and salt before being aged. It is an American Cheese Association prize winner-I think it was second place, but I don't remember exactly. It is a lovely winner at that, with a creamy-buttery texture. Very mellow, slightly smokey and salty cheese.

2009-09-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

Roti de Porc, poele (Casserole Roasted Pork)

Another Julia Child recipe. Since the "Julie /Julia" movie came out, Julia's book and recipes are on alot of people's minds lately, mine too it seems. Her recipes are so carefully written and explained, and the results from this one are so succulent and rich. This recipe uses the French technique of poele, which is simply a braised roast and translates as that all-American favorite from the 50's-casserole.

I marinated the roast over night in sherry wine with some chopped shallot, chopped garlic, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, black pepper and salt. Remove the roast from the marinade and dry before proceeding with the recipe.

Julia lists several vegetables that could be included. I used turnips, carrots, onion, and pears. Potatoes would also be good, of course, as would cabbage, parsnip, apple, sweet potato, or squash.

3 pound boneless pork roast

4 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, sliced

4 turnips, peeled and quartered

4 pears, cored and quartered

4 carrots, peeled and cut into larger chunks

1 flame proof casserole

1 1/2 cup wine, stock, or a mixture of both

Fresh herbs-I used bay, rosemary, and sage

Brown the pork in the butter

Add the vegetables and brown slightly

Add the wine and stock and herbs-Julia ties her up in an herb bouquet

Cover and bake in a 325 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Baste the roast every 1/2 hour.

Julia suggests you remove the roast when the temperature reaches 180 degrees. I removed the roast from the oven when the temperature hit 155 degrees, let it sit to rest for another ten minutes before carving and it was perfectly done.

2009-09-28T05:05:00.000-07:00

Pear and Parsnip Puree

Here is a great little side dish for the changing season. My friend Richard Perry used to make this for his Eat Plan dinners-Hi Rich, if you're reading this. It is a really nice accompaniment to roast pork or chicken for the Fall.

2 pounds of parsnips, peeled and cut into 1" pieces

4 medium pears

2 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons melted butter

Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

1/4 cup cream

Blanch the parsnips for about 5 minutes

Peel, quarter and core the pears

Place the blanched parsnips in a baking dish

Add the pears, melted butter, honey, salt, pepper, and nutmeg

Toss the ingredients so that they are well mixed

Roasted the parsnip-pear mixture in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 25 to 30 minutes

Puree the mixture, adding the cream

Taste for seasoning and melt some additional butter accross the top-optional

2009-09-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Martha's Apple Blackberry Cake

Martha, like much in modern life these days-I'm thinking politics and recent presidents-is a polarising figure. In other words, you're either a fan or a hater, there is no middle ground. So I'm declaring my support for Martha. In my opinion, her magazine is more interesting and beautiful than Gourmet these days. I guess that means I have to start hating Gourmet-at least this month. This cake is from "Living" 's September issue. It is a very simple and appealing thing to throw together.

Granulated sugar for the pan

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 ounces unsalted butter melted for the cake,plus enought to grease the pan, plus 2 tablespoons more to dot the top of the cake just before it goes into the oven

3/4 cup brown sugar, plus 2 tablespoons to dot the top of the cake just before it goes into the oven

1/2 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

4 apples, peeled and sliced-Martha recommends McIntosh-I used Gala

1 pint black berries

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Optional whipped cream for serving

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9" springform pan and dust with granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, milk, and eggs. Whisk the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Arrange the apple slices over the batter. Sprinkle with the blackberries, and gently press the fruit into the batter. Distribute the remaining 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, cinnamon and remaining two tablespoons of butter over the top of the fruit. Bake until the top is golden brown, the apples are tender, and a cake tester comes clean from the center. Let cool before unmolding.

2009-09-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Apricot Tart with Ginger Ice Cream

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 pound apricots, halved

Juice and zest of one lemon

In a 10 inch iron skillet melt the butter, add the sugar and heat until bubbly.

Stir in the lemon juice andf zest

Place the apricots, cut side down into the caramel.

Cover the top with pastry-pie dough or puff patry works

Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Let the tart cool for 10 minutes, Place a platter on top of the skillet and invert it so that the tart unmolds.

Serve with Ginger Ice Cream

This recipe comes from Charlie Trotter and was part of the PBS series "America's Best Chefs Cook with Jeremiah Tower"-I never saw the series, but I do have the companion book. It is a really special ice cream and works well with peach tarts are well as the apricot.

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

Add the ginger to the cream in a small sauce pan and heat to just below the boiling point. Remove it from the heat and let the cream and ginger steep for 1/2 hour, strain the ginger out and discard it. Whisk the sugar into the eggs and whip until the eggs are light and fluffy. Reheat the cream and temper the eggs-do not let the mixture boil, only cook it until it coats the back of a spoon. Strain once more and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Freeze in you ice cream freezer.

2009-09-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

Chicken with Garlic Pearls and Pineau de Charentes

I used Paula Wolfert's recipe for Chicken with Garlic Pearls and Sauternes-substituting the Pineau de Charentes for the Sauternes (see my previous post on Pineau de Charentes). Her extremely well written recipe is from her book "The Cooking of Southwest France". I used 4 leg quarters (I don't personally care for eating chicken breast) rather than the whole bird called for in the recipe. You'll need to make creme fraich ahead of time (mix 1 cup heavy cream with 2 Tablespoons of buttermilk-let the mixture sit at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours-cover and refrigerate for up to one week). It is an involved recipe, but not difficult and the results are spectacular. I think I might use this technique for this year's Thanksgiving turkey. I also added some wild mushrooms sauteed in butter and deglazed with sherry.

For the chicken:
1 chicken or 4 leg quarters
Quarter the chicken, salt and pepper the pieces, and marinate the pieces in the creme fraiche for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Roast the chicken in a preheated 375 degree oven, basting with additional creme fraiche for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Run the chicken under the broiler for extra crispy skin.

For the garlic pearls:
2 head of fresh garlic, separate the cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons of butter
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar

Plunge the garlic cloves into boiling water and boil for 3 minutes.

Cool the garlic and peel, leaving the cloves whole.

Melt the butter in a saute pan over very low heat, add the garlic and sugar. place the saute pan in a 350 degree oven and roast until the garlic is soft and golden-not brown. Shake the pan but do not stir or the garlic may break up. Can be prepared ahead of time.

For the sauce:
2 Tablespoons of rendered poultry fat or oil
1 3/4 cup sliced onions
1 2/3 cup sliced carrots
1 leek, split and cleaned, sliced
2 pounds of veal bones
1 pounds chicken bones
1 bottle Pineau de Charentes- Sauternes or sweet white wine can be substituted
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
Herb bouquet of parsley, thyme, bay, and celery leaf-all tied together
1/3 cup heavy cream
Fresh lemon juice, optional
Brown the bones and vegetables in the rendered fat over low heat-a long slow caramelization process that should take up to 15 minutes.

Drain off the fat, and begin adding the wine. Add the wine one cup at a time, letting the wine evaporate until it becomes syrupy before adding the next cup of wine.

Add the stock and the herb bouquet, cook covered for 1 hour.

Strain the mixture into a sauce pan, skim off any fat. Bring the mixture to the boil and reduce for 10 minutes, continually skimming any foamy debris. I also added some additional onion slices to be left in the finished sauce-Paula uses additional carrot slices. The sauce can be prepared ahead of time up to this point.

Add the cream and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon-taste for seasoning and add fresh lemon juice if the sauce is too sweet.

Add the garlic pearls.

Ladle the sauce over the roasted chicken, and top with the sauteed mushrooms-the mushrooms are optional.

2009-09-01T07:42:00.001-07:00

Pineau de Charentes

The bottle says dessert wine, but it is usually served as an aperitif-chilled-served straight up. It is a a fortified wine made of grape juice and cognac fermented together, produced in the Charente region of France. It is usually made with Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, or Semillon. It is slightly sweet with a definite flavor of cognac. I have read online where it is really out of fashion in France, so only try this at the risk of being labeled frumpy by the French. Since I am hopelessly out of fashion in almost all areas, I don't really care. It can be difficult to locate, but I find it a refreshing cocktail, and worth seraching out.

2009-08-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

Stuffed Tomatoes

This hasn't been the best year for local tomatoes, too cold and wet. But even in an off year, there are some tasty morsels to be found out there. This recipe will stuff about 4 medium tomatoes.

4 Tomatoes, scooped out, salted and left to drain upside down for 1/2 hour.

Stuffing

2 Tablespoons minced anchovy fillet

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons minced shallot

2 Tablespoons chopped capers

1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1/3 cup olive oil-plus extra for drizzling

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley

1/4 cup grated parmesan, plus more for topping

Salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients and stuff the tomatoes.

Place the tomatoes in a baking dish and drizzle with some extra olive oil, top with some extra grated cheese and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.

2009-08-20T07:13:00.001-07:00

Brasied Leeks with Tomato Vinaigrette

This made a lovely salad last week. I braised the leeks, and served them at room temperature over salad greens topped with fresh tomato vinaigrette. The leeks are nice on their own served hot as a side dish with or without the tomato vinaigrette.

For the leeks:
4 leeks, trimmed and cleaned, cut in half lengthwise
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 cup chicken stock

In a flame proof casserole brown the leeks in the olive oil, cut side down.

Turn the leeks over, season with the salt and pepper and pour the chicken stock over them.

Place the casserole in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the leeks are tender.

Let the leeks cool to room temperature and place on a bed of salad greens and top with Tomato Vinaigrette.

For the Vinaigrette:
1 large tomato peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of white wine or champagne vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh Basil chiffonade
Salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients and let sit 1/2 before using.