Friday Night Menu, Steak Diane, June 17,2011

Last weekend we donated some things to the Salvation Army and we went into the Salvation Army store to check it out. Tony found a grilling book that he has been wanting to buy and he found me a Julia Child cookbook, it's her "Menu Cookbook". They were $4.00 each, not bad. So I came across this Steak Diane in my new Julia book. I didn't know exactly what that was so I figured that is what I will make for Friday Night. I think it was a popular dish at one time, I had heard of it before. I also saw the appetizer idea in this same book so I figured..."why not"...

Asparagus Tips in Puff Pastry with Lemon Butter Sauce

I thought it and Tony said it..."It tastes like something you would eat at a fancy French restaurant". Ahead of time I steamed asparagus until it was perfectly cooked and put them in the refrigerator until I was ready to serve. Defrost puff pastry that you buy in the freezer section of the supermarket overnight so it's completely thawed. Unfold the dough and cut rectangle shapes, about 2.5 X3.5 inch pieces (give or take). Place the puff pastry on a sheet pan and brush the tops only with egg wash (being careful not to egg wash the sides), then using a sharp knife make little crosshatches in the surface. Immediately bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Towards the last couple minutes of baking, make the lemon butter sauce. She said one way to do it and then an alliterative that she learned from Jacques Pepin. You bring 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 2 Tbsp water to a rolling boil then whisk in 1 stick of room temperature butter cut into small pieces a couple pieces at a time. Return this mixture to a rolling boil again for a few seconds. To plate you place one of the puff pastry rectangles on a plate and open like a book. Place asparagus tips (the size of the pastry with a little extra so they show their faces) inside the pastry and spoon the sauce over the tips then place the top pastry on the tips. Very nice.

Steak Diane

I found this video of Julia making her Steak Diane but she didn't make it exactly like it says in her book. I used a rib eye steak, you need 2 steaks cut to about 1/2 inch thickness so I got a one inch steak and froze it for an hour to make it easier to cut. After an hour in the freezer I cut the steak in half, remove all the fat then she says to pound each steak to a 1/4 inch thickness. Olive oil, soy sauce and black pepper rubbed on each side of the steaks and roll up like a rug (she says) until you are ready to serve. When ready heat a pan and add 1 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter, once the foam subsides unroll and add the steaks to the pan. Cook over med-high heat for about 1-2 minutes on each side then remove to a plate in order to make the pan sauce. To the pan add a bit more butter and a minced shallot and minced parsley, stir for a moment then add (I added veal stock that I had, she did a slurry with a bouillon and cornstarch). Then to the pan you add a few droplets of Worcestershire and the juice of a half a lemon. Then a few droplets of Cognac and Madeira wine. Add the steaks back into the sauce to warm through. Plate and pour the sauce over, garnish with more parsley. The sauce comes together very quickly, I didn't really measure because she didn't really say how much of anything, it was very delicious.

Braised and Buttered Kohlrabi

I had planned to do a potato thing, but I came across this kohlrabi in the produce department at Whole Foods. They don't usually have it, if they did I would have made it by now. It's in the turnip family and it's very mild and tastes like a cross between the stem of broccoli and celery root. I read about it and it's usually eaten raw in salads, added to soups and stews and used in stir fries. Leave it to me to go against the norm, but I thought with the Steak Diane, a side dish should be similar to a potato dish (like mashed or at least braised). I just cooked it by peeling it, slicing pieces about 1/2 inch thick and placing them into a shallow pan with a couple Tbsp of butter and a splash of water. Cook, covered over medium-low heat until tender, adding water as necessary.

3-Pea Warm Salad

I combined regular peas, snap peas and pea tendrils to make this side dish. Ahead of time I blanched the regular frozen peas in salted water, drained them and placed in the frig. I blanched the snap peas the same way and chilled them. When I was ready to serve dinner I warmed them in a pan with a Tbsp of butter then at the end tossed in some pea tendrils, salt and pepper.

Shaker Lemon Pie

I was half watching Unique Sweets on the food channel and caught someone talking about how they make a Shaker Lemon Pie and it's unique because they use the whole lemon (rind and all) to make this dessert. I have made lemon pie, lemon tart, lemon meringue pie... but it's just a lemon curd. This is thinly sliced lemons that you let sit in sugar and salt overnight. The next day you finish it with eggs and flour and bake it. What a fantastic thing this is, just try to find thin skinned lemons (they will have more give when you squeeze them). The lemons I used had a very thick rind (that's all that was available) and I came across a couple rinds while I was eating the pie that were just too much. But overall it was fantastic, I am going to try to make it with limes and maybe oranges?? Oh by the way... I made the crust with another hint I heard on Unique Sweets (on another day). I used cold vodka in place of the cold water in the crust. They said you get a super flaky crust because the vodka evaporates more than the water will and you are left with a super light and flaky crust. I would say that it worked pretty well but I will probably go back to ice water, it seems like a waste of good vodka (water is free).

Friday Night, Stuffed Chicken breast, June 10, 2011

I went to the store with absolutely no ideas for Friday Night Dinner. I always have some kind of idea, I thought I'd probably make something good but not "blog-worthy". I looked at the meat counter at Whole Foods and it was all the same stuff... chicken... steaks... pork chops... what will I make??? Just before the butcher asked what he could get for me I saw something a little different, Cornish Hens, hummmm "I will take two of the Cornish hens"... He gave them to me and I found a spot off to the side and looked up foodnetwork.com on my phone. One of the first recipes to pop up with 5 stars was cornbread stuffed Cornish game hens. I got the ingredients the recipe called for and sides that sounded like they might go well with the main dish. The strawberries looked good so I will do something with them... I will figure out the rest later...

French Black Olive and Crouton Skewers

This idea just popped into my head when I looked in the refrigerator for an appetizer idea. The olives were left over from the pissaladiere from last Friday night's menu and there was some leftover Sourdough bread from a couple days earlier. I thought I would cube up the bread and brown it in garlic flavored olive oil until it got some nice golden brown color on them and put them onto a small skewer with the very tasty Herbs De Provence black olives. I thought the saltiness of the olives and the crunchy, chewy and garlicky croutons would be a nice snack to have with drinks. They were easy and great with drinks, not too filling, really good.

Cornbread and Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast

So if you read the introduction you are saying..."I thought she got Cornish game hens"... well I did but when I opened them up one looked OK but the other one's skin was very thick looking and torn and there was an unpleasant odor coming from them. I read on-line about what they should look like and I saw that it said to stay away from torn skin and the breasts should be plump. Well these breasts weren't plump and the skin torn and the smell, I couldn't do it. "I will return them and use chicken from the freezer". So that's what I did. I defrosted two chicken breasts and pounded them out to about 1/2 inch thickness. I put a big scoop of the cornbread and apple stuffing in the center and just closed the chicken around the filling as best I could. OK now there is no skin so this is going to dry out..."Tony on your way home can you stop for some bacon or prosciutto?" So I pounded out the thick cut bacon Tony got for me and wrapped it around the chicken to protect it from drying out and come to find out it went really good with the filling and sides. I would have baked them in a 350 oven but I was roasting the sides in a 400 degree oven so I just went with that. I baked them for about 35 minutes uncovered, until an instant read thermometer registers 155-160. I never thought I'd make stuffed chicken breast for Tony because when he worked in the kitchen at Quidnessett Country Club he had to stuff hundreds of chicken breast, but he ended up loving this dish.

Celeriac and Sweet Potato Smash

I have combined celeriac with regular potato a few times, I have had celeriac on it's own but I thought what else can I combine with celeriac just to be different?? I thought sweet potatoes would work and they did. A couple days ago I par-boiled 1 inch cubed Yukon gold potatoes and then tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes or so and they were really good. So I thought I would do the celeriac and sweet potatoes the same way then smash them together so some bits are smooth and some are chunky and some spots you'd get those roasted crispy edges. I didn't put it in the title but I also served green beans simply steamed and tossed with butter, salt and pepper.

Strawberry Pavlovas

I was trying to think of something not too heavy and not too caloric. Egg whites are not fatty... I remembered this dessert I have seen Jamie Oliver do this and The Barefoot Contessa also. I loved these and will do them again. I should have started the meringue earlier but it worked out OK. The heading of the recipe said it would take 1 and 1/2 hours to make but there was a misprint. Where it said inactive prep time, it said 4 minutes but it should have said 4 hours. You really have to let them slowly cool down by shutting off the oven and just leaving them in there then remove them. They will crack if you don't let them cool slowly. It even says to let them cool in the oven overnight if you have the time. Not only did I start them late but I pre-heated the oven for the root vegetables (forgetting that the meringues were still in the oven) thank god I remembered before they were completely ruined.

Friday Night Dinner, Chilean Sea Bass, June 3, 2011

Last week Tony and I watched Eric Ripert make this dish on his show Avec Eric. I had been wanting to make the Chilean sea bass again after trying it for the first time a few weeks back, it was really delicious then and I keep thinking about it. So that's easy, Eric did all the thinking for me, I will make that dish on Friday. I was a little worried because the sauce was the key, he said you have to reduce the port wine to 75% before adding the sherry vinegar and reducing that. You have to catch it at just the right time or it will be bitter. Appetizer and dessert were ideas I had, just floating there in the back of my mind waiting for the right moment to make an appearance.

Pissaladiere

This is a french appetizer that is pizza like. I saw a couple different recipes where the dough is made like a regular pizza dough and others that used puff pastry (I think puff pastry is the proper way). I made my regular pizza dough recipe but used a whole wheat pastry flour instead of the all-purpose flour I usually use (for no other reason than to try something new). This Pissaladiere is topped with caramelized onions, black French olives and anchovies (I used Sardines because Tony eats those and we have them in the pantry). Bake it in a hot 550 degree oven for 15 minutes and cut into small 2 inch squares. I loved the black olives that I bought at Whole Foods that were marinated in Herbs De Provence. Half of the pissaladiere I left free of sardines because I haven't gotten there yet.

Chilean Sea Bass over Shiitake Mushrooms with Port Wine and Sherry Vinegar Reduction

My first bite was..."wow, it tastes like a very high end restaurant"... and it did. This recipe is really pretty easy, just pay attention to the sauce so it doesn't burn. He used porchini mushrooms but I used shiitake just because they looked good at the store. He says the trick with the sauce to get a mirror like look is once you have reduced it to the right consistency you add cubed softened butter and shake it in (don't stir with a spoon or it will be cloudy) and no salt and pepper or it will ruin the look too (and it doesn't need any seasonings). That sauce was so good and amazing how that technique works. The fish itself is cooked skin side down in canola oil over high heat, pressing it down to get a crisp skin, turn over and I finished mine in the oven (350 degrees for 10 minutes and it was perfect). He uses a black sea bass and it looked to be about an inch thick so he was able to cook it on the stove top the whole time. I used the Chilean sea bass which was more like 2 inches thick so I finished mine in the oven. Nice recipe!

Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream

This is a Tyler Florance recipe. I don't think I ever made a cobbler and so to get some direction I looked on foodnetwork.com and came across this one that had 5 stars. After reading it I remembered seeing this episode and thinking how good it looked and I'd have to make it some day. I read some of the reviews and they were saying there was way too much cobbler topping so I made 1/2 the amount for the topping and the reviewers were right, 1/2 was fine. It didn't cover the fruit completely but I think I like that better because it looks prettier when you see some bubbly fruit peeking through. This was also delicious. Yummmmm!!

Friday Night Menu, Pork Saltimbocca Roulade, May 27, 2011

When we went to Naples Florida about 2 months ago, I picked up an Italian magazine to look at on the plane. It was a special addition of Gourmet Italian classic recipes. I came across this magazine when I was hunting for new recipes to make this week and thought that I would make all the courses from this magazine. I did my own spin on the main course though. Instead of a bone-in pork chop filled with cheese and prosciutto I decided to do a pork roast that I cut open completely, fill and roll back up.

Fava Crostini

We love our crostinis and this was another good one. The recipe calls for fresh fava beans or fresh or frozen edamame beans. I had the edamame in the freezer so I just used those since I think it would be hard to find fresh fava beans right now. It's 1 cup of beans cooked in boiling water for 4 minutes or so and then shocked in ice water to stop the cooking. Place them in a food processor and coarsely chopped, remove half of the beans to a bowl. Add to the processor 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup baby arugula, 3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Process to a smooth puree then fold in about a cup more baby arugula. Bake some slices of a French Baguette until browned and rub each with a half garlic clove, a drizzle of olive oil then spread the fava mixture on each crostini. Top with another drizzle of olive oil and a single mint leaf. So good and healthy at the same time.

Pork Saltimbocca Roulade and Baby Spinach

I got a pork roast without the bone from Whole Foods. I cut off four chops for another use. I was left with a small pork roast (enough for four portions). I cut along the length of the roast leaving a good inch thickness throughout and opened it like a book. I brined it in 8 cups of cold water and 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of salt (dissolved). I brined it for an hour, removed it from the brine and blotted it dry. Place fresh chopped sage in the opened pork roast (about 8 leaves), place 3 or 4 slices of prosciutto over the sage and a fontina cheese over that (not too much). Roll up the pork back into the shape it was originally and tie it using kitchen twine. Cover and place it in the refrigerator until ready to roast (I let mine sit for about 4-5 hours). When ready to roast combine 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 tsp dried sage, scant tsp of kosher salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Rub this mixture all over the pork then place in a roasting pan on a small rack or use vegetables to keep if off the bottom (I used 2 ribs of celery). Place fat side up in the center of a 450 degree oven and roast for 10 minutes, reduce the temperature to 250 degrees and cook until it registers 150-155 degrees in the thickest part, this will take about 45-60 minutes (give or take). Remove from the oven and loosely cover with foil and let it sit for 15 minutes before carving. Very good and looks nice too.

Souffleed Gnocchi

This was one thing I remembered seeing in the magazine on vacation that I definitely wanted to make. It's 3 cups whole milk and 3/4 tsp kosher salt brought to a simmer then add 3/4 cup semolina flour in a slow steady stream while whisking, switch to a wooden spoon and cook over low heat stirring constantly for 12 minutes. It gets very thick. Remove from the heat and add 3 eggs, one at a time. Add 6 Tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese and 3 Tbsp softened butter. Spread on an oiled cookie sheet to 1/2 inch thickness, chill, uncovered for about 10 minutes. Cut out 2 inch rounds, using a cookie cutter. Place the rounds of gnocchi in a buttered 2 quart shallow baking dish, over lapping slightly and using the extra bits, gradually tucking them in and using up all the gnocchi to cover the baking dish. Place uncovered in the refrigerator for an hour. Brush about 1-2 Tbsp melted butter over the gnocchi sprinkle with another tablespoon of Parmesan cheese over top. Pre heat the oven to 450 degrees and place the baking dish in to top third of the oven for 10 minutes, then move the baking dish to the lower third of the oven and bake 10 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. This was so good, I will absolutely make this again.

Pear and Apple Crostata

I loved the idea of this because it's something I hadn't really done before...you roast the fruit first then bake it again with a brown sugar filling inside of a crust. It's a total of 2 1/2 lbs of apples and pears that you peel, core and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place that in a bowl with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves and 1 Tbsp apple cider or juice. Mix it all together, pour onto a rimmed baking pan and roast in a 375 degree oven for 1-1 1/4 hours until the fruit it caramelized and very soft. Remove from the oven and add about 1 more Tbsp of apple juice and scrape up all the juices from the bottom of the pan, remove the cloves and cinnamon stick and let cool for 45 minutes. While the fruit is roasting make a pastry dough by combining 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, 2 Tbsp sugar. Use a pastry blender to blend in 2 sticks of cold butter that you have cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Using a fork add 6-8 Tbsp of ice water slowly and just until the pastry holds together when you squeeze a small amount in your hand. Form into a round and wrap in plastic wrap, chill for an hour. Roll out the pastry to a 14 inch round and form into a 11 inch fluted tart pan and don't cut the excess pastry off. Make the brown sugar filling; beat 1 stick of softened butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup confectionery sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add 2 eggs one at a time and 1 tsp vanilla. Turn the speed down and add 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Spread this mixture into the pastry shell then top with the cooled off roasted fruit. Fold the excess dough back over the fruit (it won't cover completely). Brush the dough with egg wash sprinkle 1 Tbsp sugar over the top. When you preheat the oven to 375 place a large baking sheet in the center of the oven and when you assemble the crostata and bake it, place it right on the pre heated baking sheet. Bake for 50-60 minutes. I found that mine was done at about 40 minutes. Cool for 1 1/2 hours on a cooling rack, remove the sides of the tart pan and place the crostata onto a serving plate. Yummy!! I had bought some coconut ice cream made of coconut milk, and it went surprisingly well with this.

Friday Night Menu, Braised Hoisen Chicken Thighs, May 20,2011

I scraped together the few ideas I had and came up with this menu. I had planned a "Friday Night Bites" idea but I couldn't completely finish my other ideas and just tried to perfect 2 courses plus the dessert. I saw a picture of a dish that a chef made in a magazine called "Food Arts", it was a fancy scallop and micro greens dish that looked very fancy (no recipes in this magazine just ads for restaurants). I don't like scallops but tried to make a dish that looked similar with something else...and after much thinking I came up with a warm potato-leek salad. In the same magazine I saw a dish that had chicken legs with these really cool looking "orange rice balls". I imagined them to be like an arancine with saffron for color. The other component, Georgian Cilantro Sauce came from a pod-cast I was listening to called "The Splendid Table". There was a lady on the show raving about this sauce and so I had to make it. I thought the cilantro sauce would go nicely with the flavorful Hoisen chicken I thought of doing. Dessert was from the new Martha Stewart magazine, which was a Rhubarb Lattice Tart. To go along with the tart was an idea I got from a friend of a friend of a friend named Mara who is a vegan, she told me this way of making "ice cream", that I have to say is pretty amazing!!!!

Warm Potato-Leek Salad with Sprouts and a Crispy Bacon Chip

I thought of slow braising the leeks, standing up on their ends, which I will have cut into 1-2 inch whole pieces. Then once they are melting-ly tender remove any tough outer layers and maybe fill some of the bigger tender rounds with mashed potatoes. I wanted something like a dressing but creamy, I thought a little cottage cheese seasoned with salt, pepper and thinned with a little milk (I used almond milk). I made a chive oil by going out to my back yard and grabbing a handful of fresh chives from the earth and using a small blender, I combined the chopped up chives with olive oil and salt, blend until a smooth bright green oil appears. So when plating I placed the previously braised leeks (some filled with potato) into my bowl, covered with aluminum foil and heated in the oven. Remove the foil and spoon some of the cottage cheese mixture around the leeks and drizzled some chive oil on top of that. I garnished the bowl with some watercress and some funky sprouts I found at Whole Foods (pea tendrils, lentils, chick pea and alfalfa). I pounded out some thick cut bacon and slow cooked them in to oven to make these really big but very thin "chips"...well they shrunk down to a regular looking piece of bacon (oh well), I placed the bacon along side the salad.

Braised Hoisen Chicken Thighs with Crunchy Saffron Rice Balls and Georgian Cilantro Sauce

I made a marinade with a jar of Hoisen sauce, a splash of white wine, a few garlic cloves minced, about the same of fresh ginger minced, Siracha hot sauce to taste and placed boneless-skinless chicken thighs in it for 9 hours. I took them out of the marinade letting as much excess marinade drip off as you can casually do. I seasoned them lightly with salt and pepper and cooked them in a few tablespoons of hot canola oil in an oven proof pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on one side, turn over and cook for another minute then cover the pan and into a 350 oven for 25 minutes. They were probably done but I took the cover off the pan and let them cook 5 more minutes just to brown the chicken slightly and reduce the sauce a bit. For the rice balls I made a risotto using Saffron and some Turmeric for an orange color. I rolled them and coated them with flour, egg wash and then Panko bread crumbs. Let them sit in the frig for at least 15 minutes to set the breading. I cooked them by deep frying them in canola oil just until browned, continue to heat them through for 5 more minutes in the oven if necessary. The Georgian Cilantro Sauce was from a pod cast called The Splendid Table and I put it on the plate as a sauce for the chicken and it worked perfectly.

Rhubarb Lattice Pie with Vanilla Bean "Ice Cream"

This lattice pie was in the Martha Stewart magazine June 2011. The rhubarb is out now in the markets and looked really good so I thought it was a good time to use it. I made the crust using Spelt flour, which I never did before, usually I use all purpose flour. Spelt is native to southern Europe and has been used for millenniums, with a nutty flavor its got more protein then wheat and its highly nutritious. I follow Jacques and Julia's recipe in there book "Cooking at Home". It was very good, it wasn't as light and delicate like with all purpose but it was still flaky and deeper in flavor and color. Now here is the big new thing...The "ice cream". Mara (from above) said..."cut up slices of bananas and freeze them in a single layer. Once frozen put them in a food processor and process to break them up adding vanilla extract for flavor. Slowly drizzle in almond milk with the machine running until you get "ice cream"... Don't add too much almond milk, just enough to make it look like ice cream. You will be amazed at how this mixture is...you would sware it's ice cream. The mistake I think I made was not using a good ripe banana (it was not sweet enough). So I will do this with riper bananas and maybe the sweetened variety of almond milk. Thank you Mara!!!

Friday Night Bites #12, May 13, 2011

I decided to make "Friday night bites" this week. About a year ago I started doing these small plates every Friday night instead of a "regular meal" and it was good but I gradually went back to "regular meals". I had a couple ideas so I put together this menu...

Charcuterie and Cheese Plate

We went into Boston to "The Butcher Shop" restaurant a few months back and we sat at the bar and had a plate similar to this dish. I combined some good looking Salami and Soppressata from Whole Foods with some of our favorite cheeses (Borough's Market Stilton and Boucheron). I also put some Cornishon's, whole grain mustard, French prunes and creamed clover honey (which we remembered being so good at the restaurant, and it was still good at home). I got some rustic sprouted wheat boule and Whole Foods "Seeduction bread", and I put a few slices of each in the oven for about 10 minutes just to crisp up a bit then drizzled with olive oil. We love this kind of thing to start the meal with a cocktail made by Tony.

Chevre and Walnut Tartlets

I was looking for ideas and this was one of the first ones I came across, it was on Laura Calder's show "French Food at Home". This recipe uses fresh figs and they are just not at the market's right now so I had to use the dry ones and reconstitute them. The tart shell itself is made from store bought frozen puff pastry and instead of letting them puff up in the oven you place rounds of puff pastry on a cookie sheet and place another cookie sheet on top and bake them just like that and they come out like a crisp "cracker". Then you spread on some goat's cheese that you season with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary and a little heavy cream just to make it more spreadable. The figs go on top of the cheese then some toasted walnuts and some reduced port wine and sugar to make a syrup over that. I put some arugula leaves on the plate and the combination of all those flavors was Divine.

Sea Bass Chips over Buttered Snap Peas and Bell Pepper Agra Dulce

This dish came from a combination of two shows I watched over the week. One was Iron Chef America and the other was from a chef named Michel Richard, and I don't recall the show he was on. Iron Chef's secret ingredient was Wreck Fish and on Morimoto's side they made a "chip" out of the secret ingredient by pounding it and coating it in potato starch, then frying it. So, OK I will do that... What should I serve that with? I remembered seeing the show with Michel Ruchard and he julienned snap peas and cooked them in a little chicken stock and a good amount of butter. I did that with maybe less butter but enough so it was rich tasting. He piled the julienne of snap peas on a serving plate and put a shrimp that he made crispy in the bed of snap peas, then drizzled some kind of yummy looking red sauce around the plate. I thought for my dish a bright looking bell pepper Agra Dulce would be a good compliment to my fish chip and the snap peas. I combined a cup of water, 2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 5-6 Tbsp sugar, salt, hot sauce to taste, diced orange bell pepper, 1/2 of a small onion diced and a handful of cherry tomatoes. I think that was it. I cooked it all over low heat until all the vegetables were softened about an hour. By this time the liquid has reduced and I thickened it a bit with just 1/2 tsp cornstarch and a little cold water. So I pounded out some pieces of Chilean Sea Bass to about 1/4 inch thick and seasoned with salt and pepper then the potato starch, fried them in canola oil and it worked like a charm! This was quite good! I will have to do this again as a main dish, just make everything bigger...

Crepes Filled with Orange Cream and Chocolate

I made a basic sweet crepe recipe ahead of time and put them in the refrigerator. When it was time to have dessert I put some butter in a non-stick skillet and just rewarmed two crepes. While they were heating I whipped some heavy cream with some vanilla sugar and orange zest to soft peaks. I melted some bittersweet chocolate in a little hot heavy cream. I also folded some hazelnut praline into the whipped cream. I layed out one crepe and spread a couple tablespoons of chocolate on one side and topped that with some whipped cream (maybe 1/2 cup whipped) then folded it in half then in half again to form a triangle. Garnish with a mint leaf and a bit of chocolate on the plate with some long strips of orange zest (so you know exactly what to expect when you take a bite of the crepe).

Friday Night, Braised Beef Short Ribs, May 6, 2011

Did you miss me? Well I was here but Tony wasn't for 2 Friday's in a row. I kind of don't know what to do on a Friday if I am not cooking, but I figured it out. I had made some veal stock last weekend (I put the stock in ice cube trays and froze it) so I wanted to use it somewhere in this weeks meal. I saw some good looking short ribs at Whole Foods, and they don't always have them so I grabbed them. I thought the meaty fall apart short ribs with the rich veal stock sauce had to be paired with some fluffy and creamy mashed potatoes (you shouldn't mess with a good thing).

Rosemary Skewered Mozzarella

I saw this on a show, so I made a note to make these this week. We love any kind of bruchetta or crostini and basically this is "that" on a fancy stick. It's 1/2 inch slices of French bread and 1/4-1/2 inch slices of fresh mozzarella and fresh bay leafs skewered with long stems of rosemary and either grilled for a minute or baked in a hot 400 degree oven for 5 minutes. You basically make a sandwich; French bread, mozzarella, bay, French bread, mozzarella, bay and finally French bread. Secure it all by pushing through all the layers with a rosemary skewer that you have removed most of the leaves from (just leaving a couple inches on the end) and then poke another one through going from the opposite end. You will end up with pretty rosemary leaves showing on both sides. Brush the outsides of the bread all around. Bake them or charcoal grill them, plate them and spoon a generous amount of Bagna Cauda sauce over them. The Bagna Cauda sauce is 1 minced garlic clove, equal amount of anchovies chopped (I left those out), 2 oz butter, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, 2-3 tsp lemon juice and salt. You put the garlic and anchovies in a small sauce pan along with the butter and oil; bring to a simmer over low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon zest and juice and season with salt to taste. It's really a perfect sauce to go with this appetizer.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

I made a seasoned flour by just adding salt and pepper to about 1/4 cup of flour. Dredge the short ribs in the flour and knock off the excess. Heat a large heavy pot on medium-high, once the pan is hot add about 1-2 Tbsp canola oil, once the oil is hot add the short ribs and brown on all sides. Once they are browned about 1/2 cup stewed tomatoes, 1 garlic clove minced and about 1 cup of boiling water. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours. Add 1 onion finely chopped and 1 large carrot thinly sliced. Cook another hour adding more boiling water if necessary. Remove the short ribs to a platter and strain the sauce, remove the fat from the sauce (I used a fat separator) pour the sauce minus the fat back into the pan and add veal stock if you have it or just reduce the sauce as is until it tastes delicious and it slightly thickened. Add the short ribs back into the pot and heat through.

Simple Mashed Potatoes- Just made with Yukon Gold potatoes, butter and milk

Simple Blanched Green Beans tossed with Toasted Almond slices- I blanched the beans ahead of time until they were perfectly tender. When I was ready to serve I melted some butter in a skillet and added the green beans. Once the beans are heated through in the butter I added the almonds that I toasted ahead of time and salt and pepper.

Crack Pie

This pie is something they make at Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC. Pastry chef Christina Tosi invented this and it's one of, if not the best seller at David Chang's Milk Bar restaurant. We actually went there one time before I heard about this Crack Pie, being a top seller, I got the Chocolate-Malt cake which I have to say was unbelievable. We will have to plan a trip to NYC again to see if I did a good job with this dessert. If you happen to have the Bon Appetit issue from September 2010 the recipe is in that magazine but you can also get it on line right here... It's a little time consuming but definitely worth it. You make a big oat "cookie", it's a cookie mixture that you spread out into a 13X9 inch baking sheet. After the oat cookie is baked you cool it completely (I made it the day before because of time). Then you crumble the cookie into a bowl and add more brown sugar and more butter. Combine this together and press into a pie dish. Combine the filling ingredients which are 2 kinds of sugar, dry milk powder, salt, butter, heavy cream, egg yolks and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the pie dish and bake for a total of 50 minutes at 350 then turning the oven down to 325. Cool on a cooling rack for 2 hours and then uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. So I started the first step on Wednesday in order to finish it Thursday night so it could chill overnight. But it was really, really good! I heard someone describe it as the filling of pecan pie with an oat cookie crust, and after having it last night Tony said to me..."it tastes like a pecan pie, but without the pecans...". It is served cold. I had a piece after lunch today and I think it got even better...

Friday Night, Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Peppers, April 15, 2011

I saw this pork chop recipe in the new Bon Appetit magazine. It was someone writing into the magazine asking for the recipe, they had it at Mario Batali's restaurant, Babbo in NYC. I love the sweet and spicy of pickled cherry peppers and it's been a while since I had them, I thought it sounded really good. Another new magazine came in the mail, the Food & Wine May 2011 had this interesting looking dessert in it, a chocolate carrot cake. I love carrot cake because its so moist and of corse the cream cheese frosting that is so good with it. But this chocolate cake version has no cream cheese frosting, but it's got a crumb topping (what??).

Brown Tomato Caprese Salad

Whole Foods had these great looking brown tomato variety that I thought looked like a good choice for tonight. So caprese salad is a cobination of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil. I put some good looking watercress lettuce on the plate first and layered on the mozzarella thinly sliced then sliced tomatoes that I seasoned with salt and pepper seperately and fresh basil. I drizzled on some olive oil and served with lightly toasted fresh bakery bread that I rubbed with fresh garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Fantastico!!

Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Peppers, Cipolline Onions and Balsamic Vinegar

These pork chops are soaked in a brine overnight to ensure they are flavorful and tender. Dissolve 1/4 cup kosher salt and 1/8 cup of sugar in 4 cups of water. I put the brine in a zip-lock bag and placed 2 pork chops in and closed the bag, making sure I get out all the air so the brine really gets into the pork chops. He says to brine it 12 hours, but mine was more like 16 hours and it was fine (I am always worried about it becoming too salty if it sits too long in the brine, that happened to me before). You combine bell peppers, cipolline onions, red onions, pickled cherry peppers, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and olive oil. The vegetables are cooked until softened and it's spooned over the perfectly charcoal grilled pork chops. He says to use aged balsamic vinegar just drizzled over the final dish, but I just reduced some regular good quality balsamic, to make it a bit more syrupy and deepen the flavors a bit. Really good, the pork had really perfect amounts of saltiness and sweetness.

Smoky Mashed Potato with Egg Yolk Centers

I saw this on some show, I think it was Unique Eats. The guy made his own smoke oil by charring a brickette then removing it to a small pot then pouring olive oil over it and when it cools down you get this olive oil that tastes like you cooked it on the grill. I made some mashed potatoes and flavored it with the oil and some milk, salt and pepper. I soft boiled 2 eggs for about 3-4 minutes and after spooning the mashed potato onto the serving plates I cracked the egg into the center of the potatoes. It was really good, I was afraid of using too much oil in the potaoes so it was a mild smoke flavor. The egg just added a nice "sauce" the the dish.

Steamed Snap Peas

Cocoa-Carrot Cake with Cocoa Crumble and a Cup of Espresso Ice Cream

This was in the new Food & Wine magazine (as I said above). It's basically made like you would make a carrot cake with the additon of cocoa powder and it's baked in a loaf pan instead of a cake pan. Instead of the cream cheese frosting there is a chocolate crumble that you make by combining flour, sugar, almond flour, cocoa, salt and soft butter. This mixture is clumped together by your hands and chilled for 15 minutes. You then bake it for 15 minutes and let it cool and it hardens as it cools. When you put the cake batter in the loaf pan you top it with the crumble and then it bakes all together. Its really good and different. Its a combination of a coffee cake and a carrot cake. I served this with a "cup of espresso ice cream". I came across these small espresso cups in the bacement and I thought they would be a perfect little vehical for the ice cream. Basically I made a vanilla ice cream but infused the milk with espresso powder. When I finished mixing it, I tasted it and it was like a cup of coffee that needed sugar, what do I do now?? I made some simple syrup with 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup of sugar. I whisked this into the custard and tasted it, and it was perfect, thank goodness!!

Friday Night, April 8, 2011, Walnut Veal

This was one of those weeks I found myself with no idea for Friday dinner and it was Wednesday night. I started flipping through magazines and books for something different and interesting. I saw this Cauliflower bisque in the back of a Veranda magazine, I remembered how good it was at Daniel Boulud's restaurant called Bar Boulud. Then I found the Chocolate Truffle Pie from the new Bon Appetit magazine, April 2011. Laura Calder never disappoints and we are always surprised about her dishes from French Food at Home, they are different and always delicious, that's where the Walnut Veal came in...

Cauliflower Bisque

This is very rich and delicious. I made it with half the amount of heavy cream, basically I made my own half and half in place of the 4 cups of heavy cream the recipe called for. You melt some butter in a pan and add the white part of a leek, a small amount of celery, 1/2 garlic clove minced and 1/8 cup dry vermouth. Cover the pot and sweat the vegetables for a few minutes. Add 1 small head of cauliflower that's been sliced thinly and 4 cups of half and half. Cook until very soft. I used a stick blender to puree it smooth. Season with salt and nutmeg. I roasted some of the thinly sliced cauliflower for a garnish which added a nice texture, very good.

Walnut Veal

This was in Laura Calder's book, "French Food at Home". It was crazy looking, it kind of didn't look like it would be good, but I haven't made anything bad from her book yet so I gave it a shot. I am glad I did because it was delicious, easy and quick too. You make a paste in a mortar and pestle; 1 garlic clove and 1/2 cup walnuts. Grind it into a paste and add about 1/4 cup or so of walnut oil. Add 1 Tbsp of drained capers and about 2-3 Tbsp of finely chopped fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper. That's the sauce that you top the veal with. To make the veal it's 2 veal cutlets that I pounded (just to help tenderize them), season with salt and pepper then cut into 1/2 inch strips. Heat a skillet over medium high heat then add 1 Tbsp of butter and let it brown slightly, add 1 Tbsp olive oil and let it get quite hot. Toss in the veal and cook it 2 minutes, until its just cooked (too long and it will toughen). Remove to serving dishes and spoon some of the walnut sauce over top. The whole thing takes about 5 minutes and we loved it. We used the rest of the walnut sauce today as a spread on a sandwich, so flavorful!!

Baked Corn Pudding

I don't know where this idea came from, it just popped into my head. It was good, but I have made better ones in my opinion. I kind of followed Sunny Anderson's recipe but instead of just cheddar cheese I did half cheddar and half Gruyere, no jalapeno and no bread topping. It was good, Tony loved it.

Roasted Eggplant with Soft Goat Cheese and Watercress

I wasn't sure what else to serve so I got some eggplant and watercress without a plan for them. I decided to roast diced eggplant with minced shallots and some diced tomatoes from a can with olive oil, salt and pepper and do a ratatouille kind of thing. When they were finished roasting about an hour later, I added a bit of red wine vinegar. After sitting a couple hours at room temperature I folded in some softened goat cheese and served it on a bed of watercress.

Chocolate Truffle Pie with Orange-Champagne Sabayon and Strawberries From Bon Appetit Magazine

This was one of these desserts that I really had no idea what to expect from the combination of all these ingredients. I thought it couldn't be bad. We each took a bite and looked at each other and we smiled and we each said wow with our eyes. I love when that happens. The richness of the chocolate pie with the small amount of toasted almonds on top and the orange zest that is mixed within. The airiness of the Orange-Champagne Sabayon (which is egg yolks, sugar, orange zest and I used Prosecco whisked over a double boiler until it reaches 170 degrees then you whisk over a ice water bath to cool it completely). And the thinly sliced strawberries that are macerated with some sugar for a few hours. This combination is heavenly...

Friday Night Menu, February 1,2011, 7 Hour Pork Shoulder

The dessert Tony and I shared at Eastern Standard a few weeks back was still fresh in my mind. I had to recreate it! It was the Butterscotch Bread Pudding with Praline Ice Cream and Salted Caramel. I saw a picture that looked like thinly sliced potatoes layered, and in the shape of a mini cupcake pan, baked probably and filled with a tasty filling...it wasn't...I think it was phyllo dough or something. But anyway, the picture led to my idea for this appetizer which was "mini potato cups with Gruyere, panchetta and Creme fraiche". The main dish was an idea I got from Jamie Oliver, he was traveling somewhere and he filled a earthenware pot with lots of different ingredients, tightly covered it and it slowly cooked in a communal oven for hours. I also have been wanting to do a pork shoulder in the oven (usually Tony smokes a pork shoulder in his smoker outside for 16 hours, and it's always very good, but for a change I wanted to try the oven).

Mini Potato Cups with Gruyere, Panchetta and Creme Fraiche

So I have two mini cupcake pans, one I oiled the top side and the other one I oiled the bottom side so when I filled the cups with thinly sliced russet potatoes I could put the other pan on top to force them into a cup shape. I just sprinkled salt on the potatoes after I layered in about 7-8 sliced potatoes into each cup. After putting the other pan on top and pressing it down a bit I put it into a 300 degree oven (pork was cooking at that temp) for about 20-30 minutes or so, until you can start to see the edges of the potatoes browning slightly. Remove the top pan and continue to cook until the rest of the cup turns golden. It was a little tricky, you have to make sure you put plenty of oil or they will stick. I happened to have cooked potatoes in the frig and I made a small amount of mashed potatoes with it, mixing in Gruyere cheese. I put the mashed potatoes in the cup and sprinkled more Gruyere cheese on top, then a piece of panchetta that I already cooked and baked it until heated through and the cheese was melted. I topped each one with a bit of creme fraiche, very good appetizer!!

7-Hour Pork Shoulder with Prunes, Currants and Fennel over Creamy Polenta

I have a clay pot called a "Romertopf". You soak it in cold water before baking anything and you put everything in at room temperature or cold, and you even put the whole thing in a cold oven and slowly heat the oven. Sudden changes in temperature will crack it. I decided to use it for this dish. I have only made bread and I think a whole chicken one time in it, so I am not familiar with it too much. I put the whole 3 lb pork shoulder in that I rubbed with freshly ground fennel seeds, allspice seeds and chili powder. Of course I sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper. I added one large sweet onion cut into 1 inch wedges, 2 small fennel bulbs cut into 1 inch wedges, 1 garlic clove cut in half, a handful of dried currents and about 10 dried prunes. I splashed in about 1/4 cup dry sherry and 1/4 cup chicken stock, and salt on the vegetables. I covered the pot with the lid and put it into the oven. I turned the oven onto 325 degrees and figured I would let it go until 6:00pm. I started smelling it a couple hours into it (which is a good hint that its about done) and I bet you it was done after 3-4 hours. It had great flavor and the vegetables and fruit were so good, but the pork was slightly dried out. I strained and thickened the juices with a corn starch slurry that came out great. I served this with creamy polenta.

Butterscotch Bread Pudding with Praline Ice Cream and Salted Caramel

I looked for a recipe for butterscotch bread pudding and Sara Moulton had one that looked good. Her bread was diced (which is normal) and put into ramekins, but I kept my slices whole, because that's what I think it was like at the restaurant (above). I actually made this the night before because Tony went out and I had nothing better to do. So you put in the bread and pour the butterscotch custard over, I let it sit a bit to really soak in and then bake it in a water bath. I made a vanilla ice cream from my Avec Eric cookbook and when it was done churning I layered in some hazelnut praline that I had made probably a year ago and had in the freezer. Basically to make a praline its toasted nuts of your choice and you mix it into a hot caramel then pour it out onto a Silpat on a sheet pan and let it harden. You then process it into fine bits. That ice cream was really good, its gone now! Then I made some salted caramel just to pour over the bread pudding and ice cream. It was to die for!!!

Weekday meals, March 27-31

I am starting to do weekday meals on the blog, mainly for myself. I always try to make something I never made, even during the week (not just Friday Nights). So I think it will be helpful for me, to remind myself of the things I have made (maybe make changes to perfect it), and even maybe perfect it to put it into another cookbook. I am not going to describe each dish but I will list the name and/or description along with a picture.

Sunday Lunch- Pistachio and Panko encrusted lamb loin chop atop a salad of mixed greens, hearts of palm, tomato, cucumber, pistachio nuts and dried cranberries. Shallot, sherry vinegar and mustard vinaigrette.

Sunday Dinner- Grilled Cheese (cheddar, gorgonzola and boucheron) with sliced poached chicken and fried egg on a thinly sliced round boule loaf of bread from Whole Foods.

Sunday dessert- Honey cookies from Laura Calder filled with apple, lemon and orange granita.

Monday dinner- Brown rice mushroom risotto with chicken and beet greens.

Tuesday dinner- Soup and salad; Roasted beet, goat cheese and mixed greens salad with lemon vinaigrette and sesame semolina bread. White lentil soup with homemade chicken stock, finely diced onion, celery and carrots.

Wednesday dinner-Baked savory crepes filled with steamed kale and cream cheese pesto and a big meatball on the side.

Thursday dinner- Pan seared salmon with braised Brussels sprouts and baby potatoes.