Fantasy Birthday Dinner

I had a small birthday over the weekend, small as in not one of those birthday years that end in zero or five.Truth be told, and I really never thought that I would say this, the older you get the smaller and less significant those birthday years become.

My mother promulgated a great sense of celebration and specialness to her children's birthdays. This was related to the fact that when it came time for her own mother, a child immigrant whose real birthdate was lost in a Ukranian shtetl, to choose a date for her birth, she chose the same day as my mother's. Growing up I always rather liked the idea that my mother and grandmother had the same birthday, but my mother absolutely hated it, and felt that her special day had been "stolen" by her mother. Consequently, doing what many parents do to heal themselves, we were always given fabulous birthday parties with lots of guests, gifts, and most of all, spectacular tiered birthday cakes, baked & decorated by my mother herself, cake decorating being her chosen artistic outlet. As an adult, I would never consider going to work on my birthday unless it was totally unavoidable, and usually try to pack the day doing things that I love - nice meals, friends, shopping, a spa visit, etc.

Last week I started mulling over what I would cook for a special fantasy birthday dinner, and with my chef de barbeque's assistance it came to pass in an abbreviated but most satisfactory form:

Menu

Fromage d'Affinois & Asiago fresca with panzanella crackers

Gazpacho Andaluz

Popovers

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

Vegetables en brochette

Al Di La's Torta di Pere (Bittersweet Chocolate & Pear Cake)

The man of mystery himself- Mr. Vincent Price

The gazpacho recipe is my adaptation of one served at Botin, a restaurant in Madrid founded c. 1725. Yea these many long years ago (well, about 30 years ago) I actually ate gazpacho at Botin, but the recipe comes via a truly delightful vintage 1960's cookbook- A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price. Yes that Vincent Price, star of many a bloodcurdling B monster movie, who evidently was quite a gourmand when he wasn't sipping blood. The cookbook is a compendium of recipes from what were at the time some of the world's most illustrious restaurants, many of which, sadly have closed their doors- from dinner at Tour d'Argent in Paris to breakfast on the Santa Fe Super Chief. Probably the most amusing recipe is the one for frankfurters from the newly opened (at the time) LA Dodgers stadium, Chavez Ravine.

Gazpacho Andaluz
serves 4-6.

6 slices white bread, cubed
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded & chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 quart tomato juice

1 clove garlic
2 Tb wine vinegar
1/2 t. cumin
salt & pepper
3 Tb olive oil

Garnishes
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 lg. tomato
1 cucumber
Baguette slices rubbed with garlic and olive oil, and toasted. (Recipe here.)

Layer the bread and chopped vegetables in a large bowl. Pour tomato juice over all. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Puree the soup in a food processor with the garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and cumin. Correct the seasonings. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Chop garnish vegetables and mix together. Sprinkle on top of each serving of soup. Serve cold with baguette croutons.

Hard to match the satisfaction of pulling these babies out of the oven!

Perfect Popovers
Palo Alto baking goddess Flo Braker's recipe. Declared by our guests to be better than Neiman's (Marcus, that is.) To prevent sticking, be sure to generously butter the muffin cups and extract the popovers asap.

2 eggs
1 c. whole milk at room temp
1 Tb melted butter
1 c. flour
½ t. salt

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven; and preheat the oven to 400°. Generously grease 6 popover cups or a large muffin size tin with butter.

Combine the eggs, milk, melted butter, flour, and salt in a blender or food processor; process for about 40 seconds. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times and blend until the mixture is completely smooth.

To make by hand, whisk together the eggs, milk, and butter in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt and beat until very smooth.

Pour the batter into the cups or tin, filling each ½ to 2/3 full. Bake until the popovers are puffed and golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Do not open the oven door during baking or the popovers will collapse.

Serve with butter and jam of your choice.
Makes 6-8 popovers.  (Flo Braker; SF Chronicle, 1993.)

Bistecca alla Fiorentina
We have gorged on many wonderful specimens of this fine thick cut Porterhouse steak. The one eaten at Mamma Gina in Florence in 2007 has been memorialized on our computerized photo frame, and more recently a nice one was shared among three of us at perennial favorite Cantinetta Luca in Carmel last July. This recipe is courtesy of Saveur magazine, issue #157.
Serves 4


2 (1½″- 2 " thick) bone-in porterhouse steaks (3½ lb.) at room temperature
¼ cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 sprigs rosemary
Lemon wedges, for serving

Heat a charcoal grill or set a gas grill to high; bank the coals or turn off burner on one side. Brush the steaks with half the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the steaks on the hottest part of grill, flipping once, until browned, 4-6 minutes. Using rosemary sprigs as a brush, baste the steaks with the remaining oil. Cook to desired doneness, 4-6 minutes more for medium rare, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 125°. If the outside starts to burn before the steak is fully cooked, move to the cooler side of the grill until done. Let steaks rest 5 minutes; slice against the grain along the bone. Serve with lemon wedges.

Vegetables en brochette
For 4 people. Just made this up on the fly.

4 small zucchini, ends removed & cut in 1" chunks
8-10 large mushrooms, stems trimmed & cut in half vertically
8 (or more) 1" diameter boiling potatoes
1 red bell pepper, seeded & cut in 1 1/2" squares
1 green bell pepper, seeded & cut in 1 1/2" squares
olive oil for brushing
salt & pepper

6-8 12" wooden skewers, soaked for 1 hour in water

Parboil the potatoes for about 20 minutes until they are just cooked. Alternately thread the vegetables on skewers. Brush with olive oil and cook on the grill along with the meat, turning once or twice. cooking time is about ten minutes.


Al Di La's Pear- Chocolate Cake from Smitten Kitchen failed quality control- too done on the outside and underdone in the middle. Having had an underdone cake disaster earlier in the week, I went overboard, or rather, overbaked. Will try it again soon using a tube pan. Instead I offer a tried and true family recipe
Nadine’s Cheesecake (photo to follow)
While people from the East Coast usually say this isn’t rich enough, it's rich enough for us! The legend in our family is that this recipe was the origin of Saralee’s cheesecake. In the 1940's a member of the family from Los Angeles that started Saralee was hospitalized in Fresno, and my grandmother didn't know her well enough to justify buying her flowers, so she baked her a cheesecake instead. When the woman recovered she asked for the recipe, and little did my grandmother know what would become of it!

1 1/2 boxes vanilla wafers
1/2 c. butter, melted
3/4 c. sugar
3 Tb flour
1/4 t. salt
24 oz. cream cheese, room temp.
6 eggs, separated
2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. sour cream

Preheat the oven to 325°.
Crumble the vanilla wafers into crumbs and mix with the butter. Press them onto the bottom and sides of a 9 1/2” springform pan. Refrigerate.

Blend the sugar, flour, salt, and cream cheese together until well mixed, then add the egg yolks, vanilla, and sour cream. Blend well, until smooth.

Beat the egg whites until stiff, and fold them into the cream cheese mixture. Pour the batter into the crumb-lined pan. Bake 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours, until nicely browned on top. The cake may crack a little. When done, cover the cake with a clean dishtowel and leave in the turned off oven until it has cooled. Refrigerate until serving time.

Sprinkle top with powdered sugar before serving.

Garlic Harvest 2013

"The Garlic Braider" c. 2012

Just a few weeks ago the estate gardener, aka the Daddy, brought in the 2013 garlic harvest, our third in as many years. Space for cultivation being at a minimum on our suburban property, and suffering the vagaries of hardpan-esque soil, he chooses to sow his garlic cloves in containers, assuring us a small but successful crop. Amid much admiration for his talents in the field, the manor house cook tries to utilize as many cloves as possible on a daily basis, in that inevitable race with spoilage. You may laugh, but the first year's harvest went off before it was used, mainly because the cook was convinced that the homegrown garlic should only be used for "special" recipes. Go figure.

If you are interested in planting your own garlic at home, our gardener recommends these instructions for growing garlic from Love Apple Farms, produce supplier to David Kinch's famed Los Gatos restaurant Manresa.

It has always been a perplexing mystery to the Picky Eater's parents how she, who long eschewed anything besmirched with strong flavors, has always adored garlic. From late childhood and beyond one of her favorite go-to dinners was her dad's abbreviated version of America's Test Kitchen's  "Pasta with Garlic & Oil." Take the original recipe (below), remove the red pepper flakes, parsley, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese, and you've got the Picky Eater's minimalist version.

Garlic and "goujons" - what a tasty combination!

Pasta with Garlic & Oil (adapted from America's Test Kitchen: The Best Recipe)
Serves 4 to 6

6 TB olive oil
12 garlic cloves, minced (about 1/4 cup)
Salt
1 pound spaghetti or pasta of choice
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 TB chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup), optional

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot.

Combine 3 Tb of the oil, 3 Tb of the garlic, and 1/2 tsp salt in a non-stick 10" skillet. Cook over low heat, stirring almost constantly until the garlic foams and is sticky and straw colored, 10-12 minutes.

Fill a large serving bowl with hot tap water, and let it sit to warm up. Add 1 Tb salt to the boiling water and cook your pasta of choice until al dente. Reserve 1/3 cup of pasta cooking water and drain the pasta.

Off the heat, add the remaining raw garlic to the skillet, along with the red pepper flakes, parsley, lemon juice and 2 Tb of the reserved pasta water. Stir well or the garlic will clump.

Dump the water from the serving bowl and dry it. Transfer the drained pasta to the bowl; add the remaining 3 Tb of olive oil and pasta water. Toss pasta to coat. Add the garlic mixture and 3/4 tsp salt. Toss pasta again. Serve immediately, sprinkling with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

The Garlic Gala

Desiring to optimize our homegrown garlic utilization beyond pasta, we embarked on a weekend garlic gala, our domestic version of the famed Gilroy Garlic Festival without the beer consumption. With some festering chicken breasts from the freezer, an old favorite "Supremes de volaille en goujons, persillade" (Chicken breast strips sauted with parsley & garlic) was exhumed From Julia Child's Kitchen to accompany the garlic pasta, along with a "Southwestern Succotash" side dish from Gourmet (July 2005). Some amusement was derived from applying a blow torch to the chiles to remove the skins.

Don't try this unless you are a trained professional.

We decided to forgo a garlic tainted dessert and opted instead for a light and lovely variation of Deborah Madison's "Polenta Pound Cake" from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. If you don't have your own garlic harvest, pick up some cloves from the new crop at your local farmers market or reputable grocery store. (Chances are that outside of California they may even be trucked in from Gilroy.)

Supremes de Volaille en Goujons, Persillade
Serves 4
So many superlatives needed to describe these delectable morsels- buttery, crispy, moist, tender. Like fried chicken without the guilty grease factor.

Floured goujons about to hit the saute pan.

4-6 chicken breast halves, boned & skinned
2 Tb butter
2 Tb olive oil
Salt & pepper
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

Cut the meat into slices about 2 inches long and 3/8 inch wide.  Lay them in one layer on a large piece of parchment paper or flat tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sprinkle with flour to coat, turning to make sure that all sides are covered. In a small bowl stir together the chopped parsley and garlic cloves.

Melt the butter and olive oil together in a largish saute pan over medium high heat until foamy. Shake the excess flour off the goujons and put them in the saute pan. (Try not to crowd too many in, as they will start to steam rather than saute.) Toss and turn them frequently for 2-3 minutes until the meat feels springy instead of squashy and the flour exterior is golden brown. Toss in the parsley-garlic mixture and serve immediately.

Southwestern Succotash
(Adapted, skipped the cream and lime juice & added a few herbs, from Gourmet magazine, July 2005)
Makes 8 side dish servings


3 fresh poblano chiles (3/4 lb total)
2 Tb olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano (regular is OK)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cups fresh corn (from 3 to 4 ears)
1 lb tomatoes, seeded & cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 lb zucchini squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 Tb slivered fresh basil
1 cup labne (thickened yogurt) or sour cream

Lay the chiles on their sides on a rimmed cookie sheet lined with foil, and broil in the oven, about 2 inches from the heat, turning so that all will sides char, for about 8 to 10 minutes. (Or, have a little pyromaniac fun and use a blowtorch.) Remove the pan from the oven and wrap the foil tightly around the chiles. Let them steam 10 minutes, then peel or rub off the skins and discard stems, seeds, and ribs. Cut the chiles into 1/2-inch pieces.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté the onion and red bell pepper, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, black pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano and 1/4 teaspoon salt and sauté, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the corn, tomatoes, squash, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook over moderately high heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender and have exuded liquid, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove lid and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Just before serving stir in the basil and serve with labne or sour cream for dolloping on the side.

Lucky for these cakes that I had some random blanched almonds in the freezer!

Polenta Pound Cake
(Slightly adjusted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)
Makes one loaf, serving 8-10 (or less at our house)

1/4 lb butter, softened, plus 2 Tb more for the pan
1 cup sugar
Zest from one lemon
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt (eat the rest with the succotash)
1/2 cup + 2 Tb cornmeal
1 cup flour, plus extra for the pan
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup blanched or not almonds, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 4x10" or 5x8" loaf pan with butter and dust it with flour.

Stir the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.

Use an electric mixer to cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each, then add the flavorings and sour cream. Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until just combined. (I might consider doing that by hand.)

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and give the pan a sharp rap to remove any air pockets. Scatter the chopped almonds over the top and gently press them into the batter.

Bake the cake in the center of the oven until the top is firm to the touch and golden brown or a cake tester comes out clean, about one hour. Let the cake cool  for 10 minutes and then turn out on a rack to cool completely.
Delicious for dessert and breakfast the next day.

Mutant Produce

Being a big fan of of that epic tome How Are You Peeling? by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers, I am always on the lookout for fruits and vegetables that look like something more than what they are. While I don't spend hours scouring the produce bins at the local markets or have produce guys on my payroll to bring me likely subjects from Korean markets (a la the authors of Play With Your Food), I do take the time to purchase any mutants that cross my path and make sure that they are photographed before being consumed. I must say that it is undeniably painful to cut into a bell pepper with a profile not unlike that of the late great Bob Hope.

So, here for your viewing amusement and pleasure, is my menagerie of anthropomorphic veggies-

Two views of the "Bob Hope" bell pepper
June 2007 

Cactus caterpillar
Zion National Park, 2005

Siamese cukes
Found California Ave Farmers' Market, July 2013

Little Persimmon Face
Portrait by The Picky Eater

Mr. Potato Nose
Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, 2009

Two & three legged carrots
Procured California Ave. Farmers' Market, June 2013