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.

Mother-Daughter Chard Challenge

The Picky Eater was home on furlough for a few weeks recently and was cooking in overdrive, trying  to take advantage of all the great summer produce. One Sunday we were entranced by the baby chard offered by a vendor at our farmers market, which led her mother to conceive of the Chard Challenge. We purchased a double bag of chard and were off to the races, as it were, with a week of green & purple tinged leaves flying around the kitchen.

While it may be true that my daughter is a certified picky eater, the chard challenge provided ample evidence that her mother is a certified picky cook. While the Picky Eater whipped up a delicious white bean and chard soup with ease, her mother ran through three different recipes and used up about 6 pounds of chard, not to mention quantities of onions, eggs, butter, etc, and countless hours of her time before she got it what she thought of as right!

So, let's start with the Picky Eater's recipe, which will provide good hearty eating from now until next spring. Just be sure to cook the beans a little longer than she did- apparently she likes them crunchy, not soft and toothsome, as her parents (and the rest of the world) do.

Roasted tomato sauce
5 medium tomatoes
1 shallot (peeled)
5+ cloves of garlic (peeled)
Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roast the tomatoes, shallot and garlic until they have caramelized and slightly shriveled about 40 minutes. If the garlic or shallots get really dark before the tomatoes are done, pull them out so they don't burn.  Chop the lot up with a mezzaluna or food processor (if doing it by hand, remove large bits of skin), add more salt if you think it needs it.

Infinitely tastier than something from a can!

White Bean & Chard soup  [dorm substitutions in brackets]
Makes 4 servings

1 carrot
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 rib of celery
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 sundried tomato halves
1/2 pound white beans
Enough water / stock to cover plus 2"
1/2 chard bundle, stems removed

Chop the carrot and celery up fine, then saute them and the garlic cloves (left whole) in olive oil over low heat until they are soft and slightly fragrant.  [If you're working with limited facilities, I suggest buying dried vegetable flake and substituting about 1/2-1 tablespoon and adding that when you add the beans.]

Add the beans, chopped tomato mixture, and stock / water (I use one can Swanson's chicken stock and add water until it's the right height) [powdered stock or bouillon cubes work well if you make them 1/2 the concentration the directions say].  Simmer (BARELY and UNCOVERED) until the beans are the consistency you like (creamy but not mushy or crunchy).  If necessary (depending on the saltiness of your stock) add additional salt after ~1.5 hours of cooking, when the soup starts to smell like beans and not like vegetables.  You may need to add more liquid, just keep it from going completely dry.  Relax.  This is really flexible.

When the beans are just about done, chop the chard leaves into long strips.  When the beans are actually done, add the chard ribbons and stir around until wilted.  Remove from heat. [Let cool, ladle into 4 plastic bags and freeze.  You can reheat it over the next 2-4 weeks for dinners]

Nothing to it, right? Prepare yourself for my travails.

I started with the "Torta d'Erbe" from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It used a yeasted pastry crust, which only required a quick rise, no pre-baking, and was less rich than a traditional pastry dough. Filling ingredients were chard, sorrel, scallions, parsley, ricotta, eggs, milk, gruyere cheese ... I was good on everything but the sorrel and ricotta, so I decided to omit them and go for a quiche style filling.  Cross checked the recipe against a Leek & Swiss Chard Tart from Smitten Kitchen.  So far, so good.  Crust rolled out like a breeze, filling went together, no sweat. Popped it in the oven.

Looked like a photo from Bon Appetit coming out of the oven. Took a couple of bites.... disappointment! Soggy bottom crust more or less ruined everything else, and the chard had an unappealingly strong metallic taste. Should I try it again- pre-bake the shell? Paint the bottom using Dijon mustard or beaten egg white as a sealant? Forget it? Time to move onward and upward.

Spent more time marking recipes in Veg Cooking for Everyone while waiting to pick up Picky Eater at dance class. Couldn't decide which to go with. The Picky Eater suggested trying a variation on a giant spinach, mushroom and ham turnover (Pantin aux epinards, Simone Beck) in From Julia Child's Kitchen that I had reminisced about making in the distant past. Okay, let's try it with the yeasted pastry and chard. Had some Canadian bacon to substitute for the ham. Stop at the grocery for a couple more pounds of chard and extra gruyere. Make the pastry, cook the chard, make the onion flavored bechamel, saute the mushrooms with the ham and cooked chard. Roll out the pastry into a 12" x 18" rectangle. Spread out the filling (which is looking a little meagre.) Seal, brush with egg wash, and bake the tart.

Pantin unfolded.

Kitchen looks like a disaster area.

Looks impressive coming out of the oven. Proof (or lack thereof) is in the eating- filling to pastry ratio is too slight, as expected. Chard still tastes tinny. Time to admit defeat? Never!

A little more filling would have been nice.

Guests coming over for dinner on Sunday. Another chard opportunity. What about gnudi, aka gnocchi verdi from Canal House Cooking vol. 7, substituting chard for spinach and serving with tomato sauce in lieu of sage butter? Splurge on artisan whole milk ricotta. Dig some homemade tomato sauce out of the freezer. Prepare mixture the day before. Poach immediately before serving. YES!! They don't disintegrate during cooking, the tomato sauce is light and doesn't mask the flavor of the gnudi, which isn't metallic. Wish I had chopped the chard more finely. Success at last!

Gnocchi aka Gnudi Verdi
Love the word gnudi! It refers to the fact that these are basically a ravioli filling standing on their own, not encased in a pasta prison.
Adapted from Canal House Cooking volume 7 byMelissa Hamilton & Christopher Hirsheimer
Serves 4-6

This dough must be refrigerated 3 hours or more (overnight) before cooking. Once you have the chard prepared the dough comes together very quickly.

2 pounds fresh chard leaves
1 1/2 cups (16 oz) whole milk ricotta
1 Tb melted butter
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Salt & pepper 6 Tb of flour

4 Tb additional butter, melted
Grated Parmesan
Fresh tomato sauce (recipe below)

Cut away the leaf sections of the chard from the stalks, and discard the stalks, Wash the chard leaves in a colander without shaking dry, and place them in a large saucepan. (The water clinging to the leaves is enough to cook the chard in.) Cook over medium heat until just tender. When cool, squeeze the chard  dry by the handful over the colander. Finely mince and place in a large bowl.

Mix together the chard, ricotta, 1 Tb melted butter, Parmesan, and eggs with a rubber spatula. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Sift the flour through a sieve into the chard mixture and use the spatula to mix it just enough to incorporate the flour. The dough will seem soft and a little sticky.

Refrigerate in a covered container for at least three hours, or make it the day before and refrigerate overnight.

About 20 minutes before serving heat the tomato sauce over low and keep it warm. Fill a wide pan with water to a depth of about 3 inches. Season the water with salt and bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Adjust the heat to keep the water barely simmering. Fill a measuring cup with cold water and pull out two tea spoons. Retrieve the chilled gnudi dough. Dip the spoons in the water and use one to scoop up some dough. Use the other spoon to shape the dough into an oval dumpling shape aka quenelle. Hold the spoon in the simmering water for a second and the gnudi will slide off and sink to the bottom of the pan. Cook 6-10 gnudi at a time until they float to the surface and feel firm, about 4-5 minutes. Hold the gnudi in a buttered & covered casserole in a warm (250 degree) oven until they are all cooked, serving as soon as possible.

To serve, smear a generous spoonful of warm tomato sauce on the bottom of a flat soup dish. Attractively arrange 3-5 gnudi on top, drizzle them with a little melted butter, and toss on a sprinkling of grated Parmesan and a bit more salt and pepper.

Forming / poaching the gnudi.

Fresh Tomato Sauce
(from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison)
Makes 2 1/2 cups

3 pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered
3 Tb chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp mixed dried Italian or Herbes de Provence
Salt & pepper
2 Tb olive oil

Put the tomatoes in a heavy saucepan with the herbs. Cover the pan and cook the tomatoes over medium-high heat, keeping an eye on them to sure that they don't scorch. When they have broken down, after about 10 minutes, remove from the heat, cool slightly, and briefly puree the tomatoes in a food processor. If the sauce is not as thick as you want, return it to the pot and cook over low heat, stirring often until it is the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the olive oil.

Freezes nicely.

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

A Carnivore's Delight: Grill-Braised Short Ribs

For your reading (and eating) pleasure, a guest post from my partner-in-cookery....

Looking good enough to eat!

As The Picky Eater's Daddy, it is my place to encourage the carnivore in us, even if vegetables do occasionally pass my lips.  As such, I am particularly keen on short ribs, which have risen from relative obscurity as restaurants have discovered that they can take what used to be trash meat and present it as a $28 entrée in many of the restaurants around here.  This same thing happened to Osso Bucco in the 1990’s and flank steak in the 1960’s.

I do enjoy beef short ribs, however, and the restaurant versions are usually very good.  This is due, I think, to their initially roasting the ribs (and perhaps the veggies) in a hot convection oven to really get them very well browned, then using very rich red wine with many added spices, with significant reduction of the braising liquid for service.  At home I have never been too happy with the usual oven versions.

The usual short rib recipe is to brown the ribs in a casserole (I use cast iron) on the stove top, brown some onions, carrots and the like on the stove top, then pour in the red wine and stock and braise in the oven.  This process does take ~3 hrs total, and, in the summer tends to heat up the house (no air conditioning in the homestead) and makes the place smell like braised beef for a couple of days (not such a bad thing, perhaps).

I have converted a roast pork recipe (a variation on Mark Bittman’s Pernil) and a roast turkey breast for the grill to be able to reasonably cook these during the summer.  I took it on myself to try the same thing with short ribs.  The impetus for this was a recent America’s Test Kitchen (Cook’s Country) recipe for grill-braised pork, where pork shoulder “steaks” were grilled first, then braised on the grill in a BBQ sauce concoction, then grilled briefly at the end of the cooking to put on a bit of glaze.  It occurred to me that the same treatment could be used for short ribs.  There is little about this on the web, a couple of recipes using stout or beer, but no traditional red-wine based braise that I could find quickly, but there are some precedents, see for example sausage maker Bruce Aidel's Fine Cooking Magazine article on Barbeque-Braising.

The key to these recipes is that the grill does a much better (and less messy) job of browning the meat than frying in oil on the stove top.  This is probably due to the moisture in the meat being quickly evaporated on the grill, allowing higher surface temperatures on the meat, resulting in better browning.  Additionally, some added flavor is likely imparted to the meat during this grilling.

As browned vegetables are usually used in the braising, I also grilled these after the meat, again generating better flavor in the vegetables (onions, carrots, chili, and celery) than is easily accomplished on the stove.

To get more flavor in the meat, it is marinated in a mixture of red wine and spices, in fact in the same braising liquid that is to be used later.  This helps flavor the meat and also combines with the meat juices during the browning on the grill.  I don’t think the exact measures of the following ingredients are very important, in fact, none of this was measured at the time, so use your best judgment.  Be a bit careful with the salt, however, as eventually the reduced braising liquid will be used for the sauce, and much of the salt will remain in this concentrated liquid.

I balked at the initial price of $6/lb for the short ribs at one mid-range market, but found them in a local Chinese grocery for $4/lb.  God knows what Whole Foods charges.
Thus we have:

Grill-Braised Short Ribs

5-8 lbs beef short ribs as desired
1 disposable aluminum roasting pan, to fit ribs and veggies snugly in a single layer
1 bottle red wine, something robust, I used a cheap (but drinkable) zin-cab-syrah blend out of a box (Target Vintner’s Blend, 2011 as if it really matters)
1 large onion, sliced or quartered
2 large carrots, cut in half the long way
2 large celery stalks, cut in 6” lengths
1 mild chili pepper, such as poblano, seeded and cut in two lengthwise
2+ cloves garlic
2+ tsp black pepper
1 Tb salt
1+ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder or cayenne or both, as desired

Put the ribs and all of the spices in either a large heavy plastic bag or container, and add enough red wine to just cover the meat and massage briefly to mix.  Let sit in the refrigerator as convenient, say 3-6 hrs.

I use a large covered charcoal grill, so light up a chimney of charcoal, or run a propane grill relatively high until ready for action.   Place the coals on one side of the grill to leave room for the braising off direct heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and start to grill, letting each side (or, well, most of the sides) brown very well, a few minutes per side depending on the heat level.  No reason to hurry here.  Occasional fat flare-ups seem to enhance the flavor. While doing this, transfer all of the marinade to the disposable pan and start to heat it on the grill towards boiling.

When finished grilling the meat, transfer the meat to the pan in a single layer, and grill the vegetables over the coals until also quite browned, a few minutes per side.  Add the vegetables to the pan and make sure the liquid comes up at least 2/3 of the way over the meat, as the liquid will cook down some during the braising.  If more liquid is needed, add more red wine or chicken stock (never water).

Place the pan over the hottest part of the grill and heat until boiling, then either turn down the grill or move the pan off direct heat.  Cover the pan with heavy aluminum foil to reasonably seal the pan.  The heat should be regulated to have the liquid bubbling slowly, for about 2-2.5 hrs.  You can peek after an hour or so to make sure the liquid has not evaporated.  If so, turn down the heat some or add some additional wine or stock.  Once you think it is going well, leave it alone with the cover closed.  With a charcoal grill, the heat will naturally reduce over time, which is not really a problem with this sort of recipe.  The picture shows the ribs at the end of the 2.5 hr braising.  This is what you are looking for.

When done, transfer the ribs to another covered pan and strain and de-fat the braising liquid into a sauce pan.  Reduce the liquid by around half, tasting for salt, which can be added at this point if necessary.  This liquid should be strong and very flavorful.   Serve the ribs with some reduced sauce, perhaps over garlic mashed potatoes or polenta.  A young syrah is a good match for this sort of thing, but pretty much any good, rich red wine will do.  You went to all this trouble to cook the meat; have something worth drinking.  I had a 2009 Provenance Cabernet Franc, which was very nice, thank you.

I simultaneously cooked a ~2” thick boneless chuck the same way, which turned out pretty well, but without the maximum flavor of the short ribs.

Summer's Bounty: Fruit (& Vegetable) Desserts

We were gifted last week with the bounty from a friend's garden. Happily, it sent me into a frenzy of recipe experimentation, with some nods & some nays (mostly nods). As the intelligent individual that I am, it only makes sense to me to start with dessert. Here's what we've got to work with- strawberries, rhubarb, peaches and zucchini. And here's what we got-
Strawberry Cake
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
A Martha Stewart recipe via Smitten Kitchen which I "improved" with the addition of some almond extract and ground toasted almonds that I had laying around (festering as the Daddy would say.) They added a pleasing texture and taste complexity to the cake. I found the strawberries on top to be visually unappealing, but the baking melted them into a jammy consistency which was a quite nice finale for the top of the cake. I am tempted to try it with blueberries, which might look a little more attractive after baking.This is one of those desserts that is good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner- if you have any left.

6 Tb butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate

1 1/2 c  all-purpose flour 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp table salt

1 c plus 2 Tb granulated sugar

1/2 t almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 c milk

1 c ground toasted almonds

1 lb. strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and flour a  9- or 10-inch springform or cake pan.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. (The butter & sugar may get stuck repeatedly on the sides of your bowl. If this occurs- it's very annoying! - move on to adding the egg mixture, and beat until fluffy then.) Mix in the egg, almond extract, and vanilla, beat well. Add the dry mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just smooth. Fold in the ground almonds.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Arrange the strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the berries.

Bake the cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake the cake until it is golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (Gooey strawberries on the tester are a given.) If the cake hasn't browned much on top but is baked through, brown it under the broiler, watching like a hawk to make sure that it doesn't burn!

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a rack. Unlatch the sides of the springform pan and unmold the cake. Cool completely on the rack, then use a cake spatula to loosen it from the pan bottom and slide onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges to serve. Serves 6-8.

Stewed Rhubarb & Berries

Trust me, for better or worse,
I don't look like her!

(adapted from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof by Ina Garten- she uses a combination of strawberries & raspberries; I went for 100% strawberries and skipped the addition of Grand Marnier.)

This is an Ina Garten recipe.  I have scrupulously ignored her cookbooks, which I realize are idolized by millions of fans, for two silly reasons- one, when I was in the hospital after surgery in 2006 the old lady who was my roommate told me that I looked like her; and two, because her recipes always looked too simple! But, as a novice rhubarb cooker, in this case simplicity was a good idea. I love the contrast between the citrus and berry flavors, but I'm not quite sure what happened to the rhubarb. I enjoyed this for breakfast topped with a spoonful of labneh, thickened yogurt cheese.

2 lbs fresh rhubarb, cut into 3/4" pieces
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2/3 c water
2 pints strawberries, hulled and cut in thick slices
1/3 c freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/3 c freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)

Put the rhubarb in a 2 quart saucepan, along with the salt, sugar, and the 2/3 cup water. bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb is tender and starts to fall apart. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries and citrus juices. Serve warm or cold with some sort of white dairy accompaniment (yogurt, whipped cream, ice cream, etc.)

My rhubarb was a little green- but it tastes better than it looks.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake (adapted from the King Arthur's Flour.com recipe)
Our number one zucchini cake is the Zucchini Orange Cake with a fresh oj glaze, but I was in the mood for chocolate...... Using cocoa instead of bar chocolate means that the chocolate flavor here is not as intense as in my brownies, chocolate chunk cookies, etc, so I recommend a higher proportion of nuts and chocolate chips to guarantee lots of melted chocolate and crunchy nut goodness in every bite!

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, plus more to grease your pans
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt (I used nonfat Greek yogurt)
2 1/2 cups flour, plus a little more for dusitng the pans
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional but it deepens the chocolate flavor (you can use finely ground coffee beans)
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously butter and flour either a 9" x 13" pan, two 9" round cake pans or three 8"x4" loaf pans.

Cocoa can be lumpy,
so it's a good idea to take the time to sift the dry ingredients.

In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat the butter, oil, and sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, ground coffee, and the eggs (one at a time).

Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt alternately with the flour mixture. (I did this part by hand.)
Fold in the zucchini, nuts, and chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s). if using more than one pan, fill them about 2/3 - 3/4 full.

Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, for a rectangular pan, 45-50 minutes (at least) for loaf pans; until the top springs back lightly when touched, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out coated with crumbs, not gooey batter. Because of the varying dampness of the zucchini, be patient and bake the cakes until they are absolutely done (but not overbaked.) Mine took 75 minutes(!) in loaf pans.

Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, and then turn out of the pans onto the rack to  cool completely.

Roasted Peaches with Amaretti Crumble 

(adapted from a recipe by Cindy Mushet in Bon Appetit, August 2009) I have wanted to try a recipe like this for decades. I seemed to recall seeing it in one of the Marcella Hazan tomes, but a cursory search was unsuccessful, so I resorted to you-know-where.

These got mixed reviews. While quick and easy to throw together, they seemed a little blah, striking too few flavor notes and had a low crumble to fruit ratio for my in-house unbiased taste tester. (Not the Picky Eater, but sometimes just as picky.) I liked them with my new favorite dairy product, (again) full-fat labneh, but decided that they really did need a third contrasting dairy flavor, albeit nothing too sweet. In my researches, I discovered that David Lebovitz has a recipe for Peach & Amaretti Crisp both on Epicurious.com and in his cookbook Ready for Dessert, which I will try as soon as some dessert storage opens up and we each lose five pounds.

 

6 amaretti cookies (Italian macaroons)
3 Tb whole almonds
2 Tb unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 Tb sugar
4 Tb chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus more to butter the baking dish
3 firm but ripe large peaches, rinsed, wiped clean of fuzz, halved, pitted (make sure they are a freestone variety- no one tells you that!)
Vanilla ice cream or another white dairy accompaniment (see Rhubarb above)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Combine the cookies, almonds, flour, and sugar in a food processor. Using on/off turns, process until the cookies and almonds are coarsely chopped. Add  the chilled butter to processor. Using on/off turns, process the topping mixture until moist clumps form.

You could just stop here and snack on the topping.

My grandmother's (vintage) melon baller.

Use a melon baller to gently deepen and enlarge the pit cavity in each peach half. Place them, cut side up, in the prepared dish. Push a generous amount of the topping into the pit cavity of each peach half. Spread more over the surface (about 2 generous tablespoons for each), mounding the topping and pressing lightly to adhere it to the surface of the peach, leaving a 1/4-inch plain border.

Bake the peaches until tender when pierced with knife and the topping is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve with scoop of vanilla ice cream or dairy accompaniment of choice alongside.

The Picky Eater’s Picks: Favorite Cookbooks (In no particular order)

Blogger's note: Recommended recipes will be added as they are approved in our test kitchen.

Nature by Alain Ducasse

Why?  Beautiful, fresh, Mediterranean recipes, mostly vegetable based.  Slightly more intricate and fancy French than most of my other favorites.  Also a fan of the interspersed ingredient format—the colors are beautiful, and the ingredient list in the recipe saves you from constantly having to look up the amounts of things.

The Picky Eater’s Picks: Summer Vegetable Gratin with Basil, Pan-Fried Chanterelles with Almonds and Lemon, Socca with Nicoise Style Vegetables

Japanese Farm Food, by Nancy Singleton Hachisu

Why? “Naneth (the Picky Eater's obscure term of affection for her mother), this book is awesome!  I want to eat the whole vegetable section”
There’s also a chart that explains what Japanese cooking methods can use for what vegetables, so if you have something lying around and don’t know what to do with it—look there.

The Picky Eater’s Picks: Salt-massaged Cucumber with Miso and Sesame, Spinach with Walnuts and Miso, Simmered Kabocha and Kombu, Sake-braised Shimeji Mushrooms (and the rest of the vegetable section).  White Peach Ice Cream brings back memories of Rome.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison, AKA The Bible, AKA Awesome

Why?  Do I really need to explain this one?  It has everything.  Everything works, and is wonderful, unlike another “Everyone/thing” book I could name……

The Picky Eater’s Picks: Provencal Winter Squash Gratin, Sauteed Mushrooms with Spinach and Pepper, Chard Stems with Saffron and Tomato, Winter Greens with Fennel and Mushrooms

The Art of Simple Food  by Alice Waters

Why?  The ULTIMATE first cookbook.  Beautiful, simple, classic, everything I miss about cooking at home when stuck in the produce black hole that is Pittsburgh.  Read this cookbook, don’t just flip through it.  You can learn so much.

The Picky Eater’s Picks: Ratatouille of Grilled Vegetables, Wilted Chard with Onion, Green Pea and Asparagus Ragout, Angel Food Cake