Beyond the Bland

2006-11-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

Carrot, Parsnip & Celery Root Soup
This soup has its "roots" in the Chantenay Carrot Soup made by chef Gabriel Frasca of Straight Wharf in Nantucket (and formerly Spire and Radius in Boston). His soup has a gorgeous, almost Day-Glo orange color and an equally amazing taste. The first time I had it, I found it to be so rich that I was sure it was filled with butter and cream. To my surprise, it contains neither and its richness is purely the concentration of carrots. I learned how to make the soup at home, and it came out just as luscious as when Gabriel makes it. Although I love the purity and simplicity of the original recipe, I couldn’t resist tinkering. This recipe is the results of my experiments. It trades off a little of the bright color and simplicity of flavor for more depth and complexity and slightly more sweetness from the parsnips. Both versions are great, it just depends on your mood and what you have on hand. Be forewarned, this recipe takes a little effort and special equipment (unless you have a source for vegetable juice), but it is so worth the effort! It floors everyone who tries it! This recipe makes six servings.

Ingredients

5 pounds chantenay or other great quality carrots

2 pounds of parsnips

1 medium celery root

¼ cup canola oil

1 large (1 pound) Spanish onion

1 ½ teaspoons curry powder (I use Sun Brand Madras Curry Powder)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Cooked lobster meat for garnish (optional)

Finely shredded parsley

Method
Peel the carrots, parsnips and celery root, removing any discolored spots. Use 3 pounds of the carrots, 1 pound of the parsnip and half of the celery root for juicing. I have a Breville Juicer that I recommend highly! This effort will produce a little over 2 cups of juice.
Slice the remaining carrots, parsnips and celery root into thin slices and reserve. Peel and thinly slice the onion.
To cook, use a wide, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid. I use a large round La Creuset pot. Add the oil and onions to the pot and cook, covered over medium heat until translucent. Add the reserved sliced vegetables and curry powder. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently to keep the vegetables from browning. After 10 minutes, season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper and add the vegetable juice. Cover and cook for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
In small batches, puree the soup in either a bender or food processor. Strain the puree through a fine strainer (I have a large chinois with a wooden pestle for this purpose, but I’ll bet the soup would still taste great even if it were less finely strained.)
You can make the soup to this point ahead of time and reheat it before serving. When reheating, don’t let it boil as it degrades the silky texture. Just get it hot.

To serve, put in bowls and sprinkle with the parsley. Adding lobster meat puts the dish over the top! You don’t need much, a half pound of meat is plenty for six servings. In the picture, I had a little bright red roe from the cooked lobster that I also sprinkled over the soup.
For wine, try an Alsatian Gewürztraminer to pick up on the curry nuances, or a German Riesling Spatlese or Kabinet.

2006-08-20T22:45:00.000-04:00

Toasted Corn Risotto

It’s Sunday night with pouring rain, chirping crickets and I’m back on the blog again. I admit I’ve been a little (well maybe more than a little) slack on keeping up with my blogging responsibilities. I definitely feel the pressure to post, especially after being bailed out last week by a guest writer. Given the size of my backlog of recipes and pictures, lack f materials is no excuse. It just a matter of discipline. Well, here’s a recipe that should make up for my slackness. Toasted Corn Risotto. It’s my own recipe so you can only get it here! It’s sweet, rich, satisfying and can be vegetarian, or be match with anything from fish to grilled steak. Better yet, it’s prime corn season.

Ingredients

4 ears of farm fresh corn

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup finely chopped onion (preferably a sweet variety such as a Vidalia)

1 garlic clove, finely minced

3 tablespoons of finely chopped celery

5 cups of stock, preferable homemade (I used chicken, but a vegetable or corn cob stock would work equally well)

1 ½ cups of Arborio or Carnoli rice

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup grated parmesan

Salt and pepper

Method
Prepare the corn by peeling and cutting the kernels off the cobs using a sharp knife. I like to cut them in a large metal bowl to keep corn kernels from flying everywhere. You can keep the cobs (and freeze them if necessary) to make a really great corn cob stock (which incidentally, would be perfect as the stock base for this recipe). Split the corn kernels into two batches of about 1/3 and 2/3rds. Put the smaller batch in a food processor and puree. It will look a lot like scrambled eggs! Set aside for the moment.

Heat a sauté pan with the first batch of butter. Add the larger batch of corn and cook on moderate to low heat, tossing regularly until nicely toasted. Season with salt and pepper to taste set aside.

Heat the stock in a separate pot, and keep at a low simmer.

Begin the risotto by heating the second batch of butter and oil a decent-sized sauce pan. Add the onions, garlic and celery, and sauté over low heat until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the pureed corned and cook for another minute or two. Add the rice and toss until nicely coated. Mixing with a wooden spoon, add a ½ cup of heated stock. Stir over low to moderate heat until the stock is almost completely absorbed. Repeat with additional ½ cup portions of stock. Stir regularly to prevent sticking. The trick is to adjust the heat to ensure the rice doesn’t cook too fast or too slow. It should take about 18 minutes to absorb almost the entire 5 cups of liquid. Save about ¼ cup for the end. The rice should be tender but still firm (al dente) at the end. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

About 5 minutes before the rice is ready, re-heat the toasted corn. Add the heavy cream, heat through and season to taste. Remember that Parmesan cheese is salty, so it is better to go a little light and add more salt later if necessary.

When the rice is ready, add the remaining stock, the toasted corn mixture and the parmesan cheese. Toss well and serve immediately.

To serve
We had it with grilled, marinated shrimp (as shown) and followed with grilled stripped bass. Both worked extremely well with the risotto. For a wine, choose a really good, oaky, chardonnay. We had a 2002 Kistler, Vine Hill Vineyard, but any high end, barrel fermented chardonnay should work fantastically. The sweetness of the corn mixed with the pan toasting emphasizes the toasty oak barrel flavors of the chardonnay while boosting the fruit flavors. It is a match made in wine heaven!

2006-08-13T21:57:00.000-04:00

Simply Succotash.

Thank you to Ian. After weeks of wheedling, he has agreed to allow his first guest writer – ME! (Anne)

When August arrives, and local corn is as plentiful as mosquitoes, you know the time has come for succotash. Besides being an odd word, succotash is a tasty, immensely satisfying dish. Courtesy of the Aztecs and Native Americans, succotash features corn, typically paired with beans – lima beans, green beans or, my favorite, sugar snap peas (bean-like but certainly not lima beans!).

This version of succotash is perfect for an elegant dinner party, or a quick, mid-week meal with the family. It is easy to make, but tastes so good that you’d swear it must have taken hours!

To give this succotash context, today was one of those brilliant mid-to-late summer days – cool, sunny and just on this side of crisp. The ideal day to head to the coast. We started out in Gloucester at Café Sicilia, our favorite place for a great cup of cappuccino and an Italian pastry. This morning, Paul (owner, baker and quite a character) informed us that we would be having Italian croissants for breakfast. Who were we to argue? (He is one big guy! And the croissants were magnificent…) Besides, at 10:30 am we were able to score a couple of delicious loaves of semolina bread straight out of the oven! Fortified with carbohydrates, we ambled along Eastern Point admiring the mansions and speculating which ones we would be able to live in. The ocean glittered. The roses smelled great. Life was good.

Back to the succotash… This version appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine in 2001. To complement the rich scallops and butter, Ian reached way back into the wine cellar to retrieve a 2004 Kistler, Sonoma Coast, Les Noisetiers chardonnay (from our friends Kurt and Sabrina at Beverly Wine and Beer). This wine is outstanding, not at all like the over-oaked, overly sweet chardonnays that California is producing nowadays. It paired wonderfully with the meal, making the succotash sing!

Corn, Zucchini and Sugar Snap Pea Succotash with Seared Scallops

4 TBSP butter

4 small zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced

4 ears of fresh corn, kernels removed from cobs

½ lb. sugar snap peas, cut diagonally in thirds

3 TBSP chopped fresh thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ lbs sea scallops, muscle flap removed

½ cup heavy cream

Extra thyme (for garnish)

In a skillet, melt two tablespoons of the butter and cook the zucchini, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the zucchini begins to soften and turn brown at the edges.

Add the corn and sugar snap peas. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or just until they are very hot and the sugar snap peas are still quite green and crisp. Season with thyme, salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, in a heavy-based skillet, heat the remaining butter and add the scallops. Sear the scallops on both sides over medium-high heat, for 1 to 2 minutes on a side, or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

Stir the cream into the corn mixture and heat the mixture just until it is very hot. Taste the mixture for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if you like.

Spoon the succotash onto each of 4 dinner plates. Garnish the succotash with scallops and thyme and serve at once.

Serves 4.

The succotash turned out great. It was bittersweet, however, to read my notes scribbled on the recipe. We had last made this dish on 9/11/01.

2006-07-30T15:06:00.000-04:00

Grilled Pizza.

This summer has being rushing by and I’ve been a bad blogger, very remise in doing my postings. I have a big backlog of posts to put out! But for now, let’s focus on the most requested post – Grilled Pizza!

Sorry that there is no photo. For some reason the shot didn't record on my camera!

This dish is very easy to make, but does take some practice and fast moving to get it right. But the results are more than worth the effort!

Pizza Dough
This recipe will make four pizza crusts. You can half it, or freeze the unused portions in plastic bags. To use frozen pizza dough, let it defrost and reach room temperature before rolling out.

1 package of active dry yeast

½ cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees)

6 cups of white bread flour (I use King Arthur). You can also replace some (up to about 1/3) of the white flour with whole wheat for more flavor.

2 ½ teaspoons of salt

1 ½ cups of cool water

Olive oil

Proof the yeast by mixing it with the warm water and letting it stand for about 5 minutes.
Combine the flour and salt. I use the manual method of making a pile of flour with a well on a counter top and placing the yeast liquid and water in the center. I use a fork and pastry scraper to move and mix flour into the water until I get a sticky dough. But, you can use a mixer if you prefer. Knead the dough, dusting it with flour as needed, until you get a smooth, shiny, elastic dough that is not sticky. I usual knead it for 7 to 10 minutes.

Brush the sides of a large bowl with olive oil. Put in the dough, brush its top with olive oil as well. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place (not a problem in the summer!) for 2 hours. Punch down and knead a little more. Return to the bowl and let it rise for another 45 minutes. Punch down and divide into 4 balls.

Grilling the Pizza

A few cloves of fresh garlic finely minced

A couple of balls of mozzarella (8 to 12 ozs) cut into very thin slices

Grated parmesan or even better Pecorino Romano (about ¼ cup)

About ½ cup of well chopped canned Italian tomatoes n heavy puree

Lots of shredded basil leaves.

Get all of the ingredients together in small bowls and put on a tray next to your grill. For utensils grab tongs, a long handed spatula and a pastry brush for the olive oil.

Start the fire or heat the grill.

Roll out a ball of dough into a 10 to 12 inch free form circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Even thickness rather than shape is the key. Don’t make a lip. Put the crust on a pizza peel or a flat baking sheet. Dust the crust with flour (or cornmeal) for easy sliding.

When the fire is good and hot, slide the crust onto the grill. It may take a little practice to get it right. Within a minute or so, the dough will begin to puff up, the underside will stiffen and grill marks will start to form. At this stage, use the tongs to flip over the crust. If your grill is large enough to have a cool side, slide the crust there to buy you a little time. Working very fast, brush the top of the crust with olive oil, sprinkle some garlic, add some of the cheeses and lightly spoon a little tomato on top. LESS IS MORE!!! The pizza should not be totally covered or it will get soggy and hard to handle. Speed is critical to keep the bottom of the crust from burning. Move the crust over the hot part of the fire and heat until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Check and rotate often to keep the bottom from burning. To serve, sprinkle the basil over the top, and cut into slices!!!

Variations: Any number of ingredients can be put on top. Two rules: 1 – less is more! and 2 precook any ingredients that need more than heating for edibility (such as shrimp).

Wine: Montepulciano D’Abruzzo!!!!

2006-06-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

Rosato!

I’m in Phoenix as I write this entry, and it was over a hundred degrees today. Yes, it’s dry heat, but well over a hundred is still hot by any standard! But, at least I got a little preparation over the weekend when summer finally arrived in Boston. We reached the upper 80s and my thoughts turned to summer wines and foods. It’s rosé time!

A couple of Wednesdays ago (flag day!), we attended a wine dinner at
Sel de la Terre in Boston titled "Rosé Colored Glasses," which of course, featured rosés. The restaurant throws regular “Wine Wednesdays” that match reasonably priced wines with a fixed price meal for $45. It’s one of the greatest dinner bargains in Boston. Erik Johnson, Wine Director for both Sel de La Terre and L’Espalier is the enthusiastic host. He explains the wines and the matches thoroughly and engagingly. It’s a great way to try a series of new wines matched with perfect food combinations.

The menu:

first course
Louis Bouillot, Rosé, Crémant de Bourgogne, Burgundy
Rosé poached shrimp and andouille terrine with grilled focaccia and pipérade

My favorite match of the night, the terrine was an unusual and successful combination of shrimp and sausage that really brought out the best in the wine. This wine is made in the Champagne style and in addition to the cranberry and floral notes of a good rosé, it had a honeyed richness in the finish.

second course
2005 Houchart, Rosé, Côtes de Provence
Duck rillette and confit beet with arugula pine nut pesto

Another successful match, the duck was the favorite dish for many of my fellow dinners and its richness combined well with the earthiness of the beets and pesto. The wine, a classic French Provencal rosé has earthy and herbal notes that match well with the flavors, but enough fruit and crisp acidity to provide contrast.

main course
2005 Crios de Susana Balbo, "Rosé of Malbec", Argentina
Roasted prime rib with twice baked fingerling potatoes and caramelized shallot jus

Perhaps the most surprising match of the night, this course proved that the right rosé can indeed stand up to, and complement a classic meat dish. The full red version of an Argentinean Malbec is a well-known match for roasted and barbequed beef, and the rosé version lightens its body and adds a dose of food enhancing acidity. A dark and deeply colored rosé, this wine offers intense red fruit flavors and is powerful enough to convert red wine zealots into rosé drinkers.

cheese course
2004 Château d'Aquéria, Rosé, Tavel, Rhône
Crater Lake Blue, Oregon

Tavel is the quintessential French rosé, and Château d'Aquéria is one of its best producers. Bone dry and salmon-pink in color, this wine has floral and fruit fragrances along with requisite acidity to contrast the richness and salty bite of the blue cheese.

special dessert à la carte
White chocolate crème caramel with port cherries and croquant 2004 Rosa Regale, Brachetto d’Acqui, Piedmont, Italy
The wine dinner does not include dessert, but a $7 supplement brings this special dessert and another $9 adds a glass of Brachetto d’Acqui. In this dish, the white chocolate adds a wonderful silkiness and mouth feel to the crème caramel (instead of the cloying sweetness that is all too common with white chocolate), the port cherries provide the flavor bridge to the
Brachetto d’Acqui.

A Rosé Recommendation
While the list above provides a good group of rosés for initial exploration, I’d like to close with a new find. It’s Bastianich 2005 Rosato from Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in Italy. This winery is owned by Joseph Bastianich who is the son of Lidia Bastianich (restaurateur and TV chef) and partner of Mario Batali (another restaurateur and TV chef). He also wrote the book “Vino Italiano,” which in my opinion is easily the best book on Italian wines on the market. I’ve been a fan of his wines since I first tried them and I especially like his “Vespa” super-Fruilian blend of white grapes. 2005 is the first vintage for his stellar Rosato. It’s made from Refosco, an obscure red grape found in northern Italy. The result is a medium-bodied, intensely colored rosé with a complex and extremely attractive nose of rose petals, violets and plums. On the palate, plumy red fruit flavors predominate in a long finish of surprising depth and complexity. It’s the perfect wine to match with an antipasti plate when sitting on the back deck!

I first found the wine at the Wine Bottega at 341 Hanover Street in Boston’s North End. The Wine Bottega is a great source for unusual Italian wines and its staff is very knowledgeable, friendly and informative. Closer to home,
Beverly Wine and Beer Company carries the Rosato for $14.99. Beverly Wine is run by Kurt and Sabrina Reming, and I highly recommend them as a source solid reasonably priced wine. (They also carry some wonderful high end bottles). Kurt and Sabrina host wine tastings every Saturday afternoon, and Sabrina writes a great weekly newsletter that has stories and recipes along with their weekly wine specials. You can find out more at their web site: www.beverlywine.com.

2006-06-11T23:26:00.000-04:00

Cooking Smells
Over the past few months, I started walking to and from work a couple of times a week. My office is about two and a half miles from my house, long enough for good exercise, short enough to be reasonable. I try to vary my route so I can explore sections of Beverly where I might not otherwise go. It’s fascinating on many levels, and I walk through some areas that are densely populated and others that are almost rural. One night as I walked back around 6 PM, I smelled the distinct sweet and savory aroma of tomato sauce cooking. It made me hungry! But then it suddenly hit me – it was the first and only time I noticed cooking smells on any of my evening walks. Was I just unobservant or are people no longer cooking? Since then, I’ve paid special attention and I’ve varied my return times in case I was missing common dinner hours. The result? Outside of the downtown restaurants, cooking smells are virtually non-existent. I smelled outdoor grilling one night and hot dogs on a frying pan on another, but considering I walk past hundreds of houses, people must not cook often. Don’t say the windows must be closed, I can hear dozens of TVs every walk!

When I was young, I remember walking down my parent’s street and smelling all the different dinners on the stove. Our Italian neighbor’s house had scents of tomato sauce, sausages and garlic wafting in the air, but other houses had smells of macaroni and cheese, pan fried steaks and other common foods of the time. But, apparently no more. It’s fashionable to build houses with bigger and bigger kitchens and people spend megabucks on granite countertops and the fanciest equipment. Yet the extent of their cooking is heating pre-prepared foods in the microwave. The biggest irony is that kitchens have grown larger because people like to be around the warmth, smells and action of cooking!

On Lidia’s Kitchen (Lidia Bastianich’s cooking show on PBS), her son (and restaurateur) Joseph Bastianich remarked that when he was growing up, it was the poorer houses that smelled of cooking. To which Lidia pointed out, “Ah, but which houses did all your friends want to hang out in?”

Here’s a recipe that always smells great to me. If you make it, I guarantee it will perfume your neighborhood.

Grilled Sardines

a dozen fresh sardines

olive oil

a couple of lemons

Salt and pepper

A few sprigs of chopped parsley

Rinse and clean the sardines. Slit the bellies and remove the entrails. You can leave on the heads and grill them whole, or remove the heads and butterfly the fillets (to get the result shown in the picture). Put the cleaned sardines in a dish, sprinkle with the olive oil, some fresh squeezed lemon juice and salt and pepper. Allow them to marinate while you start your grill. I prefer grilling over hardwood charcoal, but regular briquettes or a gas grill will work too.

When the fire is ready, throw on the sardines. I have a fish grilling basket (on sale at store that carry grills) that simplifies cooking fish. The fish is cooked in the basket, and when you are ready to flip, you just turn the basket over! Otherwise, just cook the carefully on the grill. The sardines cook quickly, no more than a couple of minutes per side if your fire is hot. The skin side will have some blistering and charring. But let the aroma be your guide!

Serve with lemon wedges and sprinkle with a little more olive oil and the chopped parsley. They are especially great with a crisp white wine such as a Sancerre, Pinot Grigio or Spanish Albariño.

2006-05-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

A great sandwich after a splendid walk.

The north shore of Boston is an incredibly beautiful and interesting place to explore. It has a rich mixture of history and nature, with old farms, quaint village centers, and of course, rocky coast. On a recent Saturday, we went for a walk at the Coolidge estate in Manchester-by-the-Sea. The property is in the care of the Trustees of the Reservations. The old mansion is long gone, but a short walk along the marshes gets you to the Great Lawn which provides a sweeping view south across Salem Sound towards Boston. The Lawn would be an incredible spot for picnicking. On this day, however, it was early and we wanted a brisk walk along the edge of the shore. The coast is high and rocky and the colors are spectacular, with the grey blue of the ocean contrasting with the myriad of colors and textures of the lichen covered granite, lawn and trees. On the rocks below, a group of harbor seals frolicked and tussled over sleeping spots on a favored pinnacle. A magic morning!

On the way back, we stopped at our local foodie paradise, Beverly Farms. A tiny village center, the “Farms” boasts a number of food and wine related stores. There is the Fruitful Basket, a gourmet grocery store, two bakeries, The Farms Bakery and DeFusco’s, and a wine store, Cork & Cask. The Farms Bakery is a favorite Saturday morning stop for coffee and croissants (real ones!). We follow with visit Mark Solomon at Cork & Cask to see if anything new has come in. Next its off to the Fruitful Basket. On this day, Bob Viel had some cured Tuscan Ham along with his usual stunning array of ripe cheeses. A quick taste inspired lunch. To set off the ham, I chose a relatively young Sainte-Maure de Tourraine, an artisanal French goat cheese. A momentary inspiration led to the purchase of a bottle of Matiz Vasco Piparras. Piparras are a traditional Basque pepper with a sweet and spicy flavor. Preserved in a brine, they would be our pickles! Finally, we stop at Defusco’s to buy some crusty, freshly baked bread. Now we’re ready for lunch!

Great Sandwich

A loaf of crusty bread

Slices from a flavorful ham

A tangy goat cheese

Piparras

Cut a couple of thick slices of bread. Spread both pieces with goat cheese. Layer on the ham. Serve with Piparras on the side. Life is wonderful!

* on a sad note. A Dunkin Donuts franchise is moving to Beverly Farms (as if we need another donut shop in Beverly…) The owner appears to be doing a nice job setting up the premises to fit the locale, but the damage is done. The other bakeries are not profitable enough to survive the expected hit on their businesses. DeFusco’s is closing in mid-May and is moving to North Andover. And The Farms Bakery is up for sale. Such is progress. Why have unique when you can have chain?

2006-05-20T06:28:00.000-04:00

Grilled Asparagus Gribiche

Perhaps the most requested recipe in my repertoire, Asparagus Gribiche blends the smoky, nutty taste of grilled asparagus with an old fashioned dressing that typically accompanies cold meats. Everyone who tries it wants more! I first had it at a Slow Foods dinner at the Inn at Castle Hill in Ipswich. The guest chef was Amanda Lydon (formerly of Truc and Upstairs on the Square and now at Straight Wharf Restaurant in Nantucket). She served this dish as a first course and blew everyone away. Given the limited capabilities of the Inn’s kitchen, Amanda had her sous-chef grill the asparagus over the stove burner flames using tongs.

Armed with the concept, I promptly started researching and experimenting with gribiche sauces until I arrived at the following version. Gribiche is essentially a mayonnaise, but it is made using hard-boiled eggs. The yolks make the sauce, the chopped whites are part of the garnish. It’s a very useful sauce, and I think it would work well as a topping for all sorts of grilled vegetables and also for grilled or baked fish.

Gribiche Sauce

3 hard-cooked eggs

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 teaspoons capers, drained

2 cornichons, finely diced (gherkins or other small dill/sour pickles)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Separate yolks from the whites. Cut the whites into strips, then cut into small dice. Set aside.
Put the yolks in a mixing bowl and mash into a paste. Add mustard and salt and mix thoroughly.
Whisk in the olive oil a little at a time until the mixture begins to emulsify and thicken. You can then add the rest of the oil in a steady stream while whisking. Whisk in the white wine vinegar in a slow stream. The final consistency should be velvety, but still runny (i.e. not as thick as mayonnaise).
Add the garlic, herbs, capers, cornichons and ½ of the reserved egg whites. Mix well and taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if necessary.

Grilled Asparagus

1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

You can grill the asparagus over charcoal, on a gas grill or using a grill pan. Not surprisingly, charcoal provides the strongest flavor, but all three methods work well.
Grill the asparagus stalks for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through. The asparagus should be crisp/tender with some char marks (the combination of char flavor and gribiche is what makes this dish work).
Remove from the grill and place on a serving platter.
Drizzle the sauce over the asparagus. Garnish with the remaining egg whites.
Serve immediately.

2006-05-13T22:42:00.000-04:00

Slow Roasting Fish
It’s May and it’s pouring rain. After a dry start of the year (four inches behind in rain), the floodgates have opened and it’s been pouring for days and will continue for days to come. It’s a good thing I guess. The plants love it, the crops at Appleton Farms will get a good start and I’ll have time to cook and write. It’s been a tough and upsetting week on a lot of levels, so a little solace from food and wine can only be good. I have such a backlog of recipes to post. Maybe it’s best to start with a quick and easy one… slow roasted fish.

I first read about this cooking technique in Michael Schlow’s cookbook, “It’s About Time” [Steerforth Press 2005]. He is the chef and owner of Radius in Boston, which is probably the most New York-like Boston restaurant. Expensive, chic and creative. Anyway, his book has a recipe for slow roasted salmon with cabbage, bacon and dill. Unlike typical recipes, he cooks the salmon in the oven at 250° for about 20 minutes. The lower roasting temperature has numerous benefits. The fish has a better consistency; its stays very moist, and it doesn’t smell up the house the way broiling or pan roasting does. I made the dish and loved it. Shortly thereafter, slow roasted fish started turning up at other Boston restaurants. Upstairs at the Square in Cambridge does an amazing job with slow roasted cod. Having just read a book about cod fish, “Cod” by Mark Kurlansky [Penguin Books 1998], I was especially attracted to the dish. Subjected to massive over fishing, fresh cod is getting rarer and harder to find. Interestingly, cod has historically been more frequently consumed in its dried and salted form. Fresh cod is mild and falls apart quickly into large flakes if over cooked. Slow roasting, however, cooks the cod perfectly. It stays together, gets a wonderful translucent white in color and becomes a delicious foil for any number of herbs, spices and/or sauces. I’ve used this method successfully for salmon, cod and halibut, but I’m sure it will work for other types of fish. Here’s how to do it.

Ingredients

Cod fillets – as thick as you can find. I like about 1 pound for two people, others aim for about 6 ounces per person. If the cod has a thin end, you can fold it over to gain thickness.

White wine – just enough to put a quarter inch or so in the roasting dish.

A few pats of butter

Salt, pepper, pimenton, chopped herbs

Method
Heat the oven to 250° (I’ve also had success at 300° when I need it to cook a little faster).
Put the fish is a shallow baking dish a little larger than the filet. Add the wine. Put a few pats of butter on the top, salt, pepper and sprinkle with herbs or spices. I especially like using sweet, smoky pimenton. Roast for about 20 minutes, but check frequently to avoid overcooking. Baste if you like each time you check. Remove when the fish just starts to flake. It will be a different consistency and color than higher temperature roasted fish, but it’s done. Top with your choice of sauce, or simply use the liquid from the roasting pan. Enjoy!

2006-04-23T18:02:00.000-04:00

Valpolicella – It’s not what you think!
Back in my college days, Valpolicella was one of those cheap Italian wines that came in 1.5L bottles. It was innocuous, but drinkable and at least it didn’t cause the killer hangovers that were associated with the other student wines of the time. Today, while mass market versions still exist, Valpolicella can be a good to great wine. Made Corvina and Rondinella are the primary grapes, although others are blended in as well. Basic Valpolicella is a lighter wine with bright red fruit flavors and a wonderful nose that sometimes has a scent of rose petals. Good bottles can be found in the $10 to $15 range. It is a good, multipurpose food wine that is great with appetizers (and not surprisingly, antipasti) and pastas with tomato sauce. A few recent favorites are:

Allegrini Valpolicella Classico – A good basic Valpolicella from a great producer

Tommaso Bussola BG 2003 – A well-made lighter wine with faint rose petal on its nose

Tommasi Rafael Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2001 – An earthier style with cherry notes in the finish

Zenato Superiore Valpolicella Classico 2001 - Slightly fruitier than the Tommasi with a mid palate finish of strawberry fruit

At the other extreme, are the Amarone wines, officially called Amarone della Valpolicella or Recioto della Valpolicella. These wines are made with grapes that have been allowed either on the vine or on straw mats. Reducing the water in the grapes, concentrates the flavors and increases the level of sugars (although Amarone is fermented to dryness). The result is a high alcohol wine of stunning depth, richness and complexity. Amarone is a spectacular, but expensive wine that will merit its own blog post in the future. For our purposes today, however, we’ll consider how Amarone influences and enriches more standard Valpolicella wines.

A new style of Valpolicella has evolved, where basic Valpolicella is blended with some percentage of wine prepared in the Amarone style, or processed “Ripasso” style, where the Valpolicella is vinified in a second fermentation over wine-drenched skins and pulp leftover from Amarone production. The result is a deeper, richer and more powerful Valpolicella that can stand up to more highly flavored dishes and is sufficiently nuanced to be an enjoyable wine on its own. These wines typically fall in the $18 to $30 range. Top producers include Allegrini, Bertani, Tommaso Bussola, Le Ragose, Masi, Speri and Zenato. Personal favorites include:

Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre Valpolicella 2001 – A great price performer and a perpetual favorite when I serve it to friends. It’s been called a “baby Amarone.”

Zenato Valpolicella Ripassa 2001 – A rich, silky and attractive wine with a great long finish. The 2003 is recommended as well.

Tommaso Bussola TB Valpolicella Classica Superiore 2000, 2001, 2003 – Wow! These wines are Bussola’s higher end bottling and are unbelievable in power, complexity and shear enjoyment. Very Amarone-like. They are expensive (up to $50/bottle), but worth every penny.

2006-04-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

Tiny Sparrows
Spätzle, officially tiny dumplings, but more like a pasta in texture and use is an extremely fun side dish that complements many main courses. Spätzle which apparently means “tiny sparrows” are made from a simple batter and formed over a pot of boiling water using a Spätzle Maker.
This unique kitchen tool is inexpensive and a heck of a conversation piece for dinner parties. Guest love to watch you make spätzle, and extra hands can be useful.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt teaspoon

½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

½ cup milk

Large pot of salted boiling water

Garnish

2 tablespoons butter

Several tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (to taste)

Method
Put the large pot of salted water on the stove and heat to a boil. In the meantime make the spätzle batter. Iin a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg, In a separate bowl, beat together the milk and eggs. Add the milk and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well until fluffy and slightly bubbly. The batter should be a little thicker than pancake batter, but not stiff. You want it to be able to drip from the spätzle in a controlled manner.

To form the spätzle, place the maker over the pot of boiling water. Pour the batter into the maker, sliding back and forth to create the spätzle by dropping little bits of batter into the water. Extra hands are useful here! Give the spätzle a good stir as they rise to the surface to keep them from clumping. Let all the spätzle rise to the surface and then cook briefly (a couple of minutes, but taste to get the consistency you like.) Don’t overcook or they will get starchy! Remove and drain the spätzle with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. You can toss with the butter and parsley and serve as is. But even better, toss with a little butter to prevent sticking, then heat the remaining butter in a sauté pan. When hot, add the spätzle and toast lightly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!

Spätzle works well as a side dish and is an especially good accompaniment to dishes with rich sauces. As shown in the accompanying picture, I served it with a Hungarian Chicken Paprika. A perfect combo!

2006-03-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

Assunta’s Beans
When we read a story singing the praises of beans, few of us believe it. We mostly encounter beans alongside hot dogs in an overly sweet baked form or as a mushy, side ingredient used to extend soups and chilies. These beans usually come out of cans and contribute little more than starch and after dinner flatulence. We see beans are peasant food, and surely few would pick them as a menu centerpiece if presented with any other choices. Yet beans can be glorious. Beans are a central ingredient in many cuisines around the world and prepared properly, they become a deeply satisfying comfort food.

There are many varieties of beans on the market, mostly found in dried or canned form. Canned beans are convenient, but at the cost of flavor and texture. To keep them from turning to mush, add them towards the end of cooking. Dried beans have more flavor and texture, but require long soaking and cooking to make them edible. They are worth the effort, but take advance planning. But occasionally, you can find fresh beans. They provide an entirely different experience. Try them and you’ll seek them out with pleasure whenever they are in season.

Assunta’s Beans, a dish from Marcella Hazan’s Marcella Cucina (published in 1997) uses fresh cranberry beans. Try the recipe and forever change your mind about beans. Cranberry beans, sometimes called shell beans arrive in speckled red and white pods. Choose pods that feel full with beans and have not begun to brown and dry out.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb unshelled cranberry beans

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup water

4 to 6 fresh sage leaves

3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

Salt, and black pepper

A very good extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over the beans when serving

Method
Shell and rinse the beans. Place in a small lidded pot with the olive oil, water, sage leaves, garlic and seasonings. Take a clean kitchen towel (Use one you won’t mind staining. I have one I save specifically for this dish.) Wet it well under a faucet, squeeze out the excess water and fold it to fit the pot lid. Cover the top of the pot with the towel and set the lid over it to seal. Set the pot over a very low flame and cook slowly for an hour and forty five minutes. After 45 minutes check the liquid and ad a few tablespoons of water as needed. Repeat twice more in 20 minute intervals. You may have to adjust the quantity of water to match the level of heat (you don’t want the beans to burn nor bathe in deep water). At the end of the cooking interval, taste the beans, checking for tenderness and to adjust the seasonings.

Serve the beans by themselves, drizzled with some very good olive oil. I like to have them with rice on the side as a complete meal. They are a great accompaniment to roast lamb, pork, chicken and duck.

2006-03-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

Marvelous Mushrooms

The pictures and recipes are piling up, so it’s time to get back to regular posting! Tonight’s post is about an especially great technique for cooking mushrooms. All too often, a big batch of sliced mushrooms is thrown into a pan, salted and stirred constantly. The mushrooms throw a bunch of liquid and essentially boil and steam into grayness. For only a little more effort, this technique will transform your expectations of even the humble white button mushrooms found in the supermarket. And if you use it on wild mushrooms, it becomes transcendental (a little hyperbole for late on a Sunday night with a glass of wine by my side…)

Anyway, I learned this technique from Tom Colicchio’s book “Think Like a Chef”. He is the chef at Craft and Gramercy Tavern in New York. I’ve had the opportunity to eat at Craft and was greatly impressed by the purity of his cooking style. His approach is to use great ingredients, use cooking methods that concentrate flavors and combine ingredients in synergistic trilogies. (For example, Lobster, peas and pasta). His approach to cooking mushrooms is simple and foolproof, but relies on cooking the mushrooms in small batches, so the elapsed time takes longer than traditional methods.

First, clean, dry and slice the quantity of mushrooms you want to use.

Heat a sauté pan and add some olive oil. Get the pan quite hot. Add a small amount of mushrooms (less than a single layer). You want to ensure the mushroom slices are all in contact with the pan and the volume of mushrooms doesn’t cause the pan temperature to drop. High temperature and low volume ensures moisture evaporates instantly.

After distributing the mushrooms in the pan, resist the urge to stir them around. And definitely don’t salt! The mushrooms will brown and caramelize on the bottom side. Flip the over and start to brown the other side. Once browned, add a little butter and toss.

Ready a plate with a couple of layers of paper towels. Remove the mushrooms and drop on the paper towel. I lightly salt and pepper them at this stage.

Repeat these steps batch by batch until you have cooked the desired quantity of mushrooms.

You can eat the mushrooms as is (it’s hard not to nibble!) or throw them into whatever dish you are making. They will add significantly more flavor and texture than you would ever expect. If you want to use them as a side dish, just return the entire batch to the serving pan for brief reheating with a little butter before you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!

2006-02-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

An Improvised Delight
Sometimes, it’s a fun challenge to make up something new for dinner. It was a cold winter night and I craved soul warming comfort food. Perhaps, a rich soup or stew. Looking in the refrigerator, I had boneless chicken breasts, two leftover Merguez sausages, a hunk of Tasso ham and a pile of root vegetables. Certainly an eclectic mix. Merguez sausages are made from lamb and hail from Morocco. They are small and highly spiced with harissa, which is a Moroccan condiment paste made from fiery peppers. Tasso ham is a Cajun specialty, also highly seasoned and smoked. The root vegetables -- parsnips, carrots, celeriac, onions and potatoes -- are good hearty fare for a winter’s night. I felt there must be some way to combine them. A quick search on the Internet revealed no recipes that even remotely combined these ingredients, so I was on my own. I’m not a fan of the amateur cook method of just throwing ingredients together and hoping for the best. On rare occasions, a great dish ensues, but most often it just doesn’t work. Instead, I try to think through the dish first. What do I want for an outcome? How do I use the available flavors and textures to achieve that outcome?

Well, cubes of chicken and root vegetables in a broth certainly qualifies as winter comfort food. While the Merguez sausages and Tasso ham are miles apart in origin, I felt they had complementary flavors that could add a little flavor and richness to the otherwise bland chicken breasts. Rather than taking a “fusion” approach, I wanted a dish where the ingredients seemed like they belonged together. The spicy ingredients became condiments rather than the stars, and the real trick was the addition of balsamic vinegar at the end to add a little acidity and fully marry the flavors. Here is the resulting recipe.

Spicy Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

2 Merguez sausages cut into small pieces

2 oz Tasso Ham, minced

1 lb boneless chicken breast cut into bite-sized cubes

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Peel and cut into bite-sized cubes

1 small celeriac

2 parsnips

3 medium potatoes

3 large Chantnay carrots

4 cups of homemade chicken stock

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Chopped parsley for garnish

Method
Heat a large stovetop casserole pot (I used a 7 ½ quart La Creuset bouillabaisse pot) with some olive oil. When hot, add the sausage pieces and brown well. They will throw a lot of drippings. When well browned, remove the sausage pieces to a separate large bowl, but reserve the highly spiced drippings to sauté the remaining ingredients.

Keeping the pot hot, add the Tasso ham and chicken to the pot and brown well in the drippings. When the chicken is nicely browned, use a slotted spoon to remove the ham and chicken. Place in the bowl containing the sausage pieces.

Put the onion and garlic to the pot and sauté in the remaining drippings. Add a little more olive oil if needed. Cook over a medium flame to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often and scrape up as much of the browned pan drippings as possible. Getting the onions a good shade of golden brown will add a nice color to the final broth.

Throw the remaining vegetables and toss well. Continue cooking for about ten minutes tossing occasionally to lightly brown and slightly soften.

Add the chicken stock, and reserved chicken, ham and sausage. Bring to a boil, cover and turn down to a simmer. Cook for about 1 hour, checking and stirring periodically.

When vegetables are almost done, remove the lid and allow the broth to boil down and concentrate. The final stew should still be soupy, but the broth should be concentrated and very flavorful. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and add two tablespoons (or to taste) of balsamic vinegar. Stir well.

Serve in bowl and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

The result?
This dish came out exactly as desired and I’ll certainly make it again! It has a nice warming spicy kick that is offset by the mildness of the chicken and the earthiness of the root vegetables.

We had it with a 2002 Fattoria Le Terrazze Rosso Conero. Primarily based on montepulciano grape, this wine from the Marche area of Italy has the fruitiness to match well with the spiciness of the dish. Spectacular!

2006-02-05T22:18:00.000-05:00

Rosti Potatoes
Having people over and looking for a dressier, yet easy potato side dish? Try this recipe! Essentially a simple potato pancake, Rosti Potatoes brings an elegant look to the taste of home fries. And it’s easy to make. After experimenting with many versions, I found the trick is to slightly cook the potatoes first. It makes them starchier and also helps them cook faster in the pan. No more overdone crusts and raw insides. Rosti potatoes are great with any type of roast, but with especially chicken and fish.

2 large potatoes

Olive oil

Approx 1 tablespoon, fresh rosemary finely minced

Finely chopped parsley for garnish

Salt and pepper

Pimentón (just a hint)

Peel and half the potatoes. Put in a pan and over with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and let cool until you can handle them. Grate the potatoes through a coarse grater. Mix in the rosemary, season with salt, pepper and pimentón. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. When hot, put the potato mixture in the pan and press down to form a pancake. Keep it relative thin (about ½ inch or so) so it will cook through. Cook until the bottom is golden brown (about 5 minutes). Now, the hard part… Flip it! I usually put a cookie sheet over the pan, hold the sheet and flip the pan upside down.. Then slide the pancake back into the pan. Cook until completely golden. Slide out on a nice serving plate.. I sometimes dust the top with a liitle pimentón for a little more color and a touch of additional smoke. Sprinkle with parsley. Enjoy!

2006-01-20T21:26:00.000-05:00

Ian’s Pot Roast

To me, pot roast is one of the ultimate comfort foods. Caloric as it is, I don’t make it much, but I love it on a cold, blustery winter’s day, when you are stuck inside watching the wind blow the snow around and you’re glad to be inside smelling the sweet, savory scent of a pot roast cooking. As implied by the name of this blog, I like my pot roast highly flavored. The 1950’s version made with a can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and a packet of Lipton Onion soup can be quite tasty, but I tend more to European flavors and love the added richness and complexity of wine and homemade stocks.

Living in Beverly, Massachusetts, I’m lucky to have access to Henry’s Market. It’s a small, old-fashioned supermarket known for the quality of its service and its butcher shop. An anomaly in a world of box stores and supermarket chains, Henry’s butchers find you the finest cut meat and trim and tie it perfectly. They’ve even pulled me into the backroom to choose between larger sections of lamb and beef and help me select the exact part I want, before cutting it. So with pot roast in mind, I put myself in their hands!

Let’s start with few points on the recipe below. Stylistically, it borrows from a number of styles of stewed meat including Beef Bourguignon, Provençal Daube and Italian Stracotto, but is my own creation. I intensify and kick up the flavors in three ways. First, start with high quality ingredients. Second, reduce the cooking liquid by half to concentrate flavors before adding the pot roast meat. And third, cooking the vegetable garnishes separately and adding them to the pot in the final minutes of cooking. This technique ensures properly cooked vegetables that retain their individual flavors and textures. The garnish vegetables are pearl onions, baby carrots, crimini mushrooms and potatoes. If desired, you can skip the potatoes and serve the pot roast with noodles, shells or your favorite macaroni.

A great pot roast is meltingly tender, which means long cooking. Start the first steps about 5 hours before you want to serve the dish. I’ve always started the pot roast on the stove, and let in cook in a low oven. A recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine recommends cooking the pot roast until tender and then continuing for an extra hour. I tried this suggestion when making this pot roast and was very pleased with the results.

Pot Roast Ingredients

3 lb Chuck Roast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot finely chopped

1 rib celery finely chopped

½ a large sweet onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves finely minced

Rosemary - 1 good sized sprig chopped finely

1 bottle of red wine (Use a decent wine!)

1 cup beef stock (preferably homemade)

1 cup chicken stock (preferably homemade)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Bouquet Garni

Thyme – several sprigs

Parsley – several sprigs

Tie together with kitchen string

1 ½ pounds of white or yellow waxy potatoes (I usually use Yukon Golds), peeled and cut into halves or quarters depending on size

Vegetable Garnish Ingredients
See the individual recipes below for ingredients

The Steps

Making the Pot Roast
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. On the stove, heat a large, heavy metal pot with a well-fitting lid. Add the olive oil. When quite hot, add the chuck roast and brown well on all sides. This step will take a few minutes, but getting a deep brown crusty coating on all sides is critical for flavor.

Remove the browned meat to a separate plate while you prepare the braising liquid. If the browning process threw off a lot of fat, remove the excess, retaining only a couple of tablespoons. Using the same pan, add the flavoring vegetables and sauté until soft. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and add the beef and chicken stock. Turn the heat to high and reduce the liquid by half. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Return to the pot roast to the pan. Add the bouquet garni and spoon some of the braising liquid over the top of the roast. Cover the pan with foil for a tighter seal and put on the lid. Bring to a boil on the stove, then place in the oven. It will cook for about 4 to 4 ½ hours in total. Check and turn over the meat every hour. As mentioned above, note when the pot roast is tender and easily pierced with a fork, add the potatoes and cook for an hour longer.

Preparing the Vegetable Garnishes
Make these garnishes while the pot roast is cooking. Note that the mushrooms, onions and carrots can be fine side dish recipes on their own!

Mushrooms

1 lb crimini mushrooms

3 tablespoons of butter

Salt and Pepper

Melt ½ of the butter. Cook mushrooms in small batches over moderate heat until well-browned. Add remaining butter as needed between batches. Stir as little as possible to avoid throwing liquid. Cook until the mushrooms are deeply brown and concentrated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Repeat until all mushrooms are cooked.

Pearl Onions

18 small white onions

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup beef stock (You can use a rich vegetable stock if you want to make this recipe as a stand alone vegetarian side dish)

To peel the onions, boil a small pot of water. Set up a bowl of ice water on the side. Cut the top and bottoms of the onions. Cut a small “X” in the root end of the onion to keep the center from expanding while cooking. Add the onions to the boiling water and boil for 1 minute. Remove and drop in the ice water to stop cooking and loosen their skins. Peel by simply slipping the skins off. Dry well. Melt butter in a small pan with a lid. Add sugar and let it melt and begin to brown. Add the onions and brown well all over. Add the beef stock, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Cook until the onions are almost tender about 10 minutes (they’ll finish with the pot roast). When ready, remove the lid, turn the heat to high and reduce the stock to a glaze. Remove from heat and set aside.

Carrots

½ lb “baby” carrots

Chopped rosemary

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup water

Melt the butter in a sauté pan. When hot, add the carrots and rosemary and brown well on all sides. Add half of water, lower the heat and cook until evaporated. Test the carrots; they should be softening but still underdone. If they are still hard, add the remaining water and repeat the evaporation step. Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and set aside.

Finishing and Serving the Pot Roast
About 15 minutes before the pot roast is ready, check the braising liquid. If it is very fatty, you may want to skim the excess fat. Add the prepared carrots, onions and mushrooms, mixing well into the braising liquid and return to the oven to heat through and meld. To serve, remove and slice the pot roast. Reserve the braising liquid as sauce. Plate with the potatoes and vegetable garnishes and pour over some sauce. Complement it with any hearty red wine. Enjoy!

2006-01-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

Maine Shrimp

I’ve been remiss in posting lately. No excuses, but it’s been an overly busy holiday and travel schedule over the last few weeks. I’m going to try to be better as the year progresses. A quick post on Maine shrimp for the moment; I’ll follow with a longer post on a great Pot Roast recipe later in the week.

Maine Shrimp (Pandalus borealis), a sweet delicacy, have an all too brief season in the middle of winter. These small pink shrimp have a delicate taste and succulent texture that sets them apart from the more commonly found supermarket shrimps (which are mostly farmed elsewhere in the world.) As typical for mankind, Maine shrimp was at one time quite common, but was massively overfished, peaking at over 28 million pounds in 1969 and crashing to just over 85,000 pounds in 1977 before the fishery was closed the next year. Strict conservation methods prevail today, and shrimping season is limited to a few weeks each winter.

These shrimp are found in better fish markets in New England in January and February either whole (head-on) or cleaned (tails only). I tend to see whole shrimp more often than the cleaned variety. Either version is great and it’s easy enough to clean them when cooked. The only warning is that the pointy protuberances on the shrimp’s head can be quite sharp, so be careful!

Cook Maine shrimp by bringing a large pot of water to boil. I throw in some very roughly chopped onion, celery, carrots and parsley. I season the water with salt, pepper, Old Bay seasoning (follow the instructions on the can) and a few tablespoons of vinegar. Add the shrimp to the boiling water, return to a boil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Pull out and test shrimp periodically for doneness. It’s easy to overcook. I serve the shrimp whole with either homemade mayonnaise (the French Method) or cocktail sauce, but the shrimp are great just plain! Simply twist off the head, peel and eat. The meat comes out of the shell very easily after cooking. Allow a pound or two of whole shrimp per person (you can use less if they’ve been cleaned). Don’t skimp, I guarantee you’ll wish you had more!

My shrimp rarely lasts past being served in this manner, but if you want to use the meat in other recipes, just cook as described above, cool and remove the meat. The shrimp are small in size, so it takes a lot to make a meal. A common European recipe makes a shrimp salad with the shrimp meat and mayonnaise and stuffs the mixture into hollowed out tomatoes. It’s a very tasty appetizer!

2005-12-22T23:15:00.000-05:00

Mise En Place
Many beginning or occasional cooks are intimidated by long lists of ingredients. First, they have to collect ingredients that they may not have immediately available, but second, they have to prepare them all. That prep work stops people even if the ingredients are common items such as onions, garlic, carrots and parsley. Why? Too many people try to do the prep while cooking. They start down the recipe step by step, working to gather and chop ingredients as they reach them. Needless to say, this approach is less than efficient, but it is also the cause of much stress and overcooking. It is tempting to think that during the 10 minutes that your onions and garlic are browning leaves you with enough time to cut up your chicken into bite size pieces, or that you can easily find and grab the paprika just when you need it. But, even the best laid plans often go awry, and suddenly your onions scorch while you are trying to avoid losing fingers as you chop at high speed. How do you avoid this situation? Copy restaurant chefs; use a mise en place.

Mise en place is the French term for advance prep when cooking. Here, it commonly refers to the chef’s set-up of all the pre-measured and prepared ingredients needed for that night’s meal service. Planning and preparing all the ingredients in advance is not only more efficient, it allows you to focus entirely on the actual cooking of the meal you are making. On the efficiency side, you may have two or three dishes that share a common ingredient (perhaps onion or parsley). It is much faster to measure and chop enough for all the dishes than to repeat the process each time you need it. Also, having everything at hand enables you to add ingredients at the perfect time. It is no problem if something cooked faster than expected; the ingredients for the next step are ready to go.

The picture above shows part of my mise en place for Pollo al Vin Cotto (Chicken with “Cooked Wine”) from Molto Italiano by Mario Batali along with its supporting dishes (including homemade Fettucine with Lemon). It is nowhere near as complicated as it looks. Over the years, I’ve assembled quite a collection of glass and metal bowls for storing ingredients. I bought a dozen or so of the little metal cups you see in seafood restaurants for holding the dipping butter that accompanies boiled lobster. They are incredibly cheap and are perfect for holding spices or a few tablespoons of chopped flavorings. I collect, prepare and measure all the ingredients for all of the recipes I’m preparing before I do any cooking. Each ends up in the appropriate sized dish. If a group of ingredients are going to be added at the same time, I mix them together. My whole collection sits within easy reach of the stove as I start to cook. It’s easy and fast!

If you don’t already do so, try using a mise en place the next time you cook. I guarantee that once you are used to it, you’ll be faster, your dishes will come out better and you’ll enjoy cooking more. As a final bonus, if you have guests that like to watch you cook, the mise en place lets you entertain and cook at the same time without worrying about chopping a finger when you are distracted!

2005-12-16T16:58:00.000-05:00

A Couple of Great Piedmont Dessert Wines

Years ago, sweet wines had a bad rap. Cheap sweet wines had few virtues other than being easy to drink. Mass produced, low quality sugary wines caused many a hangover and killed the market for Sauternes and other high quality dessert wines. It became fashionable to say that one disliked sweet wines while drinking white zinfandel and other supposedly dry wines that still contained residual sugar. People wouldn’t even try a wine that was billed as sweet. Fortunately, times have changed and great sweet wines are becoming more accepted and more available. This post covers a couple of dessert wines that will convert connoisseurs and non-wine drinkers alike. These Italian wines are light and versatile and will immensely add to any holiday celebration.

Both of these wines are from the Piedmont section of Italy, an area best known as the home of Barolo. But this region also makes a number of very interesting and flavorful dessert wines. The two wines reviewed here are frizzante, which means lightly sparkling. Not like champagne, but just enough bubbles to add interest and elegance. They are also low alcohol, coming in at only 4-6% rather than the 13% to 16% range of most table wines. These attributes make these wines very welcome as the closure for a heavier holiday meal. The only downside is that they will take a little searching to find. These wines are not meant for aging, so go with the currently available vintages.

Let’s start with the most obscure first. Brachetto D'Acqui is a light, sweet red wine. Don’t let the red part throw you, the wine is very refreshing and the color adds only to its appeal. Brachetto D’Acqui has a wonderful bouquet of rose petals and raspberries. It is lightly sweet and acidic enough to ensure that the sweetness isn’t at all cloying. It tastes strongly of raspberries, strawberries and other red fruits. These characteristics make this wine highly versatile and even allow it to match with chocolate. Brachetto D’Acqui is one of the few wines that not only goes well with chocolate, but is actually synergistic, bringing out the best in both. You can find good bottles of Brachetto D’Acqui for less than $20. Some good choices include:
• Marenco Pineto
• Alasia
• Viticoltori Dell' Acquese

Moscato d’Asti is a beautiful golden wine made from Muscat grapes. These grapes produce fragrant wines with highly floral bouquets that have notes of peach, apricot, pear and even orange. These flavors repeat in the mouth and the top examples of this wine have surprising complexity and depth of flavor. While cheap versions of Muscat-based wines can be found, a few extra dollars buys considerably more nuance and pleasure. My current favorite is Coppo’s Moscato d'Asti Moncalvina. It is a single vineyard wine of tremendous quality. I was blown away the first time I tried it. If you can find it (or one of its relatives), you’ll be blown away too. Highly recommended! The price is reasonable, this wine can be found for $20 or so, and other good examples can be found in the $12 to $20 range.

2005-12-10T15:40:00.000-05:00

Peeling Chestnuts

To me, few food items bring more joy to late fall than chestnuts. I love them! I clearly remember the smell of chestnuts roasting at street carts near Central Park in New York as a child. The sweet, nutty flavor and slightly mealy texture makes a delightful foil to roasted dishes of all types. But for all their joys, chestnuts can be a considerable pain in the neck to prepare.

I recently decided to try several methods of cooking and peeling chestnuts to see which approach works best. I followed the roasted and boiling methods recommended in the Silver Spoon cookbook (the recently translated Italian “Joy of Cooking” equivalent) and Julia Child’s recommended method from ”The Way to Cook.” I also experimented with three slicing methods for scoring the shells before cooking (one slice down the middle of the flat side, the traditional “X” cut across the flat side, and Julia Child’s method of cutting away the edges of the flat sides).

The verdict? By far the easiest and best for getting shelled and peeled chestnuts is Julia Childs. And for all methods, the Julia Child cut works best, followed by the traditional “X”. By not really cooking the chestnuts before peeling, Julia Child’s method does the best job of providing beautiful, whole nut meats. Flavorwise? The roasting method easily produced the most flavorful nuts in the opinion of al tasters. By not using water, it concentrates the natural chestnut flavors. Since the nuts are fully cooked, they are ready to eat, but most break up a bit on deshelling.

Julia Child’s Method
Cut a strip of the shell of the shell of the chestnut on the flat side (as show in the picture). I found that the chestnuts were easiest to peel when very hot, so I wore clean dishwashing gloves and switched to cooking fewer at a time than Ms. Child recommended. Boil a small pot of water and add 3 chestnuts at a time. Cook for about 1 minute. Pull out the first chestnut and peel rapidly. Pull off the shell and rub the skin to remove. You may need a small paring knife to cut skin out of the folds. If the skin won’t come off easily drop the nut back into the water while you work on the next nut. I found that about ½ of the skins came off on the initial shelling, the remaining came off after one reheat. Retrieve the net nut and repeat. Add three more nuts to the water when you remove the third one. Chestnuts prepared in this manner need to be braised or otherwise cooked before eating.

Silver Spoon Roasting Method
Preheat the oven to 350° If you are a traditionalist, “X” the chestnut, otherwise, use the Julia Child cut. Roast on a tray for 30 minutes. Peel as quickly as possible, as they are easier to peel when hot. Chestnuts prepared in this manner are ready to eat and can be chopped and added to recipes at the last minute.

2005-11-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No surprise there. Of course I like the food related aspects of the holiday, but more important is consciously appreciating that food and giving thanks for being able to have it and share it with family and friends. And, at least thus far, Thanksgiving has yet to reach the level of crass commercialism that nowadays plagues Christmas.

Since Ms Issippi was up from the Delta to partake in Thanksgiving, a few themes and constraints were suggested. She is a vegetarian (but will eat seafood), so we needed a little accommodation, and we wanted a menu that echoed the South, but also reflected our New England home and gave a nod to our European background. Here’s what we came up with:

Prelude
Nuts and Tangerines

First Course
Lobster with homemade mayonnaise on Endive

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne NV

Main Courses
Brined, Maple Glazed Turkey with Pan Gravy
Cranberry Cumberland Sauce
Mississippi-style Cornbread Stuffing
Sautéed Mushrooms with Rosemary
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts
Rum Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Ken Wright Cellars, Pinto Noir, Nysa Vineyards 2000

Intermezzo
Homemade Lemon Rosemary Sorbet

Cheese Course
Italian Bricco Cheese with Membrillo

Desserts
Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
Tarte Tatin aux Poires

Domaine de a Motte - Coteaux du Layon Rochefort 1979

Peggy Knickerbocker’s “Simple Soirees” provided the base for the menu and was the source for Cornbread Stuffing and Sweet Potato recipes as well as the starting point for the Lobster and Endive first course. To remain vegetarian, I used butter rather than bacon fat for the stuffing and baked it separately with vegetable stock for moistening. The Cranberry Cumberland sauce is a modified version of a recipe found in “The Vegetarian Epicure” by Anna Thomas, my original hippy cookbook. It’s the only dish that I make every Thanksgiving for continuity. Everything else is open to experimentation or substitution.

For the turkey, I definitely think brining is the way to go. The result is a much juicer turkey for the dinner and far tastier leftovers for sandwiches.

Brined Turkey with Vermont Maple Syrup Glaze

1 10-12 lb free range, fresh turkey

Brine

1 gallon water

2 cups kosher salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon allspice berries

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

½ cup whiskey

Plenty of ice

1 gallon ice water

Large plastic bin

Two large plastic bags (trash bag sized)

Maple Glaze

1 cup chicken or turkey stock

1 stick butter

½ cup Vermont Maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Start early the night before. In a large pot, mix together the first gallon of water, salt sugar, allspice and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and ensure the salt and sugar are fully dissolved. Allow to fully cool. If possible, cool further in the refrigerator or outside to get the liquid to refrigerator temperature. Mean time, remove the turkey gizzards, etc. and rinse the turkey well. Dry the turkey and rinse its inner cavity with whiskey to knock off any lingering odors. Don’t worry about draining the whiskey, it will add flavor to the brine!
Mix some of the ice with water to create the second gallon of ice water and add to the pot of cooled brine. Put the turkey in the first plastic bag, then into the second (for strength!). Place in the plastic bin. With help, pour the brine into the bag with the turkey. Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal with a twister seal. Seal the second bag as well. Set the bird breast side down to start. If your refrigerator is large enough to hold this container, you’re really luck! If not, surround the turkey with bags of ice and put the bin in a cool location. Let it brine 8 to 12 hours or so (overnight) and turn the bird on occasion if possible to ensure even brining. After brining, I remove and dry the turkey and let it air dry in the refrigerator (without the bin!) The air drying will allow the skin to crisp in the oven.

To make the maple glaze, mix together the stock, butter, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Heat to a boil, whisking thoroughly. Remove from heat.

To roast the turkey, Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Put the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan. I don’t stuff my turkeys, I prefer to cook the stuffing separately. Roast the turkey about 20 to 30 minutes per pound, basting every 20 to 30 minutes with the maple glaze and using pan drippings after the glaze has run out. Using a thermometer, the meat in the thickest part of the thigh should be between 165° to 170°. Allow 20 to 30 minutes to rest (covered with foil) before carving. If you like gravies, the pan drippings will make a fabulous base for one!

2005-11-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

Roasted Vegetables
As Thanksgiving approaches and the nights are getting colder, good roasted vegetables come to the forefront of my cooking routines. To me, they are highly satisfying comfort food with the added bonus of being easy to prepare, highly flavorful and making a great side or even main dish. Roasting has a way of concentrating and intensifying the natural flavors of the vegetables and brings out their sweetness. I’m surprised how few home cooks roast any vegetables other than potatoes or an occasional squash. I roast all forms of root vegetables, garlic, onions, leeks, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and even green beans. I roast them individually as a side dish or together to make a full meal.

Basic Roast Vegetables

1 head of garlic

Olive oil

Vegetables for roasting (any combination of those listed above)

Fresh herbs (thyme, oregano and/or rosemary) in sprigs

Pimentón ,

Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and quarter potatoes (or cut into 1 inch chunks if the potatoes are really large). Peel carrots, parsnips, turnips and their ilk. Cut into chunks. I like to split large carrots into quarters lengthwise then cut the four pieces in half to create sticks. Peel and quarter onions. Cauliflower and broccoli can be broken into large florets. Clean and remove the stems of green beans. String them if they are large or could be tough.

Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a large roasting pan. Throw in the veggies, sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste. Lightly sprinkle with pimenton to add a little color and smokiness. Break the head of garlic into cloves (you don’t have to peel them) and scatter the cloves among the veggies. Toss well to get everything coating with a little oil. Spread the herb sprigs over the top. Roast for 45 minutes to an hour, tossing the vegetables on occasion to promote even browning. Test each type of vegetable regularly for doneness with a fork. Depending on the type of vegetables used, their age and the size of the chunks, you may need a little more or less time. It’s okay for green beans, leeks and other vegetables to get quite browned. We’re aiming for a crispy crust on the outside and soft on the insides.

Serve on their own as a main dish (I like a big steaming pile with a little mustard as a condiment) or as a side dish with roast chicken, beef or pork. Leftovers reheat well in the oven and they can be made into a killer soup.

2005-11-16T20:11:00.000-05:00

Persimmons

A late autumn fruit, bright orange persimmons are just showing up in the market. A perfect, ripe persimmon is now one of my all time favorite fruits. It is best served fresh and juicy and has a rich, sweet flavor with nuances of hazelnuts.

It took me a while to understand persimmons. Like all too many commercial fruits, it shows up in supermarket produce sections severely under-ripe and without any instructions for its use. The first time I saw one, I brought it home, hard as a rock, cut it in half and took a bit. It was so astringent, it was akin to over steeped tea or a painfully tannic wine. Thinking I may have gotten a bad one or that perhaps it should ripen a bit more, I tried again a few times. Each time I ended up with about the same results. I gave up. But fortunately, I had forgotten one extra persimmon in the fruit bowl. By the time I noticed it, it appeared overripe. It was soft as a baby’s behind and seemed almost like liquid inside. I might have thought it was going bad, except that it smelled so sweet and enticing. I cut it in half, scraping the extremely soft, juicy flesh up with a spoon. It was a revelation! The astringency was gone and the resulting fruit became nectar-like in intensity. So now I understand why people love persimmons!

To enjoy persimmons yourself, look for the bright orange hachiya variety. It is shaped a little like an acorn. The perfect persimmon is a deep rich orange with no trace of yellow or dark brown blotches. If the persimmon is ripe (an unlikely case in most supermarket produce sections), it will be almost meltingly soft. More likely, you’ll have to bring it home and ripen it yourself. You can speed the process by putting the persimmon in a paper bag with an apple or bananna. You’ll probably want to ripen several at a time. It’s hard to stop once you’ve had a really good one!

To serve, simply cut it in half and provide a spoon. Scoop up the soft, runny flesh and enjoy! You don’t eat the skin.

2005-11-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

Mango Sorbet

It seems kind of strange to be writing about Mango Sorbet in November as the weather is getting colder, but I found some great, ripe mangos in the produce store and I couldn’t resist. The wonderful thing about this dessert is its consistency. It has a creamy richness and depth of flavor that make it seem more like a gelato than a simple fruit puree. I’ve adapted this recipe from the Williams-Sonoma “Ice Creams & Sorbets” cookbook, modifying it to eliminate the corn syrup (which I never seem to have around when I want it) and adding the flavors from a favorite Jacques Pepin recipe for Mangos with Lime and Cognac. The Pepin dessert is prepared with fresh, cubed mangos and is good as a light dessert or even as a breakfast fruit bowl (don’t worry, there’s not much Cognac in it!) It struck me that the same combination would make a great sorbet.

A quick note on the ice cream maker. I use a Williams-Sonoma gelato maker that was purchased as a splurge several years ago. It has its own refrigeration unit, a powerful motor and has the ability to make two sequential batches of sorbet. If you like ice creams and sorbets, it is worth every penny and simplifies ice cream making enough to encourage you to experiment. (Two particularly successful experiments created Persimmon Sorbet and Cosmopolitian Sorbet. I’ll post those recipes sometime in the future.) However, any decent ice cream maker will work just fine.

Mango and Lime Sorbet

2 to 3 large ripe mangos

1 Lime

2 or 3 tablespoons of Cognac

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar

Peel the mangos and remove the flesh. I’ve seen many methods for peeling, but I’ve had the most success with a very sharp vegetable peeler. When cutting the flesh, don’t try to be too efficient; the flesh closest to the pit can be very fibrous. Puree the mango flesh in a food processor or blender. Measure the volume of puree, you should have about 1 2/3 cups. If you have significantly more or less adjust the volume of sugar and Cognac appropriately.

Juice the lime and peel the rind. Use only the thin green layer of the peel, the white pith is bitter. Very finely mince the peel. (Alternatively, you can use a grater). Add the juice and peel to the mango puree along with the sugar and Cognac. Mix well and chill in the refrigerator until quite cold.

Prepare the sorbet following the instructions for your ice cream maker.

2005-11-06T21:15:00.000-05:00

Membrillo
Membrillo is the original inspiration for this blog. Although I have been Internet active for many years, it was the search for a Membrillo recipe that caused me to stumble into the world of food blogs. Membrillo is a Spanish version of quince paste and is a truly glorious condiment with cheese or as a little desert on its own.

If you are not familiar with quince, it is a fruit that looks like a yellow cross between a pear and an apple. A good, ripe quince has an amazing floral and sweet aroma, but the fruit has to be cooked to be truly edible. High in natural pectins, quince is frequently used to help thicken and set other jellies. If you thicken it enough, you get a paste solid enough (like the consistency of the insides of a gum drop) to slice. That’s Membrillo.

In Spain, a slice of Membrillo is often served atop a slice of well-aged Manchego cheese. The combination of sweet and salty is sublime. If you have access to a good cheese shop, you are likely to find small packages of artisanal Membrillo there. But being the fanatic (or food dork depending on your point of view) that I am, I had to see if I could make it myself. So I searched for a recipe. It was harder than I thought. I found a few, but they varied widely in techniques and my first attempt, shall we say, fell way short of the mark. I promised myself that if I could perfect the technique, I’d post it on the web for others to use. After much experimentation, the result is the following recipe.

Membrillo

6 medium quince, scrubbed and dried

2 to 3 cups of sugar or more

Flavoring options: lemon juice, lemon rind, ginger, spices

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the quince in a baking or roasting pan and seal the top with foil. Bake for about 2 hours or so, until the quince is tender. I find that baking concentrates the flavor, removes some water and makes the quince easier to peel. Other recipes call for peeling and boiling the quince, but I found that roasting is easier and produces a better end result.

Allow the quince to cool somewhat after its removed from the oven and peel and remove the core and seeds. A melon baller works really well for this task. Cut up the pieces and puree in a food processor. If the mixture is too thick you can add a little water to thin it (a quarter cup at a time), but you’ll extend your stirring time in the next step. I try to avoid the water if possible.

Use a food mill (the easiest option) or force the puree through a sieve. Measure the quantity and add an equivalent amount of sugar cup for cup. If you want the end result a little less sweet, you can cut back the sugar somewhat, but be careful, it is easy to get a too tart result. Put the sugared puree into a heavy sauce pan and add flavorings if desired. I like adding the juice of half a lemon plus a teaspoon or so of grated for very finely minced lemon peel. Finely minced fresh ginger root is also excellent or you could add cinnamon, ground clove or similar spices.

Put the flavored mixture into a heavy sauce pan and get ready for a lot of stirring. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will start to get thick and boil and can throw a lot of hot splatter. I cover my stirring hand with a kitchen mitt or a welder’s glove (an idea from Alton Brown!) Over time, the color will become a beautiful, deep rosy brown and will eventually start to pull away from the bottom and sides of the pan. I find it takes at least 25 to 30 minutes (and more if you have to add water!). But don’t let dissuaded by the effort, you’ll end up with enough Membrillo to last for months and it will be worth every minute.

Lightly oil a deep glass baking dish and pour in the mixture. Smooth the top with a spatula and let it cool. Put it in the refrigerator, loosely covered with plastic wrap and let it firm up overnight. Run a knife around the edge of the paste and invert the baking dish to unmould. Wrap it well in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. It keeps for many months, but it will be long gone before storage becomes an issue!

To serve: Slice a little and eat! Cut into small cubes and dust with sugar to serve as petite-fours after dinner. Or best of all, pair a slice with a slice of Manchego or another flavorite cheese. Enjoy!

2005-10-30T21:39:00.000-05:00

Panna Cotta with Peaches and Lavender Honey
If I were to pick one desert that is universally loved by my dinner guests, it would have to be Panna Cotta. This sumptuous little dish, a specialty of the Piedmont in Italy, is increasingly showing up on restaurant desert menus. Its name is literally “cooked cream.” The pure white desert is all about contrast and flavors. The Panna Cotta itself is a rich, soothing vanilla and almond flavored almost pudding. It is the perfect foil for the color and acidic contrast of fruit. Think of Panna Cotta as a blank canvas for your creativity and have fun!
Panna Cotta hard to mess up, but once again its quality depends on the quality of ingredients used to prepare it. I love it rich and served with really fine fruit.

To make the Panna Cotta:
Eight servings

Two packages of unflavored gelatin (make sure its fresh, older gelatin doesn’t set as well)

Two cups of whole milk

Two cups heavy cream

One cup of confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (use the best quality vanilla you can find. I use Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla)

½ teaspoon of pure almond extract

Butter 8 ½ cup ramekins and set in a tray.

Dissolve the gelatin in a small bowl using ¼ cup of the milk. Allow to sit for a few minutes.

Heat the remaining milk, cream and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Watch carefully or it will foam up and spill over! As soon as it boils, pull it off the heat and add the dissolved gelatin and flavorings and whisk well to ensure that everything is well combined. Pour the mixture into the ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve:

Fresh peaches (or your choice of berries or fruit, fresh or cooked into a sauce)

Lavender (or other strongly flavored) honey

Almonds for decoration

Loosen the Panna Cotta by running a knife along the edge of the ramekin. Invert and shake it free onto the serving dish. If it is really stuck, heat the bottom of the ramekin in hot water and try again. Cut the peaches into attractive shapes, decorate around the dish, place almonds on top and drizzle with the honey.

Wine Choices: Panna Cotta marries well with many desert wines. I like it with Moscato d”Asti (especially with peaches) or Brachetto d’Aqui (especially with raspberries!) (Italy, Chambers Rutherglen Muscat (Australia), Muscat de Beaumes de Venise or a Sauterne (France) or even a great Canadian Ice wine.

2005-10-25T23:47:00.000-04:00

Appleton Farms CSA
As the farm season draws to a close in New England, I face share pick up day with a measure of impending dread. Soon it will be back to the supermarket for trucked and flown-in vegetables. No more picking through bins of freshly picked greens, eggplants, squashes and Brussels sprouts. No more personally harvested tomatillos, bright red chili peppers or fragrant bunches of herbs. I spent the weekend in a cooking frenzy using what I can while I still have it. I feel like the squirrels I see racing across the streets stashing nuts before the first snows.

The impending winter looms bleak, but I’m already looking forward to next year. You see, I’m a member of Appleton Farm’s CSA program and going to the farm is a weekly routine throughout the growing season. What is a CSA program? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In a trend that is growing (no pun intended) across America, farms are selling a seasonal share of their produce to consumers. This program creates a reliable market for a local farmer while providing shareholders with a steady stream of truly farm fresh fruits and vegetables. By buying their share at the start of the year, shareholders provide capital and guaranteed income to the farmer. The emphasis is on the word share. In this arrangement, shareholders share both the risks and rewards. If a crop fails, your share is small or no existent. If the season is perfect, there is extra for everyone. Given the vagaries of nature with weather and an assortment of pests, nothing can be taken for granted. But the variety of produce is so large that, no matter what the conditions, something (more likely, many things!) is thriving.

Preserving local farms is a truly worthwhile endeavor with many benefits for all involved. It provides local employment and maintains a natural style of life that is lost in the world of industrial farms. It connects us and our children with the earth and how vegetables are actually grown. Children discover that carrots aren’t naturally cut up in plastic bags and the fresh ones are very sweet and actually taste carrots. Sustainable, organic practices are used, enriching the soil while protecting the environment and our bodies from pesticides and other toxins. And it preserves for future generations land that might otherwise be lost to development.

But the best reward is the most selfish. It’s the food! The quality, variety and freshness of the produce are unmatched. Since everything is local and shares are picked up on the spot, the farm has the luxury of picking when things are perfectly ripe and of using heirloom varieties of produce (another preservation of the past benefit!) that are grown for taste rather than their ability to withstand cross-country shipment and days if not weeks of storage. Supermarket produce doesn’t even come close. Since the produce is seasonal, you find yourself adjusting your diet to incorporate what is at its peak at a given moment. In June, you eat strawberries, peas, lettuces, assorted greens, radishes and salad turnips. By August, you are on eggplants, tomatoes, sweet corn and melons. Now, you are roasting root vegetables and squashes while finishing up cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Many of the recipes that have and will appear in the blog are inspired by these wonderful choices.

I’ve been a shareholder for four years now (since Appleton Farms started its CSA program) and each year brings its own surprises. I love going to the farm each week to pick up my share and to walk in the fields for the “pick your own” produce. I’m endlessly fascinated on how each variety of produce has “vintages” and how those vintages are different for each type of fruit and vegetable. For example, the dryness of this summer was tough on spinach and held back sizes and yields for some crops, yet the melons were spectacularly flavorful, as are the winter squashes. The tomato harvest seemed a touch smaller and shorter than previous seasons (but still abundant in the way that only tomatoes and zucchini can be!) But the flavor was strong and the cherry tomatoes were the sweetest yet. Garlic was spectacular the first year, a little disappointing in years two and three, and is again near its peak. If I was the Robert Parker of garlic (now that is one scary thought), I’d rate the garlic vintages 95+, 78, 84, and 90 respectively, and rave about the dedication of Jenny and Bruce and their team of garlic growing artisans.

About Appleton Farms
One of the properties preserved by The Trustees of the Reservations in Massachusetts, Appleton Farms is one of the oldest continuously operating farms in the United States. Located at the border of Hamilton and Ipswich, it was established in 1638 as a land grant to Samuel Appleton and donated to the Trustees by the Appleton family in parcels from 1970 to 1998. A goal of the Trustees has been to keep the property operating as a working farm. The CSA program was established in 2002 and has been growing steadily, supporting about 400 shareholders this year as well as donating produce to local food banks. A crew of dedicated farmers (Jenny and Bruce!), interns and volunteers keep the production going, working the fields and running the distribution barn. A separate dairy operation was started over the past couple of years and plans include also raising some beef cattle (a return to a historical offering from Appleton Farms). Some day, a share may also include farm made cheese and beef!

Joining a CSA Program
If you are lucky enough to live near Appleton Farms, you can apply to join its CSA program. Contact Jenny through the Trustees' web site. If not, don’t despair; there may be a CSA near you. You can search the web for “community sponsored agriculture” or “community supported agriculture” (both names are used) or go to the nifty Alternative Farming Systems Information Site, which is sponsored in part by the USDA. A share price is typically comparable to buying the same quantity of food from a supermarket, but the quality difference is incomparable!

2005-10-20T18:08:00.000-04:00

Italian Wines
Wine is one of my passions. I’ve been joyfully drinking and studying wines for many years. To me, wine is the perfect beverage for sharing pleasure with friends. It’s a conversation piece backed by history, geography, weather and dedicated artisans. You can talk about its smell (nose), taste, color, locale, vintage and on and on. Even the size of a bottle encourages splitting. But best of all, you can match it with foods. Thus, it becomes one of the many colors in the palate of flavors that make up a wonderful meal and a great social occasion.

Over the years, I’ve explored wine regions around the world, and I’ve found many a wine to love. Some were short flings (Australian wines), others long-time friends that that you enjoy on the special occasions where your paths cross (classified Bordeaux). Many added to a special dish, while most others, unless matched with the prefect food, were better on their own. But the wines from one country always seemed to be the first I grab whenever I’m looking for something to accompany a meal. Those wines are from Italy.

Italian wines are made to accompany food. Both they and the food are better for the match. A powerful California Cabernet is wonderful on its own, but it goes with very narrow range of foods. Compared to fruit forward, heavy body and tannic intensity of a Cab, many (but certainly not all) Italian wines taste lighter and acidic. This sourness may make the wine seem less attractive when tasted along with the Cab, but that very characteristic helps the wine work with a broad spectrum of foods. Also, many Italian reds benefit from breathing before drinking. You’ll note the wine keeps improving in your glass as the night goes on. I like to decant my Italian reds for 1 to 2 hours when possible to give them a chance to open up.

As I write this entry, I’m sipping the last of a 1997 Prunaio Chianti that I had with a dinner of herbed roasted chicken (marinated overnight with the Simon and Garfunkel mix – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme!) and oven roasted porcini mushrooms. Along with black cherry flavors, the Prunaio has a “woodsy-ness” that complements the mushrooms and enough acidity to counterbalance the richness of the sauce (a chicken stock reduction).

Chiantis may be among the best known Italian reds, but there are a multitude of other choices to match the need of the moment. I’m particularly high on Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. These wines are the ultimate price performers. You can get very reasonably priced quaffers or spend a little more and get a wine of surprising richness, substance and quality for far less than you expect. Drink this wine with pizza (it is the best pizza wine by far!), any Italian red sauce or even with spicy foods (it goes very well with chili flavors for some reason). Here are some recent favorite Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wines:

Castello di Salle – Riserva – 1999 (a real favorite)
Masciarelli – 2001 (simple, but a great price performer)
Masciarelli - Marina Cvetic – 1999 (a much richer, higher end version)
Valle Reale – 2001 (reliable, mid-priced)
Lepore -Re – 2000 (a solid performer)

Enjoy!

2005-10-17T21:48:00.000-04:00

Who Says Food Can't be Fun?
Here is my self portrait as an eggplant. It is totally natural; I've doctored nothing to get the profile. Believe it or not, I found this perfect specimen mixed within a big bin of fellow (but plainer) eggplants. Despite a large number of people picking through the bin, no one wanted him! No imagination!

I love picking up the odd looking carrots, squashes, potatoes and other assorted characters. They're funny and it's nice to know all food doesn't have to look as if it was mass produced.

2005-10-16T23:28:00.000-04:00

Pimentón de la Vera

Clothide at Chocolate and Zucchini beat me to this topic. How could she? It’s my secret! Me and how many million Spaniards! Pimentón is a Spanish version of paprika. But comparing it to the supermarket paprika most of us are familiar with is a bit like comparing processed American cheese to an artisan-made aged goat cheese. They are both cheeses, but the resemblance stops there. Aside from using superior quality pimentos, Pimentón is smoked over an oakwood fire before it is ground. The result is an intoxicatingly addictive spice that adds a magic touch to almost any savory dish. It comes in three “flavors” – sweet (dulce), bittersweet (agridulce) and hot (picante).

Clothide does a good job of explaining its history and methods of production so I won’t repeat them here, but I’ll talk a little about how I use Pimentón to garner rave reviews with my dishes. Since it is a Spanish spice, using it in Spanish dishes is obvious. It is a key ingredient in Chorizo, imparting the red color and a delicious spiciness. Once you taste it, you’ll find endless uses for it. The trick is subtlety. A little goes a long way, and it works best when you add just enough to suggest the flavor, but not enough to make it totally identifiable. I put a pinch in stews, lightly dust roasting vegetables, and use a little to kick up bland white fish. I often use it as a component of rubs and marinades for food to be grilled. Its smokiness enhances the effect of the grill. When broiling in the winter, it provides memories of wood fires and summer barbeques. I mix a little with sour cream to use as a condiment with highly flavored meats. It lifts an ordinary dish into extraordinary every time. I can’t tell you how many times guests have asked me why my version of whatever dish always tastes better than theirs. Before I could just smile mysteriously, but now the secret is out of the bag! And the answer is all too easy.

Get all three. Use the sweet when you want a little color and smokiness, the hot when you want some kick (it can be quite hot in quantity), and the bittersweet to add some dark flavor complexities. I’ve used both the La Chinata and Santo Domingo brands. I get them from La Tienda www.latienda.com, a wonderful source for all types of true Spanish foods. Try their chorizo sausages too! I’m a big fan of their Palacios Hot version.

2005-10-09T16:21:00.000-04:00

Tomatoes Three Ways
It’s getting to the end of tomato season here in New England, which means only a little while before the return to the flavorless “boxcar” versions that plague stores the rest of the year. But we can take advantage of the local tomatoes that are still here! Plus, two of the recipes below can add flavor to the otherwise tasteless ones we’ll have to use shortly. First, let’s start with the fresh version…

Number 1: Cherry Tomatoes and Pasta
To me, this recipe is one of the brightest spots of late summer and early fall. It doesn’t get much easier, but when made with superlative ingredients, it makes a stunning meal. Only the pasta is cooked, and everything else can be completed before the pasta water even boils!

For 2 servings:

Ingredients:
30 or so fresh cherry tomatoes (mixing red and orange varieties adds to the visual appeal)
Fresh herbs (Good choices are oregano, marjoram or basil).
Olive oil (use the best one you have)
Salt and pepper taste
Parmesan cheese for grating (the real stuff!)
8 oz of dried pasta (spaghetti works well as do bow ties)

Put on a pot of salt water for cooking your pasta. While it is heating, rinse your cherry tomatoes. Either (depending on your personal style), cut them simply in half and drop in a serving bowl, or drop them in whole and squash them with your hands. The goal is to get them to release some juice for flavoring. Chop and add your fresh herbs. I particularly like oregano mixed with marjoram, fresh oregano mixed with dried oregano (a trick I learned from Jacques Pepin that provides contrasts in flavor and texture) or just basil leaves. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, then add a good coasting of olive oil and mix again. Set aside, while you cook the pasta (al dente!). Drain the pasta, put in a nice serving bowl, add the cherry tomato mixture and toss well. Serve with a good sprinkling of fresh parmesan cheese.

Variations: I sometimes add a little balsamic vinegar, or in a nod to Calabrese salads, I cut up fresh mozzarella into cherry tomato-sized pieces and add to the tomatoes along with basil and balsamic vinegar.

Number 2: Oven-dried Tomatoes
This method is good for preserving some of the extra tomatoes that inevitably accumulate this time of year. In the off season, it concentrates the flavors of otherwise bland “boxcar” versions.

Ingredients
Tomatoes –Italian or paste-style tomatoes are less juicy and work better than slicing tomatoes. Use as many as you want to dry (or as your oven capacity allows, I use about a dozen per baking sheet and normally dry a couple of sheets at a time.)
Flavorings - salt, pepper, sugar, garlic powder, pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)
Olive oil

Method:
Heat oven to 150 degrees
Wash and cut the tomatoes in half. Remove the stem, scoop out seeds and cut away the inner membranes. I use a melon baller for this task, but a teaspoon works too. Put the cleaned tomatoes into a large bowl and coat with olive oil. Only a light coating is necessary. Add flavorings. I sprinkle a little salt, a good number of grinds of black pepper, a couple of teaspoons of sugar (for glazing and to cut the acid a little), a light sprinkling of garlic powder (one on the few times I use this stuff!), and finally the secret ingredient, about a teaspoon of pimenton (more on this wonderful ingredient in a future entry). Toss well. Place on baking sheets (I line them with foil for easy clean-up) set in the oven and leave overnight. Store in the refrigerator in a sealable container; separate layers of tomatoes with waxed paper.

Uses: too many to list! Use in salads, cut up and sauté with zucchini or other vegetables, stirfry with a little garlic, olive oil and herbs for a pasta topping, use as a pizza topping and on and on. One favorite starter – two or three tomatoes per plate topped with some fresh goat cheese, slivered almonds, and a little great olive oil.

Number 3: Oven-concentrated Tomatoes
This method is similar to the one above, but faster and has different uses. This recipe doesn’t dry out the tomatoes, but rather slow cooks them, removing excess water and concentrating flavors. It really helps get flavor out of off-season tomatoes. I’ve adapted my version from a Todd English recipe.

Ingredients: As above for oven dried tomatoes, but juicer tomatoes will work well in this recipe. These tomatoes don’t last for more than a week, so I make them in smaller quantities than the other version.

Method:
Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Wash, but leave the tomatoes whole. Place in a bowl, coat the olive oil and season as described above. Adjust your seasonings based on planned use. You may wish to leave out the powdered garlic and/or the pimenton, if for example, you were going to use the tomatoes in an Indian curry base. Place the tomatoes on the tray and cook for about 3 hours. Allow to cool. At this stage, they can be refrigerated until needed. Or peeled, chopped and seeded to use in a sauce. I use them for any recipe that calls for adding and cooking down fresh tomatoes (such as stews), make sauces from them, and even add them when I’m making stocks.

Beyond the Bland – Why Start a New Blog?

2005-09-18T23:07:00.000-04:00

This blog is about food, wine, music and friends. It’s about the quest for flavor, a desire for real, substance over appearance. It’s seeking an escape from a world of formulaic, homogenized, and flavor and content free. It’s about pleasure. It’s about passion for excellence. Is it worth seeking a dark chocolate from Madagascar with its deep, rich flavors and nuances of raspberry or is that bar of Hersey’s just fine? Is the difference between the two worth the price and effort? I believe it is.

Have you ever taken a bite of food or a sip of wine that makes you stop and give thanks to be alive? Or hear a song on the radio that demands that you pull over in the breakdown lane to hear it with your full attention? If we regard food as merely sustenance, wine as a means for ingesting alcohol, and music as strictly pleasant background noise, I believe we lose much from the gifts placed before us and live a blander and less meaningful life for it.

We live in a world where appearance trumps substance, convenience overshadows quality, and mass marketed mediocrity becomes the bar by which all is measured. If one’s experience is strictly of lifeless, industrial carrots purchased from a supermarket in perfectly identical pre-cut form, can we expect a view of a carrot as something other than a grudgingly ingested form of substance? Would its consumer have reason or desire to even try a gnarled Chatenay carrot from a farmers’ market? Yet, taking that step would likely be a mind-blowing revelation. A carrot with actual taste. A carrot that one might eat strictly for the pleasure of eating it. A carrot that would rewrite the way one would ever look at and judge carrots again.

Accepting that Chantenay carrot into one’s life is more than just buying a fancy food item. It is providing income and supporting a way of life for a small farmer whose passion is producing an heirloom product of exceeding high quality, it is encouragement for a supplier to carry more than mainstream products, it is a step towards genetic and product diversity and it is a statement against mediocrity. And the payback is pure pleasure, be it a rich and deep carrot soup, or the sweet concentration from roasting or the simple crisp delight of biting into a raw carrot stick with actual taste.

These principles hold equally true for food, for wine, for music and for many other aspects of our lives. And these principles are the foundation for this blog.

As this blog progresses, I want to introduce new ingredients and sources, share techniques that maximize convenience without sacrificing flavors, offer recipes that will tempt readers to try them, review wines that complement those recipes and flavors and maybe suggest some music that might enhance the overall experience.

If by sharing recipes, recently tasted wines, songs, artists and favored sources, I can encourage someone to try something new, bring some pleasure into somebody’s day, support a true artisan, or gain a new friend, my efforts will be more than amply rewarded. If in some small way, I encourage a revolt against mediocrity, hallelujah!