I write to you this evening having just returned from a sunset walk in fair Brookline, MA.  Here in the New England, we are in the midst of another stunning fall.  Little by little, I am making my inevitable return back to the kitchen, red wine, and oh, and my blog.

While out on my evening promenade, I stepped into one of the lovely little local wine shops and found a bottle that piqued my interest.  It’s called “Monte Antico” and it’s produced by Neil Empson and Franco Bernabei.  From the little bit of research I’ve done, the wine is a blend consisting mostly of Sangiovese with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  The importer and proprietor of the estate, Neil Empson, has collaborated with winemaker Bernabei to create a juicy quaffable wine at an affordable price.  I paid $11.99 for the bottle.

Monte Antico is a tasty wine.  It has plenty of dried red cherry flavor, and on the palete it retains a relatively high level of acidity making it delicious with the smoked trout that I’m eating and trying not get on the keyboard.  I often find Sangiovese to be a little on the thin and acidic side.  For Monte Antico, the addition of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot give it a pleasant plumpness that fleshes out the sinewy character that is typical of Sangiovese.  The tannins are fading though still evident.  With the right tomato-based sauce, cured meats or sausages, they will be hardly distinguishable.  There are also some nice leathery and sandalwood aromas that evoke the fall – think crunchy leaves underfoot and smoke coming from the fireplace chimney.  It spent one year in an oak cask before being released and though the oak is well integrated, after three years in bottle the flavors of the barrel are beginning to dominate the wine, but only slightly so.  I would venture to say that the wine is about at its peak, which makes it all the more pleasurable to be knocking back a glass or two this evening.

Look for it on the shelves at your local wine shop and treat yourself to a home-cooked Bolognese sauce.  I will be enjoying this combination later this evening when my better half returns from a night of rehearsing.  Following is my recipe that has won rave reviews from friends recently.  Cheers!

Ragu Bolognese Majestica

• 1/2 lb. ground bison
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1/2 lb. 80/20 ground beef
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 or 4 stalks of fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• salt and pepper

1. sweat the garlic, onion, celery, and carrot in a large Dutch oven over low heat until tender but not brown.  Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the bay leaf, thyme, meat and continue to cook over low heat until almost dry (about two hours).  With a spatula or wooden spoon, work the meat into small pieces stirring every twenty minutes or so.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Stir in tomato paste, milk, cinnamon until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Add more milk to achieve the desired consistency.
4. Bring ragu to a simmer.  Adjust final seasoning with salt and pepper and serve over pasta of your choice.

Back in the day, when I traveled on occasion to New York for lessons, I used to eat at a Chinese restaurant near Lincoln Center.  There wasn’t all the much remarkable about the restaurant except for one dish that I particularly fell in love with called Purple Moon.  I have no idea how it was made, and I haven’t been able to find any more information about it on the internet, so all I really have to go on is memory.

I’m pretty sure the version that I ate there was made with Chinese eggplant and was deep fried, so what I made for dinner a couple of nights ago is a slight departure, but the results were delicious.  I grilled them instead of frying them, and I also used a garden variety eggplant, which is quite a bit larger than the Asian variety.

Basically, they are eggplant sandwiches filled with shrimp mousse.  The grilling gave them a bit of and outdoors flavor.  I’ve been on a kick with the grill pan, craving the spring, which seems to be here to stay for the immediate future!  I served my purple moons up with “Szechuan” green beans.  I sauteed the beans in vegetable oil, added a touch of garlic, chili flake, and oyster sauce.

For the Shrimp Mousse

1.  Combine 3 eggs white, and 1 yolk in a food processor with 6 to 8 cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp.  I used U16’s that I bought frozen at my local grocery.  They work fine for this sort of thing.

2. Puree the shrimp and eggs in the food processor until it’s nice and fluffy – you’ll want to whip in as much air as you can.

3. Fold in chopped a few cloves of chopped garlic, half a smalled onion, minced, a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice Powder, and finely chopped chives.

For the eggplant:

1. Slice raw eggplant into 1/2 inch slices as uniformly as possible.

2. Toss the eggplant in vegetable oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.

For the “Purple Moons”:

1. Heat the grill, or grill pan to medium heat and spray with non-stick spray.

2. Make sandwiches with the mousse and the seasoned eggplant slices.

3. Grill the purple moons on each side for 8 minutes, or until the egg in the mousse begins to set.

This recipe was easy to make and tasted great with Szechuan green beans.  The oyster sauce really brought everything together.  If I were to serve the Purple Moons on their own, I would probably top them off with a bit of hoisin or oyster sauce to round the flavor out a bit.  You’re in for a relatively healthy and delicious treat if you give this a try.  Bon apétit!

OK, I admit it…  I have Spring fever.  We have had a few rare and perfect days here in Boston recently that have made me crave warmer weather and the foods that go with it.  Unfortunately, the weather has not been 100% in line with what I wish it were.  However, there are ways that I can bring that feeling home, even on the nastiest evenings when winter is drawing its last gasps.

On a recent trip to the grocery store on a cold and nasty evening, I noticed some gorgeous line caught Halibut steaks.  If you’re concerned about sustainable fishing practices, Halibut is a good one to be eating.  The “fish-able” populations are in good shape, and nutritionally, it’s an excellent source of protein and is low in fat.   They were a little on the pricey side, but I couldn’t resist.  They were odorless, indicating their freshness, and had a beautiful pink marble color.  It has a mild flavor and a firm and meaty texture.  It can easily stand up to grilling, so I was inspired to do just that.  Grilling, of course, also makes me think of warmer weather.

I marinated the Halibut in some of my favorite things: white vermouth, olive oil, garlic, thyme, chili flakes, salt, pepper, and tomato powder.  I let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours and took it out about twenty minutes before I was ready to grill it.  I used my trusty grill pan, since we don’t have access to an outside area suitable to keep a grill in our apartment.  It’s not as good as grilling over charcoal, but you do still get the lovely grill marks and a bit of the flavor from the outdoors.

I grilled the fish for eight minutes on each side, following the James Beard rule.  He recommends twenty minutes for each inch of fish – I wanted to allow a couple of minutes off of the heat for carry-over cooking, so I shaved a few minutes off to allow for “resting” time.  The heat was medium-ish – I wanted the fish to cook slowly enough so that it would cook evenly without drying out.  The olive oil in the marinade helped achieve the grill marks without burning since Halibut is fairly lean.  The other flavors in the marinade came through subtly and added a lovely complexity without overpowering the mild flavor of the Halibut.  I finished it off with a squeeze of lemon juice and a little more salt and pepper just before serving.

The results were delicious and it certainly was easy.  All you really need is good quality fish.  I would imagine that you could substitute just about any firm-textured fish you like such as salmon, catfish, swordfish, or even tuna.  I would avoid flaky fish like cod, trout, sole, and perch, just because I think they would fall apart on the grill as they cooked.  You could probably roast or broil those types of fish with a similar marinade and it would be delicious.  I hope this recipe gives you some inspiration for cooking in the coming warmer weather.  If you live in New England, I know you’re ready for it just as much as I am.  Bon apétit!

I’ve been on a seafood and fish kick lately.  I’ve resolved to eat less meat and poultry and more vegetables to feel better and have more energy.  I was recently listening to a podcast where Mark Bittman was talking about eating vegetarian during the day and for dinner, eating whatever he liked.  He lost a bunch of weight and his blood pressure returned to normal.  I can’t help but think that this lifestyle could help everyone become healthier in the long run.  Don’t get me wrong – I am still a fierce omnivore, but it occurred to me how often I eat meat.  It’s been a bit of an adjustment, but I’m going to enjoy learning new recipes.

A few days ago, I headed over to Whole Foods to pick up groceries for dinner.  It’s always fun to go there just because there are so many beautiful ingredients to chose from.  The salmon was calling out to me from the fish case.  I had the idea to use dill and lemon with it since that is such a classic combination.  I used the shrimp mousseline to give it a little fat and also to protect it from the direct heat of the oven so the salmon would stay moist and tender.  The results were pretty delicious and I think this concept warrants a little more exploration on my part.

Salmon with Shrimp Mousseline and Lemony Dill Sauce

2 6 oz. salmon filets
5 or 6 shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon mustard
1 handful fresh baby spinach, washed
1 handful fresh dill, washed
juice of half of a lemon
1/2 cup white vermouth
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
3 or 4 peppercorns
3 tablespoons butter, divided
salt and pepper

For the salmon:

1. In a food processor, combine egg whites, shrimp, 1 tablespoon butter, and mustard.
2. Puree the ingredients until they are well incorporated.
3. Spoon the mixture on top of the salmon.
4. Roast the salmon in a 400˚ oven for 15 to 20 minutes depending on how well you like your salmon.

Make the sauce:

1. Bring water, vermouth, peppercorns, and bay leaf to a boil.
2. Puree the spinach, dill, and hot liquid in a blender until smooth.  The heat of the liquid will cook the spinach and dill just enough.  Thin out with more water if necessary.
3. Just before the salmon is done, bring the puree back up to serving temperature in a saucepan.  Swirl in two tablespoons of butter, add lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.

To plate, simply spoon the sauce onto warmed plates and place the salmon on top in the center of the plate.

With wine:  We had a Sangiovese from Tuscany called Notturno.  It had a lovely earthy cherry nose and was medium bodied.  It balanced out the herbaceous quality of the sauce quite nicely and cut the richness of the salmon very well.  A white wine like a Sancerre or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would also be a great choice.

I had an outstanding meal at Portland, Maine’s Evangeline a few weeks ago.  To read about it, click here.  Chef Erik Desjarlais invited us into the kitchen afterward, and couldn’t have been more warm and welcoming.  He agreed to contribute a recipe to my blog, and few weeks later, this is what he sent.  I unfortunately missed his sweetbreads on our meal there, but after reading this recipe, I have decided to make another trip to Portland just to try them!

Crispy Veal Sweetbreads, braised endive and bacon

One of my favorite foods to prepare is Veal sweetbreads. Poached then pressed, then fried crispy on the outside so they are molten and unctuous on the inside. They are just heady enough. Not as much as spleen, liver or lights, and not as delicate as brain.

Usually, one would soak them overnight in ice water, then poach them in court bouillon and press them overnight to maintain a shape for even cooking on the pick up.

At Evangeline, We skip a step and then add a step. We always have a ton of brine on hand for chickens, poussin, poularde, pheasant quails and various pork pieces. One day, after getting really pissed because a diner said the sweetbreads “tasted like chicken”, I finished my breathing/coping mechanism and decided to poach the sweetbreads in brine. It just made sense. And it made the most flavorful sweetbread I have ever tasted.

Soon thereafter we applied the brine to our calf brains and our Skate wing. The honey in the brine aided in caramelization, and the salt seasoned it from the inside out. It also leeches out any impurities and replaces them with flavor, which is nice too. The end result is clean, white, flavorful sweetbreads, brains and skate wing. The brains get boiling brine poured over them and we allow them to cool in it. After about 3 hours we take them out. The skate wings get cold brine poured over them and they chill for a few hours.

Here is the process for the sweetbreads. The braised Endive and bacon follow.

For the Sweets:

3# Veal sweetbreads, whole, preferably from toward the heart
.5 Gallon brine (formula follows)
2 C really fine breadcrumbs. (Cut crusts off a boule and discard. Cube the bread and dehydrate overnight. Pulse in a processor and pass through a tamis)
Oil for deep frying. We use 2/3 beef taloe, 1/3 canola
S+P

For the Endives:

6 Belgian endives
¼ # Applewood smoked bacon, cut in to lardon
2C dark chicken stock
¼ cup sugar
3 sprigs thyme

To finish:

3T cold unsalted butter
Sherry vinegar
Brine:
.5 Gallon water
.5 cup Salt
.25 cup honey
6 bay leaves
6 cloves garlic
1Tb peppercorns
2Tb vinegar

For Brine:

Bring brine ingredients to a boil, simmer 3 minutes. Chill overnight without straining.

For Sweets:

Put raw sweetbreads in cold brine. Bring to a boil and return to a simmer. Poach 10 minutes at 190 degrees. Remove Sweetbreads and press between 2 sheet pans with a weight overnight.

For Endives:

Cut off the stem end of the Endive and cut in half lengthwise. Make a ¼” slice in to the core area to tenderize. Render raw bacon in a wide sauté pan, then remove, keeping the fat and fond in the bottom of the pan. Season Endives liberally with salt and pepper, and place cut side down in the pan. Over medium to low heat, caramelize the endives, then turn over. Don’t use tongs (ever…for anything). Deglaze with chicken stock and add the sugar and thyme. Simmer 30 minutes.

To finish:

Clean any strange fat and sinew off the pressed sweetbreads. Make sure your deep oil is at 360 degrees. Season the sweets with salt and pepper and press in to the bread crumbs so they stick. Drop them in the oil and fry until Golden Brown Delicious. This should take about 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, warm the endive sauce until bubbling and add a few drops of sherry vinegar and the butter. Adjust seasonings. Emulsify the butter. Plate the endive sauce and place fried sweetbreads atop. Make sure you pat them dry with c-fold towels first, and sprinkle more sel fin over them.

Enjoy.

CQ writes:  One of my fondest memories of working at The Fireplace ages ago here in Brookline is of Chef Paul Sussman’s family meals.  He would often ask us what we would like to eat for supper the next day, and usually he would happily honor our request!  Tomato soup with grilled cheese was a staff favorite, and we always had a full balanced meal with protein, starch, and vegetable.  We were spoiled to say the least.  When I meet up with old Fireplace cohorts, we often reminisce about how great Paul’s family meals were.  If you’ve ever worked at a restaurant, you’ll know what a big deal this is!

One day, I jokingly said that I would like to have Cornish hens, and I was floored when I showed up and he served us the following recipe.  To this day, it remains on of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.  I think I went back for seconds, thirds, and… On top of being a great cook, Paul is genuinely a nice guy.  He is a fascinating conversationalist, and one of the only people I know who can finish the New York Times crossword puzzles on a regular basis.


He has been kind enough to contribute his beautiful recipe here.  I hope you enjoy it.  I know I’ll be giving it a whirl for my next dinner party.

Chef Paul writes:

I am contributing one of my favorite recipes – at Daddy-O’s we called it Szechwan-style Roasted Game Hen with Yellow Noodles even though it really bears little resemblance to anything Szechwanese. It has Chinese and Thai flavor elements, but that’s about it. It is, however, a very nice dish. The lovely thing about it is how the fat and juices from the chickens seep through the noodles as they roast, making the noodles crunchy and crispy at the bottom where they hit the pan, and soft and unctuous right under the birds. Add to this the Thai cucumber salad, with it’s acidity and heat from the chilies to cut the richness of the hen and noodles, and you’re really eating good.

It’s important to find fresh, not frozen, hens. I had thought the Cornish game hens, which are just a chicken cross-bred from Cornish chickens to be small with mostly white meat and then slaughtered when still very young, were dry tasteless until I had a fresh one. You can, of course, use a poussin or a half of a regular chicken if fresh game hens are unavailable. A hot oven is important so that the sheet pan heats up enough to crisp the noodles.

Szechuan-style Roasted Game Hen over yellow noodles (serves 4)
4 fresh hens, about a pound each
1 cup chili oil (recipe below)
4 tablespoon 10 spice (recipe below) (or use store-bought 5 spice and add some Szechwan peppercorn if you are too lazy or time-constrained)
1 pound Chinese yellow noodles (the thicker kind)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup fish sauce
cucumber salad (recipe below)

1. Cut the backbone out of the hens, place skin side up on the on the cutting board and press down with the heal of your hand to break the breast bone and flatten the bird. Brush both sides of the birds liberally with chili oil and the dust generously with the 10 spice powder. (This is best done several hours before, or even the day before roasting to give the flavors time to penetrate)
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, plunge the noodles in and cook for one minute, then immediately drain and shock the noodles with cold water and then place in a large bowl. In a sauté pan heat the canola oil over a low flame, add the garlic and sauté briefly. Take off the flame, add the fish sauce then pour over the noodles and mix well.
3. Make four piles of noodles on a lightly oiled sheet pan (no parchment – you need the noodles to be in contact with the hot metal) and top each with a hen. Tuck the wing tips under the first wing bones, lightly salt and then place in a 450 degree oven. Roast until done – about 30 minutes.
4. With a spatula scoop under the noodle piles and transfer each hen with it’s noodles to a plate. Serve with the cucumber salad.

Chili oil
1/2 cup dried red chili flakes
1/4 cup Chinese fermented black beans, coarsely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, lightly smashed and peeled
2 tsp Szechwan Peppercorns,
3 Scallions, sliced
10 Ginger quarter-size slices
3 cups canola oil
1/2 cup sesame oil

Combine all ingredients except for the sesame oil in a heavy, non aluminum saucepan. Over moderately low heat, bring the mixture to a bare simmer, stirring occasionally. Continue to barely simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and strain then add the sesame oil.

10 spice powder (from Barbara Tropp)
2 tablespoon Fennel seeds
10 Star anise; broken into points
2 tablespoon Szechwan peppercorns
1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
3/4 tsp Whole cloves
3/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns
1/2 tsp Cinnamon; ground
1/4 tsp Ginger; ground
1/2 ts Tumeric

Toast the whole spices together in a small dry skillet over low heat, stirring and adjusting the heat so that the spices toast without burning. Stir until the spices are fully fragrant and the fennel seeds and lighter colored spices are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ground spices. Using a spice grinder or a clean coffee grinder, grind the mixture finely.

Makes 3/4 cup.

Cucumber salad
2 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
¼ cup sliced chilies (I like red Fresno, but use jalapeno, serrano or Thai as you prefer)
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 English cucumbers, sliced thin

mix all ingredients and chill

This dish combines savory and sweet elements balanced with tartness and a touch of earthy bitterness from the Nettles and Meyer Lemon.  This was the first course in a celebratory dinner party that I made for two birthday celebrations.  I found all of the main components for the dish at the Ballard Market in Seattle, which is probably the best Farmers’ Market I’ve ever been to.  For February, they had a remarkable variety of fresh produce and foraged items.  I was inspired by the bounty and beauty of the market to create this starter.

Black Trumpets are sometimes called Horn of Plenty.  They are shaped like a cornucopia and have a dark brownish/purple coloring, hence the name.  They can be cultivated successfully and often appear on restaurant menus in the winter months because they are one of the few flavorful mushrooms available in the winter.  To me, they have a fruity mild aroma and are more on the subtle side.  They are delicious roasted or sauteed on their own and they hold their texture nicely in soups and pasta dishes.  I love them for their dramatic presentation as well.

I’ve already written about Sunchokes at length.  Find out more about them by clicking here.  They give the puree its sweetness.  Meyer Lemons are a hybrid citrus fruit.  They are a crossing of lemons and mandarin oranges.  They have a sweeter profile than a lemon, but also a hint of floral bitterness on the finish that gives food a wonderful layer of complexity.  They are named for Frank Meyer, who allegedly introduced them to the US by way of the Department of Agriculture.

Stinging Nettles are something I was introduced to about a year ago by the Chef de Cuisine at my job.  Apparently, they are commonly eaten in the UK where he is from.  They taste like spinach, only milder, and like spinach are very nutritious.  To cook them, you must blanch them to remove the chemicals that “sting” you.  Boil them in salted water for three or four minutes and plunge them into an ice bath.  Squeeze the water out of them as you would cooked spinach, and then they are ready for a delicious saute.

Roasted Black Trumpets, Nettles, and Sunchoke Meyer Lemon Purée

Part 1: The Sunchoke Purée

1/2 pound Sunchokes, peeled and sliced
1 small shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minded
1/2 Meyer Lemon, sliced
1 sprig of Thyme
1 Bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white vermouth
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Saute the shallot and garlic in olive oil until tender.
2. Add the Sunchokes and brown them lightly.
3. Add herbs, Meyer Lemon slices, and vermouth and bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until the sunchokes are fork tender.
4. Remove from the heat.  Pick out the herbs and lemon wheels when cooled.
5. Add heavy cream and puree the remaining ingredients with an immersion blender until silky smooth.  Run it through a find mesh strainer if you like.
6. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper.
7. Before serving, bring back up to heat and work in three tablespoons of butter, one tablespoon at a time with a whisk.  Add more cream to “loosen” the puree if necessary.  It should hold its shape on a plate.

For the Nettles:

1. Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a skillet and saute half an onion until translucent.
2. Add the prepared nettles and warm through.
3. Season with salt and pepper.

For the Black Trumpets:

1. Toss in olive oil and salt.
2. Roast in a hot oven for about 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of the mushroom.  They should be just warmed through and beginning to sizzle.

To plate:

1. I used two dollops of the puree on hot plates and smeared them with the back of a spoon to created two comma shaped puddles.  We were celebrating two Pisces birthdays, so I wanted to imitate the astrological sign here.
2. Spoon out a bit of the hot Nettle saute and nestle a couple of roasted Black Trumpets against it in the center of the plate.
3. Garnish with fresh chives if you have them.

Yesterday was one of those rare days when I had nothing to do.  A friend who was coming to stay with us last night ended up changing his plans, and since I had requested the day off from work anyway, I ended up with the afternoon and evening free.  With the luxury of time, I decided to try my hand at Thomas Keller’s soffritto recipe from the Ad Hoc Cookbook.  It’s a great book filled with tons of practical recipes that you can actually make at home, but many of them take a lot of time to do them justice.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity, and one that wouldn’t likely come again anytime soon.

A soffritto is any combination of slowly fried vegetables commonly used in Italian and Latin American cooking.  The most basic recipe includes onions and olive oil, but tomatoes seem to be a common theme as well.  Many Latin American soffrittos also include peppers, both sweet and spicy, as well as a variety of other seasonings.  Italian versions are often made with celery and carrots in addition to onions.  I had some carrots and a little ginger root in the fridge, so I thought, why not?  It’s a common enough flavor combination that always yields delicious results.

The trick to a proper soffritto is to cook the veggies in a little bit of oil at as low a heat as possible for a really long time on the stove top.  Keller’s recipe suggests five hours!  The vegetables eventually give up their water in the the bath of slowly simmering oil, becoming more concentrated.  After several hours, they caramelize and form a richly flavored paste.  Keller suggests making a big batch of it and freezing it or keeping it in the fridge for use over the course of a week.  The depth of flavor that it added to my risotto was remarkable.  Read on for the recipe…

Carrot and Ginger Rissotto
serves 2 for a main course or 4 for a first course

for the soffritto:
4 or 5 good sized carrots, peeled and diced
1 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 Bay leaf
1 clove
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil

for the risotto:
2/3 cup Arborio or other short grained rice
1/4 cup white wine or dry vermouth
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cream
aged balsamic vinegar if desired
chopped Italian parsley or cilantro if desired
salt and pepper

make the soffritto 

1. Heat oil over very low heat in a sauce pan or small Dutch oven.
2. When the oil begins to simmer, add the carrot, ginger, garlic, onion, Bay leaf, clove, and ground coriander.  Lightly salt them to help exude their water.
3. Set the timer for five hours and let it sit on the stove.  Check it every now and then to make sure that it is not burning.  The heat should be at the lowest setting that your range allows.
4. You’ll know it’s done when the oil is clear and the vegetables have turned into a paste.

make the risotto

1. In the same pot, add the rice, water, and wine/vermouth to the soffritto.  Using a wooden spoon, scrape up any brown bits that have adhered to the bottom of the pan.
2. Bring to a rolling boil, and then reduce heat to medium low.
3. Let the rice simmer, covered on the stove for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Finish the dish by stirring in butter, cream, and cheese.  Correct seasoning with salt and pepper.
5. Garnish with a drizzle of aged Balsamic vinegar and/or chopped herbs if you like.

This is a one pot meal requiring very little clean up.  I made it strictly with ingredients that I had in my home.  You can make a soffritto from just about any combination of vegetables, so experiment with what you have around.  If you follow the method, you’re likely to come up with something delicious.  As you can see from my photo above, I topped it off with some roasted chicken, but you could easily omit that, making it a vegetarian offering.

You might have noticed that my risotto recipe doesn’t call for the usual incessant stirring.  A friend from the kitchen at work told me that it wasn’t necessary to coddle the rice quite as much as I am apt, so I forged ahead without the usual fuss.  The results were just as creamy as ever, so I am delighted to report that standing over a stove and stirring a pot of rice for twenty minutes is now a thing of the past for me.

With Wine: We drank an Albariño from Galicia in Spain with our risotto last night.  The lush tropical and stone fruit flavors of the wine complimented the exotic ginger notes very nicely and the tangy quality of the wine cut the richness provided by the cream, butter, and cheese very well.  If you’re in the mood for red, try a Dolcetto d’Alba or a Valpolicella Classico (avoid a richer ripasso version).  Both of these lighter bodied wines will play nicely off the sweet root vegetable character of the carrots and will also have a similar tangy quality to the Albariño.

The weather outside is frightful, but my roasted chicken dinner with Caesar Salad is delightful.  After all of the amazing gourmet experiences I’ve been having lately, and all of those I’m sure to have on my upcoming trip to Seattle, I felt that a night of cooking comfort food and Olympic watching was in order.  Chicken of course is one of my favorites, but I seldom eat salads, especially in the winter.  The Romaine lettuce was calling out to me at the market this afternoon, so the idea of a Caesar Salad came to mind.  I haven’t made it in ages, and I decided it was high time to have one.  I’m glad I did because it was delicious.

There are a couple of accounts of how the Caesar came into existence.  My favorite is that it was invented by Caesar Cardini in Tijuana in the 1920’s.  Having run out of ingredients at his popular restaurant, he improvised the salad tableside for his guests.  The best Caesar dressing is made to order and can be amazingly delicious.  I learned how to make the dressing from a wonderful chef years ago during a brief stint at a restaurant that closed shortly after it opened.  What I took away in knowledge could fill a book though.  It was a tremendous learning experience, and now I can make a killer Caesar.  Read on for my recipe…

Classic Caesar Salad
serves 2

1 head of Romaine,  dark green outer leaves removed
1 egg
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 anchovy, finely chopped
1 or 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
the juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
salt and pepper

Make the dressing:

1. Crack the egg into a large bowl and whisk together with mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, anchovy, and lemon juice.  Don’t skip the anchovy!
2. Begin to add the oil, a few drop at a time at first, and whisk until fully incorporated.  Repeat this process until the egg starts to change color.  Then you’ll know that it has emulsified with the oil.
3. Continue to add the oil in a steady stream until the dressing is creamy and thick.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble the Salad:

1. With a pastry brush, coat the individual leaves of Romaine on one side with a thin layer of the dressing.  The dressing is very flavorful, so don’t overdo it or you won’t be able to taste the sweet flavor of the Romaine.
2. Sprinkle each leaf individually with cheese and more fresh pepper.
3. Plate the dressed leaves nicely on the platter and garnish with croutons if you like.
4. You’ll have extra dressing leftover.  Serve it on the side because you’ll probably want more!

Traditionally, Caesars were eaten with the fingers.  If you dress only one side of each leaf, you won’t get your hands dirty while you eat it.  Have fun with this simple, elegant, and outrageously delicious salad.  Bon appétit!

With wine:  Caesars go great with most wines because of all of the fat in the dressing.  Oil and eggs tend to coat the palete, so the key is to find a wine that is high in acid.  Typically those from the old world work nicely, red or white, as long as they are not too full bodied.  I’d look for something under 13˚ alcohol.  However, if I had to pick only one wine with a Caesar, I’d choose an Albariño.  I love the bright citrus notes of the wine against the vegetal flavor of the Romaine, and many Albariños have a little spritz of CO2 to them as well, adding to the textural experience of the crunch of the lettuce and the creaminess of the dressing.  I’m a big fan of Burgans and Martin Codax.  They both retail for around $15 and are consistently good from vintage to vintage.

CQ writes: Matt and I went to high school together years ago.  We both pursued musical careers as performers and ended up doing different things with our lives. Who knew that we would also both grow up to be such food lovers? Here is a recipe he recently posted on Facebook that he agreed to let me re-post here. I hope you enjoy it, as I know I will.

Matt’s Makkhani Murghi

For years I went to my local Indian buffet thinking that what they called Chicken Tikki Masala was what I wanted. I had experimented with recipes over the years and been sadly disappointed. Recently, I came across a recipe for Butter Chicken that sounded very much like what I was looking for. I even learned that it was often mislabeled as Tikki Masala!

So after trying out an initial recipe and somewhat liking it I hit the internet and every Indian cookbook I could put my hands on. What follows is what I consider to be what I have been after all these years. It is lengthy, but there are things you can make ahead like the marinade and tomato puree and your spice blends. Marinate one day. Broil the next. Make the Tomato Gravy the day after that and assemble.

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 tsp. salt
Juice of 1 lemon

For the marinade:
15 oz. whole yogurt
1 Tbsp. Paprika (chili powder if you really like a kick)
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. garlic, pulverized
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 onion, quartered

Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle salt and lemon juice over pieces. Combine yogurt and next 11 ingredients. Pour over chicken and toss to coat. Cover and marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight (I even got away with an hour once, but the longer the better).

Tomato Puree:
4 large tomatoes
1 Serrano pepper, deseeded and membranes removed (please wash hands thoroughly following handling of the pepper)

In a food processor with the motor on, finely dice the pepper and add the tomatoes, one at a time, until fully pureed. Place in a container and refrigerate until ready to use (alternatively, 3 cups of canned tomato sauce could be used in a pinch, but the color of the fresh tomatoes is where it is at).

Broil the chicken:

Heat your broiler on HIGH for 20 minutes with the rack at least 8 inches from the heat source. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with canola oil. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade with tongs and get rid of excess marinade by shaking the pieces before placing them on the sheet.

Broil for 10 minutes. Remove pan from broiler and flip pieces. Return to broiler for 10 more minutes or until pieces are brown with a little crisp on the edges (Note: Broiler temperatures and rack positions vary greatly. Please use your discretion when broiling. You are looking for fully-cooked, lightly brown bits with some charring on the edges to approximate Tandoori Chicken). Remove from pan and allow to cool completely. May be covered and refrigerated at this point.

Tomato Gravy:

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (or even Earth Balance)

1” stick of cinnamon
1 Bay leaf
5 cloves
3 cardamom pods (or ½ tsp. ground cardamom)
1 tsp. pulverized garlic
1 tsp. pulverized ginger

Reserved tomato puree with Serrano pepper
1 Tbsp. paprika
¼ tsp. cardamom
¼ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp coriander
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tsp. roasted, ground cumin seeds

Sugar, to taste
1 Tbsp. dried fenugreek leaves (you absolutely can not leave this out. It makes the entire dish. I promise.)
1 cup Whipping Cream (half & half, evaporated milk or, at the very least, whole milk)
1 tsp. salt to taste
Lots of cilantro

Prepare the Tomato Gravy:

Melt the butter in a large 10” skillet, preferably cast iron. Once the bubbles have started to subside add the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and cardamom. Fry for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add the reserved tomato puree to the pan. Add the paprika and the next 6 ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then decrease heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the puree has reduced by at least half.

Taste the sauce and add sugar as necessary to neutralize any sourness. (My tomatoes were fairly sour, so I needed about 2 Tbsp. of sugar.) Add the dried fenugreek leaves and cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the reserved chicken and toss to coat. Add the whipping cream gradually, mixing thoroughly. Bring mixture back to a boil, and once it reaches a boil immediately remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and combine. Taste and salt, as necessary. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serves 4.

Serve with basmati rice. (I even added ½ cup of frozen peas and ¼ tsp. cayenne to mine after the rice was done cooking and cooked for 5 minutes more. After that add 3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro and fluff with a fork.)

Sit back and listen to people have joygasms : )

P.S. I know that there are a lot of spices here. Like celery seed. I’m sure you could leave it out. If you don’t have it, don’t sweat it. I would say that the key things to have are paprika, cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, cayenne and salt. All the rest just makes it more of your own special blend. Also, I have made this so many times without the fenugreek and let me tell you THAT was the missing ingredient. I found mine at my local Middle Eastern grocery store. A huge bag for $3. I will be using it in everything. It is both sweet and savory with a slight bitterness and to me it just smells rich. If any of you are adventurous enough to try this please let me know if you liked it as much as I did. I have rarely been so satisfied.