Mantia's Musings

A great veggie soup for the season!

2012-01-23T17:57:00.000-06:00

I love this time of year, when winter weather makes us sort of cocoon in our houses and long for warming soups and stews. Well, usually, although this year we've had precious little real winter weather!

I’d picked up a butternut squash and was browsing online for some sort of soup that wasn’t just a squash purée. I didn’t find a soup recipe I liked, but I did find several complimentary references to a private label canned soup from a market chain: “Butternut Squash Possole (sic) with Collard Greens.” But I have a friend from the southwest who had served posole once a while back. I remembered liking it…so why not give it a try?

The collard greens part wasn’t to my taste so I just left it out. My very first attempt was, untypically, the version I’m giving you here. Usually I have to work through a couple of tries in a recipe to make it to my liking.

You’ll only use half of a smallish (3-4 pound) squash but the other half can be diced, tossed with a bit of olive oil and an Italian herb blend and roasted in a hot oven until just starting to brown around the edges. That will make a good side dish for a chicken or pork main dish later in the week.

The posole I’d been served was very thick, like a stew, but if you’d like a “soupier” dish, just add the larger amount of stock.

I served this with a wedge of lime and a sprinkling of cilantro. I know there are those who hate cilantro (my husband, for instance), so just leave it off for them.

However you tweak it to suit your tastes, I think this recipe will be a keeper for you, as it is for me.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH POSOLE

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

5 cloves garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tbsp. chili powder blend (see note)

2 cans diced tomato, with juices

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 tsp salt

3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½” dice

1 15-oz can white hominy, rinsed and drained

1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

Lime wedges and chopped cilantro, for garnish

In a heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir a few times, then add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft but not browned. Add the oregano, cumin and chili powder, stir well and let simmer a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and salt. Raise heat, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and let simmer gently for about ten minutes.

Stir in the squash, return to a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is almost tender, about 15 minutes. Add the hominy and black beans and continue to simmer until the squash is tender, about another 10 minutes.

Taste and add salt if needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with lime wedges and chopped cilantro. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTE: Mexene is quite an acceptable supermarket shelf chili powder blend, but I am particularly fond of Penzey’s Chili 9000 blend. It’s a bit spicier than Mexene, but if you like a milder blend, Penzey’s Chili 3000 is also quite tasty.

Yum! Mark Bittman's Date and Bean Salad

2012-01-14T23:22:00.000-06:00

I really heart Mark Bittman. For those who aren’t familiar with him, he’s a food columnist for the New York Times, and in several previous columns I’ve referred to some of his work. One of my favorites came from a 2009 column “101 Simple Salads for the Season.” Here were his instructions: “Cut cherry or grape tomatoes in half; toss with soy sauce, a bit of dark sesame oil and basil or cilantro.” I’ve made that so many times it is almost embarrassing.

I recently picked up one of his books, “Kitchen Express” and the format was similar: no real recipes, just sort of chatty little paragraphs suggesting how to make something tasty, divided by seasons.

I saw this dish, listed under winter recipes and thought how very “interesting” it sounded. (In my parlance that’s like saying “he has a nice personality.”)

Well, it was not only interesting, it was really delicious. I did add the optional fillip of the crisped coppa (Italian cured pork loin) on top, and the tiniest splash of balsamic dressing on the greens. Coppa or another option, prosciutto, can be found in most supermarkets, packaged, very thinly sliced.

I served it as a side salad for dinner, but it is pretty hearty. It would make a great luncheon main dish, or as a brunch side to an egg casserole of some sort. Doubled, it would serve six to eight as a main dish.

If you’re not a bacon eater, you could leave it out, but you might compensate for the loss of the smoky taste by a goodly pinch of Spanish smoked paprika.

You could easily make the salad a bit ahead and warm again slightly just before serving. We had a bit left, and I had it for lunch the next day, and I still would have happily served it to guests. There’s always room in my repertoire for a dish like that!

MARK BITTMAN’S DATE, BACON AND BEAN SALAD

4 slices good quality smoked bacon

2 15-oz cans cannellini or northern beans, drained

½ cup dates, pitted and chopped (or use packaged diced)

6 very thin slices coppa or prosciutto (optional)

1 container arugula

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp good olive oil

Cut the bacon into 1” pieces. In a good sized skillet, cook until just barely crisp. Remove to a paper towel to drain, and pour off about half the fat. To the pan add the beans and dates. Warm on low for a few minutes, stirring around a bit. When ready to serve, put the bacon back into the pan and heat it all together for another minute or two.

Meanwhile, if you’re using the coppa or prosciutto, heat another skillet over medium high heat. Put the meat in one layer and cook, turning once, until just crisp. Put on a paper towel to drain.

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar and oil. Add the arugula and toss. The dressing will very lightly cover the greens. Divide the greens among six plates and top with the bean salad. Perch the crispy coppa or prosciutto on top and serve. Serves six as a generous side or first course salad.

Where the rich folks eat...

2011-11-06T01:26:00.000-05:00

On the Comcast news page, there was a link to the top ten per capita income zip codes in the US, and where the residents eat. It was interesting that all except one were in either the New York area (including New Jersey) or California. The exception was Auburn, AL. Who would have thought?

Also interesting that most are bedroom communities and have few, if any, fine dining establishments.

Take a look and let me know what you think of all this.

It's National Sandwich Week!

2011-11-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

And the Huffingon Post has nominated the nine worst sandwiches.

Are there any you'd want to try?

Really tasty, but really economical, chicken!

2011-10-30T15:51:00.001-05:00

Everyone's talking about the high price of almost everything lately. And lots of companies are cutting back on hours, or cutting jobs entirely. The news is full of examples of folks cutting back on expenses because of it all.

That certainly doesn't mean you have to cut out everything you like to do. Such as having friends for dinner. Which is something I really like to do! It may not be the filet mignon you might have had a year or two ago, but there's no reason to deny yourself the pleasure of your friends' company.

I belong to a couple of cooking groups, and we generally share the responsibilities of the meal. A while back, I had a group of friends over and everyone brought a course to share. I made the main course and everyone loved it. Guests contributed a couple of appetizers, a salad, a vegetable and dessert.

The dish I made for my dinner was one I had made a couple of times before, always with great success. I am a big fan of dark meat chicken. You can simmer it longer in seasoned broths or sauces, so that it soaks up all the yummy factor flavors. Chicken breast meat would be way overcooked in the same amount of time.

And in the interest of economy, you can't get much more penny-wise; chicken leg quarters are about one-third the price of hamburger meat. This main course, even if you have to buy the herbs instead of growing them yourself, should be under $2.00 per person. The first time I made it, I had read about a similar dish described in a review of an out-of-town Spanish restaurant. I used Spanish chorizo and Spanish manchego cheese. Last week, I used pepperoni and Parrano cheese. The result was equally delicious, and undeniably a fraction of the cost. A nutty Gruyère would suit equally well.

And most of the prep can be done ahead. I cut up the potatoes and left them in cool water I stuffed the chicken legs and tucked them in the fridge. Then all I had to do was assemble the dish, and stick it in the oven an hour before we ate. No basting, no watching. How could it be any better?

PEPPERONI CHICKEN

8 chicken leg quarters

4 ounces pepperoni, thinly sliced

6 ounces Parrano, gruyère or Jarlsberg cheese, not too thinly sliced

3 lbs. red-skin potatoes, washed and cut into large cubes

1 large onion, cut in half from stem to root ends, and sliced

1 package fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 cups dry white wine (or chicken stock)

1/4 cup (or as needed) extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350^o. Rinse and dry the chicken pieces. Run your fingers under the skin to separate it from the flesh. Under the skin slide three pepperoni slices. Under the pepperoni cover the flesh with slices of cheese. (It's easier to put the pepperoni in first. Trust me on this.)

In a baking pan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer, spread out the potatoes Add the onions, about 1/3 of the thyme and the bay leaves, and toss to combine well. Place the chicken on top. Tuck another third of the thyme around and under the chicken. Pour the wine or stock evenly over the chicken. Brush the chicken generously with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and plenty of fresh-ground black pepper.

Cook for about an hour, or until the chicken is done through and a rich dark golden brown Serve at once, garnished with the remaining thyme. Serves 8.

The way we look at fast food...

2011-10-28T21:22:00.000-05:00

Here are two different views of how to look at the perceived problem of too much bad fast food for too much of the population. Take a look at both of the articles and let me know what you think!

First, here's a view from Mark Bittman, who is one of my idols, saying that it would be just as easy and less expensive to make a nourishing dinner for four than to take them to McDonalds.

And then, on the other hand, here's a view from the blogger Adam Roberts, of the Amateur Gourmet, saying why don't we just let folks alone...they know what they're eating isn't good for them but they aren't about to stop.

Which side of the fence are you on?

A bar in Key West...

2011-09-28T17:54:00.001-05:00

We've returned from our Great Southern Road Trip vacation. And I know I owe you lots of updates on amusing places we saw, and reviews of places we ate. Remember, patience is a virtue.

This was a bar we saw in Key West. The bar area on top, where you see the trees and garden area, is "clothing optional."

We didn't go there. But we did take a trolley tour of the town and the guide suggested that if you plan to go up there, you have a few drinks in the second floor bar first, and sort of watch to see who's going up before you pay the cover charge!

Easy Vietnamese Caramelized Shrimp!

2011-09-28T10:12:00.000-05:00

Once a month Williams-Sonoma has a Saturday cooking demonstration, free of charge. I go as often as I can, because the recipes are always really tasty.

A few weeks ago I went and the recipe was from Sous Chef Justine Kelly, of the restaurant Slanted Door in San Francisco. She called it "Caramelized Shrimp with Lemongrass, Thai Chiles and Ginger."

I had friends coming for dinner that evening and I really wanted to make it, but it called for several ingredients usually only available in Oriental markets: fresh lemongrass, palm sugar and Thai chiles. There is no oriental market near us, so I figured I’d adapt it to supermarket shelves. It came out so well that I thought you’d want to try it too.

For the palm sugar, I substituted dark brown sugar, and frankly I’m not sure the end result wasn’t better for it. I made the caramel syrup with the fish sauce, as indicated, but the recipe called for making a lot more than needed with the note that it keeps well for other uses. I just made enough for the one recipe. But I'm going to try this same recipe soon with chicken breasts, cut into chunks and cooked exactly the same way, so leftover syrup wouldn't have been a bad thing.

Lemongrass paste is widely available in tubes, in the produce section of your market, usually near the fresh herbs. It works extremely well in recipes such as this, and keeps well in the fridge. It has the added advantage of not having to deal with the tough parts of the lemongrass that won't get tender no matter how long you cook the dish.

And since there were no Thai chiles, I used a Serrano chile instead. Our friends are much more heat tolerant than I am, so I sliced up another for them to add to the finished dish as taste dictated. A jalapeño pepper would also work.

And finally, although the recipe didn’t call for it, I topped it with chopped cilantro, which all agreed was a felicitous addition.

I served it with steamed white rice, roasted asparagus and Mark Bittman’s salad of heirloom tomatoes, soy sauce and a drizzle of oriental sesame oil, atop a bed of arugula.

This makes a good dinner for a busy day, because you could probably get the rest of the meal done in about the time it takes the rice to cook. Alternately, you could (as I did) prepare the recipe up to the point where you add the hot caramel sauce. It takes only about 5 minutes then, to finish up.

Vietnamese Caramelized Shrimp

1 ½ lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup oriental fish sauce

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 cup shallot, peeled and very thinly sliced

1 or 2 hot green chiles, cut lengthwise in half, seeds removed

3 tbsp. lemongrass paste (or ¼ cup fresh, minced)

2 plump cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 2-inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchstick pieces

¼ cup chicken or seafood stock

½ cup cilantro, chopped

Rinse the shrimp, pat dry and sprinkle with the pepper.

Make the caramel sauce: in a heavy saucepan, simmer the brown sugar with the fish sauce just until the sugar is melted. Keep warm.

In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and chiles and stir a few times. Add the lemongrass paste, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring for another couple of minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and hot caramel sauce.

Add the shrimp, turn the heat up a little and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are just done, five to seven minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the cilantro and serve immediately. Serves 6.

A tasty fish with an interesting background.

2011-09-18T19:36:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, we are nearing the end of The Great Southern Road Trip. I haven’t been a very good girl about documenting things you might have found interesting because this has been a very laid back trip I mean, hey, we’re in the South, right?

Now we’re in the Floriday Keys. Tom thinks he wants to retire tomorrow and move here, but I’m pretty sure that some of the beer he drank in the water-front bar whilst watching a lot of football today may have fogged his mind a bit.

Anyway, we took a tour out to Pigeon Key yesterday. It is on the former railroad line paid for by a Mr Flagler. There’s some interesting history there, connected with the Bingham family, newspaper high mucky-mucks in Louisville, my home town, but that will be for another day.

It was a work camp for a while and housed several hundred men tricked into coming down to lower Florida to work on the railroad bridge. There’s a lot of very interesting history and you can find some of it here.

While we were there, we were shown an aquarium with a few small but really beautiful fish. They were immature lionfish. We were told that they were introduced in the the local waters, probably by folks who’d brought them from their native Indo-Pacific home as aquarium fish.

They are voracious eaters and have no predators, so they’ve spread, much to the detriment of native fish. And while they are indeed beautiful, they have spines that carry a toxin that can be very painful if touched.

Now you probably are wondering why I’m telling you all this, especially when I’ve been remarkably lazy about telling you about earlier culinary wonders of the trip but the reason is that I had lionfish for dinner tonight, at Lazy Day Restaurant in Islamorda, The Keys, Florida. What better way to get rid of an invasive critter but to eat it, right?

It was a very mild flavored fish, which made it perfect for the almond crust and key lime butter sauce with diced tomato and sliced scallions. Really yummy!

In the interest of fair reporting, Tom had the whole Florida lobster Mediterranean, with capers, diced tomato and lots of other goodies, as you can see for yourself.

I promise to make time to fill you in on some of the other culinary delights of our trip. Tomorrow. Or the next day. Or sometime next week. It’s amazing what being down in the Keys does to one’s sense of urgency.

A Summer Salad for your Labor Day Cookout!

2011-09-02T08:10:00.000-05:00

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I’m in a wine dinner group that meets monthly. The host picks the theme and makes the main course and each guest couple signs up for a different course along the same theme.
Everyone in the group loves to cook and does it well so we have some stellar dinners. Recently it was our turn to host, and I picked Spain as our wine region.

Once again, every single course was exceptional. This is the last of the ones I wanted to share with you. Jeanene Lawhead Feinstone brought a most delicious salad called "pipirrana."

Pipirrana is a vegetable salad that is found pretty much everywhere in Spain, with regional variations. Some add diced cooked potatoes, others diced avocado or lightly steamed carrot. Although Jeanene used green bell pepper, you can use red, or a mixture of red and green. In the Basque region, the peppers are often sautéed in olive oil with the onion and cooled before adding the remaining ingredients. I’ve had it with sherry wine vinegar in the dressing, and once I’m pretty sure there was a touch of honey in the vinaigrette.

Jeanene suggests that you add the dressing a little at a time. You want it to coat all the vegetables, but not to have a big pool of it in the bottom of the bowl.

However you do it, since there is no mayonnaise, it would make a perfect picnic food or side dish for your Labor Day cook-out. And for another variation, I stuffed the last bit of Jeanene’s salad into a pita half with sliced tomato and hummus and it made a great lunch. I might do that for the next Botanic Garden concert!

Jeanene’s Pipirrana
(Diced Vegetable Salad)

1 ½ green bell peppers
6 Roma tomatoes squeezed
1 small sweet onion
1 cucumber seeded
3 hard boiled eggs
2 tsp. tarragon finely chopped
1 to 1 ½ cans of tuna in oil (slightly drained)
½ cup olive oil (very good grade)
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Dice all the ingredients finely into ½ in. cubes and toss with blended olive oil and vinegar. Salt to taste.
Chill for at least one hour before serving. Spoon on bed of chopped green leaf lettuce. Serves 8 generously.

Great melon summer salad!

2011-08-24T00:03:00.000-05:00

    Back in my younger days in Louisville, we often went to a buffet brunch after church services on Sunday. Inevitably one of us kids would take more on our plate than we could eat. My mom would always say "Your eyes were bigger than your stomach."
    That’s kind of how I am when I go to summer farmers’ markets. I want it all. And I almost always buy it all.
    I stopped into the Agricenter market last week, just one day before we were leaving for a long weekend away. I got too many tomatoes (wait—is that even possible?) and veggies for dinner that night and headed out the door. And right beside the door was a display of large, enormously fragrant cantaloupes. I just had to have one.
    I knew it had to be eaten before we left, and that evening a friend was joining us for dinner. I had already planned the menu, but with the aroma of the melon wafting through the kitchen, I knew I had to use it. How about a salad?
    I foraged in the fridge and found the makings of an extremely delicious salad. I put it together and let it set for an hour or so at room temperature and then served it on a bed of arugula. It was absolutely delicious.
    This could certainly be made ahead and stored in the fridge until you’re almost ready to serve it. Just be sure to let it come closer to room temperature before serving for the best flavor. I used all cantaloupe, but a mixture of cantaloupe and honeydew melons would also be tasty.
    I just cut the melon into nice bite-sized chunks. If you want to be totally chi-chi about it, use that melon baller contraption that you got for a shower gift. There's one good side benefit: it leaves a lot of little bits and pieces unusable in your salad...but that means you have to eat those bits yourself. Well, I mean, you can't just toss them into the disposal, right?
    This salad, best when ripe summer melons are available, makes a great side dish for just about any kind of meal.

FARMERS’ MARKET MELON SALAD

4 cups melon, cut into chunks
Juice and finely grated zest of one large lime
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tbsp. fresh mint leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. good fruity olive oil
4 to 6 cups salad greens of choice
Additional mint for garnish

Put the melon chunks into a bowl. Add the lime juice and zest, feta cheese and chopped mint. Let set at room temperature for about an hour, tossing occasionally.
Taste and add salt if necessary. Some feta cheeses are saltier than others, so you may not need it. Sprinkle lightly with coarsely ground black pepper. Add the olive oil and toss again.
Serve on a bed of greens, drizzling any juices from the bowl over the top, garnish with mint sprigs and serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Dinner at Marketplace Restaurant Louisville

2011-08-14T11:33:00.000-05:00

Back a few years ago, first my father, and then my mother, became ill in Louisville. My sister and I made many trips up to see them, and always tried to work in a trip to Volare Restaurant. We even made a special trip to go to one of their special dinners, one with an Umbrian theme.

What made the food so special was Chef Dallas McGarity, and when he left, we had no idea where to find him, and nobody at Volare seemed to want to tell us. Imagine how pleased I was, as we return to Louisville for a meetingn that Tom has, to pick up a copy of the local what's-happening paper and see a review for his new place, Market Place Restaurant in downtown Louisville.

Tom and I wandered that way yesterday and had to admire the extensive and quite lovely outside dining and bar area. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture, but I'm hoping we'll get back before we leave.

I ordered an appetizer, "bacon & scallop, sweet corn puree, marketplace greens, balsamic reduction." The bacon was crispy pork belly, and the scallop could not have been more perfectly cooked. It was absolutely delicious.

Tom got an entrée portion of "scallops & shrimp, sweet potato-gingered onion-bacon hash, marketplace greens, sambal-lime vinaigrette." Oh golly, I could have eaten my weight in the sweet potato hash. Tom found it a little spicy for his taste, which is odd because usually he has a higher tolerance for heat than I do. Again, the scallops were perfectly cooked, but he found the shrimp a little overdone.

Looking at the menu, there are other things I would have loved to have tried. I don't think we'll be getting back there for dinner before we leave but maybe we can go for a pre-dinner beverage in that lovely terrace. Hopefully my sister and I will be making a trip back later in the fall, and we can both come and enjoy Chef Dallas' great cooking again!

Lovely tomatoes!

2011-08-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

Heirloom tomatoes from the Agricenter Farmers' Market...YUM! I just don't know anything else I can add!

Great Burgers from the Grill!

2011-08-10T11:56:00.000-05:00

One of the great pleasures of the summer, in my opinion, is hamburgers on the grill. We always start out the summer with regular hamburgers, maybe brushed with a little soy sauce mixed with finely minced garlic. Lettuce, tomato, pickles…you know what I mean. But after a bit I start thinking of ways to make a more amusing burger.

Recently I got an email from a former Mantia’s guest who asked about our "Bombay Burger." Each week we had a special burger of the week, and this was one of the more popular. We used pre-formed high quality angus beef burgers, so all the flavor went on the outside. We would blend chopped garlic, grated ginger and Thai sweet chili sauce with olive oil and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Then at cooking time, we would paint the burger with the infused oil.

But working at home gives a little more latitude than when you're feeding a hundred or more for lunch each day, so I mixed all the goodies right into the ground beef. All the guests agreed that the results were even more delicious!

When I’m going to do my burgers on the grill I like at least a 20% fat content in the ground beef. That keeps the burgers moist, especially for those who like their burgers a little more well done. Don’t overwork the meat. Start with cold ground beef, and just sort of crumble it. Sprinkle the ingredients over the top and toss to combine. And don't squish it down too much as you form the burgers. Pat them together just enough to make sure they don't come apart and fall down into the coals. I hate it when that happens!

You could do this, too, with ground turkey, but be sure to use the mixed ground white and dark meat. I’ve never found a way to keep all-white ground turkey moist and juicy on the grill. And I’ve had more success with grilled turkey burgers if I brush the outside with a bit of olive oil.

The aioli starts with store-bought mayonnaise, but if you'd rather make your own, be my guest. This spread is also particularly good on roast beef or roast turkey sandwiches, too. And I bet it would be equally successful with crab cakes.

To accompany this, I made potato salad with an olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing, with roasted poblano chiles, chopped cilantro and minced red onion. You could just as easily use canned green chiles instead of the poblanos. I bet if you bought carry-out potato salad and added the canned chilies it would still be quite tasty. Slice some farmers’ market tomatoes onto a platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and you have the perfect outdoor grill dinner.

BOMBAY BURGERS

Burgers:
1 ½ lb ground beef
3 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp. Thai sweet chili sauce
4 green onions, with some of the green top, finely minced
2 tsp. salt
Curry Chutney Aioli:
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed or very finely minced
¼ cup Major Grey mango chutney
2 tsp. curry powder
To finish:
4 crusty buns or ciabatta rolls
Cilantro
Arugula
Sliced tomato

Mix all the burger ingredients together and form four burgers. Put them in a single layer on a plate, cover and chill until ready to cook.

In a small bowl, whisk together all the aioli ingredients. Some chutneys have big chunks. If yours does, chop them into smaller pieces. Cover and chill at least an hour for flavors to meld.

When ready to serve, grill burgers to your desired level of doneness. Alternatively, cook in a hot skillet, or under a broiler, until done as desired.

Place each on a bun or ciabatta roll, spread with prepared aioli and sprinkle with cilantro. Top with arugula and tomato. Serve at once. Makes four burgers.

A Great Sounding Road Trip!

2011-08-04T09:07:00.001-05:00

One of the blogs I read often is Bunky Cooks. Based in Atlanta Gwen Pratesi writes about lifestyle, travel and food. She also heads up a non-profit enterprise meant to get adventurous gourmands up close and personal with America’s new generation of farmers, vintners and distillers.

Their next trip is to Kentucky. I am a native of Louisville, and if there were anyway I could work this into my schedule, I would love to do it, but we'll be in Key West at the time.

Pratesi wrangles for her intimate tours – the Kentucky trip is limited to 20 people – access to the best chefs, farms, vineyards, distilleries and other destinations.

The Kentucky tour runs from Sunday, Sept. 18 through Tuesday, Sept. 20 focusing on the region’s farm-to-table culture in the Louisville and Lexington areas.

For the schedule and more information check out On the Road Culinary Adventures.

A restaurant that bans children?

2011-07-11T09:25:00.000-05:00

There's a restaurant in Pennsylvania that now bans children under six at all times. You can read about it here. What do you think?

Sweet smoky Spanish-inspired ribs!

2011-07-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I promised more of the recipes from our wine dinner club Spanish meal. I was the hostess, so I made the main course.

I had had "Costilla de Cerdo Lacada," or glazed pork ribs, in a tapas bar in Washington, DC, a while back and thought I’d attempt a similar recipe. I knew it had smoked paprika and a lot of brown sugar and garlic. The first time I tried it, it was tasty enough but didn’t have the glazed look of the original. And was missing a spiced flavor that I decided was cinnamon and ginger.

I tried it again and intended to glaze it with reduced sweet sherry, but didn’t have any in the liquor cabinet. I looked to see what might be a good substitute and there was a bottle of maple syrup in the pantry. Talk about serendipity! It was the perfect glaze, and so easy!

I served the ribs with a yellow rice pilaf and the wonderful rum-baked black beans from a much earlier column. You can find the recipe on my blog.

I did them as noted below. But last week I visited my son and his family and wanted to make them again for a group of his friends. He has a smoker and smoked them for about four hours on low heat, then glazed them on the grill. They were wonderful, so if you have a smoker you might want to try it.

With the Fourth of July weekend upon us, why not give these ribs a try? With rice, baked black beans and a salad, you have a dinner that will have your friends saying "Ole"!!!

SPANISH GLAZED PORK RIBS

2 racks baby back ribs (about 3 lbs each)
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. Spanish sweet smoked paprika
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground ginger
5 plump cloves garlic, put through a press
2 tbps. Chipotle Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp. kosher or sea salt
¼ cup maple or other pancake syrup
Fresh cilantro, for garnish

Rinse the rib racks and pat dry. In a bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except maple syrup and cilantro.

Tear off a strip of heavy duty aluminum foil large enough to seal around one rack. Using half the spice mixture, rub evenly over the meat. Use about a third on the bottom (bone) side, and the rest on top. Seal the foil completely, then over-wrap with another sheet of foil. Repeat with the second rack.

Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate at least four hours or up to 24 hours. Remove from the fridge about an hour before you plan to cook.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the racks side by side on a baking sheet. Bake for an hour. Remove the foil and place the racks on a clean baking sheet. Discard foil and any cooking juices. Brush the meaty side of the rack with the syrup.

Pre-heat your grill to medium-high. Place the racks with the glazed side down and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn and brush again. Cook for another five minutes. Cut into three-rib servings and sprinkle with the cilantro. Delicious hot, but also perfectly tasty at warm room temperature. Serves 6 generously.

NOTE: Spanish smoked paprika is available in many supermarkets, and at Fresh Market and Whole Foods.

Dinner at La Summa-Boston

2011-06-27T07:42:00.000-05:00

Recently, after a visit in Massachusetts with my son and his family--including my two sweet angel grand-daughters--my sister Cindy and I had a couple of days of sisterly bonding in Boston. This mostly comprised shopping and eating. And if not eating, talking about where to eat next.

One of the musts, of course, was the North End, the Italian neighborhood. I always make time for that when I fly in and out of Boston. There are scores of wonderful Italian restaurants and a couple of great markets and at least two incredible pastry shops. Mike's Pastry Shop is my favorite.

Our first dinner was at La Summa. We chose that because it was a little off the main drag, and were happy we did. It was small and a lot quieter than most. Our server was delightful. She knew all the details of all the dishes, made appropriate suggestions, and gave perfect service. She was attentive without being intrusive.

For our first dish we split a special of the evening, Eggplant Bruschette.

The eggplant had been lightly breaded and was obviously freshly cooked. And perfectly cooked, with a creamy center and a crispy outside. The tomato topping had fresh basil, a touch of garlic and a fine fruity olive oil. Topped with shredded mozzarella and heated just enough, every bite was delicious.

Then we split the ever-present Insalata Caprese.

Although the tomatoes could have been a bit riper, I suppose we must remember that seasons aren't the same in Boston. They still had dogwood and azalea blossoms while ours have been gone for weeks and weeks. Still, the mozzarella was obviously freshly made (something I never see in Memphis, at least not since Mantia's closed!) and the olive oil was obviously a cut above standard supermarket brands, fruity with a bit of a peppery bite.

And then we split the main course the server recommended: Vitello Speciale.

It was described on the menu as "Barbara's specialty - lightly breaded veal or boneless breast of chicken layered with prosciutto, mozzarella and mushrooms in a wine reduction." Once again we were delighted with the choice. It was a substantial dish. What I show is one half of a serving, since the kitchen very considerately split it for us. Loaded with sautéed mushrooms, in a rich Marsala wine reduction, it was the perfect ending to the meal. Ending because there was no way we could manage dessert after all this.

And you certainly couldn't quibble with the price. With generous servings, plenty of warm crusty bread and a bottle of very nice pinot grigio, and with a generous tip, our check was still less than $100!

Fabulous white sangria!

2011-06-20T08:07:00.000-05:00

I’m in a wine dinner group that meets monthly. The host picks the theme and makes the main course and each guest couple signs up for a different course, along the same theme. Sometimes it’s based on one kind of wine, but usually it’s geographic.

Everyone in the group loves to cook and does it well so we have some stellar dinners. Recently it was our turn to host, and I picked Spain as our wine region.

Once again, every single course was exceptional. In fact, over the next few weeks, I’m going to share several of the recipes we enjoyed.

Our first course appetizer was served with white sangria made by Commercial Appeal Food Editor, Jennifer Biggs. It was, with no competition, the best white sangria I’ve ever had (and with my age and travels, I’ve had a few). And it looked absolutely beautiful in the clear glass pitcher, with berries on the bottom, citrus slices and fresh mint.

The secret ingredient was one we all had a little trouble identifying: fresh tarragon. Who would have thought? It was subtle but made all the difference in the flavor. Don’t be tempted to leave it out.

You can make your infused lemonade ahead of time and chill all the components to be assembled when you’re ready to serve it. Have an iced tea spoon ready so you can scoop out a blackberry or two for each glass, pour, and enjoy!

JENNIFER’S WHITE SANGRIA

16 oz good lemonade (see note)

1 handful fresh mint

1/2 handful fresh tarragon

1 750ml bottle dry white wine

8 oz. grapefruit soda (see note)

1 cup Cointreau or triple sec

Fruit:

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 lime, sliced

Blackberries or other berries

Handful of mint sprigs for garnish

Bring the lemonade to a boil and add the mint and tarragon. Remove from the heat and allow to infuse at least 15 minutes. Discard the herbs and allow the syrup to cool. Put the wine in a pitcher, then add the herbed lemonade, grapefruit soda and Cointreau. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

To serve, place fruit, berries and mint garnish in the serving pitcher, add ice, and pour in the sangria. Add more grapefruit soda or Sprite if you want a bit of fizz. Makes 8 to 10 five-ounce servings.

NOTE: Jennifer used a bottled not-from-concentrate lemonade available in the juice section of the supermarket. For the grapefruit soda she used Ting, available from the Winchester Road Farmers Market, or in the international aisle of some supermarkets. Fresca or Squirt would also work, but would be less sharp.

From a food blogger whom I quite enjoy and respect!

2011-05-31T23:53:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of food blogs I follow, some casually, occasionally, when I think about it. Others I pretty much read everything written.

One of my favorites is Adam Roberts, The Amateur Gourmet. He writes well, and with such a great sense of humor without being pretentious about either the food or the humor.

Today he wrote about his philosophy of life. Whether or not you enjoy his style of writing (and what, I want to know, is not to like?) it's an interesting insight into his life voyage from law student to an MFA in dramatic writing, to widely acclaimed food blogger who has just sent a cookbook manuscript to his publisher.

Check him out and leave a nice comment telling him how much you and I both admire him!

If I still owned a restaurant...

2011-05-31T21:21:00.000-05:00

I was having lunch recently with "the girls" at a pretty pricey and fairly new place in Memphis which will go unnamed. If I still owned a restaurant (and you know I used to) here are two things I would tell the servers, which apparently were not told to our server.

First, we had a "funny" waiter. He thought he was SO cute. Lots of jokey comments about what we ordered, both wine-wise and food-wise. Frequent interruptions to reinforce how cute he was, often in the middle of a conversation.

Of the four of us, three ordered a glass of wine, all different. None of us got the right wine, the one we ordered. Now in fairness they were all white, but ya' know? We took sips, looked at each other, identified what we thought we got, and passed it to the right person. When we mentioned it to him, he made a joke about it, not an apology.

Expensive main-course type salads came with one very thin slice of un-toasted Pullman bread with the crusts cut off, slightly stale. We asked for a roll each instead. His comment: "Really? Everyone else likes that bread."

We were half-finished with our salads and he asked if we were ready to order dessert. Duh. No, not yet. And excuse me sir, but we are having some serious talk here. Please do not interrupt us again. And we really don't care what you think about the topic.

If I owned a restaurant, the server would be much more sensitive both to the type of folks he is serving, and to the tone of the conversation. And in any case would not consider himself part of the conversation! Polite, yes. Attentive, yes. But almost invisible unless he was needed.

And secondly, but absolutely not confined to this restaurant--this is common practice but NOT in my restaurant. Nobody's plate gets taken away until everyone is finished (unless, of course someone asks for it to be taken away). I eat very slowly and, okay, sure, I talk a lot. I'm almost always the last one finished. I feel a little self-conscious to be the only one at the table with a plate in front of me. So I don't always finish my lunch or dinner out with a group. You wouldn't do that to guests in your home, why would you do that in a restaurant?

What do you think?

Easy Chicken-Black Bean Tacos

2011-05-29T06:44:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I had grilled more chicken breasts than had gotten eaten. I sliced them and stuck them in a baggie in the freezer. I've had a very busy few days recently and last night I pulled them out to thaw.

I never did fulfill my earlier promise to cull down the contents of pantry, fridge and freezer. In fact I seem to keep adding to it. I'm such a bad girl that way. So trying to decide what to make with the chicken I spied a can of Bush's Fiesta Style Grillin' Beans: black beans simmered in a tasty chipotle sauce with corn kernels and red peppers

I also had some tortillas, so I'm thinking tacos. There's not a recipe here, because what I did was so simple. I chopped a small onion, sliced up about 4 plump cloves of peeled garlic and cooked it in a sauté pan in a little olive oil. I added a couple of cups of grilled and semi-thinly sliced chicken and about a tablespoon of Penzey's Salsa Seasoning. Regular taco seasoning would work just fine, or even chili powder, but I am awfully fond of the Penzey's blend.

After the chicken, onions, garlic and seasoning got to know each other a little better, I poured the can of beans over it and simmered until most of the liquid was gone. Then I added the finely grated zest and the juice of one lime. That's it!

You can add whatever condiments you have and like. I had salsa, shredded Napa cabbage, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream and cilantro. I think diced avocado or guacamole would be great with these as well.

I had some fresh corn, so I did my favorite thing to do with corn: into some soft butter I grated the zest of a lime and added the juice. I spread the shucked corn with this, wrapped it in foil and roasted it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. Or you can do it at 400 for about a half an hour. If you are grilling, you can cook them right on the grill. A sprinkle of the Penzey's salsa seasoning here is pretty tasty too.

Altogether it took about 10 minutes of my time and from start to finish was less than 45 minutes. If you don't do the corn, it's about 20 minutes total. If you go to a fast food joint during rush hour it'll take longer than that to drive through!

Great Summer Ribs!

2011-05-24T15:58:00.000-05:00

Baby back ribs were on sale. How could I say no? I toted them home before even thinking of how I might do them. Digging around in my spice drawer, I found an un-opened packet of Colorado Spice Sicilian Pork Rub. The ingredients sounded right up my alley: coriander and mustard seeds, garlic, fennel seed. I used most of the packet to rub the ribs down.

Once I had my ribs rubbed down, covered and refrigerated, the question of sauce arose. I wanted to use the remaining rub in the sauce, but what else? This was truly one of those thrown-together sauces that turned out really well, I thought. The first draft was tasty, but needed to be kicked up a bit.

I was going to visit my sister in Knoxville the following weekend. (I can’t imagine why, but anytime I visit family I always wind up cooking.)   This was the perfect opportunity to do the ribs again. With a few changes to the sauce, by Jove, I thought we had it!   With fresh green beans steamed, then sautéed in garlic butter, a home-made lentil salad, and potato salad and cole slaw from the local deli we had a real feast.

There's no reason, if you are having a cookout for the Memorial Day holiday, that you couldn't roast the ribs and make the sauce earlier in the day, to finish at meal time.   A trip to the deli for side dishes, or pot luck from the guests, and you have a great meal.

There was a good bit of sauce left over; it was great a few days later brushed on grilled salmon. It would be equally good, I think, on shrimp skewers, swordfish or chicken. You might want to reserve half the sauce before adding the pork rib pan juices just in case!

SPICED APPLE SAUCED RIBS

2 slabs baby back ribs (4 to 5 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package Colorado Spice Sicilian Pork Rub (reserve 2 tablespoons for the sauce)
Spiced apple BBQ sauce

Rub the ribs first with the oil, then rub them down well with the spice rub.   Refrigerate, covered, for a couple of hours or even overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.    Place the ribs in a single layer in a baking dish and cover snugly, either with a lid or with foil. Roast for about 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices. Then baste lightly with the sauce and continue to bake, covered, for 15 minutes more.

Remove the rib racks and skim as much fat from the pan as you can. Add a goodly splash of water, place on the stove and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Add this to the BBQ sauce.

Brush the ribs on both sides with the sauce and place over hot coals (or under the oven broiler) and cook, turning several times and continuing to baste, until the ribs are nicely glazed. Serve with the remaining sauce at the table. Serves four to six.

SPICED APPLE BBQ SAUCE

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, minced
2 tablespoons reserved spice mixture
1 jar (16 to 18 oz) apple jelly
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup bottled BBQ sauce (I used Cattleman's)
1 tablespoon Dijon or brown mustard

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds, without browning. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved spice mixture and stir briefly. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer until reduced by about a third. Makes about 3 cups sauce.

NOTE: Colorado Spice products are available at some supermarkets. They are usually on hanging racks near the seafood or meat counters, not in the spice section. If you can’t find it, use the following:

2 tablespoons mustard seeds, coarsely crushed (or 2 teaspoons ground dry mustard)
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds, coarsely crushed
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

Spicy Orange-Basil Scallops

2011-05-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

I had gone out to lunch with a neighbor and as we headed back to the house, we passed the Agri-Center. And there was the Paradise Seafood Truck. We pulled in and each of us picked up some seafood.

One of the things I was excited to see was fresh jumbo head-on shrimp, and I’ll tell you about that on another day. But I also picked up a pound of scallops, lovely large scallops. Unprocessed, too.

You’ve had the scallop lecture from me at least once before, but just to remind you, most of what you buy frozen in bags at the supermarket or price clubs will state "containing a solution of…" which means they are pumped up with water and chemicals to keep the water in. By the time the water has cooked away, and the scallops start to brown, they are overdone and tough. I think that may be why some folks don’t think they like scallops.

I had a lot of oranges and limes, so I thought I would try to turn them into something a bit spicy. For spice, I like Chipotle Tabasco. I love the smoky flavor it lends, and that it’s not nearly as hot as regular Tabasco. I use it a lot.

The basil in my herb pots out back had already filled out, so I used that too. With rice pilaf and a green salad, I had a quick and yummy dinner.

SOUTHWESTERN CITRUS AND SPICE SCALLOPS

2 large oranges
2 large limes
2 tbsp chipotle Tabasco (or to taste)
3 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 lb sea scallops, patted dry
3 tbsp olive oil
3 plump garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp (packed) fresh basil leaves, slivered
Additional basil, for garnish

Rinse off the oranges and limes and dry well. With a grater or microplane remove the zest from one orange and one lime and put into a small heavy saucepan. Squeeze the juice from all the fruit and add to the pan. Over medium-low heat, simmer to reduce by about half or a little more. Let cool slightly and whisk in the butter. Set aside.

In a bowl mix the flour, cumin, coriander and salt. Remove and reserve one tablespoon of the flour mixture. Toss the scallops in the flour mixture to coat well.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet large enough to hold the scallops in one layer. Add the garlic and cook until just barely golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the scallops two or three at a time. Cook the first side until a rich golden brown, then turn to lightly brown the bottom. As they brown, remove and place on a clean plate.

Return the garlic to the pan and add the slivered basil. Sprinkle with the reserved tablespoon of seasoned flour and stir a couple of times. Add the reduced orange mixture and bring to a simmer, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Return the scallops to the pan and simmer just long enough to heat through.

Serve immediately, garnished with fresh basil. Serves 4.

A tasty brunch for any occasion...

2011-05-06T13:04:00.003-05:00

I know I’ve mentioned before that I’m from Louisville, and that the high social season there revolves around the Kentucky Derby, held the first Saturday in May.

Of course when I lived there I had to have a party at some point. But the trick was to schedule it so I wouldn’t miss any of the other good ones. My solution: a brunch on Sunday after the Derby. Nobody else did that so I was assured a good turn-out. One constant of a Derby party is ham (it would be good country ham) and another would be something involving asparagus.

Tomorrow is Derby Day, and we’ll be watching. But in case you’re not a horse race fan, remember that Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I bet your mama, or your childrens’ mama, or somebody you know would love to have a nice brunch to honor her.

I used ham because I had Easter ham leftovers but diced roast chicken or turkey would work equally well. And I used purchased fresh salsa but there’s no rule that says you can’t make your own if you are so inclined..

HAM-ASPARAGUS ENCHILADA BAKE
2 cups ham, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
1 tbsp. Penzey’s salsa seasoning (or regular chile powder)
8 stalks asparagus
8 8-inch flour tortillas
6 eggs
1 tbsp. flour
1 cup half-and-half (or whole milk)
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 tsp chipotle Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Salsa, for serving

Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Combine ham, Monterey jack, onions, green chiles and salsa or chile seasoning. Spoon about 1/3 cup of this in center of each tortilla. Top with an asparagus spear. Roll tightly and place in prepared dish. (This can be done a day ahead, covered and refrigerated.)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Combine eggs, half-and-half, flour, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Beat well. Pour evenly over tortillas. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until eggs are set. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top and bake an additional five minutes or so, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let set for about 5 minutes. Serve with salsa.

Serves four to eight, depending on the guest list.

A delicious end to a Moroccan dinner!

2011-05-04T22:58:00.000-05:00

Our church, Immanuel Lutheran, has a system of connection groups, with the purpose of getting folks together who might otherwise just say "hi" on Sunday mornings. Of course there are Bible study groups, and mission groups, but there are also lots of interest groups: golf, theatre, walking, gardening, and the one I'm part of, a gourmet cooking group.

Last night we met and the culinary focus was North African. The food is rich and spicy so, in my opinion, needs a light dessert. I set out to do an orange dessert but found some blood oranges as well. Which I found odd because in my mind I thought the blood orange season was in the winter. But I still had to have them. It made a beautiful dessert. I tossed slices of regular and blood oranges with dates and a typical Moroccan seasoning, ras el hanout. This is sort of like the Indian curry spice blend, in that no two folks make it the same way, or maybe even the same way twice.

It's easy enough to mix it up. I'll give you a suggested starting point and then you can fiddle with it a bit if you want. It's great on lamb or chicken. Actually it's also great on pork but you'd be less likely find that in Moroccan cuisine. I think you'll find all kinds of uses for it: sprinkle on apple pie filling before baking. Or cut fresh peaches in half and remove the seeds. Put a spoonful of butter in the center, sprinkle with ras el hanout and bake in a hot oven for about fifteen minutes. Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream or a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream. Or sprinkle on the foam on a cup of cappuccino, or just stir a pinch into your regular breakfast coffee.

Orange flower water adds a wonderful exotic flavor to this. Although still quite tasty without it, it's easy enough to find in middle eastern markets most anywhere, or although more expensively, in Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

This will be equally tasty the next day but I don't think that's a problem you'll have to deal with!

ORANGES WITH RAS EL HANOUT

For the dessert:

8 large juice navel oranges
2 tbsp orange flower or rose water
2 tbsp sugar
6 sprigs fresh mint
1/2 lb pitted dates, diced
Pinches of ras el hanout
Powdered sugar

Peel oranges, removing all membrane. Cut in half vertically, then into half-moon slices. Put into a serving bowl and add orange-flower water or rose water and sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. When ready to serve, shred the mint leaves and chop the dates. Scatter over the oranges with big pinches of ras el hanout. Dust with powdered sugar and serve shortly. Serves 8.

Ras el hanout:

3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cardamom1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Keep in a tightly capped jar.

What a great idea!

2011-04-22T23:53:00.000-05:00

I've got to have these! Toss that roll of cooking twine! Toss those awkward trussing needles that never hold the turkey legs together anyway! Forget losing stuffing out of your pork chop in the sauté pan, or under the broiler or on the grill! These handy little bands can stand heat up to 600 degrees F (according to the hype).
Here's where you can get 25 of them for only $6.00 (and I SWEAR I get no commission or even honorable mention out of this!) AND you can read all the hype. Online at Sur La Table!

Osso Buco Siciliano

2011-04-22T07:53:00.000-05:00

I love the Italian dish known as osso buco, but in the past, at least in Memphis, the cross cut veal shanks needed were generally not easy to find. Now that I’ve found them available even at Costco, I would love to share a version I made recently for friends.

The term osso buco means hollow bone in Italian. One of the best parts of the dish is the marrow in the bones, scooped out and spread on bread. There are special scooping spoons made for this, but the only ones I could find here are quite pricey. I find a cocktail fork works almost as well, but the little scoops are on my shopping list for my next trip to Italy.

This is a tough cut of veal, but the long oven braising gives a really rich and flavorful sauce. It could also be braised on top of the stove at a very low temperature. Many Italian homes, even today, don’t have large ovens and would do that. But then you’d have to check it occasionally to make sure there’s enough liquid, and that the shanks aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pan. So much easier to put the pan in the oven and forget it!

The classic standard is "Osso Buco Milanese," with white wine, vegetables and tomato. I wanted something a little different, and tried it with dry Marsala, to give it a more Sicilian feel. With the standard version, the traditional side dish is saffron risotto, but I used grilled polenta. Rice or mashed potatoes would be equally tasty and less work. Even chunks of crusty bread would be great to soak up every bit of the tasty sauce.

OSSO BUCO ALLA MARSALA

1 ½ cups dry Marsala, divided
½ cup golden raisins
1 cup flour
1 tsp. each salt and pepper
6 pieces veal shank, cut about 1 ½-inch thick
¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ cup onion, diced
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme (see note)
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Minced parsley or more thyme sprigs, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Pour ½ cup of the Marsala over the raisins in a small bowl and let set until needed.

Mix the flour with salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Add the shanks one at a time and shake to coat. Remove each to a wire rack while coating the others. Toss any remaining flour into the trash.

In a Dutch oven just large enough to hold the shanks in one layer, heat the olive oil over medium heat. In batches, brown the meat well on both sides. Remove to a plate and reserve. Add the garlic, stir a couple of times then add the onion. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the Marsala and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up any browned bits. Add the chicken stock.

Return the veal to the pan with any juices on the plate, making sure the smaller end of the bone is facing down (so the marrow doesn’t fall out). Add the raisins with their soaking liquid, scattering evenly. Tuck the thyme and bay leaf around them, cover tightly and bake for about an hour. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the cooking liquid, replace the cover and cook another 15 to 30 minutes, or until veal is very tender.

If you’d like a thicker sauce, remove the shanks to a plate and keep warm while reducing the liquid over medium heat. Serve in flat soup plates with the sauce ladled over it. Garnish with additional thyme sprigs or chopped parsley. Serves 6.

Note: If you don’t have fresh thyme substitute two tablespoons fresh or one tablespoon dried rosemary leaves. Dried thyme would not work well in this dish.

A great brunch, lunch,supper...whatever dish!

2011-04-20T22:10:00.000-05:00

      I’ve been going through a stack of cooking magazines lately, trying to cull out the ones I want to keep and those that can be discarded. It’s a really big stack, and I keep getting distracted by recipes and articles I can’t wait to make.
      One that had lots of things I liked the looks and sound of was a two-year-old Cuisine et Vins de France. It had an article with lots of quiche and tart recipes. All sounded delicious but I had everything it took to make one of them…so I did.
      I made the crust from scratch, following their instructions to replace half the ice water with balsamic vinegar and it was delicious. But the filling was so tasty that you could easily use a pre-made crust from the supermarket dairy case, as I usually do. I had made too much filling for the tart pan I used, so I did just that and made another one to take to work the next day. It reheated well, and it disappeared in a hurry.
     It could be served in small servings as an appetizer, or in larger servings with a nice salad for a brunch or supper main course. Either way, I think you’ll enjoy this as much as everyone at work apparently did.

CARAMELIZED ONION QUICHE WITH GINGER

1 pie crust, either from your favorite recipe, or pre-made
3 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large onions, sliced thinly
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp sugar
½ cup dry red wine
5 eggs
½ cup half-and-half
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley, for garnish

      Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Fit the pie crust into a buttered tart pan*. Prick all over with a fork and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
      In a wide skillet, melt the butter over very low heat. Add the ginger and stir a couple of times. Add the onions, stir well and cover. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until soft. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir. Raise the heat to medium. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently until all the liquid has evaporated and the onions are nicely caramelized, about 15 minutes.
     Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the cream and the nutmeg and whisk until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread the onions over the bottom of the tart crust and pour the egg mixture evenly over the top. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown. Let set a few minutes before cutting. Sprinkle with chopped parsley just before serving.

Makes 12 appetizer servings, or 4 to 6 main course servings.

*For the pan, I prefer one with a removable bottom but a 10-inch pie pan would work as well.

My herb garden

2011-04-08T20:05:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, we moved into a beautiful zero lotline home at the end of June last year. In my former house, I had a big space on the side with tons of herbs, including some unusual ones. Just outside the back door was my "kitchen garden" in a pot: one or two basil plants, one sage plant, one oregano and some thyme that sort or wormed its way around beneath it all. I could lean out the back door and get what I needed for immediate needs, but in the side garden I grew enough basil to provide frozen pesto for the winter, and herbs to freeze or dry to get me through until the next year.

Last year when we moved in I planted a few plants in the bed at the edge of the back patio, but something ate them. I planted a few in a pot but by then it was too hot for them to do well, but at least they escaped the herbivore, whatever it was. So this year, we got some very attractive pots, filled them with enriched potting soil and planted lots of herbs. I think I'll have enough for pesto, too. I got the irrigation system tech to make sure they'd be watered nicely.

One pineapple sage plant. It produces lovely red blossoms which are great in salads, and the leaves may not taste very pineapple-ish but they are very good. And then two regular sage plants. I really dislike dried sage that you buy, but I can cut this and hang it and find my home-dried sage quite acceptable. The two plants will give me more than I need to cook with and I will cut tops off to dry. That way the plants will bush out and give me way more sage than I'll need for the summer. And it will come back next year!

Basil. This may be a bit crowded. I have six regular basil plants arranged around the back. In front are one cinnamon basil, one Thai basil and one lemon basil. I'm pretty sure I have too much in this pot but if I keep them trimmed back, which I will, since basil is my very favorite herb, they should be okay.

One Greek oregano plant, one thyme plant and one rosemary. The oregano won't spread much. The thyme will, but it will be low. The rosemary will also grow into a big bushy plant, but there should be plenty of room in the pot for it. It may live over the winter but if not, will come back next year.

And the last is out in the full sun. Mint. No self-respecting Louisville girl would have a garden without mint. For juleps of course. And lamb. But you gotta keep it in a pot or the entire neighborhood will soon be one big mint bed. Well maybe I exaggerate. But not by much! I will keep you posted as the summer progresses!

Grilling weather is coming, take a look at this!

2011-03-22T20:21:00.002-05:00

One of the blogs I like to follow is Benito's Wine Review. Although the emphasis is on wine, he also ventures into the culinary world. This week he talked about making a compound butter with reduced red wine that looked so good I had to take the last of a bottle of good red and do it myself. Above you see a steak with the end result of the wine butter making. Benito gives step by step instructions (with amusing but very useful warnings). And when he talks about the way it melts onto and into the steak.... Oh, and he said the dog in the background is his faithful 12-year old mutt Wolfgang. He's getting a
little senile, Ben says, but the smell of steak still brings him to the table! Give it a try if you have the last of a bottle of almost any red wine and your friends will flock to your table too!

Or maybe not...

2011-03-22T15:44:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I made osso buco for a group of friends. That translates "hollow bone" and is made from veal shanks cut crosswise. Browned and simmered with herbs, wine and seasonings, it is a delicious Italian dish. One of the best parts of it is the marrow in the bone. Marrow in larger bones might be accessible with a demi-tasse spoon but with the smaller ones you just have to go after it with your dinner knife and then some will fall onto the plate, or in the sauce, or worse, in your lap.

So I went looking for marrow spoons, also called marrow scoops. You can see that this is the perfect solution to the problem of how to most efficiently get at the marrow. I found a few antique ones on ebay, but of course I would need one for everyone at the table. I finally found a set on a site called Savoir Vivre. But at $43.00 each, or $475.00 for a set of twelve, I guess I'll just have to hope that somebody will give them to me for Christmas next year. Or my birthday, yeah, that comes first!

Lunch at the Yellow Porch in Nashville

2011-03-15T15:30:00.002-05:00

Occasionally my sister, Cindy Corum, and I feel the need for sisterly bonding. She lives in Knoxville, so Nashville is a logical site. Lots of good restaurants (which we both like), lots of antique shops and malls (which she likes) and great clothing/shoe/accessory shopping (we both like that too).

I regret I failed to carry my camera to our first meal. We went to Sunset Café. We've been there many times before, and love it. We ate at the bar and Nathan took extremely good care of us. We shared several small plates, but sorry, no pictures.

However the next day was I was better prepared to document our meals. For lunch we went to The Yellow Porch, which had been recommended by a server at The Cheesecake Factory at Green Hills, where we'd ducked into our first afternoon for a little sustenance after a few hours of intense shopping.

We'd kind of slept in and missed the complementary breakfast at our hotel, so we landed on their doorstep promptly at the 11:00 opening time. We were not the first in line. We had a lovely lunch with a very charming server.

I got a roasted eggplant sandwich with roasted red bell peppers, feta cheese, roasted onion and a nice garlicky spread. There was the option of adding bacon, so of course I did! It was very good. The eggplant could have been roasted a bit longer, but still it was a tasty combination.

The options of a side dish was either house made potato salad or Terra chips. I took the potato salad. It was sort of a mashed potato salad with quite a lot of green onion. Still, pretty tasty and certainly better than bagged chips. Even Terra chips, which I quite like.

Cindy got a pasta dish, billed as "Linguine tossed with Bacon, Tomatoes, Capers and Parmesan Cheese." She (well, me too) was expecting sort of recognizable chunks of bacon and diced tomato. It was more of a cooked tomato sauce with some bacon in it. She doesn't like capers (this is MY sister? What's that all about?) so asked that they be left out. There was plenty of shrimp, and it was good, but somehow not quite what she'd expected.

Sweet Chile Shrimp

2011-03-11T08:58:00.000-06:00

It was one of those days a few weeks ago when the snow was beautiful but I sure didn’t want to get out into it. And I hadn’t made the apparently compulsory bread and milk run that happens just before one of these weather events in Memphis. I never could figure that one out anyway. Are those folks going to just survive on milk and bread alone for two days?

So anyway, when looking for dinner makings, I dug around in fridge, freezer and pantry. I had shrimp and intended to make some sort of pasta with tomato sauce. But when I saw the almost empty bottle of Thai sweet chile sauce, I thought I’d just use it up.

I used Penzey’s Singapore seasoning. It is a little sweeter than Indian style curry and made the perfect addition to this dish, but there’s no reason you can’t use regular curry powder and still have great taste.

This is one of most quickly made dishes I’ve come with in a while and it was really delicious. I had put a rice pilaf on before starting it and the shrimp was finished about the same time as the rice. With a salad we had a great meal, not just for chilly weather but any time of the year!

SNOW DAY CHILE SHRIMP
1 jar (7 oz.) roasted red bell peppers, drained
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup Thai sweet chile sauce
2 tsp. Penzey’s Singapore seasoning (or curry powder)
3 tbsp. olive oil
4 fat cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined (I leave the tails on because I think they’re cute that way)
¼ cup minced onion
Chopped cilantro for garnish

In a blender or food processor puree the roasted peppers, chicken stock, chile sauce, and Singapore seasoning or curry powder. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and let simmer a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the shrimp and sauté two minutes on each side until just barely pink. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the onions to the pan. lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally until tender but not browned. Return the garlic to the pan. Pour the pepper puree into the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Return the shrimp to the pan and simmer a few minutes just to heat through. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve over rice pilaf or pasta. Serves four.

Piña Colada Panna Cotta

2011-02-25T18:39:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, we were having friends in for a casual dinner. I found myself a little short on time and thought immediately of my easy go-to dessert: panna cotta. Italian for "cooked cream," it is fast, delicious and easy to vary. I did pumpkin panna cotta for Thanksgiving and egg nog panna cotta for Christmas.

Looking in my pantry, I found ingredients for the rum-based drink, piña colada. Why not turn it into panna cotta? I did, and with a little quickly caramelized pineapple on top, it was a hit.

If you’d rather unmold it, you can make it in custard cups or ramekins and add the topping just before serving.

Piña Colada Panna Cotta

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 tbsp. cool water
1 7-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice
1 7- or 8-oz. can coconut cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter
2 cups pineapple chunks (fresh, or canned, drained)

In a flat dish, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water to soften. Set aside.

In a blender or food processor, puree the pineapple (undrained) and coconut cream until very smooth. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan heat the cream and vanilla over medium heat until just starting to bubble around the edges. Add the softened gelatin and whisk until dissolved. Let cool slightly then whisk in the sour cream and pineapple mixture. Divide among 8 serving dishes or wine glasses. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

For the topping, cook the brown sugar and butter together over medium heat until the sugar melts. Lower heat and simmer about 5 minutes. Add the pineapple and stir to cover all the pieces. At serving time, divide the chunks among the glasses and top with the warm caramelized brown sugar topping. Once you’ve added the warm topping, serve immediately. Serves 8.

NOTES: Use coconut cream, found in the beverage mixer section of the supermarket, not coconut milk.

Say it isn't so!

2011-02-25T17:01:00.000-06:00

Fast food baguette vending machines in Paris? What's next?

Valentine Dinner for my Sweetie!

2011-02-14T22:41:00.000-06:00

My Valentine honey asked if I wanted to go out for dinner tonight, but you know, it’s sort of like New Years Eve, or Mothers’ Day brunch. I’d rather make a nice dinner at home and avoid the crowds. So I did.

We had a nice adult beverage first, and then had our first course. I had found a lovely fresh artichoke at Fresh Market. Trimmed and simmered in lemon water, I whipped up a sort of remoulade sauce and filled the middle and topped it with a few cooked shrimp. I’m going to give you the recipe for that as I made it.

Then we had my Valentine’s favorite meal: steak and potatoes. I marinated the steak in Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon peel, salt and black pepper. Grilled to medium rare, I topped it with butter mixed with a balsamic reduction and finely minced shallots. It was great with wedges of redskin potatoes tossed with olive oil and herbs and roasted, and a salad with blue cheese, pancetta crisps, tomato and balsamic vinaigrette.

We had no room for the dessert: coffee ice cream with dark chocolate-cinnamon sauce. Maybe later?

Valentine Artichokes with Shrimp

1 good-sized artichoke

1 lemon

1 tbsp kosher salt

10 medium sized raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Sauce:

¾ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons capers, chopped

2 green onions, white and some of the green, minced

Juice and finely grated zest of one medium lime

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon Penzey’s French vinaigrette seasoning

(or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon, crumbled)

In a medium saucepan, put a few inches of water. Squeeze the juice from on lemon into it and add the lemon halves. Bring to a simmer.

If there is a long stem on the artichoke, peel it with a vegetable peeler. Snap off the tough bottom leaves. With kitchen shears, snip off the pointy ends of the remaining leaves, and cut across the top about one inch down. Cut in half down the center. With a spoon, scrape out the fuzzy choke. Drop into the simmering water and cook until the thick bottom is tender, usually 25 to 30 minutes. Drain and put cut side down on paper towels in a dish. Chill.

In the same pan, bring the liquid to a boil, drop in the shrimp. Remove from the heat, cover and let set for about 7 minutes or until pink through. Drain and chill. In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients. Cover and chill.

When ready to serve, put the artichoke on a plate cut side up. Divide the sauce between them, top with the shrimp and serve with extra napkins.

For those who haven’t eaten fresh artichokes before, here’s what you do: pull off the leaves one by one. The edible part is at the end that was attached to the heart. Scrape off the tender part between your teeth and discard the tough part remaining. It’s a nice touch to have a separate dish for the discards. The best part is the tender bottom which is totally edible.

It’s a leisurely dish. You don’t eat it when you’re in a hurry. It slows down the pace of life for a bit while you seek out the tasty tender parts and dip it into the sauce…

Spanish Chicken with Kumquats

2011-02-13T14:45:00.000-06:00

It started with a basket of kumquats at the market. They looked so cute, I had to buy them.

I had had a chicken-fennel dish at a Spanish restaurant in Philadelphia. I’d already gotten chicken thighs and fennel so I thought I could incorporate the kumquats into a similar dish. There was spinach in the restaurant dish but my husband doesn’t like the texture of cooked spinach so I picked up some kale instead. Instead of getting limp and kind of slimy, it keeps it’s curly looks, even when cooked enough to be very tender.

I like to use bone-in chicken thighs. The bones add a lot of flavor on their own, and the dark meat can be braised long enough to absorb lots of flavor from the cooking juices without drying out. I leave the skin on as well. It too adds flavor, and can easily be removed at the table by those who prefer skinless poultry.

Spanish smoked paprika is now pretty widely available. It might be called pimenton, the Spanish term for this wonderfully aromatic seasoning. It’s available in hot or sweet. I mostly use the sweet form but if you like a little more spice, you can certainly substitute the hot variety.

If you don’t have sherry wine vinegar, I’d advise you to pick up a bottle. It’s got a full round flavor that also makes a great vinaigrette or a condiment drizzled over grilled meats. However in a pinch, red wine vinegar could be substituted.

I served it in a flat soup bowl on top of creamy mashed potatoes, but if you prefer, a rice pilaf would also make a nice accompaniment. A crisp green salad is all you need to make it a lovely meal. Overall, I must say it was a wonderful dish and I will be making it again.

SPANISH CHICKEN-KUMQUAT STEW

12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp. olive oil
8 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 12-oz. bag frozen pearl onions, thawed
1 bulb fennel, white part, cored and slivered
1 tbsp. Spanish sweet smoked paprika
½ cup sherry wine vinegar
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup kumquats, sliced
1 bunch kale, stems removed, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350o. Sprinkle the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken very well on the skin side, then turn and brown the underside. As they brown, remove them to a baking dish just large enough to hold all the pieces in one layer.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet. Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic and stir a couple of times. Add the pearl onions and fennel. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the smoked paprika and stir to cover all the vegetables.

Add the vinegar and cook until reduced by about half. Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer and pour over the chicken. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and add the kumquats. Add the kale, pushing it down into the liquid. Cover again and bake another 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is very tender. This can be then kept in a 250o oven for up to an hour, until ready to serve. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTE: Kumquats should be available until at least the end of March.

Oriental Fondue....

2011-02-11T11:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, so fondue is hot now. You’ve read about its comeback in recent national cooking magazines. And you’ve gotten out and dusted off your old fondue pot, bought the compulsory three Swiss cheeses, the little bottle of Kirsch and had your friends in for a fondue party…now what do you do with it?

How about an oriental-style fondue? Recently, I found an electric wok, still in its box, at an estate sale for no money. How could I pass it up? I had seen an article about fondue in one of the French cooking magazines I love, Elle à Table, and one of their suggestions was a Thai fondue. Using their recipe as a guideline and making adjustments for American ingredients, a few friends and I decided we would try it recently, using the wok for our fondue pot. I had found some adorable little wire basket scoops at an oriental market and thought they would be perfect accessories for cooking the ingredients.

After some trial and error (“Add some garlic,” or “Add some cilantro.”) we came up with our version. We made a lot of changes, but I think we got it right.

We made the fondue right in the wok, using peeled and deveined shrimp, monkfish and lightly steamed broccoli to cook. We steamed some basmati rice and put little bowls of it on everyone’s plates. One of my cooking buddies made a salad with sliced cucumbers, radishes, diced tomatoes and a little minced cilantro. The dressing was made with the juice of a lemon and about 1/4 cup each of olive oil and dark oriental sesame oil. I thought it was a perfect accompaniment.

We gathered around and had a great time cooking our bits of food, then dumping them on our rice. When we had had all we wanted we ladled some of the fondue liquid into our rice bowls and it made a great soup. For dessert we sliced bananas and kiwi, drizzled with a little sweetened rum and dusted with crushed pink peppercorns. It was a perfect meal and we were all happy.

You can use the fondue pot you have for this. Or you can do what I had thought of doing before I found the wok. I have a small camp stove that would be perfect for cooking at the table. If you don’t want to go the fondue route, simply make up the fondue mixture, dump in the seafood and broccoli to cook in the hot liquid for a few minutes then ladle into bowls like soup. However you do it, it’s bound to be a hit!

ORIENTAL FONDUE

1 lb firm white fish, such as monkfish, swordfish or halibut
2 lb large shrimp
12 oz broccoli florets
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 stem lemongrass, very finely minced
1 small hot red pepper, minced (optional)
1 piece fresh ginger, about 1" square, peeled and grated
1 tbsp curry powder
1 can condensed cream of shrimp soup
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
2-1/2 cups chicken or seafood stock
1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped

Rinse the fish and cut into 1” cubes. Peel and devein the shrimp. Steam the broccoli for about 4 minutes. Set all aside. All these can be done ahead and refrigerated covered, until dinner.

In your pan, wok or fondue pot, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, lemongrass, hot pepper (if using) and ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, without browning, about 5 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cook one-minute more. Whisk in the soup, then the coconut milk. Add enough stock to make a fairly thin mixture. Sprinkle with the cilantro. Arrange the fish, shrimp and broccoli on a platter and let everyone dig in. Serves 6.

NOTE: Although lemongrass is a staple in oriental markets, I have seen it in almost every local supermarket recently in the packaged herb section of the produce department. Be sure to mince as finely as possible; it is a bit woody in texture. I've also seen tubes of lemongrass paste in the herb section, which would make preparation even easier. I haven't tried it for flavor though. It could turn out to be as useless as that already chopped garlic in oil and artificial preservatives, which should be outlawed!

Best Black Bean Chili

2011-02-10T20:22:00.000-06:00

In our church connection group, which met at my house this week, we had a dish I love so much and wrote about a while back, Brazilian Rum-Baked Black Beans.

There was a big bowl of leftovers and I stuck them in the fridge. When the snow hit yesterday, the first thing that hit my mind was chili. So today I used the black beans, which had already been well seasoned and made quite a tasty dish. Here’s what I did:

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN CHILI
3 tbsp olive oil or bacon fat
3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
2 tablespoons chili powder (I used Penzey’s Chili 9000)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corianter
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 3-ounce can tomato paste
2 cups water
1 12-ounce bottle beer (I used Blue Moon)
2 to 3 cups leftover Brazilian Black Beans
Salt to taste

In a Dutch oven or soup pot, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir about 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the clumps, just until no longer pink. Sprinkle with the spices and continue cooking, stirring, for about two minutes.

Add the tomatoes with their juices, tomato paste, water and beer. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. Add the beans and stir well. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes, or until it reaches the thickness you like. Taste and add salt as needed. I also added a tablespoon of brown sugar but that’s optional depending on your taste.

Easy tasty Brussels sprouts!

2011-01-31T21:49:00.001-06:00

I had some kumquats left over from the yummy chicken-kumquat stew that's going to be in my column in Friday's Commercial Appeal. I remembered that Laretha Randolph put kumquats in with Brussels sprouts and chestnuts for our last Thanksgiving dinner. (I've done Thanksgiving dinner with the Randolphs at their home for at least 13 years.) I didn't have the chestnuts but I did have Brussels sprouts for our dinner tonight. I trimmed them and cut them in half. I heated some bacon fat in a skillet and sautéed a bit of chopped shallot. I put the sprouts in cut side down and let them caramelize for a bit. A half cup of chicken stock went in, and the leftover sliced kumquats. Covered, it simmered until the sprouts were just tender. They made a perfect match for our prosciutto wrapped pork chops...but that's for another post!

Leftover Crabcake Salad!

2011-01-29T18:57:00.000-06:00

We stopped at Sharky's yesterday evening for a bite to eat in the bar. I got the crab cakes, which were delicious but I'd had a salad first and just couldn't finish them. We brought them home, and instead of my usual habit (stick carry-homes in the fridge and toss when they start growing green hair) I decided we needed to use them. I crumbled them on a bed of lettuce, added slivered fennel and little grape tomatoes. With a lemon-ginger vinaigrette it made a lovely complement to our dinner!

Tasty Fig-Blue Cheese Appetizer Tarts

2011-01-27T13:46:00.000-06:00

We had some friends for dinner recently, and I was looking for something easy but tasty to serve as a pre-dinner nibble. I wish I could take credit for these, since they were delicious, but the recipe as I made it came almost straight from the Pillsbury web site. I just changes some of the proportions to use the whole bag of figs.

I assembled these about a half hour before the guests were due to arrive. Then I popped them into the oven as the first guest got there. They are best served warm, but I didn’t mind one of the leftovers with my morning cup of tea, either.

These would make a nice addition to a Super Bowl party. I would bake them ahead and leave them on the baking sheet and then warm them at munchie time.

FIG AND BLUE CHEESE APPETIZER TARTS

4 oz. cream cheese (half an 8-oz. package)
1 cup crumbled blue cheese (I used gorgonzola)
1/3 cup sweet orange marmalade
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 bag (6 oz) dried mission figs, stems trimmed and coarsely chopped
2 cans Pillsbury crescent roll sheets
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a small bowl, mash together the cream cheese and blue cheese with a fork until well blended. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, mix the marmalade and vinegar over low heat, whisking to blend. Stir in figs. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until figs are softened and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Without unrolling the dough, slice each into 14 slices and place 2" apart on two ungreased baking sheets. Press in the center to make a slight indentation in each one. I used a demi-tasse spoon to put about a teaspoon each of the blue cheese first, then the fig mixture. Sprinkle with the walnuts.

The recipe said to bake 15 to 19 minutes, or until golden brown, but mine were perfect at 11 minutes, and I’m pretty sure the oven is calibrated properly. So watch them after 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes then remove from the pans with a spatula. Serve warm. Makes 28 pieces.

Great Southern French Chicken!

2011-01-23T21:38:00.000-06:00

My son, his wife, and my two adorable little grand-daughters live in Massachusetts. It’s a long way from Memphis, but I go as often as I can to see them. One of our traditions is that on the Saturday evening I’m there, I cook for a group of their friends and my daughter-in-law’s family. The number varies, but it rarely is fewer than 20 or so.

A while back, I did it again. The trick to this is finding something that will live up to my reputation, without breaking either the bank or my back!

A "daube" is a French sort of stew: beef braised in red wine with vegetables and herbs. The exact ingredients vary from region to region, but my favorite is the Provençal version, which includes orange zest and juice as part of the aromatic seasonings.

Beef can be pretty expensive, but why not chicken? For any dish that simmers in a highly flavored sauce, I like to use bone-in chicken thighs. The bones add flavor, and the dark meat can be braised long enough to absorb lots of flavor without drying out. I leave the skin on as well. It, too, adds flavor, and can easily be removed at the table by those who prefer skinless poultry.

I tried this first on a small group of neighbors, with rice pilaf and roasted asparagus. A slice of orange added a bit of color and zest to the plate. For the Massachusetts group, which numbered 27, I did it with egg noodles and fresh haricots verts (really skinny green beans), blanched and tossed in garlic butter. Both were served with a green salad for a meal that was simple, very economical and quite tasty.

There were a couple of thighs left over, with some of the sauce. The next day I pulled the meat off the bones, put it into a pan with the sauce, a couple of cups of chicken stock and a bag of frozen Italian vegetables I found in their freezer. Simmered for a bit, it made a really good soup.

If your family insists on white meat, you can use breasts. Then, simmer them on top of the stove for only about 10 minutes after adding the wine and tomatoes, rather than oven braising. It will still be good, but you might need to remove them when they’re done and reduce the sauce a bit. Be careful not to overcook. Either way, I am sure your family and friends will love this as much as mine did!

Provençal Daube of Chicken

6 large chicken thighs, bone in, skin on (about 3 lb)
½ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves (or 1 tsp dried), chopped
½ cup dry red wine
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
1 navel orange

Preheat the oven to 350o. Rinse and dry the chicken. In a flat bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess.

In a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken very well on the skin side, then turn and brown on the underside. As they brown, remove them to a baking dish just large enough to hold all the pieces in one layer.

Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium. Add the butter. Cook the onion and garlic until soft, but not at all browned. Add the rosemary, wine and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, scraping up any of browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Pour over the chicken in the baking dish. Bake covered for ½ hour.

Finely grate the zest from the orange, then squeeze out all the juice. Uncover the baking dish and stir in the orange zest and juice. Continue to bake uncovered for another 15-20 minutes. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper if needed. Serves 6.

Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

2011-01-21T22:07:00.000-06:00

We are fortunate to be members of a wine-oriented dinner club with four other couples. We’ve been going for five years now and every dinner seems to out-shine the last. The host couple picks the theme and the others fill in the other courses, each matched to a wine.

Last week we were at the home of Larry and Mimmye Goode, and the theme was wines from the Rhone Valley in France. They told the story of having gone to a small restaurant in Lyon in search of a dish recommended to them, Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic. They were happily surprised later to find mention of the restaurant, Chez Tante Paulette, in a book by Patricia Wells, Food Lovers Guide to France, with the recipe.

This is a classic French dish. I’ve always had it with the garlic stuffed inside a whole chicken that was then roasted, but this was a cut-up chicken, done on top of the stove. It was delicious that way, and quite impressive as Larry brought out the skillet with the flaming cognac.

The garlic turns out meltingly soft and is perfect squeezed out and spread onto the baguette toasts. They served roasted potatoes, but this is such a hearty dish that just a simple green salad would be enough to make a great dinner.

CHICKEN WITH FORTY CLOVES OF GARLIC
3 tbps. olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 chicken (3 to 4 lbs.) cut into serving size pieces
Salt and pepper
About 40 cloves garlic, separated from the head but unpeeled
1 cup dry white wine
8 baguette slices
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tbsp. cognac or brandy
Chopped parsley for garnish

Heat the oil and butter over high heat, in a skillet large enough to hold the chicken in one layer. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken well on both sides. Reduce the heat a little. Add the unpeeled garlic, pushing them under the chicken so they will brown. Continue to sauté until the garlic skins are lightly browned, about 10 minutes longer. Add the wine and reduce by about half.

While the chicken is cooking, toast the bread on both sides in a hot oven. Cut the peeled garlic clove in half and rub over both sides of the toasts.

Heat the cognac in a small pan for about 20 seconds. Ignite with a match and pour over the chicken. Cook for an additional few minutes, shaking the pan gently a couple of times.

To serve, put the toasts around the edge of a warmed serving platter. Put the chicken on top and scrape the contents of the skillet over it. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. Serves 4.

NOTE: If you don’t have a skillet big enough to hold all the chicken in one layer, divide all ingredients equally between two smaller skillets.

Amusing Lasagne

2010-12-31T17:48:00.001-06:00

We were having a few friends in last week for a very casual get-together. My husband Tom asked what I was thinking of making and I said "oh, I don’t know. Some sort of amusing lasagne." And he put that in the email invitation he sent out. Well, there I was, stuck with coming up with amusing lasagne. I quite like butternut squash anytime but this time of year it just seems right.

This looks like a lot of work but it goes quickly. And better, there’s no reason you can’t have it completely done a day ahead. Refrigerate covered, but be sure to let it sit out at room temperature for an hour or so before baking.

In Italy, I’ve never had lasagne using the wavy noodles so common here; it’s always with flat noodles. So I’ve often made my own pasta sheets. What a treat, then, to find Barilla makes a noodle that is not only flat but doesn’t have to be boiled before using. If you have them, or prefer them, there’s no reason you can’t make this with the wavy noodles, boiled according to package instructions.

One note: each noodle in the assembly is a "lasagna." All of them together comprise "lasagne." That's the way I spell it, and so does the English version of "The Silver Spoon" cookbook, the Italian equivalent of the French "Larousse Gastronomique."

BUTTERNUT SQUASH-GOAT CHEESE LASAGNE

2 medium butternut squash
2 tbsp. good olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 leeks
½ cup butter, divided
¼ cup fresh sage leaves, minced
6 tbsp. flour
6 cups milk
8 oz. goat cheese, divided
1 large pinch nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 box Barilla no-cook lasagne sheets
1 cup Italian cheese mix, divided

Preheat oven to 400. With a vegetable peeler, strip both the hard outside and the lighter flesh just under it from the squash. Cut in half lengthwise and with a spoon scoop out the seeds and fiber from the center. Cut into ½" cubes. Spread on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to cover. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and just starting to brown around the edges, 15-20 minutes.

Reduce the oven heat to 350
.
Cut a slice off the root end of the leeks. Cut off the dark green tops and discard. Cut the white and light green part in half lengthwise, rinse well, drain, then slice ¼" thick. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp. butter over medium-low heat. Add the sliced leek and cook until just tender. Add the roasted squash cubes and the sage, toss to combine and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile in a saucepan, heat the remaining butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, a couple of minutes. Whisk in the milk and simmer until thickened. Add half the goat cheese and whisk until melted into the sauce. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, mix the ricotta and eggs.

Assemble the lasagne: Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish (or use cooking spray). Spread 2 cups of the sauce evenly on the bottom. Arrange four pasta sheets on top, overlapping slightly. Spread half the ricotta on top, then half the squash-leek mixture, then one cup of sauce. Sprinkle with one-third of the Italian cheese mixture. Repeat the layers. Finish with a layer of pasta sheets and the remaining sauce. Be sure the sauce/fillings are spread all the way to the edge of the pan. Crumble the remaining goat cheese over the top and sprinkle with the remaining Italian cheese mixture.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is nicely browned, another 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let set for 15-20 minutes before cutting into squares to serve. Serves 8 to 12.

Leftover Prime Beef Ribs

2010-12-29T22:07:00.003-06:00

We had "Roast Prime Rib" for Christmas Dinner. Hopefully we all know that a "Prime Rib Roast" is rarely prime grade beef. I ordered a beautiful roast from Fresh Market. They had three grades of beef, I got the middle one, so it should more properly be called a "standing rib roast." It was a lovely big piece of meat. I'm only sorry I don't have a picture of it to show you. The butcher at Fresh Market cut the roast away from the ribs, then tied it all back together so we got the advantage of the flavor of cooking on the bone without Tom having to figure out how to carve it in between bones and all.

Actually I had never cooked one before. But I went online looking for the best way to do it. There were several ways described but I decided on the fast sear, then low finish. I started it at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, then turned it down to 325 until the instant read thermometer read 125. I took it out and let it rest while I made a nice pan sauce with a port wine reduction. I can say with a total lack of modesty that it was delicious and tender and absolutely wonderful.

When it was all over I had a goodly chunk of beef left, and put that away for later. And then there was the rack of ribs... I'd once, long ago in France, had dinner at a friend's house whose mom had served beef ribs. Of course, coming from the South, I'd only known pork ribs. Later she told me they had been left over from a Sunday rib roast. So I took the rib rack and cut between the ribs.

I put them on a baking sheet and brushed them with olive oil.

I mixed up worcestershire sauce, pressed garlic, and some whole grain mustard and brushed that on. I couldn't help but add a touch of brown sugar. Most of the online recipes called for fine dry bread crumbs, but what I'd had in France appeared to be fresh crumbs. I had an end of a Tuscan loaf and I used that. Its course texture wouldn't blend into fine crumbs, so I used the coarse ones I came up with. I sprinkled them on top.

After about 15 minutes in a very hot oven, they were crispy and just heated through. The meat around the bones was still medium rare, but the outside was nicely browned and very tasty. Such a great and easy way to use what might have been discarded.

There is still some good meat left on the ribs, so they'll go into the crock pot tomorrow with onion, celery, carrots and bay leaf, and I'm pretty sure I'll get a good beef stock for some soup later this week!

Eggnog Panna Cotta

2010-12-22T10:42:00.001-06:00

We were having some friends over for dinner yesterday evening and I wanted a dessert that was tasty and festive but not too labor intensive. I had eggnog in the fridge, thinking I would make an eggnog bundt cake but time slipped away. Instead I make this delicous but embarassingly easy dessert. I garnished it with an easy caramel-rum sauce and fresh raspberries, and I just don't see how I could have made anything any better!

"Panna cotta" means "cooked cream" in Italian, but really you only warm it enough to dissolve the gelatin. If you are not going to unmold it, the texture will be silkier if you use only 1-1/2 envelopes of gelatin. If you don't have dark rum in your pantry, you may use a teaspoon or so of rum extract, or just leave it out entirely.

It only needs about two hours in the fridge to set if you aren't going to unmold it, or three or more if you are. Make it the day you are going to serve it for the best texture.

This is a very rich dessert, a 1/3 to 1/2 cup mold or dessert dish will be plenty for each serving.

EGG NOG PANNA COTTA

Panna Cotta:
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons water
1 quart egg nog
1 large pinch freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)

Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cup Smuckers hot caramel sauce
1/4 cup dark rum

In a flat bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let set to soften. In a saucepan, warm the eggnog over medium heat just until tiny bubbles form around the edges. Scrape the gelatin into the pan and whisk until completely dissolved. Whisk in the nutmeg and rum and pour into molds sprayed with cooking spray, or small dessert dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For the caramel sauce, combine the jarred sauce with the rum and heat gently. I put it into a plastic squeeze bottle and warmed it for 30 seconds in the microwave, and that was perfect.

When ready to serve, unmold (or not, according to your preference) and drizzle with the warm caramel sauce. Serve immediately. I garnished mine with fresh raspberries, which made a very nice complement. Serves 8 to 10.

Note: Picture taken by Gary Davis.

Roasted Red Cabbage

2010-12-18T10:30:00.000-06:00

I had a head of red cabbage sitting in my fridge a week or so. I had planned on making sauerbraten while my son and his family were here for Thanksgiving. I always make sweet/sour red cabbage (and spatzle of course) with sauerbraten. But sauerbraten needs to marinate for several days, and unfortunately I let the days get past me. Instead, I just made a standard pot roast.

I asked on Whining and Dining, Jennifer Biggs' blog, sponsored by the Commercial Appeal, about ideas for something different, and Allie suggested this: "Roast it! Just cut it in big slices, spray it with olive oil, sprinkle a little cumin and coriander (no salt, salt makes it shrivel) and roast until the middle is cooked and the top is crispy - depending on how thick you sliced it, maybe 30 min at 400."

So I cut half of it in wedges and did as suggested. I thought it was quite tasty, but next time, I think I'll salt it, even if it turns out a bit less attractive. Salt added at the table didn't quite do it for me or Tom.

Jim Wilson suggested that I fry it instead, with similar seasonings. I still have the other half!

Lovely and delicious cranberry mold!

2010-12-17T08:15:00.001-06:00

For a recent holiday gathering with friends, I was looking for an alternative to the usual cranberry-orange relish or salad. I came across a recipe for a sweet cranberry panna cotta on the Viking Cooking School website. I made a few changes to make it a savory mold, and everyone pronounced it quite tasty.

I made it in a two-cup mold, but it would be equally attractive made in individual ramekins and turned out onto greens for a first course salad. A sherry vinegar dressing would make a nice complement to the flavors in the mold.

The Viking recipe called for cranberry Jello, which I used,. If you would rather, you can soften one envelope of unflavored gelatin on a couple of tablespoons of cold water, then substitute cranberry juice for the one cup of water. Heat it, add the gelatin, stirring until dissolved, and then 2 tablespoons of sugar and the seasonings listed below.

One of my friends at the gathering said she’s going to use the recipe in a heart shaped mold for Valentine’s Day, so if you’ve already planned all your holiday gatherings, there’s always another appropriate time to use it!

SAVORY CRANBERRY MOLD

1 cup water
1 package cranberry-flavored gelatin
¼ tsp. kosher or sea salt
Juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
2 tbsp bottled grated horseradish
½ tsp. dried dill weed
1 cup sour cream

Spray a two-cup mold generously with cooking spray.

In a saucepan, heat the water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the gelatin, stirring until completely dissolved. Whisk in the remaining ingredients in the order listed and pour into the mold. Refrigerate at least four hours, or until completely set. This may be made one day in advance if tightly covered with plastic wrap or foil.

When ready to serve, dip the mold in very hot water, being careful not to get water in the mold itself. Turn a serving plate upside down on the mold, then invert and give it a little shake. If the mold doesn’t come out, repeat the hot water process. Serve with crisp toasts or crackers. Serves 8-10 as an appetizer, or 4-6 on a first course salad.

NOTE: I wanted to make this again but had used all my horseradish. I had a container of Penzey's horseradish dip mix and added 3 tablespoons of that instead of the seasonings. It turned out to be delicious, although less piquant than the one with real horseradish.

Mom's Holiday Punch

2010-12-08T21:10:00.001-06:00

As many of you know my mother was a wonderful cook. In recent years I didn't get home to Louisville as often as I would have liked, but one time I never missed was Christmas.

We've always shared our Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners with the family of a cousin of my mother's. There were eight children between the two families, so we had quite a crowd. We would gather in the early afternoon for a huge traditional holiday dinner, with turkey and all the trimmings, a big ham and every possible side dish. When the dishes were done, we kids (and later the grand-kids) would play with Christmas presents and games while the grown-ups chatted.

Late in the afternoon, the coffee would go on, the desserts brought out and my mom would make a big crystal bowlful of a very tasty holiday punch. I don't know where the recipe came from, since she's been making it for many years, but I love it. It's not too sweet, in spite of the amount of sugar. I think it really hits the spot as an accompaniment for holiday dessert, or as a tasty non-alcoholic offering for any party.

My mother passed away last year and after the service for her, we invited family and friends back to her house for supper before heading back to their homes, some quite a long way away. One of the things we girls made was the holiday punch.

Give it a try for your holiday party or dinner. Perhaps it will become a tradition for you, too.

ALYCE'S MOM'S HOLIDAY PUNCH

2 packages strawberry Kool-aid (unsweetened)
1 46-ounce can pineapple juice
2 6-ounce (or 1 12-ounce) cans frozen pink lemonade (see note)
4 cups sugar
3 quarts water
3 liters ginger ale

Mix everything except the ginger ale in a large bowl and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour into three large plastic or metal containers. Freeze solid. Fifteen minutes before serving, unmold one container into your punch bowl. Pour ginger ale over the frozen punch mix. As the punch mix dissolves. add more ginger ale, or simply smush up the punch mix to make a sort of slushy punch.

This keeps a long time in the freezer, so I freeze a couple of large molds, then some smaller ones, just in case I have a few folks in and want to do something festive. One-third of the recipe will serve 15-20 people.

NOTE: Mom always insisted that it had to be pink lemonade. I couldn't find it once, and tried the regular frozen lemonade, thinking "How much difference could it make?" By George, she was right! Fortunately frozen pink lemonade is available in almost every supermarket now.

Yummy Gooey Cake!

2010-12-03T09:45:00.001-06:00

Every year friends of our have a get-together on the Saturday evening after Thanksgiving. It’s sort of a pot luck affair, with everyone bringing something to contribute to the main meal, plus an appetizer or dessert.

We had a house full of company this year, and took several of them with us. My sister Cindy Corum (whom you have met before on this blog) was here from Knoxville and made a cake which was a big hit with the crowd.

You know I don’t care much about dessert, but I have to admit this was just gooey and yummy enough to tempt me too. There was still some left over and we stuck it in the fridge. Two days later we pulled it out and it was still fine. That makes it a great candidate for your holiday entertaining—you know how I love dishes that can be made ahead!

CINDY’S BUTTERFINGER CAKE

1 package German chocolate cake mix
1 15-oz bottle of Smuckers caramel sundae sauce
3 Butterfinger candy bars
1 box instant French vanilla pudding mix
1 8-oz tub Cool Whip, defrosted

Prepare and bake cake mix as directed on the package in a 9x13 pan. As soon as you take it from the oven, poke holes in it with handle of wooden spoon (about 1" apart) and pour the caramel sauce over it. Let cool. Crush the candy bars and sprinkle over the top when cool. Make the pudding according to the direction on the box, then fold the Cool Whip into it. Spread on top of the cake. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Tuna-Stuffed Shells

2010-11-22T15:09:00.000-06:00

I was trying to think of something different to make for my Monday evening tasting group and saw a mention in a restaurant review: tuna meatballs. That didn't ring my chimes but I thought about stuffed shells. How about tuna-stuffed shells?

The first try was a bit ordinary but I liked the idea. I spiffed up the filling flavors with some good smoky bacon and sundried tomatoes and changed the sauce from a marinara type to a sharp asiago cheese sauce. Voilà!

I baked the shells in individual gratin dishes, but you could just as easily do this in one large baking dish.

This makes 18 shells. I put three in each casserole, but we had started the meal with soup, and everyone agreed that with a salad, two would be enough for most people. One was enough for me.

The stuffed shells, without the sauce, could be make ahead and frozen on a baking sheet. Placed in freezer bags, you would have the makings for a quick meal on short notice.

This exact same recipe would be wonderful with either crab meat (use the lump, not the more expensive jumbo lump) or cooked salmon.

CONCHIGLIE AL TONNO

18 large pasta shells

For the filling:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
2 strips good smoky bacon, cut into 1/4" strips
2 7-ounce cans tuna in olive oil, lightly drained
1 cup fresh bread crumbs from firm white or baguette bread
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sundried tomato, diced (See notes)
2 tablespoons parsley, minced

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups half-and-half (See notes)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg)
12 ounces sharp asiago cheese or imported fontina, grated
2 tablespoons flour

To finish:
2 tablespoons sundried tomato, diced
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, slivered

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, onion and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and the bacon is cooked (the bacon will not be crisp or browned). Let cool completely.

Place the bread crumbs in a food processor. Add the tuna and the onion mixture. Pulse several times to just combine. Scrape into a mixing bowl and stir in the egg, sundried tomato and parsley.

Make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook over low heat for about three minutes. Whisk in the chicken stock and wine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until reduced by about a third. Add the half-and-half. In a large bowl, toss the grated cheese with the flour to cover. Add to the sauce and heat, stirring constantly until the cheese is melted. Do not let the sauce boil.

Cook the shells according to package directions, using the lowest cooking time given. Drain and carefully spread on paper towels. Fill each one with a heaping tablespoon of the filling.

When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the shells into well-buttered individual oven-proof dishes, or one shallow baking dish, with the seam side up. They should fit snugly. Pour the sauce over the top, being sure to cover all the edges of the shells. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the top is just starting to brown, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the sundried tomato and basil garnish and serve. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTES: (1) I used sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil. If you use the dehydrated kind, soak them in hot water for an hour or so before using. (2) You could substitute whole milk for the half-and-half but the sauce might curdle a bit in the cooking. That won't hurt it at all.

Italian Chestnut Stuffed Onions

2010-11-19T09:06:00.000-06:00

You may know that my husband and I recently made a wonderful trip to Italy. A week of the trip was spent with a car, motoring around the Chianti district of Tuscany. We saw all the sights but we also indulged in an awful lot of great food and wine. Several seasonal ingredients were on most menus: cinghiale (wild boar), chestnuts and zucca (which refers to most any of the winter squashes).

One evening we dined at a small country restaurant with a fixed menu. The only antipasto offered was a chestnut-stuffed onion. It was served with a small salad and both of us just lapped it up. I knew I wanted to try it. Then I got several emails from readers asking if I planned on giving my annual fall chestnuts-in-anything-but-dressing recipe. I knew it was time.
I had a group of friends coming for dinner and served this as an antipasto, as we'd had it, with a salad on the side.

It would also make a great side dish with your Thanksgiving turkey, or grilled meats or poultry. In fact, it's filling enough to serve as a light lunch, brunch or supper entree with a bigger salad.

You might see fresh chestnuts in local markets, but I'd go with jarred cooked chestnuts. They're available at Fresh Market and Whole Foods, and at some local supermarkets.

You can prepare the onions for the final baking a couple of hours before dinner and bake when you're ready for them. Or you could do the first baking, add the chestnut stuffing, cover and chill up to a day ahead. Let them come to room temperature and then add the cheese and butter right before baking.

I didn't have any leftovers but if I had I would have chopped it all together and mixed it with sliced potatoes and then continued with my basic scalloped potato recipe. Doesn't that sound yummy?

CIPOLLE RIPIENE ALLE CASTAGNE
Chestnut Stuffed Onions

4 large yellow onions
2 tbsp. minced parsley
1 tbsp minced fresh sage
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
1 large pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Extra virgin olive oil
8 oz cooked chestnuts
2 tbsp sweet Marsala wine
1 more pinch nutmeg
8 slices pancetta
4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
Cold butter
1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken stock)
Fresh thyme sprigs for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375o. Cut a thin slice off the stem and root ends so the onion will set level in the baking pan. Peel the onions and cut them in half crosswise. Place in a well oiled baking dish just large enough to hold them all in one layer. Sprinkle with the parsley, sage, thyme and nutmeg, and salt and pepper lightly. Sprinkle with olive oil. Cover the dish tightly (with lid or foil) and bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely chop the chestnuts and mix with the wine and nutmeg. Raise the oven temperature to 400o. Place a slice of pancetta over each onion half. Divide the stuffing among the onions and mound on top of the pancetta. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Using a vegetable peeler, make a shavings of butter and place one on each onion half. Pour the wine into the pan around the onions.

Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, until onion is tender and topping is lightly browned. Place on a serving platter (or individual dishes) and garnish with fresh thyme sprigs. Serves 8.

A Tale of Three Ribolittas

2010-11-09T09:41:00.011-06:00

A couple of years ago, I wrote about one of my favorite Italian soups, ribollita. Back in Tuscany recently for a visit, I had the chance to enjoy it three times.

The first was in Siena. Mostly beans and bread, it was more a stew than a soup. Okay, I guess, but...

The next was in a little wine bar down the street from our hotel in Radda in Chianti. Ah, this is more like it! Lots of veggies and plenty of broth even after the chunks of bread were soaked through.

The last was in a restaurant in a back street in San Gimignano. Nearly perfect!

Now I can't wait for the weather to get cool enough in Memphis to have another go at it!

Can I remodel my kitchen?

2010-10-31T16:06:00.000-05:00

This is a kitchen design studio in Rome, near the Medici gardens.

Sleek and shiny. How long would it stay shiny in MY kitchen? But it sure is flashy, isn't it?

A Wonderful Latino-Style Cake

2010-10-27T09:31:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was a little under the weather due to emergency surgery. As one might expect, friends came through with tasty treats to keep me nourished. One of the treats was a wonderful cake, a rich chocolate cake topped with a flan typical of Latino cooking.

Although I’m not much of a sweets eater, or maker either for that matter, I found this so good I had to ask for the recipe. My friend told me she’d gotten it from an out-of-town newspaper a good while back. I went online looking for it, and found that there are various recipes for it, from many sources, but I didn’t find this one, using Coke instead of water to make the cake.

I’ve not specified the eggs and oil, if needed, for the cake mix since different brands use different amounts. Just use what the box calls for, substituting Coke (not diet) for the amount of water called for.

Most of the recipes called for cajeta. This is a Mexican caramel sauce made with goat’s milk. I couldn’t find it, and used Smuckers caramel ice cream sauce instead, with excellent results.

Once made, it is essential to chill before turning out onto a plate. And be sure to use a plate with a rim, because the caramel will run down the sides of the cake and pool around the edges. I hope you’ll enjoy this as much as we did!

LATINO CHOCOLATE FLAN CAKE

1 cup Smuckers caramel sauce
1 devil food cake mix, made as directed, using Coke for the liquid called for
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk (not skim)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (I always use Eagle brand)
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a 12 cup bundt cake pan heavily with cooking spray. Pour the caramel sauce in the bottom, spreading evenly. Pour the prepared cake mix on top.

In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients until very well blended. Pour down one side of the cake pan. Some of it may float on top but most will sink. Don’t worry if it looks weird.

Place the cake pan in a larger pan and pour about an inch of hot water into the larger pan. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until cake layer tests done.

Cool to room temperature, then chill completely. A couple of house before you plan to serve it, take from the fridge. Place a large plate with a rim over the top of the pan. Carefully turn it over, and let set with the pan on top. When ready to serve, lift the pan off. Most of the caramel will have run over the top and down the sides of the cake.

Cut into slices to serve, and refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 12 generous servings.

Not so pretty but oh so tasty!

2010-10-26T09:23:00.001-05:00

For the second week of our Italian vacation, we used the charming town Radda in Chianti as our base for exploring the hill towns of Tuscany. We would be tourists during the day, but in the evening would return to our "home town" Radda for our apero and dinner. One evening, we dined at the Ristorante Botte di Bacco.

For my main course, I chose a primo piatto, Blueberry Pasta with Cinghiale-Chianti Sauce. Now you can see from the picture that it was not the prettiest dish I've ever had put in front me, bless its little heart, but I gotta say, it was one of the best, if not the very best dish I had in Italy.

I had seen the blueberry pasta in another nearby town, but hadn't ordered it. It must be a VERY local item. I asked my friend (and Tuscan cooking instructor) Judy Witts Francini about it, and she had never heard of blueberry pasta. This isn't unusual in Italy (or France or Spain either, for that matter). Some menu items are just VERY local.

Cinghiale is the wild boar that populates the hills of Tuscany and during the fall can found on pretty much every menu around, perhaps as a sort of stew. Or it might be in a tomato-based pasta sauce, usually served on pici, a regional thick and chewy spaghetti.

For this sauce, the ground boar meat was simmered with Chianti wine and herbs. Then a very reduced drizzle of Chianti wine was drizzled around the edges, garnished with sangiovese grapes warmed in the reduction.

I'm going to try to reproduce this (although I'll have to use ground pork for the wild boar) and if I'm successful, I'll share it with you!

Dinner as a culinary experience...

2010-10-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

In Florence, we went to Cibreo. It is considered one of the most creative kitchens in the city, and with good reason. The chef, Fabio Picci, has three establishments side by side (well, two are back to back). I'd eaten in the trattoria twice before, and enjoyed it immensely. There's also a cafe across the little street with a bar and snacks.

We went to the "real" restaurant, hoping we could get in without reservations (legend has it that one can NEVER get in without them). We lucked out. We were among the early comers at 8:00 and got a good table with as good as view of the kitchen as there is. Our first hint of the price level was that there were four fine stemmed glasses at each place.

One interesting note: Cibreo serves no pasta. The chef is reputed to have said "It's cheap and we all eat it at home. Why go out for pasta?"

So here's how it works: You don't get a menu. You get a card saying first courses (primi) are E20 and main courses (secondi)are E30. A handsome young man came to the table, pulled up a chair and listed the first courses. I chose a yellow bell pepper soup that had been recommended to me by a friend who'd been there. Tom got a "spicy fish soup."

For our main course, Tom got "coda de vacca," an oxtail dish cooked sort in a stew. I got pigeon with mostarda, a tangy fruit confit. Once we'd ordered, the sommelier came for wine ordering we asked for a light white wine, and were happy with the selection although in retrospect, a light red would have been better with our main course. He didn't suggest that to us. Hm...

Then came a lovely selection of antipasti: a tomato/basil aspic, a spoonful of marinated zucchini, a square of zucchini mousse, one crostini each of liver pate and another of sundried tomato, and tender, delicious marinated tripe, with a roll of the home-made potato bread they are known for. Tom even ate his liver. I didn't tell him what the tripe was until he'd eaten it. He liked it.

Then came the soups. I'd say the serving was around 6 ounces. My yellow bell pepper soup was good, and beautifully served, drizzled with a very fine flavored olive oil, with a couple of tiny slightly cheese-flavored croutons. Tom's spicy seafood soup was just that. A similar sized serving, it was dark and dense and delicious, with a little more than a hint of hot pepper.

My pigeon was wonderful. all dark meat but tender, and the waiter encouraged me to use my fingers (a real no-no for most Italian rules of etiquette) to get every bite. As my contorno (side dish) I was brought a ramekin of potato puree, lightly toasted on top. Tom's ox-tail was, well, boring. The sauce was a little on the sweet side, it was hard to eat, and, well, boring. And he doesn't remember if he got a contorno. So it must not have been memorable.

We pretty much never order dessert, and didn't there either, but they brought us a nice tasting slice of a very dense, very chocolatey tart. The bill was E180 with the wine, or somewhere around $250. Was it an interesting experience? For sure. Did I enjoy my food? Absolutely. Am I sorry we went? Definitely not. Will I ever go back? No. Am I recommending that you do? No.

Go to the trattoria, it's half the price for many of the same menu items and a LOT more fun!

A delightfully delicious martini

2010-10-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

My dear sister Cindy came from Knoxville a couple of weeks ago for a visit. Tom was out of town for the week, so we had a "Girls' Night In." Leave it to my sister to come up with a delicious contribution: Blood Orange Martinis.

She had brought Blood Orange Elixir, available online at Earth & Vine, and maybe at Fresh Market or Whole Foods.

I must admit to being a bit of a wimp, hard-liquor wise, so I cut the amount of vodka in half. I rimmed the glasses with regular orange juice and sugar, and we poured. Delicious!

Now I just have to order some for myself. She took her bottle home with her!

EARTH & VINE BLOOD ORANGE MARTINIS

4 oz vodka
2 oz Concentrated Earth & Vine Provisions Blood Orange Beverage Elixir
½ oz Triple Sec or flavored orange liqueur (I used Grand Marnier)
Crushed ice

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice; shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with orange twist. Makes two.

Tasty Winter Squash Pizza

2010-10-01T09:05:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, my husband had a work assignment out of town. So I decided it was time for a "Girls’ Night In." Several of my friends came over and we ate chips and dip, and cheese and crackers, and had a glass of wine or two. And we made pizzas.

I got several 12" pre-baked crusts. I had thought about making them from scratch but just didn’t have the time.

I have a pizza stone that lives in my bottom oven which makes for a nice crispy crust. If you don’t have one, just put a baking sheet in the oven while preheating and transfer your pizza to it when ready to bake.

I made one—Pizza alla Zucca--using acorn squash. A small butternut squash would be equally good. (The Italian word "zucca" refers generally to any of the hard-skinned winter squashes.)

The easiest way to peel either is to cut into slices with a heavy knife, and then cut off the skin around the edges of the slice. Then it’s easy to grate for this recipe.

You could cut this into 12 thin wedges for an appetizer, or into 6 wedges for larger servings. We had a little green salad to go along with it, and it made the perfect dinner for our girls’ get-together.

PIZZA ALLA ZUCCA

2 tbsp. good fruity olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 plump cloves garlic, peeled and minced
½ cup onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cups peeled and grated acorn (or other winter) squash
2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 12-inch pre-baked pizza crust
4 oz. gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
4 oz. mozzarella, grated

Preheat the oven to 450-degrees. In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir about 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Add the squash and rosemary and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Lift the squash mixture from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving behind any fat or liquid that drains off. Spread on crust to about ½" from the edges. Sprinkle first with the gorgonzola and then the mozzarella.

Put on preheated pizza stone or baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, until topping is melted and lightly browned. Let set for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.

Golden Beet-Avocado Salad

2010-08-31T08:15:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I wrote about Montmartre, a great little French restaurant I found in D.C. It was the sort of neighborhood bistro that you might find in France, with several tables of folks speaking French (always a good sign).

I ordered gazpacho and a salad. The gazpacho was delicious but I really loved the salad. I spoke to the server, Anne, who gave me a little hint as to how it was prepared. It was composed of roasted yellow beets, grape tomatoes, red onion and avocado. It was a very felicitous combination, and I couldn’t wait to make it at home.

Anne said they rubbed the beets with olive oil and roasted them. I’ve always wrapped beets in foil to roast, but found that this method sort of concentrated the natural sweetness of the golden beets.

They sprinkled it with a mixture of chopped fresh herbs; I used cilantro with equal success. And they used grape tomatoes, but in this season, good farmers’ market or home-grown tomatoes would be perfect.

Because of the lemon juice in the dressing, you can keep this for a day or two without having khaki colored avocado. This will make a great side dish to any of your grilled dinners this summer.

MONTMARTRE SALAD

Juice and finely grated zest of 2 lemons
¼ cup good fruity olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ripe but still firm avocados, peeled and cubed
3 golden beets, roasted, peeled and cubed (see note)
¼ cup slivered red onion
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or 2 cups diced tomato)
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup minced cilantro, plus a couple of sprigs to garnish

Whisk the lemon juice and zest with the olive oil in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining ingredients and toss just until combined. Let rest for an hour or so for flavors to meld. Serve garnished with additional cilantro sprigs. Serves 6 or so as a side dish.

NOTE: Golden beets are available at Fresh Market. Cut off tops, leaving 1" of stems. Rub with olive oil, put on a baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Check to see if a small pointy knife can penetrate easily. If not, roast until it can. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then peel and cube.

Daley Plaze Farmers' Market - Chicago

2010-08-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Random shots, it was all quite appealing. Unfortunately I couldn't bring a lot back with me!

A lovely new café in Chicago

2010-08-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

I get a weekly e-mail from Daily Candy that gives the weekend special activities in several major US cities. Since we were headed to Chicago, I looked up their recommendation for this weekend. One of the suggestions was a new café opened by the Omni Hotel. Café 676 has only been open a little over a week, but you wouldn't have known that from the service, or execution of the food. The alfresco new-comer uses ingredients from its hotel rooftop garden to use in salads, snacks, and sandwiches

The one page menu is widely enough varied to have something for everyone, yet each dish shows a nice touch of creativity. There are "Snacks," each priced at $4.00, a few bites of a perfectly aged cheese with a lovely accompaniment. Then a list of soups and salads, and a few amusing more substantial dishes.

Tom ordered the "Great Lakes Niçoise Salad." A riff on the classical French version, the fish was a perfectly grilled filet of walleye. I wasn't familiar with this fish but is was delicious. The salad wasn't the composed version typical of the South of France. Besides the usual haricots verts (skinny green beans), hard cooked egg and tomato, there were chunks of blue potato that did nothing for the visual appeal of the salad, and the dressing, a white wine vinaigrette was a little sharp for both our tastes. A little more olive oil would have softened it nicely.

I ordered the "Sweet Corn Soup." Smooth and creamy with a bit of spice that I wasn't quite able to identify, it was laced with tasty bits of crisp-tender veggies. I loved it.

After that, I had two "Snacks." Both were cheese. The first was the "Julianna," perfectly aged goat cheese from Capriole Farmstead in Indiana, accompanied by a sweet-tart Meyer lemon compote. The other was robiola, a rich and mildly pungent cheese from the Lombardy area of Italy, with a not-too-sweet strawberry jam. Each made a perfect match. All were accompanied by crisps made from thin slices of sourdough bread. The bread is house-made with, they claim, a 105-year old sourdough started.

Although the beer and wine was a little on the pricey side, on the whole we felt pleasant dinner, enhanced by the people-watching opportunities offered by being right on the corner of Michigan Avenue on a warm Saturday evening. We both agreed that if we lived here, this would probably be a perfect place to stop after an evening out for a glass of wine and one of the snacks, or a nice afternoon stop after shopping for a cup of tea and of of their delicious sounding sweets. But we probably wouldn't make it a meal destination in a town where there are so many!

Insalata Caprese Redux

2010-08-11T21:14:00.000-05:00

I had a goodly amount leftover of the Insalata Caprese that we spoke about a couple of days ago. I stuck it in the fridge thinking it would be my lunch the next day. Which didn't happen.

So that evening I had planned veal chops with pasta. I did as I planned with the veal chops: I rubbed them with a good olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and grilled them. (I'd planned on doing them on the outside grill but it was WAY too hot. The stove-top ridged cast iron grill had to do!) I made a lemon-caper butter that I dropped on top as it came off the grill.

And to go with it, I cooked imported fettucine nicely al dente and drained it, reserving a bit of the cooking water. Meanwhile, I chopped the tomatoes and mozzarella balls with the balsamic dressing left. Once the pasta was drained, I put it back into the pasta pan and added the caprese salad with a little drizzle of olive oil, a splash of the reserved cooking water and more fresh basil tossed into it.

I put the pasta on the plate and topped it with the veal chop. When some of the caper butter drizzled down onto the pasta...well all I can say is "Multo buono!"

LEMON-CAPER BUTTER

1 stick butter, at room temperature
Juice and finely grated zest of two lemons
1 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
1 tbsp minced parsley, preferably Italian
1 good pinch kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients. Leave at room temperature so butter is soft. Use for grilled veal, pork or full flavored fish like swordfish, halibut or tuna.

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

2010-08-07T15:40:00.001-05:00

At the Agricenter Farmers' Market yesterday I got some great looking tomatoes from the Tomato Lady. I had some bite-size fresh mozzarella balls, so what could I do but Insalata Caprese?

Since Mantia's closed, I am not aware of anyplace in Memphis that sells real fresh mozzarella. The best is made the day it is eaten, kept in lightly salted brine at room temperature until consumed. All I've been able to find is the packaged kind, and let's face it, it wasn't made yesterday even.

So here's a tip: Put it in a cup or bowl with enough lightly salted water to cover. Stick it in the microwave. For the little bite sized balls, set the timer at 30 seconds, for a big ball, 60 seconds. Then let set in the brine for an hour or so.

So anyway: an assortment of wonderful tomatoes, my "re-freshed" mozzarella, slivers of fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette...summer doesn't get any better than this!

Laretha's Tasty Corn Sauce

2010-08-06T07:23:00.002-05:00

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that one of the friends I really enjoy cooking with is Laretha Randolph. Over the years, she has given me lots of good recipes that I’ve passed along to you.

Recently we went to the Randolph’s for dinner and she came up with another goodie, perfect for the summer season: a tasty and really REALLY easy-to-make corn sauce.

She had made fresh salmon croquettes adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. As wonderful as the sauce was with the croquettes, Laretha says it is also a great dressing for a salad with hot fried okra on top.

This would also be really good with grilled salmon, tuna or swordfish.

With fresh locally grown corn abundant in all the farmers’ markets, there’s no better time to try this than now!

LARETHA’S CORN SAUCE

4 ears fresh corn, shucked
1 cup corn oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
¼ tsp salt (or to taste)
Your favorite salmon croquette recipe
Salad greens for 6 servings

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the ears of corn on a lightly greased baking sheet and roast until done through and lightly golden in places.

Cut the kernels from the corn. Scrape the cobs with the edge of the knife to get all the good juicy parts. This should give you about 2 cups. Reserve ½ cup for garnish.

Put the rest of the corn into a blender or food processor with the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. The sauce will be thick. Taste and add a little more salt if necessary.

Toss about half the sauce with the salad greens. Divide among six plates. Put the salmon croquettes on the side and spoon the rest of the sauce over them. Sprinkle with the reserved corn kernels and serve immediately. Serves 6.

Fig Chutney Redux

2010-08-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

For pre-dinner appetizers, I made quesadillas with flour tortillas and a piece of brie sliced thinly. Warmed in a dry skillet and served with the fig chutney of earlier this week, it made a very tasty beginning to our dinner. One of our guests opined that Cambozola, a soft-ripened brie type cheese that is laced with a bit of blue cheese, would be even more delicious. And since I have more chutney, I am certainly going to try it.

Yummy Figs!

2010-08-01T19:03:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week, my good friend Michelle Reuter, wife of our church pastor, Lane Reuter, gave me a heads-up about the fig trees on the church grounds. She said the figs were just falling onto the ground and being smashed by cars, or rotting in place. SO after services this morning, I got myself a little bag and gathered these figs. They were so fresh and wonderful. And I had just paid $7.00 for a small box at the Agricenter farmers' market on Saturday.

Once we got home, we had to have a couple each stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in prosciutto and roasted just until the cheese was a little oozy. Sorry there's no picture, we gobbled them down too quickly.

I was thinking of making fig preserves, but quite frankly, I'm just not a jam-and-jelly eater. So, I thought, how about chutney? I've done a few before but never with figs. I went online looking at recipes but none sounded quite right, and every one that sounded good called for something I didn't have. So I improvised. I wish I'd had fresh ginger, but given the limitations of what I had, I thought the results were more than just acceptable. In fact they were quite good, and I plan on grilling pork tenderloin for dinner tomorrow evening to go with the chutney!

IMPROMPTU FIG CHUTNEY

1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup dry red wine (I used a good zinfandel, because that's what I had open)
1-1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup red onion, very finely minced
1 cup golden raisins
2 large lemons, juice and finely grated zest
1 tsp whole mustard seeds
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 lbs fresh figs, rinsed and quartered

In a dutch oven, or wide deep skillet, mix everything except the figs. Simmer until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Add the figs. It'll look like there's not enough liquid, but the figs exude a lot of liquid, and soon they'll be covered. Simmer, uncovered, until most of the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup, about 45 minutes.

I put them in sterilized jars, sealed to keep, but you can keep this in the fridge for a good while, and I would think it would freeze nicely if you aren't going to use it within a few weeks.

Yummy summer salad!

2010-07-31T23:49:00.000-05:00

My friend Laretha Randolph brought me some tomatoes from her garden. What a wonderful (and beautiful) salad they made with a little chopped Vidalia onion and leftover asparagus from last night's dinner!

Tasty Taco Torta

2010-07-31T11:21:00.002-05:00

We were down to the wire. It was going to be the last meal cooked in the old house, and a friend came by to bring us more packing boxes. I asked her to join us for dinner. If you recall, I was trying to empty my freezer before moving to a new house.

I had put out the last pound of ground beef to thaw, and had four tortillas. Tacos? Offering only one seemed a little chintzy. So I made a taco pie. Or taco torta. I used a couple of tablespoons of Penzey’s salsa seasoning for flavor, but a package of taco seasoning will also work. I put out bowls of toppings like you’d serve beside tacos, and extra cheese. With piña colada cole slaw (see note), it was a wonderful finale to the 25 years I’d cooked in that kitchen.

TACO TORTA

I lb. ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 package taco seasoning
Four flour tortillas, burrito size
1 8-oz. package shredded cheese (cheddar, or Mexican mix)
Taco condiments: diced avocade, tomato and onion, cilantro, shredded lettuce, sour cream and salsa

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. In a heavy skillet, over medium-low heat, cook the beef until only a little of the pink is left, breaking up any large clumps with a wooden spoon. Add the onion, garlic and taco seasoning. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the beef is done and the onion is tender.

Spray a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray. Put one tortilla in the bottom. Top with one-fourth of the meat mixture, and one-third cup cheese. Repeat layers, using all the remaining cheese on top. Bake
for about 20 minutes, until heated through and the cheese is melted.

Remove from the oven and let it set for about 5 minutes, then cut into wedges to serve. Serve the condiments on the side. Serves 4.

NOTE: For piña colada cole slaw, into a food processor, put one 8.5-oz. can coconut cream (from the drink mix section of the grocery) and one 7-oz. can crushed pineapple. Purée and mix with two cups mayonnaise. This makes enough for three bags of pre-shredded cole slaw mix. It keeps well in the fridge.

A great little French restaurant in DC!

2010-07-26T21:10:00.002-05:00

I was heading toward Eastern Market (more about that another time) and on the way from the Metro, passed this French restaurant. It was a little early for my lunch, so I went on to the market. On the way back to the Metro, I stopped in, and was quite pleased that I had. I was greeted by a charming Française, Anne, who led me to my table. I was delighted to find that there were a couple of tables of people speaking French. Real French. Although they had an extensive lunch menu, I was quite pleased with two choices from the appetizer list.

I ordered the gazpacho to start. Tom said "but that's not French!" But in the south of France, the influence of the north of Spain is common. It was done in the Spanish style, thickened with a bit of bread, and garnished, as you can see, with a drizzle of balsamic reduction and sprinkles of diced avocado and crumbled feta. Delicious!

Then I ordered their avocado-roasted yellow beet salad. It was a nice combination of perfectly ripe avocado, grape tomatoes and roasted yellow beets. The dressing was a light mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, and a sprinkling of a fresh herb mixture found in most French restaurant kitchens. This will definitely be a column in the next few weeks!

Wrong wine?

2010-07-25T19:01:00.002-05:00

In a recent post, Fredric Koeppel, author of the informative and entertaining blog "Bigger than Your Head," cited a time when he was sure that he'd been brought a wine different from the one he'd ordered.

Now we have to start by saying that Fredric has a much better wine palate than I have. But I do have a few favorite wines that show up often on wine lists, so I can order knowing what I'm going to get.

I was recently in a well-known upscale Memphis restaurant. I ordered one of my old faithfuls. When I got it I was pretty sure it was not what I'd ordered. I asked and the served assured me that I'd gotten what I ordered.

I thought perhaps there was a odd bottle involved. But still, I ordered a less expensive glass of the same grape variety for my second glass. Hmm...it was MOST definitely the same as the one for which we'd been charged $2 more.

I didn't try to argue. Next time at that particular restaurant (if we do) we will ask to see the wine poured from the bottle!

The Grill at Highlands Row

2010-07-25T17:42:00.001-05:00

My sister in Knoxville is a very good restaurant chooser. I think it must be genetic. On our way back from The Great Yankee Road Trip, we stayed over with her and had dinner on Saturday night at the Grill at Highlands Row, a new restaurant that had gotten great newpaper reviews. Our experience, however, was mixed. Service of the pre-prandian beverages seemed quite slow, but it was crowded and somewhat understanable. Then we ordered. Tom and I both got salads to start. Good, but fairly standard. Cindy got the Vidalia onion soup. It was very brothy, but somewhat tart. Cindy though there might have been vinegar in it but I tasted it and think the broth was part wine. But for me the killer was that it had an overload of dried thyme. I am one of those with a sensitivity to dried thyme, particulary one often used in food service. It just tasted musty to me. But she did think the Brie croutons gave a nice touch.

Donny, my brother-in-law got the crab and corn bisque. It was, according to him, delicious, and also according to him, only needed a touch of salt.

I ordered the Carolina red trout, with a lemon caper sauce. It came with "Carolina rice" which seemed pretty much a generic version of the Uncle Ben's wild rice blend. It also came with "chile succotash." I asked the server if it was spicy and she said yes. I have a low heat tolerance level, so I asked to substitute the grilled asparagus.

Cindy and Tom both got the Highlands Special steak. Cindy got it with béarnaise sauce, Tom with the "Pascagoula Topping," a combination of grilled onions and chopped black olives. Both were done as requested.

Donnie got the shrimp and grits, with smoked gouda grits, and loved them! The shrimp were plump and perfectly done. All in all, for reasoned discussed below, he got the best deal of the meal.

Donnie's dinner was perfectly hot, as it should have been. Tom and Cindy both got food was that was little more than warm, but edible. Mine however, was cold. The plate and the fish were at room temperature. I might not have complained, but when I tasted the rice it was cold. Almost refrigerator cold. I did complain, and frankly I can't remember ever sending back a full meal. To the credit of the restaurant, the manager replaced it with a full new dinner, hot and delicious. And didn't charge us for my dinner. AND gave us a truly delicious chocolote soufflé for dessert.

Service was not the best. I think they were short of servers, which would explain the slow drink service. And it's a new place so they have some tweaking to do. But if the servers couldn't get the food out on time, they should have used the hostess and manager to run the food hot.

One more complaint: the chef has a heavy hand with spices. The asparagus I ordered to replace the spicy succotash was loaded with black pepper. Most of the dishes had some very spicy component either as a garnish or side dish. Some of it is indicated, but not all. Someone at the next table got black-eyed peas and found them too spicy. The server told him there was poblano pepper in it. Poblano isn't always hot, but it can be.

SO: would we go back? Maybe when they've had a little more time to get things right, and not on a weekend night!

A great lunch in DC

2010-07-19T16:12:00.003-05:00

Continuing our Great Yankee Road Trip we arrived in Washington, DC, late yesterday. It's always a challenge to decide where to eat here; there are so many great places from so many cuisines. This morning we went to see the National Cathedral, which was an awesome experience. We drove down to the Georgetown area and wandered around. We wound up choosing "Ristorante Picolo" for our lunch venue.

They have a $12 lunch special, which Tom chose, but I ordered two antipasti instead, having one as the secondo (main course). Once seated, we were presented with a little dish of very good olive oil with shredded parmesan, and good crusty bread.

For my antipasto, I chose Insalata Caprese, which was quite tasty. Perfect fresh mozzarella, red ripe tomato, a couple of chunks of sundried tomato, a scattering of fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of good balsamic vinaigrette. For the main course, I ordered another antipasto, a roasted crab stuffed portobello mushroom, with crab demi-glace sauce. Yummy! The crab stuffing, while not "jumbo lump" was still very good quality crab with very little filler.

Tom's lunch let him choose between a salad or soup for the antipasto. He had a quite nice (although not particularly exciting) salad with a light vinaigrette. His main course was "Arrosto Misto," a combination of roasted chicken breast (two boneless breast halves)and Italian sausage. It was topped with a chunky and very well made tomato sauce, with a couple of garlic crostini tucked in the sides to soak up the sauce. He was quite happy as well.

I had a glass of Mezza Corona pinot grigio, and Tom had two imported beers, and the total bill for a lovely meal with plenty of food was $54, quite reasonable, we thought, for the quality and quantity of our lunch!

Farmers' Market Eggplant

2010-07-02T22:11:00.000-05:00

I am off work every other Saturday, and most of them, in the summer, you can find me wandering around the Agri-Center Farmers’ Market looking for treats to cook for my friends.

One of the vendors almost always has the most adorable little eggplants, both the traditional black, and ones with a creamy white skin. Each is the perfect size for an individual serving. I had to have them.
When I was growing up, the only way my mom ever made eggplant was to dip slices in an egg wash, then in cornmeal, and fry it in vegetable oil, or even better, bacon fat. (We cooked a lot of things in bacon fat back then; I’m really truly sorry that now we know how bad it is for us!) Although I liked it well enough, it wasn’t something I would have gone out of my way for.

Then, when I spent several summers in the South of France, I tasted many new ways of preparing it and loved them all. Most involved tomatoes and of course, garlic. Ratatouille, a braised medley of eggplant, zucchini, green bell peppers, onion, and tomato became a staple in my summer kitchen when I got home.
So what to do with these cute little ones? Taking a little inspiration both from the French and from my childhood, I minced up herbs, garlic and really good applewood smoked bacon, slathered it over the top and baked it on a bed of tomatoes.

It was delicious. I set each serving on a bed of pasta, made a salad with a good balsamic vinaigrette, and dinner was done.

Any leftover eggplant can be chopped, combined with the remaining tomatoes and saved for a pasta topping another day, or folded into an omelet. I think it would also make a great filling for a quiche.

If you don’t want to head out to the Farmers’ Market, you can use the slim oriental eggplants, or split one large eggplant and then divide into servings after baking. You’ll need to add about 15 minutes to the baking time if you do one big one.

I have fresh herbs growing right outside my back door and used both basil and oregano. If you have to buy fresh herbs at the grocery, you can stick with just oregano if you don’t want to spring for both, and the results will still be well appreciated by your friends.

FARMERS’ MARKET EGGPLANT
3 small eggplants, about 6" long
6 slices good quality smoked bacon, chopped
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, packed
2 tbsp fresh oregano, packed
1 tsp salt, preferably kosher or sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp good fruity olive oil
4 large red ripe tomatoes (or 2 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes)
2 tbsp olive oil to grease the baking dish

Preheat the oven to 350. Wash the eggplants and cut in half from stem to blossom end, leaving the stems on. Score about 1/2" deep without cutting through the skin at the edges.

In a food processor, combine the bacon, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Pulse to blend well, but don’t puree completely. Or place all the filling ingredients on a chopping board and chop very finely by hand, then scrape into a bowl and mix in the olive oil. Divide this mixture among the eggplants, spreading it thinly on each all the way to the edges, pushing some down into the scored areas.
Wash the tomatoes, core them and diced them coarsely. Work over a bowl to save all the juices that drip out while cutting.

Use the remaining olive oil to grease a 9- by 13-inch casserole. Cover the bottom with the tomatoes. If using fresh tomatoes, sprinkle lightly with salt. Place the eggplants on top. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the bacon topping is well browned and crisp looking. Serve the eggplants on a bed of pasta and drizzle the tomatoes from the bottom of the pan over it all. Serves 6.

The perfect summer dessert!

2010-07-02T06:10:00.001-05:00

We are in the process of moving into our new house. There are boxes and crates stacked shoulder high everywhere, waiting to be unpacked. I've rearranged the furniture half a dozen times. So it was quite welcome when my good friend Marti Laslavic and her husband offered to bring us dinner. After a delicious dish of veal, pasta and roasted vegetables, we had a dessert that was quite yummy and a lot of fun.

Marti took the caps off good sized strawberries and pulled out the soft core.

She passed around a bottle of that great coffee-flavored Mexican liqueur, Kahlua. Each of us filled the berry with it.

A fluff of whipped cream finished it off.

Look how cute, and tasty too! The really fun part was eating it without dribbling down the chin, or arm. Definitely a keeper!

Atsa spicy pantry!

2010-06-25T08:15:00.001-05:00

I splurged on tiered spice racks for the pantry in our new house. Take a look at this. I have 30 linear feet of spices and spice blends. I'd better get to cooking!

Sweet treats!

2010-06-13T21:15:00.001-05:00

Only a couple of weeks left before we move to our new home, and I’m still trying to empty shelves, fridge, freezer and liquor cabinet.

I found a small half-empty bottle of Malibu Rum, a coconut flavored rum made in Barbados. I can’t remember what recipe I bought it for, but I put it to good use recently at a dinner for friends.

Sabayon (in French) and zabaglione (in Italian) are pretty much the same: eggs whisked over hot water with some sort of alcoholic liquid until doubled or tripled in volume. You can make the sabayon right before your dinner starts and hold at room temperature no more than an hour, or you can make it ahead of time and chill completely, but it will lose some of its volume. It will, however, still taste good.

I bought one of the already cleaned and cored fresh pineapples from the supermarket to use for this recipe, but the consensus at dinner was that bananas would also be good, maybe even better. If you try it, let me know!

FRESH PINEAPPLE WITH MALIBU SABAYON

3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup Malibu rum
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into ½" chunks

In the top of a double boiler, or in a heat-proof bowl, briskly whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar until sugar is incorporated. Add the rum and set over simmering water. Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water or all you will get is nicely flavored scrambled eggs.

Whisk continuously until the sauce has at least doubled in volume. This will take about 5 minutes. Divide the pineapple chunks among six shallow oven-proof dishes. Pour the sabayon over the pineapple. Preheat your broiler. Broil 6" from the heat until the sabayon is a deep golden color. Serve immediately.

This could also be made in one casserole dish. A 10" pie pan would work nicely. Serves 6.

America's Five Greatest Foodie Presidents

2010-06-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

Who are America's most "foodie" presidents? The Village Voice rates them...but the jury is still out on President Obama!

Easy Tasty Salmon

2010-06-10T18:09:00.001-05:00

We are getting down to the wire on moving to our new house. I've been sorting through all kinds of interesting "stuff." It’s amazing how much you can accumulate when you’ve been in a house for 25 years and have lots of spare closet and attic space.

So I’ve been working on dinners that don’t make a mess, or at least not much of one. Today’s recipe was serendipity: salmon filets that looked good at the market, with no real recipe in mind. To me, salmon and asparagus together seem to make a very spring-ish combination, so I picked up a bundle. Adding steamed and buttered new potatoes enhances the seasonal feel to the meal.

I cooked the salmon "en papillote," a French technique. I used the traditional parchment paper for the packets, but you can quite nicely use foil, sealed well around the edges.
Add a salad of your choosing and you have a great dinner....and all you have to wash are the dishes.

SALMON AND ASPARAGUS EN PAPILLOTE

2 6- to 8-ounce salmon filets, skin on
1/3 cup thick creamy Caesar dressing
8 stalks asparagus
A few sprigs fresh thyme (see note)
2 slices of lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut two 12" square pieces of foil. Spray the dull side with cooking spray, or brush with oil. To one side of the center, put one filet on each, skin side down. Brush the tops with half the Caesar dressing. Trim the asparagus spears to about the same length as the salmon filets and arrange four on top of each. Brush with remaining dressing, top with lemon and thyme sprigs and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the foil over and crimp the edges to seal all the way around. Place on a baking sheet. At this point you can put into the fridge for a few hours if you like. Take them out about 20 minutes before cooking.

Bake for 20 minutes. You can cut the packages open and move the salmon to a plate if you like, but I really like the burst of aromatic steam when you leave it in the packet to open at the table. Use a spatula to transfer to the plate. Serves two but can easily be multiplied to serve as many as you like.

Today is National Donut Day!

2010-06-04T07:34:00.000-05:00

The donut is most certainly an American institution. In my younger days, it was always a high point of the weekend when we would get donuts on Saturday mornings from our local bakery. I'm not much of a sweet-eater, but there's something about the cream-filled ones with the glazed outside.... In honor of today's National Donut Day, MSN has posted Brett Stelka's list of the ten best donut shops in the country. Alas, most are way off my beaten path, but if you're anywhere close to one of these, you may want to give them a try!

Tunisian Inspired Pizza

2010-05-31T09:03:00.000-05:00

Still working on emptying my freezer, I had taken a pound of ground lamb out, thinking we’d have grilled lamb-burgers for dinner. But we were out and about during the day and had burgers for lunch, so I needed to come up with something else.

Thinking of Tunisia, the country honored by this year’s Memphis in May Festival, I first thought I’d make some sort of pasta sauce, with North African flavors. I wound up, however, using another freezer find, a precooked pizza crust. And the results were delicious.

The recipe makes enough topping for two 12" crusts. If you only want to make one, the leftovers would freeze nicely for another time. Or you could do what I did: I used it to fill rounds of pie crust to make turnovers. I made little ones for appetizers, put them on a cookie sheet and froze them, then put them into plastic freezer bags. They bake quite nicely from frozen. Bigger ones would make an easy supper with a green salad.

TUNISIAN LAMB PIZZA

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 lb. ground lamb
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes (I prefer the fire roasted variety)
¼ cup golden raisins
1 tbsp. sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
2 12" pre-baked pizza crusts
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, about five minutes. Add spices and stir a couple of times. Add the lamb and cook until no pink remains, breaking up clumps with a wooden spoon. Add the tomatoes, raisins and sugar, and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread half the mixture on each pizza crust. Sprinkle each with half the feta, then the mozzarella, then the pine nuts. Place on a baking sheet and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the fresh mint and serve at once.

A trip down Memory Lane

2010-04-09T06:43:00.000-05:00

One of the best parts of owning a food market was going to the Fancy Food Show in New York every summer. It was an opportunity to see new trends, sample new products and find new lines to carry. And to eat meals in restaurants offering cuisines not available in Memphis.

One of my favorites was Chez Jacqueline, just north of Houston (in New York pronounced "how-ston"), above the fashionable area known as Soho (South of Houston). Jacqueline was a charming and extremely outgoing French woman from Provence. I made a point of eating there each trip.

Last spring I went back to New York. It was my first time in several years, and Chez Jacqueline was on my must-do list. Unfortunately, Jacqueline had sold her restaurant, and it seemed to lack the warmth, charm and especially the crowded tables of the one I remembered.

One dish I loved in the old days there was a scallop dish, and I was able to come very close to reproducing it. Recently I had friends coming for dinner and I decided to make it again. It was just as good as I remembered. I used "U-10 dry" sea scallops, which you should be able to order from your market seafood department. Any size sea scallops will do but make sure they are dry, in other words, not processed, injected with a liquid preservative.

The smoky flavor of the chipotle Tabasco is important. Don’t use regular Tabasco. It won’t have that flavor, and is much much hotter than the chipotle variety.

I keep prepared pesto, either purchased or home-made, in the fridge all the time, but you can use 1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, pureed with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, to replace it.

I served it with rice pilaf and roasted asparagus. If you make the sauce and rice dish ahead, you can roast the asparagus while finishing the scalllops, so it’s a perfect dish for entertaining. Just don’t forget plenty of crusty bread to soak up the last of the sauce.

SCALLOPS JACQUELINE

Sauce:
¼ cup olive oil
1 large onion, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. garlic, finely minced
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbsp. chipotle Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/4 cup golden raisins

To finish:
1 lb. sea scallops
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Chopped parsley for garnish

Make the sauce: in a large skillet, heat the oil and add the garlic, stirring for about 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until just starting to turn golden. Stir in the tomato and cook another minute or two. Add the orange and lime juices, chipotle Tabasco, cinnamon, basil pesto and raisins. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

When ready to serve, heat a skillet large enough to hold the scallops in one layer. Brush lightly with vegetable oil and add the scallops. Brown quickly, being careful not to overcook.

Reheat the sauce gently and put a pool of it on the plate. Top wit scallops and sprinkle with minced parsley.

Basque Shrimp: A Swimming Success!

2010-03-26T10:10:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I went to visit his mother in Philadelphia, PA. When we are up there, we try to find restaurants with cuisines not available in Memphis. One evening we googled "tapas restaurant Philadelphia," and at random picked the closest to our hotel, Tinto. As it turns out, it is owned by the newest American Iron Chef, Jose Garces. What luck!

We had a wonderful meal of Spanish Basque area small plates. One of the dishes we most enjoyed was "Lobster with Grapefruit-Vanilla Nage."   Garnished with Spanish smoked paprika croutons (called, in Spanish, "migas"), it was delicious.

The French culinary term à la nage means "in the swim." It refers to food, usually seafood, poached in a quickly simmered vegetable broth. called court bouillon, which means "short boil."   It is usually acidulated with vinegar, but at Tinto, grapefruit juice was used instead. I didn’t think we’d all want to cook up a lobster, but I was pretty sure it would work with shrimp.

Often in French cuisine the vegetables are served with the broth. Although it wasn’t done at Tinto, when I served up my third and most successful attempt to my wine dinner group, I did serve the vegetables.

At the wine dinner we had it as a seated first course, but with addition of side dishes of rice pilaf and a salad it would make a light but tasty dinner.

Although it doesn’t take long to do, you can make the broth ahead of time and refrigerate for several days. Bring up to a simmer for a few minutes before you poach the shrimp.

SHRIMP IN GRAPEFRUIT-VANILLA NAGE

Stock:
2 quarts vegetable stock (see note)
½ head of celery, including leafy greens, cut into 1" pieces, about 2 cups
1 bulb fennel, white and light green parts, sliced ¼" thick, reserving green lacy top for garnish
8 oz baby carrots (half a 1 lb. bag)
2 cups fresh grapefruit juice (must be fresh, not frozen or canned—trust me on this)
1 cup dry white wine
1 tsp. fennel seed, crushed
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp. mixed whole peppercorns

To finish:

½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp (I used 16-20 per pound size)
4 oz. butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp. heavy cream
1 cup ready made large garlic croutons
1 tbsp. Spanish smoked paprika

Place all the stock ingredients in a non-reactive pan and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Remove bay leaves and thyme stems.
   When ready to serve, add the vanilla and bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp and simmer until just barely done, depending on the size of the shrimp.
   With a slotted spoon divide the shrimp and vegetables among 8 warm flat soup plates. To the broth, add the butter and cream. For best results, use an immersion blender to emulsify the broth with the butter and cream. If you don’t have an immersion blender, whisk vigorously until well blended. Even if it doesn’t emulsify totally, it will still be delicious.
In a small bowl, toss the croutons with the smoked paprika. Ladle hot broth over the shrimp and vegetables, garnish with the croutons and reserved fennel fronds and serve immediately. Serves 8 as a first course, or 4 to 6 as a main course with side dishes.

NOTE: I use Better Than Bouillon stock pastes, available at most supermarkets, for my vegetable stock. You can use vegetable bouillon cubes or packaged vegetable stock. But the BTB will be far better!

Pot Roast for St Patrick's day...

2010-03-15T00:09:00.002-05:00

I love pot roast. I know some think of it as only winter comfort food. But my mom made it frequently all year round, so I am not bound to that way of thinking. Recently a friend and I were talking about pot roasts and she said her mom made one with coffee, that it was an old "country" dish.

I got to thinking about it and decided to give it a try myself, but I wanted to add some sort of twist to it. Looking through my spirits cabinet, I spied a bottle of Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey. Aha! With St. Patrick’s Day coming, what better than an Irish coffee pot roast?

I used instant espresso for the coffee, because I like the darker roast flavor, but any instant coffee will do.

You might remember that I love those bags of prepared mirepoix you can now buy frozen: carrots, celery and onion, all chopped and ready to use. You can also get the same sized bag of little pearl onions.

You could, if you like, cook potatoes in with the pot roast, but I quite liked the mashed potatoes we had. I added zucchini (I mean really, you must have something green for St. Patrick’s Day!) brushed with balsamic vinaigrette and grilled on a stovetop grill pan. It made a delicious dinner for any kind of weather.

IRISH COFFEE POT ROAST

3 ½ to 4 lbs. boneless chuck or rump roast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bag (12 oz.) frozen mirepoix mix (see note)
½ cup Irish whiskey plus 2 tbsp. to finish
2 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tbsp. instant espresso or instant coffee
2 cups beef stock
1 tsp. each ground black pepper and salt
2 bay leaves
1 large pinch ground cinnamon
1 bag (12 oz) frozen pearl onions
¼ cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350o. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, brown the roast very well on all sides in the oil. Remove the roast to a plate.

Lower the heat a little. Add the mirepoix mix and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and just starting to turn golden brown. Add the whiskey. If you’re brave enough, stand back a bit and light with a match and shake the pan until the flames burn out. Otherwise, let it simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Whisk in the flour and stir for a minute or two. Whisk in the stock, bay leaves, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Return the roast to the pan, cover and bake for an hour. Add the pearl onions, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour more, or until the roast is fork tender.

Remove the pot roast to a carving board. Whisk in the sour cream and remaining two tablespoons of Irish whiskey. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Remove the bay leaves, Carve the roast into serving sized portions and put on a warmed platter with as many of the pearl onions as you can easily fish out with a slotted spoon. Drizzle with some of the gravy, passing the remaining gravy at the table. Serves 8.

NOTE: You can replace the frozen mirepoix mix with ¾ cup chopped onion, and ½ cup each chopped celery and carrot.

2010-02-16T21:30:00.000-06:00

If you’re a loyal reader of this blog you may remember a couple of recipes I’ve gleaned from the files of my dear friends Lewis and Carolynn Clark. One of the most popular was the gumbo recipe from Lewis’ mother a couple of years ago.

We were invited to a post-holiday gathering at their home and one of the appetizers was the best shrimp salad I’ve ever had. Carolynn said it was a Clark family favorite, but with a little cajoling, I got the recipe. If you’re a shrimp lover, I predict this will be one of your favorites.

ROYALE SHRIMP SALAD

3 lb raw shell-on shrimp
2 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
5 eggs, hard-cooked and peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 ribs celery, minced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 small shallots, peeled and minced
¼ cup sweet pickle, chopped
1 tbsp. juice from pickle jar
Juice and zest of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

In a Dutch oven, bring enough water to boil to cover the shrimp. Add the Old Bay seasoning. Drop in the shrimp and cook for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on the size) until just cooked through. Drain and let cool. Peel the shrimp and put into a food processor. Pulse two or three times. (Or chop finely by hand.)

In a large bowl, mash the egg yolks with the mayonnaise. Dice the egg whites and add with the shrimp and remaining ingredients and mix well. Add more mayonnaise if you like a looser shrimp salad. Cover and chill well.

For an appetizer, serve in tablespoons on crisp crackers or endive leaves. For a lovely luncheon dish or first course salad, serve scoops on a bed of lettuce, garnished with tomato slices and lemon wedges. Makes appetizers for about 10, or salads for 6 to 8.

NOTE: With a considerable sacrifice of flavor you could use frozen pre-cooked shrimp. However, many supermarket seafood departments will steam shrimp for you now, in the seasoning of your choice. This would make this a really quick fix!

A Nostalgic Recipe...

2010-02-04T21:27:00.000-06:00

My sister is a hopeless addict to garage sales. A few weeks ago we were both at home in Louisville at the same time, and she convinced me to go along with her to several. At one of them, there was a stack of old menus. Among them was one from the Fig Tree Restaurant, one of my favorite places to eat in the 70's in Louisville. Long gone now, it was an early innovator in both menu style and individual dishes. It had a set menu that changed each night. You could substitute a steak for the main course, but otherwise, you got what they were serving that night. Knowing what I know now about the food business, it was an incredibly ambitious undertaking.

One of my favorite dishes at the Fig Tree was a shrimp dish. I don't recall their name for it, and it wasn't on the menu I brought home, but I've made my version of this many times over the years. Recently I made it again for friends, who all pronounced it a worthy recipe to share with you.

The reduction is similar to that for béarnaise sauce, and includes chervil. This isn't the most common of herbs. In my opinion, it is under-rated and under-used. It makes a good addition to salad dressings, and is particularly nice in almost any potato salad recipe. Added to butter with lemon, it can be drizzled over grilled fish or chicken.

A suggestion: for herbs and spices you're not sure you're going to want to use over and over, go to Penzey's, on Poplar near Kirby Parkway. They sell almost everything in small packages. If you don't have chervil, you can leave it out of this recipe and it will still be very good.

I make it in individual baking dishes, but you can just as easily make it in one shallow casserole. I like to serve it on a bed of rice with mushrooms, with tomatoes topped with garlic breadcrumbs and baked. If you serve it with rice, you might want to double the sauce ingredients so you will have some to pass at the table.

FIG TREE SHRIMP

To start:
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried chervil
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 shallot, very finely minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To finish:
1/4 cup butter
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Minced parsley for garnish

Combine all the "to start" ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced by about half. In another pan, melt the butter with the clove of garlic in it. Remove the smashed garlic clove and add the wine reduction.

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the shrimp in one layer in a shallow baking dish. Pour the butter-herb mixture over the top and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the shrimp is just done.

A really good, tasty and economical soup!

2010-02-01T22:16:00.002-06:00

When someone says "bouillabaisse," what come to most folks’ minds is the traditional fish soup of Marseilles with lots of fish and shellfish involved. But in traditional Provençal (Southern French) cooking, there are several varieties: eel, cod, snail, even chicken, or as in today’s recipe, poached egg.

This is a delicious, fast, easy and economical recipe. This is often known as "poor man’s bouillabaisse." According to Cuisine et Vins de France, a French culinary magazine, it is also known familiarly as "one-eyed bouillabaisse."

You shouldn’t be afraid of poaching the eggs in the soup as long as they are very fresh and you've kept the liquid to a bare simmer. If you are, use oven-proof bowls, put the hot soup in them on a baking sheet. Heat in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the soup has tiny bubbles around the edges. Break the eggs in the soup and by the time you get it to the table, the eggs will be poached to a soft-yolk stage. If you like your egg yolks firm, just leave the bowls in the oven until they’re done to your liking.

In the summer, you would use red-ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced. But this time of year, I use a can of diced tomatoes, well drained, for an excellent result. Keep the juices and add to another soup or to pasta sauce

You can make the soup ahead of time and reheat before adding the eggs, so it would be a perfect dish for a winter brunch or supper.

POACHED EGG BOUILLABAISSE

2 leeks (or one small onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 bulb fennel, quartered, cored and very thinly sliced
1 can (14-ounce) diced tomatoes, well drained
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
½ tsp. (loosely packed) saffron (optional)
1 lb waxy potatoes, preferable Yukon gold, peeled and diced
Finely grated zest and juice of one small orange
6 eggs
Fennel fronds, for garnish

Cut off the upper dark green leaves of the leeks and discard. Cut the bulb (including the light green) in half lengthwise, then slice about ¼" thick. (Or peel and dice the onion). Cook with the garlic in the olive oil, in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Add the fennel and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, but not browned.
Add the tomatoes, stock, saffron, potatoes, and orange zest and juice. Simmer about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. Reduce the heat so the soup is just barely simmering. One by one, break an egg into a cup and slide into the soup. Cook another 4-5 minutes, or until yolks are done to your liking. Serve immediately, garnished with some of the fennel fronda. Serves 6.

Un-Stuffy Cabbage

2010-01-24T09:59:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago in the Commercial Appeal Food Section, there was a recipe for stuffed cabbage leaves. I was thinking "Boy! I love stuffed cabbage." But then I thought about all the work in blanching and peeling off whole cabbage leaves a few at a time, and then stuffing them all, and if they don't fit just right in the pan they fall apart. So I just knew I wasn't going to make them anytime soon.

But why not cook the cabbage and pour the stuffing part over it? I tried it. I cooked wedges of cabbage and put a tomato sauce with ground turkey in it over the top. The results were not felicitous--I wasn't all that crazy about it, and neither was my husband.

But now I had a challenge. I wanted all the flavor without so much work. Here's what I did: I used a package of pre-chopped mirepoix mix (carrot, celery and onion) from the freezer section of the supermarket. I made turkey meatballs, baked them briefly then simmered them in a sort of sweet-savory tomato sauce. I bought a bag of cole slaw mix from the produce section. I sautéed the slaw mix in some bacon fat (olive oil would work, too). I cooked chunky pasta shapes, drained them and mixed the cabbage in with it. With the sauce and meatballs over the top, I don't think it could have been any better.

I tossed greens with a light vinaigrette and I had a very good dinner. And all together, it didn't take much longer to make than it might to just get the cabbage leaves ready to stuff. Best of all, my husband pronounced this version quite tasty.

Unstuffy Cabbage Pasta

Spice blend:
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano, crumbled finely
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

To finish:
1 bag frozen mirepoix mix, divided (12-14 ounces)
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 lb ground turkey (see note)
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
1 can (14-16 oz) diced tomatoes
1 tbsp hoisin sauce or soy sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp (packed) dark brown sugar
1 bag cole slaw mix
2 tbsp bacon fat or olive oil
1 lb chunky pasta shapes (e.g. fusilli, rigatoni)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Blend the spices in a small bowl. In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add about one-third of the bag of mirepoix mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft. Remove into a medium bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Add the ground turkey and one-third of the spice blend. Mix lightly to combine and form meatballs a little smaller than a golf ball. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until set but not browned. Remove from the oven and reserve.

In the same skillet heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the garlic and ginger and stir a couple of times. Add the remaining mirepoix mix. Cook, stirring, until soft. Add the remaining spice mix and stir briefly. Add the tomatoes and their juices, hoisin or soy sauce, wine vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the meatballs and continue to simmer while cooking the pasta.

In a large pot, heat the bacon fat (or olive oil). Add the cole slaw mix and cook, stirring frequently, until just barely soft. Remove to a serving bowl. Don't rinse the pan, but add 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, add the pasta and cook until just al dente. Drain and add to the bowl with the cabbage. Toss to combine, top with the meatballs and sauce and serve. Serves 6.

NOTE: I used ground turkey with light and dark meat because I find it stays moister. All white turkey meat is lower in fat and calories, but you must be very careful not to overcook the meatballs if you use it.

Spiced Cider Pork Chops

2010-01-18T16:17:00.003-06:00

Over the holidays, I like to do hot spiced apple cider on chilly evenings. I did just that one evening when we had a friend of our daughter joining us for dinner. I put it in one of those air pots that will keep it hot for hours. I just used a mulling spice mix I picked up at the supermarket.

I had a good bit left over and stuck it in the refrigerator for another time. Then the "big chill" came. We had a week of temperatures that never went higher than the 20's. And in Memphis, that's COLD! I had a day off. Rather than bundling up to go to the grocery for dinner makings, I dug around in freezer and fridge, and found a package of butterflied pork chops, and some frozen skinny green beans, and one giant sweet potato. And then there was the spiced cider.

I braised the pork chops and sweet potatoes in the cider. I blanched the green beans and then tossed them in good French butter with a little garlic simmered in it. We had a great meal, and I got to stay warm and cozy in the house.

If you happen to have spiced cider on hand, that’s all well and good. But I’m guessing that you don’t, so I’ve given you a way to replicate the flavor without it. This seems to me to be definitely chilly weather food, but I’m pretty sure we’ll have some more coming before the warm spring winds blow.

SPICED CIDER PORK CHOPS

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 pork chops, about ¾" thick (boneless or not, your choice)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 large pinch each ground nutmeg and cloves
1 1/2 lb. sweet potato, cut into largish chunks
1 1/2 cups apple cider or apple juice
1/2 cup orange juice (optional)

In a plastic bag, mix the flour, salt and pepper. Add the chops one at a time and shake to coat evenly.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Brown the chops well on both sides and remove to a platter. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent. Add the spices and stir for another minute or two.

Place the sweet potato in one layer over the onion mixture. Lay the pork shops on top. Pour the apple and orange juice (if using) over it all, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until chops are done and potatoes are tender, 20-25 minutes. Remove the cover and let the juices reduce for about 5 minutes. Serves 4.

NOTE: If you have leftover potatoes, but not pork chops, which was my case, whirl them with the pan juices in a food processor. Add chicken or vegetable stock to thin if necessary and serve it as soup the next day. You might stir in a spoonful or two of sour or heavy cream if you have it, but it’ll be good without it.

Fancy Mushroom Soup

2010-01-14T09:56:00.002-06:00

Ginger is a wonderful flavor. Grown in warmer climates (Australia, India, China, Jamaica), it isn't actually a root; it's a rhizome. We won't get into the difference here.

Available in many forms, we tend to associate it with savory Asian foods. Used fresh, we like it either grated or minced in a marinade or seasoning, or in chutneys. The powdered form is more likely to be used in sweets, such as ginger snaps or spice cakes. The candied form makes a great garnish for fresh fruits or tarts, and, as a bonus, is widely used as an antidote to nausea and morning sickness.

But I like to combine ginger with more "Western" flavors. In the winter, I like to start meals with soup. This particular recipe makes a wonderful first course. It could even be served in mugs to guests as they arrive on a chilly winter evening. Smooth and easy to sip, the zip of the ginger flavor gives a whole new dimension to cream of mushroom soup!

MUSHROOM-GINGER CAPPUCCINO

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, chopped
8 ounces white button mushrooms, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3 cups chicken or vegetables stock
1/2 cup crème fraîche (see note)
1/4 cup whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Powdered ginger for garnish

In a Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and the stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Puree in a blender, food processor, or with a hand blender. Stir in the creme fraiche. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

When ready to serve, beat the heavy cream with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Bring the soup back to a simmer and pour into soup cups or cappuccino cups. Top with dollops of the whipped cream and dust with powdered ginger. Serves 6 as a first course.

NOTE: Crème fraîche is a cultured French style cream, available in specialty markets. Similar in thickness to sour cream, it is slightly tangier but not as sour. And it has the advantage that it will not curdle upon boiling. You may substitute sour cream for the crème fraîche, but be very careful not to let it come to a boil when reheating to serve.

An Embarassingly Simple Salad

2010-01-12T18:26:00.002-06:00

Back a few months ago, in the heat of summer, I talked about New York Times’ Mark Bittman’s list of 101 easy summer salads. I shared one of my favorites, a tomato and peach salad. I’ve still got the list and some aren’t just for summer.

One I’ve used recently was easy enough to adapt to non-summer shopping. Instead of great summer tomatoes, I used a carton of grape tomatoes. I’ve been sort of addicted to them since my friend Reed Malkin turned me onto a great appetizer: drizzle them with lemon olive oil (or finely grated lemon zest and a good fruity olive oil) and sprinkle with a good flaked sea salts (Maldon is my sea salt of choice).

This salad is so easy that it’s almost embarrassing to talk about. I’ve made it several times, and I find that in spite of its definite oriental flavors, it goes with a wide variety of main dishes.

And as a bonus: after a recent dinner, I had a bit of the salad left. I also had one lone green bell pepper in the fridge. I cut the pepper in half from stem end down. I brushed the outside of the pepper halves with some of the dressing and filled them with the tomatoes and the rest of the dressing. I baked them in a hot oven for about 20 minutes, and they made a colorful and tasty side dish for a simple grilled pork chop.

EASY SESAME TOMATO SALAD

I carton grape (or cherry) tomatoes
1 very small onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. Oriental sesame oil
1 tbsp. minced parsley or cilantro (optional, if you don’t have them, it will still be a delicious salad)

Cut the grape or cherry tomaties in half. Toss with all the remaining ingredients. Let set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving, tossing occasionally. Serve as it, or on a bed of greens. Serves 4 to 6 as a side salad.

A Great Chicken Roaster Pan!

2010-01-07T18:42:00.001-06:00

For one of our wedding presents, we got an All Clad chicken roaster. I had seen this in a Williams-Sonoma catalog, and couldn't wait to try it out. Following instructions, I pushed the chicken over the rack (which, incidentally, has a little cup to hold flavoring liquids; I used white wine). After a few tries, I got it all properly trussed. Then I put chunks of potatoes to roast in the buttered pan below. I brushed it with butter, sprinkled with salt and pepper and set it to bake in the oven.

Then I blanched a handful of brussels sprouts and when the chicken was about halfway through its designated cooking time, tossed them with the potatoes to finish cooking. As you can see, I got a chicken with a very evenly browned and crispy skin all over. It was moist and tender, both in dark and white meat.

I can see this is going to get lots of use at my house!

Salmon Burgers for the Big Game

2009-12-30T18:15:00.000-06:00

Well, the holidays are over but the football bowl games aren’t. That’s not something that really meant much to me in the past but now I have a new husband who first likes to watch football, and secondly loves as much as I do to have folks come and share various landmark experiences with us. Not that, in my mind, football is a landmark experience, but then I’m not a guy.

Some things are pretty well a given at these gatherings. Rotel-cheese dip with tortilla chips. Chicken wings. Little cocktail wienies in some sort of sauce. Finger sandwiches. Celery stuffed with pimiento cheese. You know what I mean.

But at some point the host has to come up with some real food. Usually it’s burgers on the grill, or something bought from the BBQ joint down the road.

Here’s what we’re going to have for the big game on New Year’s Day: salmon burgers. Easy, tasty and good for you (don’t tell the guys about that part). I do them with fresh salmon from the supermarket but it’s easy enough to substitute canned if you pick through and toss skin and bones. You’ll need one large can of salmon.

And you know how I am about doing things ahead. So make them completely ahead, stash covered in the fridge, and reheat on a baking sheet in the oven when you’re ready to serve.
I will use bell peppers and arugula as the garnish, but there’s no reason you can’t use lettuce and tomato, and you’ll still have a great burger.

How cute would these be if you made them into mini-burgers and used Sister Shubert rolls from the supermarket freezer. Salmon sliders!

FOOTBALL PARTY SALMON BURGERS

1 lb fresh salmon, skin, bones removed, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beathen
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup onion, finely minced
¼ cup white raisins, finely minced
1 tbsp dried dill weed
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 c Vegetable oil
SAUCE:
½ cup mayonnaise
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp finely minced cilantro
TO FINISH:
6 Kaiser rolls
One each red and yellow bell peppers, cut into rings
Arugula or fresh spinach

Combine the salmon, egg, 3/4 of bread crumbs, mayonnaise, onion, raisins, dill, lemon zest and juice, and cumin. Form into 6 patties and coat in the remaining crumbs. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Fry the burgers, turning once, until golden, about 8 minutes total. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.
Meanwhile, combine all sauce ingredients. At serving time, place a layer of greens on the bottom of the roll. Top with the warm salmon burger, then with the pepper rings and drizzle generously with the sauce. Serve at once.

2009-12-20T18:21:00.000-06:00

The Italians are big on Christmas traditions. There are several traditional sweets for the holiday season. One is panettone, a yeast-raised cake with raisins and citron in it. It might be served toasted with breakfast tea or coffee, or slathered with mascarpone cheese and served with Marsala wine in the afternoon, or after dinner, with a glass of spumante wine.

There are many legends about the origin of panettone (as, it seems, there are about many Italian traditional foods). The most common cites a baker named Toni, who had a beautiful daughter. A young man who worked for Toni wanted to marry her. In an attempt to impress the father, the young man created a special sweet bread filled with fruits. The bread made Toni's bakery famous. People began to call the bread "pan ad Toni" or Toni's bread. Of course, he allowed the young man to marry his daughter.

Although they are usually available in specialty food markets only around the holiday season, I buy a few extra to keep, because a panettone makes the best bread pudding you’ll ever have. I like to make it in individual ramekins, as you see in the picture. They come out of the oven puffed and brown and fragrant. But it can also be made in a 9-inch by 13-inch casserole. Either way, it’s a very moist dessert and needs no sauce.

I love it with either amaretto or Grand Marnier as the liqueur, but I have a friend who made it with hazelnut liqueur and loved it. If you’d rather not use the liqueur, substitute either a teaspoon of almond extract, or the finely grated zest of an orange. It will still be a wonderful ending to your holiday meal, and any leftovers will be great warmed over for brunch the next day.

PANETTONE BREAD PUDDING

1 panettone (17.5 oz.)
8 eggs
½ cup sugar
3 cups half-and-half
1 large pinch kosher or sea salt
2 tbsp. amaretto or Grand Marnier
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel the paper off the panettone and trim off the darkest outsides. Cut the remaining cake into ½" cubes.
In a large bowl, with a wire whisk, beat the eggs with the sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the half-and-half until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the liqueur and vanilla.
Butter ten to twelve 6-ounce ramekins and add the panettone cubes. Divide the egg mixture among them and let set for at least a half hour at room temperature, or up to two hours.
Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted near the center comes out clean. For the souffle effect, serve immediately from the ramekins. If you prefer, let them rest until time for dessert (they will deflate a bit) and unmold onto serving plates.
If you prefer to make it in one casserole, baking time will be about 45 to 50 minutes, but it will need to set at least ten minutes before you cut it.

Farmers' Market Day at the Ferry Building

2009-11-13T21:42:00.003-06:00

We went back to the Ferry Building on a Farmers' Market day. I think no commentary is necessary. Our Memphis downtown farmers' market is wonderful, but still....

More San Francisco Ferry Building!

2009-11-13T21:34:00.002-06:00

They meant it when they said "salted pig parts." All kinds of salami, salumi, hams, prosciutto. Most sounded good. There was blood sausage...Although I think of myself as an adventurous eater, there are some things I just can't bring myself to eat.

Cowgirl Creamery had a booth. We've carried a few of their cheeses off and on, both at Mantia's and now at Lucchesi's but their display and samples made me want to bring in every single one of them!

Inside the San Francisco Ferry Building

2009-11-13T21:18:00.005-06:00

I'm a little late in posting some of the amusing things we did and saw on our honeymoom last month. We wandered through the ferry building as we were waiting for a ferry to Sausalito, on a day that wasn't a farmers' market day. Another post will show great things we saw when we went back another day!
The seafood shop had these wonderful looking raw oysters. You could buy a few dozen to take home to share with friends, or just buy a couple to slurp down with lemon or cocktail sauce as you shop.
You just don't see fresh crabs in a tank at the local Memphis Kroger store...or almost anywhere else in Memphis (other than a couple of good Oriental markets far from my house) for that matter!

Sweet Chile Tuna Sauce with Ravioli

2009-10-29T20:45:00.003-05:00

In last week's Commercial Appeal, my column gave a great recipe for a yummy tuna sauce recipe on goat cheese ravioli. There's an easier way to do it, and here it is. Just mix Lucchesi's Tomato-Basil Sauce with a can of Safcol tuna in sweet chile sauce and voila!