Amateurs with Knives

I wanted to get this in ASAP since I believe MM cooked this over the weekend too, and I want to beat her to the punch.  The recipe is from Peter Kaminski by way of Ruhlman’s blog.  The witty French chef comment is from me by way of Chef Tory.  This is going to turn out looking burned, but trust me, that’s the good stuff.  I will also say that making the orange confit is not the easiest thing in the world, or rather getting all the pith (and I mean ALL of it) off the oranges is a pain in the ass.  I also took out some insurance and finished the pork in a 350 degree oven for about 10 mins.  And cooking it outside is the way to go, ’cause it smokes like a mofo.

Pork Tenderloin with Burnt Brown Sugar, Orange Confit, and Thyme
Courtesy of Peter Kaminsky, and Michael Ruhlman

2 boneless pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
6 pieces orange confit, about 2 inches each
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon coarse salt (or to taste)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons oil from the orange confit

Lay the pork tenderloins on a work surface. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Tear the orange confit into 1/2 inch pieces and distribute over the top surface of the meat. Sprinkle with the fresh thyme and half the salt. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top and pat it down firmly with your hand. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil from the orange confit.

Preheat the chapa or a large square cast iron griddle over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles.

Using a wide spatula, lift the pork tenderloins one by one and invert them sugar side down onto the griddle. Do not move them for 5 minutes. If the sugar begins to smell unpleasantly burned, adjust the heat by moving the griddle and lowering the flame. When the sugar side is well browned, turn the tenderloins. Cook on all sides for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until done to taste. The internal temperature should be 135 degrees for a rosy pink. Remove the meat to a carving board and allow to rest, tented with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing.

Orange Confit

4 oranges
3 bay leaves
12 whole black peppercorns
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup white wine
2 teaspoons coarse salt

Cut the oranges in half. Squeeze the juice and reserve for another use.

Place the squeezed orange halves in a 3 quart saucepan. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, 3 tablespoons olive oil, white wine and water to cover. Add salt and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook until the orange peel is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the liquid.

When cool enough to handle, drain the oranges. Tear the peel into rough strips about 1 inch wide. Place a strip of orange peel skin side down on a work surface and, using a very sharp paring knife, scrape away every bit of the white pith.

Place the strips of orange zest in a bowl and cover completely with extra virgin olive oil. This will keep, covered tightly in the refrigerator, for at least a week.

I kept my orange confit in a Gladware container, because Padma told me to.  This is what mine turned out like, with wilted spinach (again) and a Devil’s Tower of Mashed Potatoes with Bleu Cheese and Garlic Scapes.
 

Word count before Chef Tory reference:  48.

~Citizen Chef

I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting side dishes, preferrably something that will give me a nice, healthy dosage of vegetables.

Photo courtesy of La Cucina Italiana

When I saw this feature of Oven Baked Risotto in our latest Magazine of the Month, La Cucina Italiana, I was skeptical. Risotto is often heavy and laden with cream and cheese, so I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out as a side dish. However, because it’s our Magazine of the Month I’m obligated to make this stuff without even reading the recipe instructions. Whether this is for your amusement or delight I have no idea, but since I picked out the magazine, I have to cook this stuff.

As it turned out, I had no reason to fear. This risotto and vegetable combination was finger-lickin’ good.

Vegetables are sauteed separately from the risotto, and the two don’t come together until the end when they’re baked. Buttered ramekins are filled with some of the risotto and a well is made in the center. Sauteed vegetables are then spooned into the center, more risotto is placed on top and packed down, to cover the vegetables tightly, then they’re baked in the oven for 15 minutes.

If you’ve never been sold on risotto before, this one will make you a believer. It was hearty, but not overwhelmingly so like with other risottos. Keeping the vegetables separate, rather than mixing them up with the rice, keeps the clean flavors from becoming muddled. Every bite was a delicious treat and the crisp-tender vegetables keep a rich risotto from becoming too heavy. This was absolutely outstanding and is going into my keeper stack.

Oven-Baked Risotto
Adapted from La Cucina Italiana
Serves 4

4 large porcini mushrooms or whatever you’ve got (about 7 ounces)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for ramekins
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 celery stalk, cut into 1/4 -inch dice
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4 -inch dice
1/2 small zucchini, cut into 1 ⁄4 -inch dice
1 medium tomato, cored and cut into 1/4 -inch dice
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, heated to a simmer
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese

The recipe comes from an interesting article on porcini mushrooms, so it’s too bad I couldn’t find any at the grocery store. Instead I went with baby bellas and they were delicious. Anything you like will do, though as you can see in the top picture, porcinis are the most glamorous on top… which really didn’t matter in my house, since it was inhaled in minutes.

Our MoM, La Cucina Italiana, isn’t just Italian in the name. It’s flavors are all authentically Italian. I thought I knew what Italian flavors were and in many ways, I was wrong. That’s partly why I wanted to pick this magazine — I like that it challenges my palette and stretches me a little bit. The adventure is good, even if I don’t end up liking everything.

One thing in this dish that I automatically knew my Americanized palette wasn’t going to like was the addition of mint in the vegetable saute. I omitted that, and kept just the fresh sage and parsley. My ingredients listing above also omits the mint, but you can click the link for the original recipe and check it out if you’d like.

I didn’t use ramekins. I went bigger. Like a dummy, I served up doubled portions of the risotto alongside sauteed boneless, skinless chicken breasts. This was way too much food and the risotto was such a big hit, we scarfed up the risotto and the chicken was an afterthought (leftovers tonight). I know small ramekins sound like tiny portions, but risotto really sticks to your ribs. If you’re serving this as a side dish, the small ramekins are probably best.

The fifteen minutes it spends in the oven is where the risotto absorbs a little more of the liquid and solidifies just enough that you can pop the whole thing out of the ramekins and serve them on a plate, like upside down pineapple cakes. But not. They’re risotto cakes… of deliciousness.

Instructions

Trim mushrooms and cut stems from caps. Separately cut caps into 1/4-inch-thick slices and stems into 1/4-inch dice. In a large skillet melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. In a single layer, add mushroom caps and cook until softened, about 1 1/2 minutes per side; transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and return to medium-high heat. Add mushroom stems, celery, carrot and zucchini. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add tomato and cook until any liquid from tomato has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove from heat and toss with parsley, sage, mint and pinch salt and pepper.

Heat oven to 400º.

In a large saucepan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook until lightly golden then add rice, stir to coat with oil and cook for 1 minute more. Add wine and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any bits. Cook until wine is mostly evaporated, then add 1 cup broth and reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring, until broth is mostly absorbed, 5 to 7 minutes. In 1/2 cupfuls, add remaining broth, stirring until each addition is mostly absorbed before adding the next, until rice is tender yet still slightly firm to the bite (you may have broth left over). Remove from heat and stir in cheese and remaining tablespoon butter.

Generously butter ramekins. Line bottoms with a single layer of mushroom tops (chop any leftover tops and add to vegetable mixture). Put 1/4 cup risotto into each ramekin, then press risotto into the bottom and up the sides of the ramekins to create cavities. Fill each cavity with 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable mixture, then top with remaining risotto, packing tightly. Place remaining vegetable mixture in a small baking dish. Place ramekins and baking dish with vegetables on a baking sheet; bake for 15 minutes.

Remove risotto and vegetables from oven. Run a paring knife around edges of ramekins. Invert risotto onto serving plates and sprinkle with pepper. Serve warm with vegetables.

Prior to my trip to Las Vegas, I knew two things about Bobby Flay: He’s the barbecue guy and he makes a million different sauces. My ideas of grilling is fairly basic, so I could only assume that all you needed to do to get on Iron Chef America is just pop out a bunch of hamburgers with interesting sauces. How hard is a freaking hamburger? Not very, I’m thinkin’.

So when my spouse and I crossed paths with his Southwestern style restaurant, Mesa Grill, I was surprised. I was even more surprised when my spouse said he wanted to try it out. He takes a bit of time to warm up to certain kinds of food and I was pretty darn sure he had never eaten Southwestern style, so I was leery.

The menu was blown up quite proudly outside, so I quickly skimmed it over. At first I was surprised that it wasn’t a low-class hamburger joint as I had expected, but something so much more.

The food looked dangerous — racy with spice and lots of ingredients we had never tried before. There wasn’t even a single burger on the dinner menu. I was always up for an adventure, but I didn’t want to get in there and watch my spouse get served up something he didn’t like, because then I’d just be bummed out. So I decided for the both of us that we weren’t going.

Instead, we went a couple of restaurants down to a hibachi/sushi place — that absolutely sucked. The grilled asparagus starter was so over-salted that the tips were inedible. I got a beef teriyaki that was grilled to the consistency of shoe leather. Tom’s sushi was apparently not that great, either. Chalking it up to food karma for snubbing Bobby Flay, we left a poor tip and made plans to visit Mesa Grill the next night.

We had an amazing dinner. I can’t find our appetizer on the menu now, but it was small, homemade tortillas with grilled chicken on skewers, caramelized onion and fresh cilantro served as a tiny, build-your-own-fajita type of deal. They were amazing and simple and I could have eaten an entire plate of them. Next, we shared an entree. (By the time we got in to eat it was 12:30am Eastern time, and I was too tired to eat much, which is why we shared.) We had the Spice Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. If you want to see a photo of the dish, I found one here, taken by another happy diner. You’ll have to scroll down the page just a little bit to see it.

The pork came to us medium rare, as ordered, with one savory sauce and a second sauce that brought a little bit of heat. We scarfed this down and walked out of there with our eyes opened to a whole new style of cuisine.

When I got home, I was chatting with Citizen Chef about my Vegas trip, and the one thing I kept coming back to was our dinner at Mesa Grill. Sure, Bouchon was amazing, but I had expected it to be. Mesa Grill, on the other hand, was eye opening and gave me a whole new respect for Bobby Flay and his style of food. CC made a comment that I thought was appropriate: “It’s nice to know that at the heart of (the fame, the hype, the television, etc.) is a real chef.”

He’s right. I picked up the Mesa Grill cookbook and started making some of Bobby Flay’s food. So far I’ve totally mangled everything I’ve touched (LOL) but I’m not giving up. I’m very interested in this whole new world of Southwestern flavors and I’m determined to get good at it.

My new Food and Wine magazine hit my mailbox this week (and their freaking website) and I was thrilled to see they had a feature on Bobby Flay, who provided them with a few of his recipes…

…for hamburgers.

I can definitely make a freakin’ hamburger.

Bobby Flay’s Beef Burgers with Peanut-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
Adapted from Food & Wine

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons pure ancho chile powder
1 canned chipotle in adobo, minced
1/2 cup water
3 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 hamburger buns, split
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (3 ounces)
1 scallion, finely chopped
Lettuce and tomato slices, for serving

In a medium saucepan, heat the 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Add the tomato puree, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, honey, molasses, ancho chile powder, chipotle and water. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender. Add the peanut butter and puree until smooth. Season the barbecue sauce with salt and pepper.

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the cut sides of the buns with oil and grill until toasted, about 30 seconds. Spread some of the barbecue sauce on the buns.

Form the meat into four 1-inch-thick patties and brush with oil. Season with salt and pepper and grill over high heat, turning once, until nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Brush the burgers with some of the sauce and grill until lightly glazed, about 2 minutes. Top with the cheddar and scallion, close the grill and cook just until the cheese is completely melted, about 1 minute. Set the burgers on the buns, top with lettuce and tomato and serve right away.

Make Ahead
The barbecue sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 months.

My only real beef (get it?) is the amount of barbecue sauce this makes. Even halving the ingredient list gives you enough for dozens of burgers. I think the thought process behind it is that because it can be kept for up to 2 months, you’ll be bringing it out and using it on other meats for the rest of the summer. In defense of this thought process, the sauce is quite delicious. I could best imagine it going on grilled chicken. By itself it is incredibly spicy, but spread only on the buns and the burgers, mounded with cheese, vine ripened tomatoes and crisp lettuce, an overbearing spiciness wasn’t a factor. In fact, I didn’t really even get the spiciness when eating it. It also wasn’t overbearingly barbecue-y — okay, not a word. What I mean by that is, with any other barbecue sauce, especially jarred, I’m always railroaded by an overbearing tangy zing that dominates the meat. In the case of store-bought sauces, the sauce becomes the star and the meat is sort of an afterthought. With this little bit of added sauce, everything is complimented and the flavors of the meat and vegetables really shine through.

Nice work, Chef.

As if you had any doubts as to my cooking method, I made this on my George Foreman and it came out beautifully. The grill was set to high heat and I toasted the buns first, then I put a bit of vegetable oil on the grilling plates before adding the patties.

During the cooking process, I kept the Foreman open, not closed. This meant a longer cooking time, but I was fine with that. I actually think it came out better this way, because compacting your hamburger can often lead to poor results.

Cooking these on an open Foreman actually worked out well. I used a beef with 20% fat, which both Bobby Flay and America’s Test Kitchen recommends.

Of course, off the top of my head I can’t remember why, but I’m pretty sure it’s a good reason. It ended up being one delicious burger, so they’re definitely on to something.

I served my burgers with a glass of red wine from Francis Coppola’s vineyard and baked onion rings by Alexis, which are typically found in the organic section.

Kicking off our new Magazine of the Month, the June 2009 edition of La Cucina Italiana, I dove right in with a simple dish that combined sauteed veal and steamed broccoli with something I had never eaten before: turnips.

And it turns out I don’t like turnips, but the dish was really good anyway.

What pulls everything together is a simple sauce made of plain yogurt, fresh chives, salt and pepper. I thought I was going to hate the sauce but when I tasted it against the vegetables and veal, it reminded me of the food you’d order in any Greek-style restaurant. The trick to making the sauce come together is making sure you put it together first. As you prepare the remainder of the dish, the flavors of the sauce meld together, eliminating the yogurt taste and leaving you with a mouth-watering, peppery sauce.

After that, it’s all about the ingredients. The onions and turnips are prepared two ways, steamed and sauteed, creating diversity of taste and texture. At my grocery store I found a tiny selection of veal (stew chunks and cutlets - that’s it) so I chose cutlets, sliced them into 1 1/2-inch strips, and only sauteed them for 90 seconds. I also couldn’t find fresh pearl onions, only frozen, but they came out fine and I didn’t have to change the cooking time. As for the turnips, I thought they were bitter. I guess they just aren’t my thing. Everything else was, though. Despite how little you see on the plate, I thought it was a pretty filling dish. I don’t know if I would make it again, but it was pretty delicious, and an encouraging start for our latest MoM considering we’re cooking out of it almost solely for the next month.

Bianchetto di Vitello allo Yogurt
aka Sauteed Veal with Yogurt-Chive Sauce
Courtesy La Cucina Italiana, June 2009

1 cup plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into eighths
3/4 pound pearl onions, peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds veal top round, cut into 1-inch cubes

Stir together yogurt and chives; season with salt and pepper.

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Add broccoli and simmer until crisp tender, about 4 minutes. Reserving water, transfer broccoli to a plate. Return water to boil, add turnips and onion and simmer until crisp tender, about 3 minutes. Drain vegetables and pat dry.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add veal in batches and cook, stirring, until browned and cooked to medium, about 4 minutes; transfer to a plate. Reduce heat to medium, add remaining
1/2 tablespoon oil, turnips and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Season veal and vegetables with salt and pepper.

Divide yogurt sauce onto plates and top with veal, sautéed vegetables and broccoli. Serve warm.

I fell off the Magazine of the Month bandwagon for this reason: Everything I saw was either way too intimidating or dreadfully uninspiring. I also live in a small, depressed city, so our off-the-rack magazine selection often leaves me wanting. I thought maybe we could switch to a book for something a little different, so I went to the bookstore and started searching through the cooking section…

Again with the intimidation.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on vacation to Las Vegas. If you’re anything like me and not into activities that involve paying cash for naked strangers, then all that’s left to see in Vegas is shopping and the food.

Oh, the delicious food…

Yes, I’ll be covering my trip to Bouchon as soon as I can. Embarrassingly enough, it involves my waiter catching me sending a flurry of text messages to Citizen Chef, gloating that I was sitting in Bouchon! I even got a menu as a souvenir — I swear I didn’t steal it. The waiter gave it to me… though I would have considered sneaking one out in my purse if it had come down to that.

Anyway, after my trip to Vegas, eating in some truly great restaurants from some inspiring (and surprising) chefs, I was ready to come home and challenge myself. Magazine of the Month is back on! I’ve selected one that I’ve been purchasing on and off for over ten years, but have been way too intimidated to cook anything out of. No more.

Through June and July, we will be investigating La Cucina Italiana.

My first experience with this magazine was oh, so long ago when I thought all there was to Italian cuisine was spaghetti and lasagna. I brought it home and boy was I ever confused. I don’t think there was a single spaghetti recipe in that edition. Since that first encounter, I’ve found myself wanting to try their dishes out, yet nervous about the unfamiliar ingredients, processes, and the time sink it may take to make their food. I’ve continued to purchase these magazines off and on, but I confess I’ve yet to make anything.

This edition contains information and recipes to make pasta from farro (which includes that delicious “little lasagna with tomato, burrata and pesto” on the cover), an assortment of strawberry desserts, and a really delicious spread on paninis that even has me salivating — and I’m not big on paninis.

Grab a magazine, sharpen your knives, and get your seatbelts on. It’s time for some delicious Italian cuisine.

Buon appetito!

I know, I know, I said I was on a hunt for healthy breakfasts I could take to work in the morning. In my defense, this has bananas and eggs and flour. That’s three out of the four food groups, right?

…

I had bananas and wanted to make a little bread with it. Over the years, a lot of the banana breads I’ve tried have ended up very dry. The only one that didn’t called for an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and I didn’t have that on hand. So, I went searching for something new.

This loaf is surprisingly moist and incredibly dense. At first I was a little disappointed because I used an extra-dark chocolate which made the first few bites ultra-chocolatey.

It’s okay, though. I got over it.

Next time, though, I’ll use regular cocoa. Also, for anyone who usually puts in baking shortcuts like me, I wrote this with my methodology that skips sifting all of the dry ingredients except for the cocoa, which I dumped into a strainer and shook out. I prefer strainers over sifters because they’re a lot easier to clean. (Hello, Mr. Dishwasher!)

After the batter came together, I was very worried because it’s a lot of batter for a small baking dish. My fear was the dough was going to rise and double. But it doesn’t, which is where the moistness and denseness comes in. On the back end of your bite, the banana flavor kicks in, creating a subtle, tasty treat. Maybe you won’t feel good about eating this for breakfast, but maybe later with a small cup of coffee…

Me? Oh, I had no qualms eating this and licking it off my fingers when I was done.

Cocoa-Nana Bread
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan, Baking - From My Home to Yours

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1/2 cup store-bought chocolate chips

Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of one another. This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from overbaking.

In a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for one minute, until softened. (My butter had been sitting out overnight, so I skipped this.) Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Reduce the mixer to low speed and mix in the mashed bananas.

Sift the cocoa powder into the bowl, and add the salt and baking soda. Mix on low speed until just combined. Add each cup of flour one at a time, mixing until just combined. Add the buttermilk, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate and scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tent to keep the top from getting too dark and continue to bake for another 40 - 45 minutes or until a thin knife in the center comes out clean.

(Note: My loaf pan was 8.5×4.5, so my loaf of bread required another 10 - 12 minutes of baking.)

Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding it. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

I’ve been doing CSA or Community Supported Agriculture for about 4 years now.  How it works is you buy a share of produce from a local farm for a season, and they send you a box of goodies every week, or every other week depending on how big a share you buy.  Ours comes from Harmony Valley Farmsin Viroqua, Wisconsin, and has never disappointed.  Well that’s not entirely true.  CSAs are like playing the stock market.  Your fortune rises and falls with the farmer’s fortunes.  But that is part of the point I think, closely allying yourself with local farmers gives you a connection to your food that is sadly lacking in today’s culture.

Let’s all, as cooks and foodies, take that next step in the Food Revolution and start giving a crap about where we get our food.  But make no mistake, this is not a high moral stance.  I admit, supporting the local economy by buying local organic foods makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But the bottom line is, that if you buy your vegetables locally they can ripen in the ground and not on the Sysco truck, and that makes them taste better.  And that makes cooking them easier because you are halfway to the end zone from the get-go.

The last time I took a cooking class with Chef Tory(word count of article before I mentioned Chef Tory or L’etoile was 215, for those of you scoring at home) he told us why the food at his restaurant was so amazing.  “I make really good stock, and I buy the very best local ingredients I can.  And then I just don’t mess them up.”  This is not rocket science.  We have a leg up on all those French Chefs from 100 years ago because we don’t need to make a sauce to cover up the fact that the meat we are serving it over is spoiled.

I used to think “organic” food was hippy-dippy bullshit.  I cringed when a chef mentioned that they were “all about the ingredients”.  As opposed to what??  “Seasonal cooking”?  Bah!  I’ll cook what I want when I damn-well feel like it.  But now I understand.  Their food tastes better because the stuff they make their food out of tastes better.

Which leads us to this recipe.  And a bit of an admission.  I had to go off on a rant there, well firstly because it’s fun, and kind of my thing.  But secondly because the lovely Mrs Citizen Chef deleted the pictures I had taken of this dish, so I needed something to fill the space.

The main impetus behind making this was I had over-wintered spinach from the farm to use up.  And if you’ll notice, the spinach part of this recipe could not be more simple.  Wilt the spinach with some oilve oil, throw on some salt and that.  is.  it.  I gilded the lilly a bit by putting some 25 year old balsamic on at the very end, but what the heck.  It was amazing.  And the shrimp in romesco sauce was awesome as well.

Shrimp In Romesco with Wilted Spinach
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes, Servings: 6

Note: From “The Zuni Café Cookbook” by Judy Rodgers.

Romesco base
2 tablespoons raw almonds (about 12 nuts)
1/4 cup hazelnuts (about 32 nuts)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped drained tomatoes or peeled ripe tomatoes
1 1/4 cup mild-tasting extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 ancho chile
1 1/2 ounces chewy, white peasant-style bread (about 1 thick slice), crust removed
2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon l’Estornel brand red wine vinegar or other red wine vinegar fortified with a few drops of sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon mild paprika
Salt

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Drop the almonds in a small pot of boiling water and leave for about 10 seconds. Drain, slide off the skins, and rub dry. Set aside.

2. Roast the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet until the skins darken and start to split, 10 to 15 minutes. While they are still hot, bundle them in a towel, then scrunch and massage them to rub off most of their skins. Pick out the nuts and set aside.

3. Turn the oven to broil. Spread the tomatoes one-half-inch thick in a small, shallow baking dish. Trickle with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil and broil until the tomatoes char slightly and bubble, a few minutes. Remove from the broiler.

4. Reduce the oven heat to 425 degrees. Meanwhile, pour a few cups of boiling water over the chile and leave to swell for a few minutes. Drain and then stem and seed the pepper.

5. Pour olive oil to a depth of one-half inch into an 8- or 10-inch skillet and set over medium-low heat. Test the temperature with the edge of the slice of bread; when it barely sizzles on contact, reduce the heat slightly and add the bread. (You may need to cut the bread into pieces so it fits into the pan in a single layer.) Check the underside at 1 minute; it should be beginning to color. Fry until it is the color of cornflakes, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain and cool on a paper towel.

6. Thickly slice the garlic, then pound to a paste in a mortar. Scrape into a processor and add the chile, fried bread, almonds and hazelnuts. Grind to a fine, moist paste, scraping the sides frequently. Scrape in the tomato and process to a paste. Add the vinegar, paprika, the remaining extra-virgin olive oil and salt to taste. Taste; it should be bursting with flavor, although not overly spicy. The flavor of the paprika will come out over time.

7. Spread the paste in a thick layer in a small, shallow baking dish and bake until the surface has turned dark orange with occasional flecks of brown, about 8 minutes. (Makes about 1 cup. Can be made up to a week in advance.)

Shrimp and assembly
1 cup chicken stock, shellfish fumet (concentrated stock), water, or a combination
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1/2 cup yellow onions
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1 1/4 pounds large shrimp in their shells or just over 1 pound peeled shrimp
3/4 pound spinach, stemmed, carefully washed and dried

1. Bring the stock, fumet or water and the white wine to a simmer in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat and stir in the romesco base. Taste for salt. Cover and set aside for about 30 minutes. As this brew cools, the crumbs will begin to swell and soften, which will give the sauce a nice texture.

2. Place the diced onions in a 3-quart sauté pan with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and a few pinches of salt. Cook over medium heat until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the romesco and warm through, about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and turn the heat to medium-low. Cook gently, turning each one over once in the thickening sauce, until the shrimp are just firm and opaque, about 4 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp.

3. Meanwhile, warm another 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and sprinkle with salt. Gently turn and fold leaves until they are uniformly wilted and bright green. Taste for salt and add another trickle of oil if the spinach seems lean.

4. Divide the spinach among warm plates. Arrange the shrimp on top. Taste the sauce, and correct the salt. The romesco should be fluid but thick; reduce briefly or add a splash of water if it seems either watery or pasty. Spoon the sauce over all.

~Citizen Chef

Here at AwK, there’s been an ongoing behind-the-scenes debate with the authors about Cook’s Illustrated. As much as we love CI, as well as their entire entourage of magazines and books, not much is free.

No one here has a problem with that — we get it. You’ve heard my rants about Food & Wine magazine and how I can’t justify paying for a magazine that has all of the recipes listed online before my magazine even gets into my mailbox, but the upside is that I have no problem cooking their dishes and reposting them here.

CI’s a little more tricky. Their business model eliminates advertising and instead relies on actual subscribers. Crazy, I know, but for this very reason we’ve been reluctant to have a free-for-all reposting of their recipes. So that’s why you haven’t seen a lot of CI/America’s Test Kitchen, as much as we love ‘em.

You will, however, get a periodic one from me. I justify it like this — I pay for a magazine subscription and an additional fee for an online description, which should allow me to post something awesome from CI at least once a month. And, I agree, if I post then I should at least try to get you to buy the magazine. Here goes: If you love delicious food and you’re looking for a fantastic cooking magazine that eliminates fluffy articles (that you won’t read anyway) and pages upon pages of advertising (that you will ignore), Cook’s Illustrated is the way to go.

Now with my apologetics and endorsements out of the way, here’s something that kicks ass: Indian-Style Curry with Potatoes, Cauliflower, Peas and Chickpeas.

The first time I had the pleasure of eating this was a couple of months ago. The recipe had been published in the recent “Soups & Stews” magazine that I had picked up back in March, and was the first thing out of the magazine that I made. From the first bite until the last, I couldn’t stop myself from making all kinds of obscene noises, that’s how good it was.

Not that my spouse minded.

Indian-Style Curry with Potatoes, Cauliflower, Peas and Chickpeas
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

2 tablespoons curry powder (sweet or mild)
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped fine (about 2 cups)
12 ounces Red Bliss potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 - 1 1/2 serrano chiles, ribs, seeds, and flesh minced (I used 1 jalapeno)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 medium head cauliflower, trimmed, cored, and cut into 1-inch florets (about 4 cups)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 1/4 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
Table salt
8 ounces frozen peas (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup heavy cream
Plain, nonfat yogurt (as garnish)
4 cups cooked basmati rice

Toast curry powder and garam masala in small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until spices darken slightly and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove spices from skillet and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and potatoes are golden brown on edges, about 10 minutes. (Reduce heat to medium if onions darken too quickly.)

Reduce heat to medium. Clear center of pan and add remaining tablespoon oil, garlic, ginger, chile, and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add toasted spices and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute longer. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring constantly, until spices coat florets, about 2 minutes longer.

Add tomatoes, water, chickpeas, and 1 teaspoon salt; increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in peas and cream or coconut milk; continue to cook until heated through, about 2 minutes longer. Adjust seasoning with salt and serve immediately, passing condiments separately.

It’s delicious and obscene noise worthy. Serve this up on top of cooked rice. At the time I was out of basmati, but it was still great on top of cooked jasmine. Indian dishes can be topped with an assortment of things like chutney or a relish (which CI has recipes for if you’re interested), but I like mine with plain, nonfat yogurt. The yogurt also helps cut down on the spiciness if you went a little overboard with the peppers.

Weeknight Cooking: A
Overall Cooking: A-

I don’t keep breakfast items readily available in the house. There’s always dry cereal, but we don’t use the milk fast enough to warrant keeping a lot of it in the refrigerator, and the cereal sits alone, unwanted. I like breakfast, specifically something that goes well with my coffee. Yep, you guessed it — more Ellie!

Unfortunately a lot of my photographs that I took didn’t come out well so, just a few minutes ago, I set up a little faux photo studio made from pages of a white “While You Were Out” message pad.

It was the best I could do.

I wish these were a lot more photogenic. Sadly, their modest appearance just doesn’t do the taste justice. These little gems are moist, sweet muffins with tender bits of apple baked throughout. And they’re delicious. Coming from someone who generally dislikes apples, that’s quite a statement. But that’s not the best bit. What really makes this little gem is the tasty brown sugar, cinnamon and pecan streusel on top.

These go together fast and they’re very easy, not to mention that they contain a lot of nutritious things your body needs — such as the applesauce and whole wheat. And yet, I don’t taste the “diet” element in this, something I am incredibly picky about. I don’t drink diet sodas nor do I eat a lot of sugar substitutes. They don’t taste right to me. These scrumptious muffins taste dynamite and you’re giving your body good, too.

Most importantly, it’s great with my coffee. I take two of these to work with me in a little plastic sandwich bag so I can eat them at my desk. They’re incredibly moist and surprisingly sweet and, because they’re in muffin format, they’re portable.

The recipe was adapted from Ellie Krieger’s book that I’ve been going on and on about. You’re probably sick of hearing about it by now, but I’m just in love with what I’m able to find inside. Remember those portobello lasagna roll ups I made not too long ago? I remade them the other night using creminis and turkey sausage. So yummy.

Anyway, most of the ingredients for this recipe were already in my cupboard, except for the applesauce. The only applesauce I had contained sugar, and what the recipe recommends is natural. To compensate, I cut the brown sugar in half, and still came out with something really special. My version is below. You can find Ellie’s original in her book, or on the Food Network website.

Apple Muffins
Adapted from Ellie Krieger

Cooking spray
3/8 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. Gently stir in the apple chunks.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

I’m going to keep making these so I can have them on hand. I have a lot of leftover blueberries in my fridge so I’m going to switch those in for the apple and see what happens.

Citizen Chef and I share several passions. Good cooking, fine dining, a nice wine, those he and I share in common.

The obscene man-crush on Fabio from Top Chef isn’t a shared feeling; though I do feel that Fabio is a great chef.  (news on the Fabio front)

Another thing that we share is our inspiration for, and enjoyment of, is Pho. Pho (pronounced “Fuh” by most people - actually, the pronunciation is a variable as far as I can tell, as no one pronounces it the same way twice) is a world famous Vietnamese noodle soup involving beef and beef related products swimming with some rice noodles and a nice clear beef broth. That is Pho Bo (aka Beef Soup). There is also a chicken related Pho, but that could be another post. So for our purposes, we are going to concentrate on the beef soup.

This is the Pho I made!

Now you may be asking yourself, “Self, why would Squidlegs really like a Vietenemese dish since he is not, pretty obviously, from said region of the world?” And you would be asking yourself a very good question. And I have an answer for you… And yourself. Recently on the wonderful “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” there was an episode where he and his old boss from his restaurant in New York got up early just to go eat a good bowl of Pho for lunch. Yes.. There was that much waiting around. But they both agreed that it was worth it. If Tony says something is that good, I gotta go try it. I was inspired. I ran right out and… Well I totally forgot about it. Forgotten, until Citizen Chef came back from vacation, talking about Pho and how it was pretty darned good.

So then he and I had to try it together. On his home turf, we made arrangements to go try a good Vietenemese place near by. But it was closed the night we were going out. So his town actually had a second Vietenemese restaurant. Off we went. And it was pretty darned good.With some spring rolls and slow food delivery, we made a good time of it and enjoyed the food. We also made commitments that he would try the place we were going to be trying and that I would try the one restaurant in my neck of the woods. I managed to pull one over on Citizen Chef though, because two nights later, I went to other restaurant in his town and tried Pho again. Sneaky, aren’t I? It was pretty good. I thought that the broth, one of the key components, was a little lacking, but I did get this batch of Pho to-go, so I may have missed some of the nuances in the really hot broth or fresh noodles. I also tried the restaurant in my home town and, again, while good, wasn’t great! so the quest continued.

Now, all of the above was a set up for me telling you that I have the secret to good American Pho. I say American Pho as I am sure many of our Vietnamese readers or friends will tell you that no one over here can really get the ingredients or knows the secrets of real Pho. But this stuff is pretty damned good if I do say so myself. I found this recipe online (please check out the full page for the recipe… it’s somewhere in the middle.) All of the pictures in this post are from my attempt at cooking this, but the writer of the blog above also has some great pictures.

Finished Broth

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4″ nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat - chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 5 star anise, 1 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
1 1/2 tbl salt
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) - or 1oz of regular sugar

Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.

Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.

Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spice packet, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you’ll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning - if you want a little more flavor, add a few dashes more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or large pinch of regular sugar).

Everything ready for the broth

THE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Cock sauce (Sriracha)

Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible - try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will “assemble” their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles - there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that’s needed. The package that I purchased (above) - needed about 45 seconds in boiling water.

Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.

Everything needed to make a good bowl of Pho

There are a couple of notes about the recipe above.

• I used flank steak and I got a little over a pound. I used half for the broth and then shredded it for the actual bowl and then thin sliced the other half for the “raw’ portion that gets cooked by the broth.
• The broth is really fatty if you use soup bones, so at one point my kitchen looked sort of like the soap-making scene in “Fight Club,” but without the chemical burns. Just fair warning, you will want to use a ladle and get the first inch to two inches of liquid off the top of the broth before proceeding to the second 1-1/2 hour simmer. I actually poured the liquid into a seperator and out of 4 cups of liquid, had less than a cup of broth, all of the rest was fat.
• It doesn’t say to, but I toasted the spice pack before I put it together. I recommend that. It was really nummy!
• This is not a race, take your time. It will take a whole afternoon to make this.
• While I was at the store getting items for this dish, I found some beef/tendon meatballs in the asian frozen food section. I highly recommend that in addition to the other meat in the dish. You boil them for 15 minutes right out of the freezer and cut them in half and put it in the soup bowl, as I did. I really encourage you to add this, as it brings a great flavor and texture to the game.
• There are a couple of other condiments that you should consider.
  • Chili Garlic Paste (found in asian sections of big grocery stores, or oriental food markets
  • Beef Paste, found in the same place
  • Fried Minced Garlic, which I actually didn’t find, so I didn’t try it, but I have had it in a restaurant and it adds another layer of flavor.
• About the hoisin and “cock” sauce (so called because of the rooster on the bottle, get your minds out of the gutter!), you don’t see it in the photos, but I did add it. It is about a tablespoon of each, but that will spice it up, so you may want to use less of the cock sauce.

So that’s it. The secret to great Pho. It was awesome and I am not just saying that because I gloating. Though I am. It was just really, really good. And once the excess fat was removed, it is even pretty healthy. I hope you try it and enjoy!

Squidlegs