New Year's Eve 2011

2011.  It's hard to grasp.

I remember as a little kid figuring how old I was going to be in the year 2000.  Not just old.  Ancient.  I couldn't quite fathom being almost as old as my grandparents.

And here it is, 11 years after that.

I do know that that little boy in San Francisco never imagined his life would be what it is today.  I don't think I even knew where Pennsylvania was, let alone thinking that I would actually be living here.

And I certainly didn't imagine going to war, working in hotels all over the United States, or actually settling down and getting married to the greatest guy in the world after a rather wild and somewhat misspent youth.

No.  That little boy couldn't have imagined half of it.

A computer?!?  The World Wide Web?!?  Transistor radios were the hot new thing and television was in black and white.  Annette was the most popular Mouseketeer, but Cubby was secretly my favorite.

A long time ago.

And not such a long time ago, I don't think I imagined this being my 999th blog post.  How fitting that New Year's Eve should be the last post before I hit 1000.

1000 posts!  What will I cook?  What will I say?  We have been planning having Linda and David over on Sunday.  I never did plan anything for New Year's Day, itself.

In typical Tim fashion, I'll just have to wing it.

Like I did with dinner tonight.....

I knew I was doing veal chops and I knew I was going to serve them on a bed of arugula, but that was about it. I found a recipe from Gourmet with radicchio and white beans that gave me the idea for endive, tomatoes, and white beans.

Veal Chops

  • veal chops, 1" thick
  • olive oil
  • rosemary
  • garlic, minced
  • tomato, diced
  • 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • Belgian endive, roughly chopped
  • arugula
  • red wine vinegar
  • chicken broth
  • cornstarch
  • salt and pepper

For 2 chops, mince 1 clove garlic and mix with 1/4 teaspoon rosemary and about a quarter-cup of olive oil.  Marinate the chops for about an hour, turning a couple of times.

In a hot skillet, sear the chops and then place in a 375° oven for about 20 minutes.

A couple of minutes before the chops are done, quickly saute arugula in a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Arrange on plate.

Place chops atop arugula.

In chop pan, add endive and diced tomato.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (or vinegar of your choice.)  When vinegar has reduced a bit, add beans and about 1 cup of chicken broth mixed with a tablespoon of cornstarch.

Cook until lightly thickened, check for seasoning, and spoon over chops.

That chop was way too much even for me, but I gave it that old college try.  Cybil will be eating well for the next couple of days!

The flavors all worked well together.  The vinegar was just sharp enough, but also diluted by the chicken broth so as not to be overpowering.  The tomato added sweetness, the beans a comforting smoothness.  The endive added a nice bitterness and a good crunch.  The chops themselves were excellent.  And the peppery goodness of the arugula played off everything else.

In other words, it was a perfect meal to end the first decade of the second millennium.

And post 999.


Chicken and Cranberries

While shopping yesterday I picked up a bag of fresh cranberries.  It seems a bit late in the season for cranberries to still be so plentiful.  I don't know if I just haven't been paying attention or I'm noticing them more because everything else is looking so bad.  Weather in Florida and California is really wreaking havoc on produce right now - and I'm sure prices are going to be reflecting it soon.

But I digress...

I picked up cranberries with the thought of making a cranberry sauce for some chicken breasts and leftovers for ham sandwiches.  Love hose versatile sauces!

Cranberry sauce really is the easiest thing in the world to make.  Really.  I had sparkling cranberry juice and dried cranberries in the house so I made a really simple triple cranberry sauce.

Triple Cranberry Sauce

  • 1 cup sparkling cranberry juice
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 12 oz fresh cranberries

Mix cranberry juice and sugar in medium saucepan.  Heat and stir until sugar dissolves.  Add both cranberries and cook until cranberries pop and sauce begins to thicken a bit - about 10 minutes.

Cool and chill.

As I said - easy.

The chicken was a simple boneless, skinless breast that I sauteed in a bit of butter and then finished off in the oven.  The only thing I did was add salt and pepper.  No other seasonings.  I didn't want anything to compete with the cranberry sauce tonight.

Green and yellow Italian beans - salt, pepper, butter - and plain white rice finished the plate.  The simple rice also worked well capturing the runaway cranberry sauce.

It was one of those meals with really simple flavors but also one where every flavor was noticed.  I like moving back and forth between using every spice in the cabinet and showing restraint.  I mean...  restraint is not a word that is often associated with me.  It's fun to step outside of the box now and again.

I'm also thinking that the sauce can be reworked into a dipping sauce for some hors d'oeuvre or another on Sunday.  We have a biannual dinner with dear friends and while the main dish (a lobster pasta) and dessert (a big ol' cheesecake) are already planned, the hors d'oeuvres are not chiseled in stone.  But as I sit here, I think a mini-fritter of sorts with a spicy cranberry dipping sauce may be fun.  I really love that deep fryer!

I made the cheesecake when I got home today because it really needs to set for a few days.  Not an easy thing to allow to happen, but it's for a special occasion.  We'll deal with it.

And I need to figure out what to do with the veal chops for  our New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow night.

The stress.


Ham Steaks and Potatoes

Early in my hotel career, I worked with an Executive Chef named Peter Koenig at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe.  Peter initially hired me as a cook at the gourmet restaurant Hugos Rotisserie on the lake, and then brought me up to the main hotel restaurant.   Peter was an exacting and demanding chef - but not in the temperamental and egotistical manner that seems so fashionable today.  Peter just expected things to be done the right way.  He took the time to teach and show you how to do it and how he wanted it done and then expected you to do it correctly every time you did it.  I was a quick learn.  I just knew it wouldn't be wise to piss him off.

It paid off.  Peter actually hired me twice.  First as a cook and then after a brief interlude back in San Francisco, to run the short-lived Ponderosa Buffet off the hotel casino.  It was from the Ponderosa that I went to Alpine Jack's and started managing the restaurant I once cooked for.

I learned a lot from Peter from cooking and technique to presentation and management.  How to nit-pick on the seemingly minor details because the minor details were what were actually important. Or when to come down heavy on an employee for screwing up and when to create a "learning experience."   We butted heads now and again but it always was a learning experience.....

He was good.

Really good to be remembered 35 years after that initial hire!

But I remembered him today because of a ham.  A Cure 81 Ham.  I really don't recall the exact scenario, but it basically had to do with us getting the wrong ham.  I think that at one time Cure 81's were pretty much only available to the industry and they were the top "deli ham" of the day.  They could be shaved thin for sandwiches or sliced thick for ham steaks.  For whatever reason, we got the wrong ham and Peter was not amused.

Fast-forward 30-whatever years and I'm at the grocery store, look down, and see a Cure 81 ham.

It's amazing how something as simple as a ham can trigger such a flood of memories.   It was (still) not cheap but I had to buy it.

A dozen recipe ideas were running through my mind.  But the first one was the simplest and most appealing. Fried Ham Steak.

The ham steaks tonight were simply fried in a pat of butter.  And fried ham needs potatoes and peas.  But not just any potato...  A thin-sliced-soft-in-the-center-and-crispy-on-the-outside potato.

I sliced the potatoes nice and thin using a mandoline  (go buy one - they're fantastic!) and layered them in a small skillet.  I drizzled a bit of butter on them as I built the layers and added a pinch of salt and pepper now and again, as well.

When I got to the top I sprinkled them with dill.

They went onto the stovetop for about 5 minutes and then covered, into a 375° oven for 45 minutes.

The last three or so minutes were under the broiler to crisp the top.

I inverted the pan onto a cutting board and sliced in half.  They came out just as I wanted - crispy on the outside and nice and soft and buttery on the inside.

I think Peter would have approved.


Filet Mignon Roast with Sauce Béarnaise

Ah...  the joys of Gift Cards...

Victor's mom got us a gift card for Christmas so I thought I would exchange it for a ridiculously-expensive piece of meat.  A seasoned filet mignon roast.  I mean...  why not?!?  I think the whole concept of gift cards is to buy something you would not normally buy yourself, and a filet roast is definitely something I would not normally buy.

Or cook and serve on a non-occasion Tuesday.

But that's  the other half of the fun.  Doing the unexpected.

I pan-seared the roast then put it into a 375° over for about 30 minutes.  I didn't use a thermometer with this - just the look-and-touch method.  After all these years, the touch is still there - perfectly rare in the center.

A filet roast on a non-occasion Tuesday requires more than mere potatoes and vegetable.  I did a gorgonzola mashed yukon gold potato and French green beans with mushrooms, garlic, and almonds.

And a semi-classic Béarnaise sauce for the beef.

I have had such incredibly-good luck with blender hollandaise and blender béarnaise that I will probably never whisk one over simmering water ever again.  Really.

Just too easy.

Béarnaise Sauce

  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 tsp dry tarragon (or 1 tbsp fresh)
  • Pinch black pepper
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp tarragon vinegar

Place shallot, tarragon, pepper, and wine in small saucepan.  Reduce to about 1 1/2 tablespoons of liquid.  Strain.

Melt the butter, keeping it hot.

Add egg yolks and tarragon vinegar to blender.  Mix.  With blender running at high speed, slowly dribble in the hot butter.  When butter is all added, whirl in the wine reduction.

Enjoy.

The potatoes were simply boiled and mashed with a bit of gorgonzola, butter, milk, salt, and pepper.  I rarely peel the potatoes and I like lumps.  Your mileage may vary.

The green beans were steamed and then sauteed with mushrooms, fresh minced garlic, and a handful of sliced almonds.  A bit of salt and pepper finished them off.

Not bad for a non-occasion Tuesday dinner.


Monday Monday

The Blizzard of 2010 kept me indoors today.  Not that we had a blizzard at our house.  Maybe 6" of snow.  Maybe.

But it was enough to keep me from wanting to go out and deal with all the morons who like to drive like it's mid-July.  We could have gone shopping and we could have come up with a pasta dish with what we had in the house, but we decided to take a Pasta Monday Break.

It was more fun watching old movies and doing nothing.

Victor did his Italian magic in the kitchen with Chicken Cutlets with homemade sauce and fontina cheese and green beans with homemade sun-dried tomato pesto.

Everything but the cheese came out of the freezer.

He was originally going to cook gnocchi as well, but decided if we ate less pasta for dinner we could have more cookies for dessert.

I like his way of thinking!

It's been a fun couple of days.  We were never snowed in, didn't lose power, and had lots of goodies to eat.  The perfect way to deal with Mother Nature.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.  It's back to the real world tomorrow.

Oh well.


Beef 'n Biscuits

It's still snowing outside.  I don't quite see the 8"-12" they're predicting, though.  Right now it looks like a bit of a bust at our house.  Bummer.  But it's put me in winter cooking mode nonetheless.

Tonight was Beef 'n Biscuits.

A simple beef stew with a biscuit topping.

There's no real recipe to this.  Make a beef stew (or open a can of Dinty Moore) and make some biscuits (the recipe is on the back of the baking mix box) and pop it all into the oven for 15 or so minutes.

The only real secret is to make sure your stew is really hot before putting the biscuit dough on.  If it's not hot, the bottom of the biscuit will not bake and it will be doughy.

I use a medium scoop when dishing the biscuit dough, but a hefty tablespoon will work just fine.  Just be careful not to make the biscuits too big.  They will rise and get much larger in the oven.

This is pure comfort food and perfect for a snowy evening.


Caffe Vergnano 1882

The weather outside is getting frightful.  Time for a cup of coffee.

But not just any ol' coffee...  We're having a pot of Caffe Vergnano 1882 Crystal.   From a nice half-kilo bag.

Victor's nephew, Nick,  got it for us from Eataly in NYC along with a bottle of Frantoio Lucchi & Guastalli Terra di Tramontana Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva.  That translates to "Really Expensive Olive Oil."

The label states the coffee is:

A Vergnano signature blend created by Vergnano for the connoisseur of the true Italian espresso.  Unique in its appearance and unfailing in quality.  Even the most untrained eye cannot help but to notice the large Margagogype beans of Nicaragua which are evident within this celebrated blend.  As an espresso there are floral undertones and hints of spice.  A rich crema and abundant aroma.  Prepared for a filter or drip coffee the 1882 blend produces a coffee which is surprisingly smooth and mellow and yet unmasked in its complexity.

The coffee is also not cheap but it lives up to the hype.  It's good.  really good.  It's a good thing that we don't live closer to NYC.  I couldn't afford to drink this every day!

But we're gonna love every drop.  And methinks we're gonna enjoy that olive oil, too!


Lentil Soup

The snow has finally started to fall.  The Blizzard of 2010 has officially begun.  We have our fully-charged phones, Kindles, and battery-powered radio.  If the power goes out, we're ready.

And we're ready in the kitchen, too.  Blizzards mean soup, right?!?  And a loaf of homemade bread.

The beauty of having a well-stocked larder is ya don't have to go out pre-blizzard and buy your French Toast fixin's...

Let it snow.  We're set for days.

I had a nice, meaty ham bone in the freezer, so that was the "inspiration piece" for the meal.  I also had the no-knead bread dough in the 'fridge.

Ready.  Set.  Go.

Lentil Soup

  • 1 meaty ham bone
  • 4 quarts water
  • 3 cups lentils
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Tabasco
  • Salt and pepper

Chop and saute onion in soup pot.  When translucent, add water, bay leaves, and ham bone.  Bring to boil and then simmer, uncovered, about an hour or so.

Remove bone and let cool. Cut or pull meat from bone and set aside to add to soup.

Add lentils, carrots, and celery.  Cook about 20 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender. Add ham and simmer another 10 minutes, or so.

Add cayenne, Tabasco, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with crusty bread and butter.

It's a really easy and very basic.  The cayenne and Tabasco add just the slightest bit of heat.  It's not supposed to overpower or be pronounced.  Just a bit.

And a loaf of bread always makes the meal complete.

The weather has really started blowing out there.  It may be time to make another loaf before the power goes out...


Christmas Eve 2010

'Tis the Season!

We've been here about 18 hours and have been eating for most of them!  If I can't be home in San Francisco with all my family, North Jersey and Victor's family is not a bad second.

Tradition here is Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes - Festa dei Sette Pesci.   The Feast of the Seven Fishes originated in Southern Italy and goes back to the medieval Catholic tradition of abstinence.

It's certainly not about abstinence here.  More like abundance.

Our brother-in-law, Tom, is the Christmas Eve chef, preparing shrimp, crab, mussels, and whatever is looking the best at the fish monger.

And then he creates his magic.

We started with a crab dip, and I made our friend Luigi's Christmas Eve Killer Shrimp.  Killer is an understatement.  It rocks!

::insert fuzzy picture here when I get home::

And then there was Linguini with Clams

And breaded and fried tilapia, cod with almonds, mussels with a sweet or spicy marinara...

What am I missing?!?

It was all just too good.  With salad and lots of crusty bread to sop up the various sauces...

After way too much food, the tradition continues with neighbors Ben and Barbara and their kids coming over.  Barbara brings her homemade Finikia - a Greek cookie of sorts, and we start on desserts...

Because it's all about the desserts!

And then it's up until the wee hours of the morning.....


Beef and Mushrooms

Merry Christmas Eve Eve.

It's been a pretty rough past few days.  Retail and The Holidays are nothing short of insane.  It's good to be home.

I hadn't pulled anything out of the freezer and as I was rummaging, Victor suggested we just head down to the diner.  I decided I would rather cook than leave the house and deal with the general public.  Gives you an idea of what the week has been like.

Besides...  there's stuff that needs using up before we head to North Jersey tomorrow...

So out came a couple of tenderized steaks.

I mixed up a bit of flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper and dredged them and browned them in a bit of butter.  I pulled them out of the skillet and added some fresh mushrooms.  When they were looking nice, I deglazed the pan with a hefty splash of brandy and then added about a cup of beef broth.  I let it simmer a few minutes and added about a quarter-cup of heavy cream. It was the end of the carton...

I thickened it with the seasoned flour, put the steaks back in and let it all simmer while the rice and broccoli cooked.

An easy dinner and I didn't have to deal with any crowds.

THAT is a Merry Christmas in my book!


Nutella Sandwich Cookies

I LOVE La Cucina Italiana Magazine.  Love it.  Where else would one find a recipe to make homemade gianduja - a nutella-like spread - and in another issue, cookies using the spread as an ingredient and as a filling?

My tummy is smiling tonight!

The kudos for both recipes go to pastry chef  Karen DeMasco.  The cookie recipe is rather unique in that it calls for sauteing rolled oats in butter before adding them to the dough.  What a great idea!  The whole kitchen smelled great before I even started!

Both the gianduja and cookie recipe will be regulars at our house.  The spread will last easily a month on the shelf and three times that in the refrigerator (not that it's likely to last that long around here!)

I used a 1 tablespoon scoop and got 54 cookies from the batch.  Those will make 27 sandwich cookies.  That's a lot of cookie.  These guys are rich!

I used my homemade gianduja, but the recipe was created for off-the-shelf Nutella.

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

Recipe by Karen DeMasco

Ingredients

For the cookies:

  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter plus 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup rolled oats (preferably Quaker)
  • 3/4 cup Nutella
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup Demerara sugar (see Note)

For the filling:

  • About 1 cup Nutella

Special equipment: parchment paper

Instructions

For the cookies: Heat oven to 350º. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large skillet, melt 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly golden, about 5 minutes; transfer oats to a large metal bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine room temperature butter, Nutella, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed, frequently scraping down the sides of bowl, until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In two additions, add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing on low speed until well incorporated, then add oats and mix until dough comes together and oats are incorporated.

Lightly flour the palms of your hands. Scoop 1 level tablespoon dough, roll into a ball, then flatten to about 1/8-inch-thick. Place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies at least 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cookies are puffed and golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to wire racks to cool completely. (Cookies can be stored, unfilled, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

To fill the cookies: Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread about 1 tablespoon Nutella over the flat sides of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, flat sides together.

Once filled, cookies are best same day, but can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Note: Demerara is a natural brown sugar, an English version of turbinado sugar but with a slightly larger crystal size. When sprinkled on cookies and pie crusts, it adds sparkle and crunch. Turbinado is a good substitute while granulated sugar will work in a pinch.


Cuban-Style Mojo Citrus Marinade & Cooking Sauce

I grocery shop for Victor's mom on Mondays.  It's not a big deal - she's easy to shop for - but she does have a few things she wants that can only be gotten at the local Acme.

I am not crazy about Acme.  They're a lot more expensive than other stores, for one, and even though they have remodeled, I still can't seem to get past what a dump it was when we first moved here.

But...  Last week instead of doing my really quick run-in-and-run-out, I decided I needed to at least walk the store and give them another real chance.  It's the holidays, and all.  I was feeling slightly magnanimous, or something.

Up-and-down every aisle I went, looking at different products and mentally comparing prices with PathMark and Wegmans.  For the most part, they were higher and I really wasn't finding a lot of things to put in that huge shopping cart I was pushing around.

I'm not a huge National Brand shopper and tend to zero in on store brands and regional items.  One brand that seemed to be everywhere was "Culinary Circle."  A quick look-up on the phone showed that it's the more upscale private label of Acme's parent company, SuperValu.

I noticed some simmer/stirfry-type sauces that looked interesting. One, in particular, was a  Cuban-Style Mojo Citrus Marinade & Cooking Sauce.  "Fresh citrus complement a blend of chiles and fresh garlic." Works for me!

Packaging is a lot and I liked the packaging.  Price was reasonable.  And lo and behold!  No high-fructose corn syrup or other nasty ingredients!  I bought a bottle.  I don't buy a lot of bottled sauces because they're easy to make and most of them are loaded with chemicals and other franken-foods.  But I do like to have a couple on the shelf for those nights when I'm feeling particularly lazy.  Like tonight.

I have to say the sauce did not disappoint.  It had a really nice cumin/chile flavor balanced with tangy citrus.  I was actually surprised that it had a bit of heat.  It's almost automatic that the first thing I need to do with bottled sauces is add something to kick it up a few notches.  I didn't have to, tonight.  It worked straight out of the bottle.

I stirfried chicken, celery, broccoli, added the sauce and then added some canned pineapple and an orange in segments.

Over rice.

I have a Mayan Fajita Marinade & Cooking Sauce in the cabinet.  I think next week we may have to head to Central America!