Crab Cakes
I saw some fresh (pasteurized) crab at the grocery today. I thought crab-stuffed chicken breasts with a simple sauce veloute. Rice pilaf of some sort, a lovely vegetable... I had the plate pictured in my mind. It looked great. I picked it up and continued wandering the store.
And when I got home, I decided to make crab cakes. Being versatile is good.
Into the bowl went 1 pound of lump crab meat, 4 green onions, 4 chopped pequillo peppers, 2 hard-cooked eggs, a bit of garlic, zest and juice of 1 lemon, some parsley, a bit of mayo and an egg to bind. Into the fridge it went.
An hour later I came back to actually make then and I had made it too soft. It really didn't look like a lot of mayo. But it was too much, evidently. Or too much lemon. Or the egg... Whatever... Regardless of why, it was a bit too loose to form into neat patties.
I just happened to have a bit of couple of days old bread, so I made fresh breadcrumbs and added them. Then I made the cakes and put them in panko breadcrumbs. It worked.
Into the skillet they went with grapeseed oil and a pat of butter.
They were crisp and delicate - just as a crab cake should be.
Victor made the tartar sauce; mayonnaise, chopped pickle (with a drizzle of pickle juice), capers, worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of pepper.
Perfect.
We each had two, two for Victor's lunch tomorrow, and I had enough to freeze 5 more.
Yum.
Lasagnette
The cover recipe of the June 2009 La Cucina Italiana was a dish called lasagnette di farina di farro con pomodori, burrata e pesto. In English, little lasagnas of farro flour with tomato, burrata and pesto. Definitely a mouthful in any language.
I kept looking at the cover, looking at the picture, looking at the recipe, and just knew that I wasn't going to go looking for farro flour to make pasta. Wasn't going to happen.
But I just loved the picture and the concept sounded fun. It looked really good.
I decided to improvise.
First thing I did was forget about making the pasta. I bought some no-cook lasagna sheets and cooked them. (I'm a rebel.) Immediately after getting them out of the boiling water, I put them into iced water.
I then made a really quick chunky tomato sauce. I minced some onion and a garlic clove and sauteed them in olive oil. Added a 6oz can of tomato paste and fried it a bit to freshen it and add a bit of flavor. To that, I added about a half-cup of red wine. Then a can of diced tomatoes in juice and some Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
I cooked it all for a few minutes and set it aside.
In a skillet, I sauteed a minced shallot in olive oil and then added 2 chopped portobello mushrooms. I cooked it all down really well, and then added a pound of ground veal. I cooked it all really well, added a cup of mushroom broth and reduced it all down. Set aside.
In yet another skillet (I dirtied a lot of pans for this) I sauteed some very thinly-sliced zucchini in a dab of butter, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.
The assembly:
I cut the rectangular sheets in half to form squares. I laid half of them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
I topped each with the veal and mushroom mixture and then the second square of pasta.
Atop the second square, I placed a bit of the chunky sauce, the zucchini, and thick slices of burrata.
Into a 350° oven it went for about 10 minutes. (Just enough time to get counters cleaned and a place ready to plate everything up!)
On the plate:
I put some of the chunky sauce on the plate, placed the lasagnette on top, and grated some Italian cheese on top of it all.
Served with a fresh loaf of beer bread made with a Belgian beer, garlic, and more of the Italian cheese.
It was excellent!
Here is my inspiration. There is just no end of things one can do with this...
Lasagnette di farina di farro con pomodori, burrata e pesto
4 servings
IngredientsPASTA
* 3/4 cup farro flour plus more for dusting
* 1 large egg
* 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil plus more for pasta water, baking sheet and lasagnette
* Fine sea saltPESTO
* 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves plus more for garnish
* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese plus more for lasagnette
* 2 walnut halves
* 1 teaspoon pine nuts
* 1 garlic clove, peeled
* 1 tablespoon club soda
* Fine sea salt
* Freshly ground black pepperTOMATO SAUCE
* Coarse sea salt
* 4 vine-ripened tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
* 1 garlic clove, peeled
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon tomato paste, preferably double concentrated
* 8 fresh basil leavesASSEMBLY
* 8 ounces burrata cheese or fresh water-packed mozzarella,cut into 1-inch pieces (see note)
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, meltedInstructions
FOR PASTA: In a small bowl, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add egg, oil and pinch salt to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolk and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then transfer dough to a lightly dusted work surface and knead until dough forms a complete mass. Knead, dusting work surface with flour as necessary, for 2 minutes more. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
FOR PESTO: Fill a small bowl with ice water. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil; add basil leaves for 15 to 20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer leaves to ice water. Let sit 1 minute, then drain and squeeze water from leaves.
In a blender, purée basil leaves, oil, cheese, walnuts, pine nuts, garlic, club soda and generous pinch salt and pepper until smooth. Transfer pesto to a small bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent discoloration. Chill for 1 hour.
FOR TOMATO SAUCE: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop tomatoes into water and boil 20 seconds; drain, peel, seed and cut into 1-inch pieces.
Heat oil, butter, onion, garlic and generous pinch salt and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently for 3 minutes. Add tomato, tomato paste, basil leaves and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer and cook until sauce is thickened, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning.
FOR ASSEMBLY: Cut pasta dough into 2 pieces; rewrap one. Flatten dough so that it will fit through the rollers of a hand-cranked pasta machine. Set rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting, then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times, folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll pasta through machine, decreasing the setting one notch at a time (do not fold or turn pasta), until sheet is about 16 x 5 inches (if dough feels wet, dust with flour). Cut pasta into 4 (4-inch) squares; discard scraps. Lay squares 1/2 inch apart on a dry baking sheet and cover with a clean dish towel. Repeat with remaining dough.
Heat oven to 450°.
Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add 1 teaspoon oil and 4 pasta squares; cook for 2 to 3 minutes after water returns to boil. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pasta to ice water, then to a large plate. Repeat with remaining squares.
Pat pasta dry. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and brush with oil. Put 4 pasta squares onto baking sheet. Dollop half of tomato sauce onto squares. Dot with half of burrata. Dollop 1 teaspoon pesto on top of each square, then sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano and pinch salt and pepper. Top with remaining pasta squares.
Drizzle lasagnette with melted butter and a touch of oil (you will have leftover ingredients) and bake until edges are lightly golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer to serving plates. Top with remaining tomato sauce, burrata and a drizzle of pesto (reserve leftover pesto for another use); garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.
June 2009
Strawberry Fields Forever
What do ya do when you have two people and two pounds of perfect strawberries? You get creative and eat them. That's what ya do!
And that's what I did tonight.
I bought the strawberries yesterday and they went on last nights salad. They made a guest appearance tonight as well - along with a strawberry walnut (and garlic!) dressing.
The salad itself was mixed greens with a bit of grilled flank steak, a slice of triple cream brie, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and a hard-cooked egg.
Strawberry Walnut Dressing
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup grapeseed (or other neutral) oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
In blender, puree strawberries, walnuts, garlic clove, and balsamic vinegar.
With machine running, slowly add oil. Blend until thick.
Add S&P to taste, if desired.
And then we had to have dessert!
Zabaione with Strawberries!
I don't think I've made zabaione since I worked at Hugo's at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. That was circa 1977. The recipe hasn't changed in all those years. Actually, the recipe hasn't changed for a few centuries. It is traditionally made with marsala, but any sweet wine will do. You can even make a whiskey zabaione. I had one of those a few years back and it was pretty good.
Zabaione
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup marsala
Mix the egg yolks, sugar, and marsala in a heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over barely simmering water and whisk continually for 8 minutes. You want to get at least triple volume.
Remove from heat and continue to whisk for another 30 seconds or so.
Serve warm over strawberries.
You need a good arm for this, but it is so worth the effort!
Friday Weigh-In
Well... it was too good to last. Two weeks of effortless (albeit small) weight-loss turned into reality this morning. I gained a half-pound.
I saw it coming. I'm actually surprised it was only a half-pound. I was not a good boy this week. I haven't been eating breakfast which starts the non-stop munching when I get to work. Self-control is not in my vocabulary on days like that.
So... it's a half-pound reality check. It cost me a buck, too.
The weather has turned warm and we're finally starting to see produce that's at least grown in the United States. (I just refuse to buy out-of-season produce from New Zealand or wherever.)
So... Here's to being a better boy this week!
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
I've cooked more than my share of corned beef, cabbage, and Irish sausages for this year. I decided that tonight we were going to have steaks. Grilled on the barbie. Irish-style.
The Irish-Style tonight was Goodall's Irish Steak Sauce! If you've never had, go out and get. This ain't your typical A-1 Sauce. This stuff has flavor! (And no high-fructose corn syrup!)
Lots of broccoli and oven-roasted potatoes. And lots of caramelized onions.
So... Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
And May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.
Halibut Fillets with Walnuts and Shallots
It's cold, wet, and raining outside. Not my idea of what the weather should be like in the days leading up to Spring. But... since I can't do anything about it, I may as well go with the flow - so to speak. We lucked out. With the torrents that have fallen the last few days, we got a bit of seepage around the stone fireplace and the mysterious puddle in the basement.
The puddle in the basement is fun. It appears in the middle of the floor. The middle of the floor. No water trail from the walls. Nothing from overhead. The middle of the floor. Fortunately, it goes away quickly. And anything of value (our bazillion Christmas ornaments, for example) are high and dry in plastic tubs. The middle of the floor...
But I digress...
Dinner...
I went up to the fish counter today and asked the guy behind the counter what I wanted today. He said that normally, people tell him what they want, not the other way around. But if he was buying, it would be the halibut. He had just cut it and put it out. It was fresh and wild-caught.
I bought two.
I tend to like to cook fish fairly simply and then add something fun on top. Tonight it was walnuts and shallots. It's a variation on an idea I saw in Bon Appetit a few years ago.
To cook the fish, I place it skin-side down in a hot skillet with a bit of olive oil and butter. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. I brown it on the stovetop for a few minutes and then stick the pan under the broiler for about 4 or 5 minutes.
Walnuts and Shallots
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 cup sliced shallots
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- S&P, as desired
Melt butter in small skillet. Add shallots and saute slowly until they begin to caramelize - 6-7 minutes, or so. Add walnuts and cook until lightly browned and fragrant. Add zest, lemon juice, and parsley.
Mix well and spoon over fish.
I served it up with sauteed zucchini and whole-grain brown rice.
And I almost forgot yesterday's feast!
I was down in media eating and taking food pictures, so when I got home, Victor whipped up a simple pasta.
Garlic, anchovy paste, red peppers, peas, beans, zucchini... grated cheese. And pasta.
DeeLish!
Salads and Cheesy Bread
Did my weigh-in at work. I lost 2 pounds this past week. I'm happy. That's not a bad achievement considering we have dessert virtually every night. But it also shows that if one takes the time to cook real food and not fill up on processed crap all day, you can have your cake and eat it, too. It's all about balance - and real calories that will do me some good versus crap calories that are nothing more than crap calories.
We're fully into salad mode, now. It's cold and raining, but I grilled a couple of thin-sliced round steaks to add to salads, and I made a loaf of bread to go along with it. Cheesy bread.
I cubed up some sharp provolone and mixed it in before forming the dough into a ball.
And if a couple of slices of provolone bread with roasted garlic butter wasn't celebration enough for losing a couple more pounds, I'm making a yellow cake for dessert! Real cake - not a mix. It's in the oven right now.
I'm thinking chocolate icing.....
Yellow Cake Is calling
I do love cake. It's one of my most favorite things - besides pies and cookies. And ice cream. Let's face it, dessert in general is my most favorite meal.
I decided a yellow cake was in order for tonight. It's been a while since I made one. I reached for my Better Homes and Gardens standby and then decided I wanted something else. I quick search on Epicurious brought up more variations than I wanted or needed. I went for one of the first ones listed.
Whenever I go to Epicurious, one of the first things I do is read the comments people leave about the recipes. It's absolutely amazing what some people will write. My favorites are always the folks who didn't follow any instructions, substituted half the ingredients, and then state it was the worst recipe they had ever made. (Well, duh.) Or the pompous folks who will go to a hollandaise sauce recipe and then expound for pages on how evil butter and eggs are. (Uh... this ain't Vegan Times...) They're just silly. This particular recipe had over 100 comments - and a lot of them were about how dry the cake was and how quickly the cake baked - nowhere near the 45 or so minutes of the recipe. I'll bet that not one of them used the 8" pans the recipe calls for.
Of course, I didn't either. I did use 8" pans, but I used 8" square pans. We all know from math class that an 8" square has more volume than an 8" circle. And since I knew from the beginning that I was changing things, I adjusted accordingly. It's not brain surgery.
Moist Yellow Cake
Epicurious | August 2004
Ingredients
- 3 cups (330 g) cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces or 230 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (454 g) granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (10 fluid ounces or 300 ml) buttermilk
preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and line with parchment paper two 8x2-inch (20x5-cm) pans. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Cut up the butter into 1-inch pieces and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters. Beat for 3 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds.
4.Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time.
5. Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top to burst any air bubbles, allowing the batter to settle.
7.Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I doubt I shall be winning any awards for neatness in cake-slicing this week, but I don't care. What it lacks in picture-perfectness, it more than makes up for in taste.
It was good. No matter what they wrote.
Bean Soup and Madeleines
That roasted chicken from Sunday just keeps on giving. Tonight, it was Bean Soup. The soup itself was pretty basic and simple. I boiled down the broth I had made yesterday just a bit more to concentrate the flavor and then added the leftover gravy I had made. I then added three cans of beans - pinto, roman, and pink beans (I always have a variety of canned beans on the shelf.) I hit it with the immersion blender and pureed it pretty well. I just added a bit of S&P because it had a pretty good flavor and I was looking for a simple soup because I was going to add stuff.
And the fun began.
I had seen a recipe in La Cucina Italiana for a chick pea soup with cabbage and chicken on top. It was a really really thick soup, but from looking at the recipe, not overly exciting. Victor pretty much loathes cooked cabbage in any form, so that idea was out. I decided to work with the concept...
I cooked a chicken breast with 2 links of fresh chorizo, removed from the casing. I then wilted spinach in a bit of roasted garlic butter and spooned that on top of the soup. I added the chicken and chorizo on top of that and dove in!
Oh... and I baked another loaf of bread identical to the one yesterday.
And for dessert...
Madeleines!
I don't think I have made a Madeleine since CCSF circa 1974. Years and years and years... But our friend Ann posted a recipe back in December and I've been wanting one ever since. I finally broke down and bought a Madeleine pan, and yesterday made the dough.
I baked after work today.
Ann's Madeleines
This recipe makes a dozen of the med to large size.
Make up batter the day before or at least a couple of hours before:
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1 C sifted flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt
- Zest of one orange, more or less
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 3 1/4 oz butter, melted and cooled
Mix dry ingredients in bowl, add zest, stir in.
Add eggs and melted butter, stir, don't beat until just combined. You don't want to incorporate a lot of air into the batter.
Chill for 2 hours up to 4 days.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Oil and flour pans (Lady in store said grapeseed oil gives the best crust)
Using pastry bag, pipe batter into molds. I didn't use a tip as I didn't have one big enough, isn't as if you are going to make a design you know.
Bake 7-11 minutes until edges are browned and the top springs back when tapped with a finger
Turn out onto rack and let cool.
These outdo Julia.
And who am I to argue? They came out rich and buttery and just properly crisp.
I see more of these in our future...
Chicken Salad Salad
The chicken I roasted Sunday has given forth another meal - a chicken salad salad. This was actually a planned meal - not something I often do. But when I roasted the chicken Sunday, I planned at least 2 more meals from it - a salad and a soup. The carcass is simmering as I type.
The chicken salad was your basic - chicken, onion, celery, pickle, salt and pepper, bound with mayonnaise. I put a big ol' scoop into a tomato I sliced in eighths and set on a bed of mixed greens. I then added cheese and garlic tortolloni, blackberries, and Victor made a simple vinaigrette. A loaf of bulgur whole wheat bread finished off the meal. And me.
And lest anyone thing we've totally lost our minds and are eating a whole loaf of bread every night... Not exactly true. I'm making 10-12oz boules. We each get a few slices at dinner, and Victor has sandwich bread for lunch the following day.
I am loving the weather change. I lovelovelove snow, but I love warm even more. Salads are really making me smile.
And so is the fresh-baked bread.
Tonight's loaf was the whole wheat dough with about 1/4 cup of bulgur wheat mixed in and sprinkled on top. And roasted garlic butter to spread on the warm slices.
There is just nothing better...
Steaks and Bread
Charcoal grilling is just the best! It may not be as convenient as a gas grill, but there's just no comparing the flavor! And with the thermometer actually hitting 60° today, grilling was definitely called for.
On my Monday grocery shopping trek today, I picked up 8 - yes, eight - bone-in New York strip steaks for a mere $24.00. I love an in-store special! Six of them were vacuum-packed for the freezer, and two became dinner tonight. Grilled perfectly rare and topped first with a bit of Boursin cheese, and then slathered with caramelized onions. Lots and lots of onions.
Baked sweet potatoes and peas rounded out the plate.
But that wasn't all we had!
I also made Whole Wheat Sun-Dried Tomato Bread! I took the no-knead recipe and tweaked it a bit and for this loaf, added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil. It was a little messy mixing them in, but the final result was worth it!
Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 2 pkg yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Stir ingredients together and let rise 3 hours. Follow instructions for basic no-knead artisan bread.
For sun-dried tomato bread, chop tomatoes and mix into 1lb piece of dough, form into ball and follow instructions for rising and baking.
I really like the whole wheat version better. It has a better crumb - not as chewy as the white, but the crust is still excellent.
And to add just another layer of decadency, Victor made roasted garlic butter to slather on the bread. It's quite simple.
Take a whole head of garlic and slice off the tips to expose the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and place in a hot oven (450-ish) for about 45 minutes. Let cool, then squeeze out the garlic and mix with softened butter. Use on anything and everything.
And there's flourless chocolate cake later on.....
Sunday Roast Chicken
I installed new under-cabinet lights today. They are so bright against the white tile we can use them to land an airplane in the kitchen. I'm psyched!
We had low-volt lights installed when we did the kitchen in 2001. They worked fine until 2007 or so. The transformer blew and then the replacement blew. Not good. Last year, we had them redone as rope lights. Also not good. They just didn't put out enough light. I even added to them. Still not enough light. Our kitchen is always dark - and even more so in winter.
So... off to the local lighting store. Any idea how many options one has for under-cabinet lights?!? Any idea how much money one can spend on under-cabinet lights?!? Holy light-bulb, Batman! I wanted them to work on a dimmer switch, and I wanted them hard-wired. I didn't want to have to build anything. We found some xenon lights that fit the bill perfectly - and fit our minimal budget.
We can see, again. Our always-dark kitchen is now bright and cheery. I only cursed a few times, too.
With new lights ablaze, I roasted a chicken for dinner. I ground up a few juniper berries with rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and just a bit of olive oil and spread it under the skin. Into a 375° oven for about and hour and 15 minutes. Thermometer was at 170°.
Egg noodles with pan gravy and spinach with mushrooms finished off the plate.
And Victor was so enamored of the new lights that he decided to bake a cake for dessert!
A flourless chocolate cake to munch on while watching the Oscars.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 9 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 cup strong black coffee
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture. Add the coffee and mix well.
Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.
Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners’ and the whipped cream.
This is just a great cake. Every time he makes it I'm in chocolate heaven!
C'mon Oscars!