Baseball Food
Giants baseball.
Words I do have to admit I'm not used to saying in late October. But I'm saying it loud right now! Damn, this is fun!
We had season tickets to the Giants for years - from Candlestick to Pac Bell Park and loved going out to the games.
So now we're 3000 miles away, watching on TV - seeing our former season ticket seats on the telly - and wishing we were there in person to root on the home team.
But we aren't.
So... next best thing is to make up some San Francisco Ball Park food for dinner.
And the perfect excuse to use our new french fry/appetizer holders from our friends Kate and Lori!
The Giants are famous for their Garlic Fries. There is not a vampire around that ballpark for miles and miles. And miles. And what else says San Francisco Ball Park Food like the Stinking Rose's 40 Clove Garlic Chicken Sandwich?!? I don't know the exact ballpark recipe, but I have the restaurant's recipe, so I adjusted it for putting between bread.
The Stinking Rose 40 Clove Garlic Chicken
You heard it right. 40 cloves! But don’t let that number scare you, because they add just the right amount of zest and aroma to make this one of The Stinking Rose’s most popular dishes!
- 1 Tbsp. Butter
- 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2-3 lbs. Roasting Chicken, washed and cut into pieces
- to taste Salt and Freshly Ground White Pepper
- 4 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary
- 1 Cup Flour
- 40 Cloves Garlic, Peeled
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 4 Cups Chicken Stock
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1. Heat butter and olive oil in a deep, heavy skillet.
2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss in flour.
3. When the pan is hot, but not smoking, add the chicken, skin side down.
4. Sauté chicken until golden brown on both sides. Remove from pan.
5. Add garlic cloves and sauté until light brown.
6. Add white wine and chicken stock. Return chicken to pan.
7. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
8. Remove chicken and keep warm, turn heat to high and reduce liquid by 66%. Remove to blender, add cream and puree sauce. Adjust seasoning and serve over chicken.
I did it slightly different...
I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips. I browned them, took them out of the pan, added the garlic, then chicken broth, cooked it down, added the cream, cooked it down, added the chicken, put it on rolls. I didn't need to add the flour and didn't add any wine, either. It was for a sandwich.
For the fries, I bought frozen garlic fries. Cheating to a degree, I'll admit, but we don't really care for the garlic seasoning that comes with them, so I minced garlic, sauteed it with a bit of olive oil and when the fries were done, coated them with the homemade garlic. It wasn't nearly as gooey, sticky, and smelly as the ball park version, but they worked.
And the fry holders worked really well, too! They are also deceptively large! You can fit a lot of fries in one of those cups. They're a lot of fun!
So it's minutes away from the start of game 2 of the World Series. Last time the Giants won a World Series was 1954. I was only a few years old and they were still in New York. They have never won as a San Francisco team.
This is their year!
Go Giants!
Arugula Ravioli
Once upon a time, I made a lot of Italian food. I cooked in several Italian restaurants in my youth and know my way around the regional differences pretty well. From Milan to Syracuse, the foods are varied and wonderful and can range from three ingredients to twenty-three ingredients, all blending together perfectly. It's a culinary wonderland.
And then I married an EyeTalian.
Well... why would one cook Italian food when one has an Italian at home to cook Italian food for one?!? I mean... Mrs Dineen did not raise a stupid child!
Over the years I have happily given the Italian cooking reins to Victor. Of course, that doesn't mean that I don't cook Italian, it just means I don't cook it as often as I once did.
Tonight was one of those nights I decided to go for it!
Arugula and Cheese ravioli were the inspiration! I am a huge fan of cooked arugula. I think more people probably use it as a salad green, but it is better than spinach as a side vegetable.
Tonight, I made a pretty simple meat sauce of mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and a carrot all minced together in the food processor. I sauteed it and then added a splash of marsala (no red wine in the house?!?) and then some ground beef. When it was all cooked, I added a can of crushed tomatoes and a sprinkling of salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and let it all cook down.
I sauteed a bunch of fresh arugula in a splash of olive oil and added a bit of garlic and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
That went on the plate first, then the ragu, then the ravioli, then a bit more ragu and a bit of freshly-shredded parmesan stravecchio.
It's like riding a bike...
And, since I had the dough in the 'fridge already, I baked off a loaf of bread.
The presentation was a lot of fun and the bread properly crispy on the outside and firm but light on the inside.
Yeah... like riding a bike.
And now for baseball!
Steaks on the Barbie
The Midwest has been going through some of the worst weather in recorded history, the past 24 or so hours. Howling winds, blinding rain, flight cancellations by the hundreds. A total mess. Here, outside of Valley Forge, it's a warmish 73°, kinda damp, dark, and looking like it would really like to storm a bit.
Perfect barbecue weather.
I had picked up another tenderloin and, armed with a sharp knife, cut a couple of nice steaks.
I put some teeny tiny potatoes in the oven with a bit of olive oil and garlic, pulled some peas out of the freezer, and while I grilled, Victor cooked some onions.
Steak and onions. It is just such a great flavor combination. I don't even care what kind of onions they are - they all turn sweet in a skillet.
And speaking of sweet, there's pumpkin pie in the fridge for later on this evening...
And thunderstorms in the forecast.
Let it storm. We have an old egg beater to whip cream if the power goes out.
Always prepared.
Pumpkin Butter
I know that I can buy pumpkin butter at the store. I can buy canned pumpkin at the store, too. And canned, packaged, and/or prepared just about anything else.
But buying something pre-made is just not the same as making it myself. Yes, it is easier to open up a jar. To me, it's not nearly as rewarding. There is something mystical and magical about cooking. About blending flavors. About taking something and making it different. About watching eyes light up and smiles on faces as people see and try different foods.
Pumpkin.
Most people know it as something that comes out of a can that says Libby Libby Libby on the label label label. Or as a frozen Mrs Smiths pie. Or carved into a jack o'lantern on halloween.
I don't think a lot of people even know what to do with a pumpkin other than carve it or use it as a fall centerpiece on a dining table that never gets used.
It's too bad, because besides tasting great, pumpkins are actually good for you, too. It's low-calorie, high in beta carotene, potassium, fat-free, sodium-free... And really versatile.
From soups and stews to pies and flan, salad dressings to a sauce for meatballs, sweet or savory, it can go with just about anything.
My Uncle Dick - half Irish and half-Mexican - made a Jalapeño Pumpkin Soup that was outstanding. I made a pie last night.
And Pumpkin Butter, today.
I have to admit I had no intention of making pumpkin butter, today, but I was perusing David Lebovitz' blog and followed a link to Hedonia and that became my inspiration. Two guys in San Francisco cooking? Sounds like Victor and me before we moved east.
The fun guys at Hedonia got their inspiration from About.com.
The only difference was About.com called for "pumpkin pie spice" and Hedonia made his own blend. As did I.
This is the recipe I used:
Pumpkin Butter
Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked and pureed pumpkin
- 1 (1.75-ounce) package powdered pectin
- 4-1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
Preparation:
Place pumpkin in a heavy kettle. Stir in pectin. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar, spices, and butter. Continue stirring and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard exactly 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir 5 minutes.Ladle jam into 1/2 pint hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps according to manufacture's directions. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath. After cooling, check seals.
Yield: 6 (1/2-pint) jars.
I did get slightly more than what the recipe called for, but I probably used a bit more pumpkin. (You know me and measuring...) It still came out great.
Love it!
**Update
Just got an email from Sean at Hedonia... He says:
Lamb Chops, Pears, and Potato Risotto
When our friends Ann and Julie were in Paris a few weeks ago, Ann sent me an email describing a potato dish she had had for dinner one night... a creamy pureed potato with chunks of potato. She raved about it! I don't mind living vicariously through anothers culinary adventures thousands of miles away. Really. I was extremely only slightly jealous as she was describing the dish... I thought it sounded close enough to a potato risotto that I just made a potato risotto! At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging (and of course, I am!) the dish came out fantastic!
I am reasonably certain it's nothing like Ann's Parisian Potatoes (I added cheese and didn't top with almonds, for one...) but it's something that will be going into the winter rotation at our house! Yumlicious!!!
Potato Risotto
- 2 cups 1/4" cubed potatoes
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Saute onion in butter in small frying pan. Add potatoes and mix well with onions. Add about 1 cup broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of broth is absorbed. Add another half-cup and continue cooking until potatoes are tender. Add a bit more broth as needed to keep potatoes moist. You do not want them to dry out.
When potatoes are fairly tender, add cream and continue cooking until sauce thickens a bit. Stir in cheese.
These were definitely a hit. A bit of a stove-top take on scalloped potatoes.
The lamb was an impulse-buy at the grocers today. It just looked good.
I marinated the chops in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary, and quickly browned them in a hot skillet. I took them out and added about a half-cup of fresh apple juice and let that cook down for a minute. I then added 1 red pear that I had peeled and cut up.
When they were hot-through, I drizzled on some balsamic vinegar and then cooked it all down to a saucy consistency.
I'm now in a fall-cooking mindset and the weather is supposed to be mid-to-high 70's most of the week.
We need another good BBQ. Maybe Tuesday.
We have Pasta Monday tomorrow!
Fairytale Pumpkin
I decided today was the day to address the fairytale pumpkin I bought last month.
One of the great things about big ol' squash like this is they can sit around and look pretty for weeks before you have to do anything with or to them!
Fairytale pumpkins are some of the best-eating pumpkins around.
They're deeply ridged with a bright orange flesh that just screams to be roasted, pureed, and made into soups, stews, and pies!
I quartered this particular beast and placed it on two sheet pans and put them into 350° ovens.
I didn't put anything on them at all, nor did I cover them. They roasted for about an hour and a half.
When a skewer went in and out with no problem, they were done.
I scraped the flesh into the food processor and made a lot of puree.
A LOT of puree. Probably about 20 cups or so. Enough for about a dozen pies.
It's all nicely portioned. The two-cup measure is for a possible pie tonight. The rest will go into the refrigerator and freezer.
It's a lot of pumpkin for $7.99.
Not Quite Joe's Special
I've been just a tad homesick this week. Getting married far from home. Watching the Giants. Seeing all of those fabulous views of San Francisco... Seeing our old season ticket seats at AT&T (nee PacBell) Park. Missing mom and pop... It's been pretty much a whirlwind of emotions...
So, of course, I think of food. It''s what I do.
One of the things that has kept coming forward is "Joe's Special" - a scramble of ground beef, spinach, mushrooms, and eggs. Tradition has it that the Joe's Special was created at "New Joe's" on Broadway in San Francisco back in the 1920's. New Joe's was the precursor to "Original Joe's" on Taylor. Folklore has it that a customer ordered a spinach omelet very late on night. The customer asked the chef if he had anything else available to cook. The chef replied he had some hamburger left. The customer asked him to throw some of the hamburger into his omelet. The dish became so popular that they eventually put it on the menu.
Why I've been thinking of this, I don't quite know. It's not something my mother used to make. It was on the menu of at least three restaurants I worked in in my youth, but it's not something I would immediately associate if someone said "quick, name a San Francisco food."
So... I decided to do what I normally do when irrational thought enters the brain... Run with it!
Except I really wasn't in the mood for a scramble.
So I took the same basic ingredients and just put them together a bit differently. I fried up the mushrooms with a bit of garlic and added the spinach. Toasted 2 slices of bread. Grilled 2 burgers outside and fried 2 eggs, inside.
The result was a layered dish of toast, spinach and mushrooms, and a burger patty topped with a fried egg.
What a treat. Charred burger with egg yolk dripping into it. And spinach and crunchy toast...
Can we say outrageously good, boys and girls?!?
It did everything it was supposed to do - and more.
And one more win and the Giants go to the World Series.
Life is good.
Pico de Gallo
One of the things I picked up at Atlantic Spice on Saturday when we were up on The Cape was a bag of pico de gallo. Pico de gallo is generally a salsa of sorts, made with tomatoes, onions, peppers, lemon juice, cilantro... The ingredients vary from area to area and it can be firey hot or fruity mild.
The bag I bought was a blend of spices and seasonings. While I usually don't buy a lot of spice blends, I thought what the heck. Actually, I just think that I don't buy a lot of spice blends... when I opened the spice cabinet to figure out how I was going to fit yet another item in there, I noticed just how many spice blends I don't buy.
I can't believe how many I don't buy.
I decided I needed to do something vaguely Mexican tonight. I had chicken already cooked from the bird I cooked yesterday for the soup, pico de gallo spice... An idea started forming.
My first thought was to do something like a gordita or an El Salvadoran pupusa. (A woman I worked with years ago at San Francisco General Hospital made the best pupusas!!! Alicia, I miss you and your cooking!)
But... I made more of a tamale dough than a pupusa or gordita dough. Much softer and lighter.
So, I decided to make something open-faced.
I made the dough:
- 1 cup masa harina
- 1/3 cup lard
- 1 cup warm water
- pinch salt
The filling was:
- chicken
- pico de gallo
- roasted red peppers
- chopped green chiles
topped with:
- quesso fresco
- cotija
Cotija is an aged Mexican cheese. Salty and dry, it's like a Mexican version of parmesan.
The topless gorditas were very soft, so I put the tray in the 'fridge for an hour for them to firm up. I never would have gotten them off the pan at room temperature.
I fired up the griddle and browned them really well and then stuck the griddle under the broiler to melt the cheeses and heat everything through.
I topped them with salsa verde and a few sliced black olives.
It may not have been the most authentic of Mexican meals, but it definitely hit the spot! I can definitely see some variations on this theme!
Penne al Forno
Today was Victor's first day back at work. I took pity and decided to continue his Pasta Monday for him.
All I can say, is it's not easy following a recipe!
It's funny. I knew that I didn't really follow recipes, but I really didn't realize that I really don't follow recipes! Every fiber of my being was rebelling at measuring and using exactly what was on the printed page - nothing more and nothing less. It's not easy.
But the end result was wonderful!
For all intents and purposes, this is Italian Macaroni and Cheese. And what a macaroni and cheese it is! It has a thick, crunchy-crusty cheese topping that is out of this world. And it's only cheese! The pasta, pancetta , and peas worked perfectly together. The two egg yolks added creamy richness.
It was great.
It made a goodly amount, so Victor will have at least one lunch and we may have a side dish for dinner tomorrow!
Penne al Forno
Ingredients
- Fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for baking dish
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
- 3 ounces pancetta, roughly chopped (1/2 cup packed)
- 1 1/4 cups frozen peas, thawed
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 3/4 pound penne
- 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups whole milk
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cups freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Instructions
Heat oven to 450º. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Butter a 2-quart baking dish.
In a small saucepan, combine shallot and pancetta; cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Add peas and 2 tablespoons water; bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.
Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat butter and flour over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted and mixture is combined.Add milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, whisking frequently, until béchamel comes to a boil, then cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and cream. Add béchamel and whisk to combine. Return to heat and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.When pasta is al dente, drain pasta and return to pot. Add pea mixture, béchamel and 1/2 cup cheese; stir to combine. Mix well, then transfer to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake until top is browned, about 15 minutes.
And pasta deserves fresh-baked bread!
I followed the egg white version of the no-knead bread but used
- 4 cups white flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup unprocessed wheat bran
for the 6 1/2 cups flour.
It worked really well. I'm lovin' this no-knead bread!
And I'm lovin' this Monday Pasta.
Seafood Night on Cape Cod
If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air
Quaint little villages here and there
You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
Patti Page recorded that in 1957. It's changed a bit in the 53 years since she first sang it... The quaint little villages have grown, but the sand dunes and salty air are still there - along with our dear friend, Dana.
Dana and I were roommates in Boston during her senior year or law school and have remained friends for years in spite of having lived together and knowing all about one another.
After practicing law for years and writing a couple of books, Dana returned to the family compound on the Cape.
The Cape. It really is a magical place. Victor and I both had spent a good amount of time there before we met. This was our first visit, together, and the first time staying with Dana.
What fun!
Sand dunes and salty air translate to seafood and there's no better seafood-shopper than Dana's sister, Franca. Local quahogs, scallops, shrimp, and lobster were all procured from the fish monger whose name escapes me right now, but fresh is the word of the day.
We had an all-day cook-a-thon with Franca, Victor, and myself taking turns creating different courses.
Dana's mom, Floy, came down from her house to join us in the food-fest. It had been quite a while since Floy and I had seen one another, so we had a lot of catching up to do!
Franca started out with Clam Chowder.
This isn't your clam chowder made with bottled clam juice and little cans of minced clams. This is the real McCoy. Scrubbing, steaming, and chopping the quahogs, rendering the bacon, dicing onions, carrots, potatoes... While I didn't get her recipe, we did get a huge container of the base (as seen above before the cream is added) to bring home.
Franca makes a traditional chowder that I call a thin chowder. There's probably a proper name for it but... I think more people are familiar with thick chowders, and they're the type I usually make - but her thin chowder rocks!
My contribution was lobster-stuffed portobello mushrooms.
Fresh-cooked lobster, bread crumbs, onion, celery, mayo, grated parmesano stravecchio cheese, fresh parsley... Very simple and basic. The individual ingredients came through and nothing overpowered.
We ate the chowder, the shrimp, and the mushrooms, and then Victor went into the kitchen to make the lemon scallop dish he created from the La Cucina Italiana magazine.
Cape Cod is fun.
Good food is fun.
Great friends are fun.
But a perfect combination is all three at once!
Risotto
My friend Vanessa had given me a big ol' zucchini she had grown in her garden. My plan was to stuff it today with a risotto-ish filling. Sadly, when I cut into it to hollow it out a bit, it was just too fibrous for eating.
But having a risotto-ish dish on my mind, I decided to just make ::drum roll, please:: Risotto!
I know... What a concept. But since we're going to be gone next week gettin' married, and all, it actually makes sense to use up the stuff in the house.
Risotto can be made with anything (and around our house, it usually is.) This is a recipe based on ingredients we had on hand.
It starts off with Vialone Nano rice. Here in the USofA, arborio is the most widely-used risotto rice, but in northern Italy the rices of choice are Vialone Nano or Carnaroli.
Vialone Nano is the regional rice of Veneto. It is a round, short-grain rice (nano means “dwarf”) perfectly suited to risotto. The round shape of its grains enables it to absorb twice its weight in liquid, making for incredibly flavorful and rich dishes. This was my first time using it. It won't be my last.
Pork and Sausage Risotto
- 1 small pork tenderloin
- 2 hot Italian sausages
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup Vialone Nano rice (or arborio, or carnaroli)
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 cups hot stock (I used the turkey stock I made the other day)
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp Greek oregano
- 2 oz grana padano (or parmesan, romano...)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Begin by sauteing onion in a bit of olive oil. Add garlic. Chop tenderloin into small pieces. Remove sausage from casing.and then add pork and sausage to pan. Brown well. Add 1 cup rice and stir well, coating the rice with the oil.
Add spices. Add wine and stirring constantly, scrape everything up and stir until wine is absorbed.
Add hot broth, one ladle at a time, continually stirring until broth is absorbed. Total cooking time for rice will be about 15 minutes if using Vialone Nano and 20 minutes using arborio.
Stir in cheese and check for seasoning.
Enjoy.
Risotto has a certain mystique about it. Don't tell anybody, but it really is one of the easiest dishes one can make. And you really can make it with anything.
Give it a try.
Turkey Soup
It was sunny and mid-70's today.
I made soup.
Even though it wasn't totally weather-relevant, it tasted great.
The broth was the boiled-down carcass with everything in the kitchen I wanted to get rid of. There was part of an onion, onion skins, garlic, part of a head of lettuce, celery bulb, carrot ends and peels... Odds-and-ends from containers of this-and-that. Seriously clean-out-the-refrigerator.
It made a damned good base! This is the kind of stuff you really can't screw up. It's what every decent restaurant in the world does - boils down that stuff that would otherwise go down the garbage disposal. Other than a little salt and pepper, I don't add any herbs or spices at this point...
The soup itself was chopped carrot, chopped celery, chopped swiss chard, Italian green beans, peas, a can of hominy, and two pastas - pastina and 0's. herb-wise I added a bit more garlic and some dill. And salt and pepper.
And we had a half-loaf of bread from last night.
Good stuff.