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!
Trottole ai Formaggi e Gremolata di Agrumi
I don't even know where to begin.
I keep saying that every week it is the best one, yet, but... really. This may be the best one, yet!
Victor has finally made his way through the Pasta Issue of La Cucina Italiana magazine. This recipe came from the just-arrived February issue. The same issue I got the Gianduja yesterday.
This is a really grown-up Mac and Cheese with three different cheeses that just knock your socks off topped with lemon, orange, grana padano, and parsley that just explodes a citrusy freshness in your mouth.
It is gastronomic heaven. The sauce is three very different cheeses that blend perfectly together. No one overpowers another. The fresh lemon and orange mixed with the freshness of parsley and a slightly salty grana padano cheese adds a complete contrast but at the same time blends perfectly.
Gastronomic heaven, indeed. The taste-buds are going to be talking about this one for days!
Trottole ai Formaggi e Gremolata di Agrumi
Trottole with Cheese and Citrus Gremolata
- salt
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 1/2 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 3 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 4 1/2 ounces gorgonzola cheese (about 1 cup)
- 4 1/2 ounces taleggio cheese, bubed (about 1 cup)
- 3 ounces fontina cheese, cubed (about 1/2 cup, packed)
- 1 pound Trottole pasta - uniquely curled pasta rings surrounding a center stalk (or Fusilli or other short pasta)
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
Wask lemon and orange; zest half of each fruit, avoiding the white pith. Finely chop zests together with parsley; place in a bowl and stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padana. Set gremolata aside.
In medium saucepan, bring milk just to boil over medium-low heat; remove from heat. In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly with a wodden spoon for 2 minutes. Do not brown. Remove from heat. Add 2 tablespoons milk to flour mixture, stirring constantly until milk is incorporated. Repeat until 1/2 cup of the milk has been added. Add remaining milk 1/2 cup at a time, incorporating between additions, until all milk has been added. Return yo low heat and cook, stirring frequently, especially along corners of pan, until sauce is the consistency of thick cream. Stir in remaining cheeses; cover to keep warm.
Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain and immediately transfer to a large serving bowl. Add cheese sauce, toss to combine and divide among bowls. Sprinkle with gremolata and serve immediately.
The recipe does make the white sauce seem a bit overly complicated, but it's really just a rather simple-to-prepare sauce with cheese.
But it's an extremely good simple-to-prepare sauce with cheese.
This would also make a great side dish and a pretty spectacular buffet dish, as well.
This one is going into the rotation, for sure!
Gianduja
I think this may be the surprise dish of the holiday season. It's mid-December but the February issue of La Cucina Italiana magazine is already here. And I am very glad it is! A past issue had a recipe for Nutella Cookie Sandwiches that seemed perfect as one of our Christmas cookies this year. But since Nutella is not on my regular shopping list, I just keep forgetting to pick it up. Had I not come across this recipe, the cookies would have probably fallen into the ever-growing "I thought about making" category.
And to make good things even better, I just found out that this recipe and the cookie recipe both come from Pastry Chef Karen DeMasco. I've been checking her out online and really like her style. I see more of her ideas coming to town!
Gianduja is a sweet chocolate and hazelnut invented in Turin 1852 by Caffarel Chocolate Company. The better-known to us Nutella came into being in the 1940's in Italy. Nutella is good. This is nothing short of totally amazing. And it literally took minutes to prepare.
I bought hazelnuts already hulled from Oh! Nuts in Brooklyn. They are cheap at $8.99/lb! Plus they arrived in just a couple of days! The Demerara sugar came from Atlantic Spice. I bought it a while back with no particular plan or recipe. I just figured I'd use it, eventually... Around here, nothing ever goes to waste.
One note... since I bought hulled hazelnuts I didn't have to go through the toasting-and-rubbing, but I did put the nuts in the oven for a few minutes to warm them before making the spread.
Gianduja
Chocolate Hazelnut SpreadDemerara sugar gives DeMasco's Gianduja its signature "bit of crunch." Though loose when first made, the spread can be enjoyed immediately as a dip or drizzle. Once thickened (after 2 to 3 days at room temperature or a few hours chilled), it makes a fantastic cookie filling. Scoop chilled spread into balls and roll in cocoa powder or dip in melted chocolate to make decadent truffles.
- 5 ounces hazelnuts (1 cup)
- 8 ounces good-quality milk chocolate
- 1/4 cup Demerara sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
Heat oven to 350°.
Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Wrap nuts in a kitchen towel and rub to remove loose skins (don't worry about skins that won't come off).
While nuts are warm, combine with chocolate, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth, adding oil in a slow steady stream.
Transfer to an airtight container. Let stand at room temperature until thickened, about 2 days. Spread keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month or refrigerated for up to 3 months. To loosen chilled spread, heat in microwave for about 5 seconds.
And now that the gianduja is done those cookies are going to be made in the next few days.
Torrone al Cioccolato
Chocolate Torrone. How could it be bad? And La Cucina Italiana Magazine comes through, again, with the perfect recipe.
I don't really remember the first time I had torrone. I know I was young and I liked the inside, but I really didn't care for the rice paper coating. It just seemed weird.
It was quite a few years later that I tried it again and a while later that I began to actually appreciate the rice paper.
La Cucina states: A traditional Italian candy, torrone ranges in texture from soft to firm. This one is soft with a good chew. Edible wafer paper, which is flavorless, adds textural contrast and helps keep bars of candy from sticking to one another.
This recipe is a bit time-consuming, but if you follow it exactly, you should end up with a damned fine candy!
Torrone al Cioccolato
- 4 (8-x-11-inch) sheets edible wafer paper or rice paper
- 2 cups hazelnuts
- ¼ cup water
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup clover or other mild honey
- 3 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Special equipment: candy thermometer
Instructions
Heat oven to 275º. Line the bottom of a 9-x-13-inch baking dish with rice paper.
Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet; bake until roasted and skins come off easily, about 25 minutes. Wrap nuts in a clean dishtowel; rub to remove loose skins.
Combine water and ¼ cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once sugar is dissolved, add chocolate and stir to melt; reduce heat to low to keep warm.
In a heavy medium saucepan, heat remaining 1 cup sugar and honey over medium-low heat until just beginning to bubble. Using a pastry brush dipped in cold water, wash any sugar crystals down side of pot. Put candy thermometer into syrup and continue heating, stirring occasionally, until mixture registers 315º (upper end of hard crack stage).
When thermometer reaches 300°, place egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk; beat until whites just hold stiff peaks. Remove syrup from heat and let stand until bubbles dissipate.
With mixer at low speed, slowly add syrup to egg whites in a thin stream down side of bowl; increase speed to high and beat until mixture doubles in size. Turn mixer off, let mixture settle, then return speed to high, beating until mixture begins to stick to whisk, about 5 minutes. Add chocolate and nuts; beat on medium speed to combine. Increase speed to high and mix until well combined, about 5 to 7 minutes more.
Spoon torrone mixture into prepared baking dish; spread to an even layer. Cover top with rice paper and refrigerate uncovered, until firm, about 8 hours.
Run a knife around edges of pan. Invert torrone onto a cutting board. Leaving wafer paper on, trim ends, and cut torrone into 1½-x-3-inch bars. Wrap each bar in parchment paper.
Nut Brittles
All of the years I screwed up candy-making seem to be behind me. I think.
I have been having fabulous luck. I'm almost afraid to say anything lest I jinx myself.
But I done good, today!
Candy-making is an unforgiving science - and I am not a scientist. But having a really good recipe has gotten me on the right track. And La Cucina Italiana Magazine came through with a couple of nut brittles that are really easy.
I followed the recipes exactly.
Almond Brittle
- Peanut oil for greasing pan
- 1 1/2 cups raw almonds
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
Heat oven to 350º with rack in middle.
FOR ALMOND BRITTLE: Lightly grease a baking sheet and a 12- x 14-inch sheet of parchment paper with oil.
Spread nuts on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake, stirring nuts and rotating pan once halfway through, until fragrant and lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Gently whisk together mixture to ensure sugar is damp throughout, being careful not to get sugar on sides of pot. Cook mixture over medium-high heat, without stirring, until it turns a dark amber, 10 to 13 minutes - 320. Remove pot from heat, immediately stir in warm nuts, then transfer mixture to greased baking sheet and quickly spread with wooden spoon. Top with prepared parchment paper, oil-side down and, using a rolling pin, gently roll brittle to flatten. Remove parchment paper.
Let brittle cool slightly, then cut into small pieces. Let cool completely before serving.
And then there is the pistachio and pine nut brittle.
This one is a bit different.
Pistachio and Pine Nut Brittle
- Peanut oil for greasing pan
- 1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
FOR PISTACHIO AND PINE NUT BRITTLE: Lightly grease a baking sheet and a 12- x 14-inch sheet of parchment paper with oil (baking sheet and parchment paper from Almond Brittle can be reused).
Heat oven to 350º with rack in middle.
Spread nuts on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake, stirring nuts and rotating pan once halfway through, until fragrant and lightly golden, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Gently whisk together mixture to ensure sugar is damp throughout, being careful not to get sugar on sides of pot. Cook mixture over medium-high heat, without stirring, until it turns a dark amber, 10 to 13 minutes - 320. Remove pot from heat, immediately stir in warm nuts, then transfer mixture to greased baking sheet and quickly spread with wooden spoon. Top with prepared parchment paper, oil-side down and, using a rolling pin, gently roll brittle to flatten. Remove parchment paper.
Let brittle cool slightly, then cut into small pieces. Let cool completely before serving.
Broiled Cod and Hollandaise
Have I ever mentioned how much I love it when Victor cooks?
But what I love even more is when he cooks and makes a mess in the kitchen! He will laughingly talk about what a mess I can make in the kitchen and how neat and clean he is in the kitchen. Both are partially true. We cook differently but we also cook different foods. And what we cook definitely has an effect on the scope of the mess - or lack thereof.
So it was with complete joy that I walked into the kitchen this evening to see three dirty pots, rice that had boiled over, dirty blender...
Plus he took an otherwise totally healthy meal and put a (homemade) hollandaise sauce on top of it.
That's love. Definitely one of life's little joys.
Dinner itself was very simple. Broiled cod, rice and peas. The hollandaise did take it right over the top. And I do have to admint I not only cleaned my plate, but sopped up the remaining hollandaise with a dinner roll.
It was that good.
And while I was dealing with the great unwashed public today, he was making more Christmas cookies.
Uncle Rudy's Pizzelles and the most outrageous Walnut Biscotti!
I'll get that posted later.....
Pot Roast
The blizzard of the century has hit. And gone. It was a quick storm. It left almost a dusting of snow. Almost.
But the hype.....
PennDot is salting roads. The official snow-fall accumulation in Bryn Mawr - just a couple of miles from us - was 1/10th of one inch. That's right - a tenth of an inch. How do you even measure a tenth of an inch of snow?!? It boggles the mind.
TV news folks live for disasters. In the freezing nether-regions, they're the ones who harp on the totally meaningless "wind-chill factors" to make the weather sound worse than it actually is. Out west, it's the TV crew at the 7-11 trying to find the one knocked-over bottle of ketchup after a 2.3 earthquake.
But snow or no, it has been cold the last few fays and a pot roast seemed to fit the bill for warming us up.
I had the other part of that top round I used for pot pie the other night so we had our start.
Pot roast - like soups and stews and the like - really don't have recipes. They come together based on what's in the house.
Tonight, I started by browning the beef in a bit of bacon fat. I cut a small onion in 8ths and browned it a bit.
I then added a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste and cooked that up for a few minutes and then stirred in about a half-cup of red wine. I cooked that for a minute and then added about 2 1/2 cups of beef broth and a pinch of salt and pepper.
I covered it, owed the heat, and let it all simmer for about an hour.
I then added one potato cut in 8ths, 2 carrots and 3 stalks of celery. (I virtually never peel vegetables going into soups and stews.) I cooked that for about 45 minutes, removed the meat, and then thickened the broth with a bit of cornstarch. I usually use flour, but the cornstarch was handier tonight.
Served with a couple of thick slabs of the homemade bread from a few days ago. (If there's any left in a day or two, it will make for a great bread pudding!)
Victor just lit a fire in the fireplace so it may be time to grab the Kindle and curl up with something fun to read.
The maniacs from the township just salted our street. Looks like I won't be able to call in to work tomorrow "snowed in."
Chicken Florentine with Boursin Sauce
I really like Boursin cheese. Not necessarily as a stand-alone cheese, but for all the things it can be used for.
My two favorite ways to use Boursin is in mashed potatoes (outrageously good) and as a sauce. A bit of Boursin melted with a bit of heavy cream or milk makes the perfect sauce for vegetables, beef, chicken... Outrageoulsly good.
For tonight's dinner I started by sauteing a small chopped onion with some finely chopped mushrooms. When the onions were properly wilted, I added a bag of frozen chopped spinach, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
While that was heating, I took one whole boneless chicken breast (both halves) and pounded it to a uniform thickness.
I spread about a third of a cup of ricotta cheese on top and then about a cup or so of the spinach mixture.
I rolled it up, put it in a greased pan and into a 350° for about 40 minutes.
To serve, I placed more of the spinach filling on the plate, put slices of the chicken on top and then added the Boursin sauce. Whole-grain rice finished the plate.
And I bought dessert tonight because for the remainder of the evening I am going to be playing with my brand-new Adobe Creative Suite 5 Master Collection. 15+ programs I will never fully know how to use. But I'm gonna have fun with it no matter how much I don't know!
Be afraid. Be very afraid!