Food week in review

I have been a delinquent blog poster this week. I found myself with the proposal of gainful employment on Monday and been beside myself with excitement! My dream of working for a food company has finally come true. In preparation of actually starting the job, I have been racing around trying to get a new car, (I will be commuting outside SF) and going for doctor check-ups and such. Plus, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, at long last, and I have been spending time outside. During my time at home, I have been working away in the kitchen.

On Sunday evening I made a nice dinner of Chicken Breasts with Shallots, Chèvre, Figs, and a Port Reduction Sauce from a recipe on Chow.com. While I quite enjoyed the dish, Mike wasn't too crazy about it. Perhaps it was too French for him? I thought the creaminess of the goat cheese with the sauted shallots and fresh thyme were nice compliments to the chicken. I always love figs. I served this with fresh green beans and roasted fingerling potatoes. I did manage to spill half the reduction sauce all over myself and the kitchen. Good thing there was plenty left for the meal but my god, what a mess!

I should have know that it wasn't a great day for me to be cooking. Earlier on Sunday, I struggled with my new food mill trying to Tomato Sauce from Lidia's Italian Table with some of my own additions, like garlic. It came out all right, once I won my battle with the food mill. After safely stowing the sauce in the freezer, I had to change my clothes. I was completely splattered in red sauce!

While I was simmering the tomato sauce another culinary disaster ensued. I attempted to make L'Affaire du Clafoutis as posted on fellow blogger, Garnett's site Vanilla Garlic and I used a tart pan where the bottom pops out. I should have know better. The mixture of eggs and milk was too thin for that pan and it all came roaring out the bottom of the pan. At that point I was out of sugar. I have been trying to find a suitable organic sugar to use for my baking sugar. I went to Mollie Stones and did some shopping. I came back to try my clafoutis again in a different pan. In moment of overconfidence, thinking I had memorized the simple recipe, I forgot the "pinch of salt." Well, the missing salt and use of fat free milk, not whole milk or cream, resulted in a flat and bland tasting clafoutis. A bummer because the Italian prunes sure were delicious!

On Tuesday night I went camping with my girlfriends near Stinson Beach under the full moon. We made s'mores over the campfire for dessert. Those sweet graham cracker sandwiches brought back memories of my childhood. We had big bonfires and cookouts in our backyard with all of our neighbors each summer. My dad would whittle the kids roasting sticks for the marshmellows. I would burn at least 10 marshmellows before I toasted one perfectly and could assemble my s'more.

On Wednesdy afternoon I made a batch of absolutely delicious Pear Ginger Muffins from blog, Coconut & Lime. They are sensational. Initially, I thought the ginger might be overwhelming but it was a perfect compliment to the sweet pear. I froze half and we have been snacking on the other half of the batch. I envision eating these muffins on my way to work this fall.

Today has found me in the kitchen again. I made a batch of Split Pea and Ham Soup from a Moosewood cookbook. Obviously, I added the ham to the recipe. It is the best split pea soup and it very easy to make. The secret ingredient is red wine vinegar which you add at the end of cooking. The acidity brings out the flavors nicely. It went to the freezer as well for the winter when we are both commuting.

As I type this post, I am slow roasting tomatoes using Kalyn's Kitchen's recipe. My herb combination was fresh basil, fresh rosemary, and dried oregano. I also used some fresh ground black pepper. They are coming along nicely and the house smells divine.

This week, I finally purchased Jamie's Italy which I had been coventing. It was a great purchase. I have also been reading the book, Alice Waters and Chez Paniesse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution. It is very well written and I can barely put it down, but don't want it end either. I highly recommend putting it on your "must read" list.

I must run. Mike is taking me out to dinner to celebrate my new, cool job. We are headed to a great place in the neighborhood, Firefly. Then tomorrow I jet off to Miami, FL to spend the weekend with my Cornell girlfriends. Art deco, cuban food, and the beach, here I come! I just love, L-O-V-E Miami! And Rachel too. She is the one we are celebrating this weekend.

Super easy summer entertaining

This summer menu could not be easier to make. We had some friends over for dinner the other evening and this is what I prepared:

Appetizers - Salsa, Guacamole, and Tortilla Chips

Main Course - Dry-rubbed Flank Steak, Zucchini Bread, Heirloom Tomato Salad, and Corn on the Cob

Dessert - Homemade Ice Cream

Here are some hints to making this meal come together seamlessly.

Advanced menu preparations (some tasks are days before or hours before):
Flank Steak - Rub the steak with the dry rub of your choice an hour before your guests arrive. Put the steak back in the fridge to keep cold.

Corn on the Cob - Fill a stock pot with water. Do not salt the water or it will make the corn tough. Have your corn shucked and ready to drop into boiling water.

Heirloom Tomato Salad - Have your tomatoes diced and in your serving bowl. Covered and refrigerate. Whisk together the dressing and set aside.

Zucchini Bread - I made the zucchini bread earlier in the week and froze the loaf. I got it out the night before serving and set the loaf on the counter to thaw.

Ice Cream - Make in advance, at least long enough for it to freeze a bit in the freezer.

Guests are due to arrive:
Turn the burner on high heat under the stock pot of water. Go socialize with your friends and eat some of the appetizers that you just set out. For the appetizer, I would suggest buying a fun type of salsa. We served this fun Cherry Jalapeno Salsa that my aunt sent me. And buy the guacamole, it is easier. Trader Joe's has a good one.
Grilling the steak:
About a half hour or so before you are ready to eat, light the grill on high. Let the grill heat for 15 minutes. Remove your steak from the fridge and place on the grill, still on high heat, for 4-7 minutes, depending how you like you steak to be cooked. Then flip for another 4-7 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, cover loosely with a piece of foil, for 10 minutes to retain the juices in the meat.

Getting the other dishes together while grilling:
While you are grilling, place the corn cobs in the now boiling water for 10 minutes. While the corn is boiling, bring out the heirloom tomatoes and gently toss with the dressing. Slice the zucchini bread and plate. Lastly, slice the flank steak in thin slices at an angle and again the grain and serve on a platter.

Don't forget the sweet stuff:
For the dessert, have the homemade ice cream made ahead of time. Remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving so that you can easily scoop up the frozen dessert. You can serve with cookies or solo. Delicious either way!

This stress-free menu is sure to be a hit with your guests and it is easy for the cook to do a lot of socializing because they are not in the kitchen the entire time.

A summer menu for dinner in foggy San Francisco

The girls are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. It the first time the entire "Core Team" has been together for dinner since May. We are one man (or woman, rather) down as Mazy has officially made here move to Chicago. We miss you already!

So I promised the girls I would post the menu for them on the blog. Here it goes:
Drinks: Minted Vodka Limeade and lots of red wine, of course!
Appetizers: An Italian surprise - need your help taste testing a new product
Entree and Sides:
Roasted Rack of Lamb with Red Wine and Rosemary Pan Sauce (Don't worry, Hall, I am making you something else.)
Red Potatoes Tossed in Fresh Pesto
Cucumber, Tomato, and Chickpea Salad
Dessert: Choice of Homemade Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream or Chocolate Ice Cream with Toasted Pingolis (or both!)

Should be pretty easy. I can get pesto for the potatoes ready in the morning along with the ice cream base for the chocolate ice cream. I can toast the pingolis for both the ice cream and the pesto at the same time. I made the strawberry-sour cream ice cream this past weekend. I will also chop up the cucumbers and tomatoes in the morning for easy assembly later in the day.

The limeade can be prepared a few hours in advance of the guests' arrival. After the limeade is prepared, I can put the ice cream base in the ice cream freezer and let it churn.

Then all I really have to make right before dinner is the lamb and its sauce. This part will be the biggest challenge, but I think I am up for it. I have never made lamb before. Oh and boil the potatoes. Toss a few things together and serve. I hope it is actually as easy as I am making it seem.

Much of the inspiration for this menu comes from the fresh fruits and veggies I picked up at the Alemany Farmer's Market this past weekend. I thought about how I could incorporate the tomatoes, fresh basil, limes, strawberries, and cucumbers I bought into a delicious meal.

A bolognese to warm your soul

This past Friday night I served up the bolognese sauce that I had made earlier in the week while Mike was out-of-town on a business trip. This hearty sauce served on top of perfectly cooked mini penne was delicious. Perfect for a chilly San Francisco summer evening. (Where is the sun? Enough of this oppressive fog!) We had a bottle Chianti with our meal and the wine enhanced the flavors of the tomato-based sauce.

I am just crazy for Italian food. The more authentic, the better. So when I received a recipe for bolognese at my bridal shower from an old friend who has spent a lot of time in Italy, I was absolutely thrilled.

The typical bolognese sauce is a thick, full-bodied meat sauce that contains ground beef (and sometimes pork), pancetta, tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and can be enhanced with wine, milk or cream and seasonings.

Here is the special recipe that was shared with me.

Ragu alla Bolognese
Serves 8-10
Cooking time is minimum of 2 1/2 hours
(A special thanks to Judy Alexander for sharing the wonderful recipe with me!)


1 lb ground beef (I like the lean 90/10 kind and buy the best quality.)
1/3 lb prosciutto
1 whole onion, finely diced
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 stalks celery with leaves, finely diced
1 small can of tomato paste
1, 8oz can beef broth
2, 8oz (or 1, 16oz) can of crushed tomatoes
1 /4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, optional
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh, chopped basil
Salt
Pepper

In an 8 quart stockpot, crumble the ground beef and brown it over medium heat. When it is nearly brown add the chopped prosciutto. Cook until all the meat is browned. Add diced onion, celery, and carrots. Pepper to taste. When the onion is clear, add the tomato paste and beef broth. Reduce heat to medium. Mix until the paste and broth are well-combined in the pot. Allow broth mixture to heat for 2-3 in minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and oregano and mix until combined. Here is where you can add the Parmesan cheese for a little something special. Turn the stove burner to very low heat and allow the sauce to simmer for at least two hours. A sign that it is cooking well - a layer of bright red oil will rise to the surface. Stir occasionally. After approximately two hours, the sauce should be ready. However, it was advised that the longer the sauce simmers, the better it will taste. I let mine simmer about three hours and took the lid of the pot on and off to keep it from losing too much moisture. Five to ten minutes before serving, add basil. Then, salt to taste. Serve with tagliatelle, penne, or any other pasta with a lot of surface area.

This sauce also freezes and reheats well. Be sure to add the basil and salt when you reheat for optimal flavor.

For dessert I made this lovely Almond Cake. It is a recipe by Giada Laurentis (I love her!) and it was delightful. Light and sweet with a nice texture from the corn meal. In addition to garnishing with powdered sugar, I added some toasted, sliced almonds. In a perfect world, I would have served it with olive oil ice cream.

Upscale gallo pinto

Dinner came together very well and very quickly. We doubled the number of dinner guests at the last minute so I sent Mike to the local butcher for some chicken breasts on which I put a chili powder dry rub on and he grilled to perfection. I also sliced and grilled zucchini and garnished them with queso fresco.

The Caribbean Rice and Beans with Spiced Coconut Gravy dish worked out beautifully but the recipe definitely needed tweeked to get the flavoring right. Below is my revised version of the recipe.

Caribbean Rice and Beans

(5-6 servings, takes 30 minutes to make)

1 small onion, finely diced

1 red bell pepper, finely diced

2 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp grated ginger

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups cooked, white rice (can be made ahead and chilled)

1 cup cooked black beans (1 can)

2/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups coconut milk (1 can)

1/4 cup hot sauce

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp allspice

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute onions and peppers in the canola oil for about five minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or so. Incorporate the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. This will occur quickly and the remaining dish will be the consistency of risotto. Adjust the flavors to your liking. Cover and keep warm while you make the gravy.

Coconut Gravy

1 1/2 cups coconut milk (1 can)

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup water

In a 4 quart saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a gentle boil. Add curry, sugar, soy sauce, and lemon juice, and simmer for two minutes. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until there are no lumps. Add to coconut-curry mixture and whisk until the gravy thickens.

To serve, make a bed of the rice mixture, garnish with cilantro or avocado and pour the gravy on top.

In addition to the above menu, I put out the bottle of the infamous Lizano Salsa that I brought back from Costa Rica. Our dinner guests poured this cumin-flavored salsa liberally and it really tied the entire meal together.

A quick and easy brunch menu

This Sunday we are having some dear friends over for brunch. I have been thinking about what to make ever since we invited them to come over. A little neurotic, I know, but I love planning menus! We are planning a day trip on Saturday so that does not leave a lot of time for prep and I will likely do the shopping on Saturday night or Sunday morning. So I can't go overboard and that pretty much rules out any baked goods. I have been dying to make a frittata now that I have the right pans. (The last one I made was a disaster - I burnt the top to a crisp.) We brought some macadamia nuts with us from Hawaii and I have been searching for fun recipes that call for them. Those two factors were my inspiration for this simple brunch menu:

Frittata with asparagus, tomatoes and fontina
Grilled pineapple with Nutella and macadamia nuts
Artisanal bread, toasted, with jams and butter

I think I can whip this up in no time and can focus on spending time with our friends and not in the kitchen.

Date night

Last night, I made Champagne Risotto with asparagus and prosciutto chips. It is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe that was recommended to me by my friend Rebecca. She was right, it was a great excuse to open a bottle of champagne (we have plenty of bottles left over from our wedding). As far as risottos go, this recipe is quick and easy to make, as it serves just two people. The champagne adds just a hint of sweetness. With a side salad, this is the perfect date night dinner! However, you could easily scale the recipe for four or six people for a celebratory dinner party.

Perhaps the most delicious part of the recipe is the prosciutto chips. You take slices of prosciutto and put them flat on a cookie tray. I used a silpat on the cookie tray to make cleaning easy. You put the slices of prosciutto in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until crispy. Then remove the tray from the oven, take the prosciutto slices off the tray and place them on paper towels. Once cool, crumble the crisped prosciutto into bite-sized pieces. In the case of this recipe, you garnish the risotto with the crispy prosciutto, but you could put it in salad, on pizza, etc.

Check out the very delicious recipe for Champagne Risotto. I promise it is as good as the picture looks!

Arroz Con Pollo

Dinner was a hit! Twice actually, as my husband and I just had the leftovers for dinner tonight.

The pumpkin seed dip had a peanut butter taste to it that complimented the roasted tomatoes, cilantro, and habanero chili that were chopped and mixed in the paste. It was good with chips and with carrots.

The salad was really good, though I should have made individual salad plates instead of making a platter of butter lettuce leaves topped with the roasted pepper salad mixture. It was difficult to get them from the platter to plate. I added cucumbers to the roasted pepper mixture for the texture.

And the Arroz Con Pollo y Frijoles Negros entree was amazing. I promise I am usually quite critical of my own cooking, but this was really good. The chicken was tender, the rice cooked thoroughly, and the spices were just right. While you are making the dish you think there is no way that anyone should ever use that much ancho chili powder in one dish, but you do and it works. I even pulled off doubling recipe without a hitch. It was easier to make than I thought it would be. The salsa I made to top the dish was Smoky Chipotle and it added the perfect amount heat to the dish. I broken in my Le Creuset Dutch Oven making this dish and it worked like a charm (thanks Hunter and Caroline!) I could not have been more pleased with the outcome. Of course, I only remembered to take a photo after the dish was half eaten. At least that way you know people liked it!

Dessert ended up being very simple - sliced, fresh strawberries. A delicious ending to a somewhat heavy dinner.

Core Team dinners

About every two weeks, my six closest friends (i.e., the Core Team as deemed by one of my more business-minded friendss) in San Francisco get together for dinner at one of our places. Our collective friendship began as a result of roommate, work/commuting buddies, and college friends, situations. While we may no longer live or work together for the last year and half or so we have made an effort to get together.

Well "dinner" has turned into quite an affair for a Monday night. Good thing we rotate. We do apps, entrees and dessert (my least favorite to make). We drink lots of vino and catch up on each others lives. Understandably, my husband makes himself scarce!

This Monday night is my turn to cook. I absolutely love it. I really put a lot of thought into my menu, asking myself what will my guests like eat and what will be a challenge for me to make? A non-critical audience is a good thing for an adventuresome cook! Though honestly, I usually lose ambition out on dessert and ask someone to bring something.

I have put together the following menu using Rick Bayless's Everyday Mexican cookbook that I received for my birthday and his website. I am still stumped on dessert though. Probably just ice cream which is a delicious dessert when you live blocks from Mitchell's Ice Cream. Or maybe I will try to make hot fudge sauce using the mexican chocolate that I have in my freezer from Oaxaca.

Appetizer:
Yucatecan Pumpkinseed Dip with Tortilla Chips

Main:
Roasted Pepper Salad with Butter Lettuce and Creamy Queso Anejo Dressing
Red Chile Chicken and Rice with Black Beans

Dessert:
? Still brainstorming...

I am going to do some of the prep tonight. I'll let you know how dinner goes!