So the Thanksgiving week was pretty busy for me and I was unable to document anything I cooked to post on here. But don't fret, I'm preparing for the next French Laundry dish, and this one should be a good one. I thought about doing one of the meat dishes, but being that holidays are closing in and this is the one time during the year when I really get a sweet tooth, why not do a dessert? I don't see a problem with that, and I hope that no one reading this does either. And if you do, well....I don't really care.
And the next recipe will be...drum roll please.....Cream of Blueberry Soup with Yogurt Charlotte. Why? Well, because I love blueberries, that's why. Now I need to find some gelatin sheets and we'll be on our way...
Food. Fun. Well, maybe just food.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Quick Shoutout
I just wanted to post a quick shoutout and thanks to my friend Amanda for mentioning Sel Gris in her "Thursday 13" blog list over at thelivingroom.wordpress.com. Go check out her blog. And Amanda, you mentioned in your "Things to do before I go" section that you want to make brioche....I'll do a brioche special eventually and hopefully you'll be inspired to try to make some soon.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Clams Merinieres with Soffritto
Alright, it's been several days since my last post, but here it is, Clams Merinieres with Soffritto. Total time to cook the clams tonight: about 3 minutes. Total prep time for the supporting ingredients: 6 hours.
Yes, it took 6 hours of time to prepare the soffritto and garlic confit for the dish. I actually made the garlic confit last Friday, and the soffritto on Saturday. Both keep for a week in the fridge, so I was alright waiting until today to make the dish.
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Garlic Confit is a prominent supporting ingredient in Bouchon, and is used in a number of dishes. It involves combining peeled garlic cloves with canola oil, and slowing cooking it over low heat with a diffuser until the garlic becomes almost as soft as butter.
In the book it says it should take around 40 minutes for the garlic to get soft enough, but it took closer to an hour.
The following day, I made the soffritto. It involves caramelizing onions in olive oil over about 2 1/2 hours on low heat on a diffuser.
After about 2 1/2 hours, you puree some plumb tomatoes on a box grater, and add the puree to the mix.
That all cooks for another 2 1/2 hours until bubbles coat the entire surface. Both the garlic confit and the soffritto can be store in oil for a week in the fridge.
----
On to the clams. The recipe calls for Manila clams, however, everywhere I went to today was out of Manilas. The fishmonger at Central Market said he could get me some by next Monday, but that would have been too long, so he suggested I use littleneck clams instead, as they would be closest to Manila.
The actual prep time for the clams pales in comparison to the prep time for the soffritto. Basically you chop up some shallots, thyme, parsley, and have your confit, soffritto, some white wine, and butter ready to go, because you are going to be doing things quick.
First, you rinse the clams under cold water, and if they are dirty, clean the with a scrubber.
Next, you heat your pot up, add some olive oil and the shallots. The shallots need to be cooked for about a minute, then you add the soffritto, confit, thyme, and salt and pepper. By this time your kitchen should smell pretty awesome. Once the combination of ingredients cooks for a bit, the aroma really fills the room and gets you ready for the mollusk-y goodness to come.
Next, you add butter and the clams.
Cook the clams for about 30 second uncovered, then add the white wine, cover, and steam until the clams open. Once they open you will know they are done.
There should have been chopped parsley in the bowl as well, but I forgot that until about half-way through. The recipe also calls for a "crouton" (sliced and toasted bread) with either aoli or olive tapenade, however I didn't have time to make either of those, so it had to be just the clams tonight.
And the tasting verdict?
I thought they were very good. I pretty much inhaled them as soon as I could pry each clam out of its shell. They had a nice briny taste that I enjoyed, with other complex tastes from the garlic, soffritto, herbs, and wine. My roommate, Mitchell, didn't share my enthusiasm. However, at his defense, he isn't fond of seafood, but I am proud of him for trying it.
So there it is, Clams Merinieres with Soffritto. If you like clams, or seafood in general, you will probably enjoy it.
Yes, it took 6 hours of time to prepare the soffritto and garlic confit for the dish. I actually made the garlic confit last Friday, and the soffritto on Saturday. Both keep for a week in the fridge, so I was alright waiting until today to make the dish.
----
Garlic Confit is a prominent supporting ingredient in Bouchon, and is used in a number of dishes. It involves combining peeled garlic cloves with canola oil, and slowing cooking it over low heat with a diffuser until the garlic becomes almost as soft as butter.
In the book it says it should take around 40 minutes for the garlic to get soft enough, but it took closer to an hour.
The following day, I made the soffritto. It involves caramelizing onions in olive oil over about 2 1/2 hours on low heat on a diffuser.
After about 2 1/2 hours, you puree some plumb tomatoes on a box grater, and add the puree to the mix.
That all cooks for another 2 1/2 hours until bubbles coat the entire surface. Both the garlic confit and the soffritto can be store in oil for a week in the fridge.
----
On to the clams. The recipe calls for Manila clams, however, everywhere I went to today was out of Manilas. The fishmonger at Central Market said he could get me some by next Monday, but that would have been too long, so he suggested I use littleneck clams instead, as they would be closest to Manila.
The actual prep time for the clams pales in comparison to the prep time for the soffritto. Basically you chop up some shallots, thyme, parsley, and have your confit, soffritto, some white wine, and butter ready to go, because you are going to be doing things quick.
First, you rinse the clams under cold water, and if they are dirty, clean the with a scrubber.
Next, you heat your pot up, add some olive oil and the shallots. The shallots need to be cooked for about a minute, then you add the soffritto, confit, thyme, and salt and pepper. By this time your kitchen should smell pretty awesome. Once the combination of ingredients cooks for a bit, the aroma really fills the room and gets you ready for the mollusk-y goodness to come.
Next, you add butter and the clams.
Cook the clams for about 30 second uncovered, then add the white wine, cover, and steam until the clams open. Once they open you will know they are done.
There should have been chopped parsley in the bowl as well, but I forgot that until about half-way through. The recipe also calls for a "crouton" (sliced and toasted bread) with either aoli or olive tapenade, however I didn't have time to make either of those, so it had to be just the clams tonight.
And the tasting verdict?
I thought they were very good. I pretty much inhaled them as soon as I could pry each clam out of its shell. They had a nice briny taste that I enjoyed, with other complex tastes from the garlic, soffritto, herbs, and wine. My roommate, Mitchell, didn't share my enthusiasm. However, at his defense, he isn't fond of seafood, but I am proud of him for trying it.
So there it is, Clams Merinieres with Soffritto. If you like clams, or seafood in general, you will probably enjoy it.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Bolognese Ragu
I love bolognese sauce. It's so rich and flavorful, and the longer you cook it, the better it gets.
This recipe is the bolognese sauce I cook often, and it has always brought a smile to the faces of those who eat it. It is very rich, and extremely hearty. It's perfect for when the weather starts changing and it starts getting colder, just like this time of year.
What am I talking about? It's good all year long. I made this stuff multiple times during the summer to much fanfare. So try it, it's really not too difficult, you just have to be patient, and let it cook until the liquid has reduced. Once it gets going, don't be tempted to think that it is done. You'll know it's done when the liquid has cooked out and what's left is a wonderful, meaty sauce.
This recipe is adapted from the Lamb Ragu recipe from Andrew Carmellini's Urban Italian cookbook, which is a fantastic book, and highly recommended if you are looking for a good Italian cookbook.
I make it a little different than Carmellini. I use 3 different types of meat, more tomatoes, and slighty different amounts of herbs and spices than he does, but the results are excellent. I find that using a combination of lamb, Italian sausage or ground pork, and either pancetta or prosciutto add a nice extra dimension to the taste.
---
Bolognese Ragu
1 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. ground Italian sausage or pork
2-4 oz pancetta or prosciutto
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 28 oz can peeled organic tomatoes (I used a brand called Cento)
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 to 2 cups red wine
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon fennel
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 1/2 tablespoon rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
First, you brown your meat. Put some olive oil in your pot over medium-high heat and crumble the meat into the pot. Let it cook for a couple minutes, and give it a couple stirs so that it gets brown on all sides.
Next, add in the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook it until it becomes soft, which can take several minutes.
After the vegetables become soft, add the tomato paste and stir it until it is mixed in with the meat and vegetables, and then add the wine. The wine is a key part to this sauce, and you want to reduce it down and let the meat and vegetables absorb that flavor. The wine should reduce down within several minutes if you have the pot hot enough.
After the wine reduces down, add the tomatoes, chicken broth, and all the herbs and spices to the mixture. This is the part where you have to be patient. Turn up the heat until you have the sauce at a low boil, and then reduce it until the sauce is simmering (medium-low heat). And wait....and wait...and wait.
You'll know it's done when the liquid reduces and you are left with a thick, brown, meaty sauce that smells absolutely wonderful. But this will take a long time, probably much longer than you are used to waiting. Usually it takes about 2-3 hours for the sauce to reduce down. This is a good thing. All that time simmering allows the flavors to meld. In the mean time, scrape down the sides and bottom of the pot every once in a while to make sure that nothing is sticking to the pot and burning. You will need to do this often, as you don't want any burnt flavors in the sauce. It is also a good idea to skim any fats floating on the surface of the sauce as well.
When the sauce starts looking like it will soon be done, cook your pasta. After the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it in the pot with the sauce. Add some olive oil and butter, and stir the mixture to combine the pasta and sauce.
Serve the pasta topped with pecorino cheese (parmesan would probably work as well if you can't find pecorino, but get real parmesan and grate it yourself, don't get that powdered crap in the green can).
So there you have it. If you are not a fan of lamb, you can use ground beef if you choose, although I think the lamb is one of the keys to the flavor in this dish.
Next up, back to the Keller recipes, Clams Marinieres with Soffritto from Bouchon.
This recipe is the bolognese sauce I cook often, and it has always brought a smile to the faces of those who eat it. It is very rich, and extremely hearty. It's perfect for when the weather starts changing and it starts getting colder, just like this time of year.
What am I talking about? It's good all year long. I made this stuff multiple times during the summer to much fanfare. So try it, it's really not too difficult, you just have to be patient, and let it cook until the liquid has reduced. Once it gets going, don't be tempted to think that it is done. You'll know it's done when the liquid has cooked out and what's left is a wonderful, meaty sauce.
This recipe is adapted from the Lamb Ragu recipe from Andrew Carmellini's Urban Italian cookbook, which is a fantastic book, and highly recommended if you are looking for a good Italian cookbook.
I make it a little different than Carmellini. I use 3 different types of meat, more tomatoes, and slighty different amounts of herbs and spices than he does, but the results are excellent. I find that using a combination of lamb, Italian sausage or ground pork, and either pancetta or prosciutto add a nice extra dimension to the taste.
---
Bolognese Ragu
1 lb. ground lamb
1 lb. ground Italian sausage or pork
2-4 oz pancetta or prosciutto
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 28 oz can peeled organic tomatoes (I used a brand called Cento)
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 to 2 cups red wine
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon fennel
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 1/2 tablespoon rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
First, you brown your meat. Put some olive oil in your pot over medium-high heat and crumble the meat into the pot. Let it cook for a couple minutes, and give it a couple stirs so that it gets brown on all sides.
Next, add in the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook it until it becomes soft, which can take several minutes.
After the vegetables become soft, add the tomato paste and stir it until it is mixed in with the meat and vegetables, and then add the wine. The wine is a key part to this sauce, and you want to reduce it down and let the meat and vegetables absorb that flavor. The wine should reduce down within several minutes if you have the pot hot enough.
After the wine reduces down, add the tomatoes, chicken broth, and all the herbs and spices to the mixture. This is the part where you have to be patient. Turn up the heat until you have the sauce at a low boil, and then reduce it until the sauce is simmering (medium-low heat). And wait....and wait...and wait.
You'll know it's done when the liquid reduces and you are left with a thick, brown, meaty sauce that smells absolutely wonderful. But this will take a long time, probably much longer than you are used to waiting. Usually it takes about 2-3 hours for the sauce to reduce down. This is a good thing. All that time simmering allows the flavors to meld. In the mean time, scrape down the sides and bottom of the pot every once in a while to make sure that nothing is sticking to the pot and burning. You will need to do this often, as you don't want any burnt flavors in the sauce. It is also a good idea to skim any fats floating on the surface of the sauce as well.
When the sauce starts looking like it will soon be done, cook your pasta. After the pasta is cooked, drain it and put it in the pot with the sauce. Add some olive oil and butter, and stir the mixture to combine the pasta and sauce.
Serve the pasta topped with pecorino cheese (parmesan would probably work as well if you can't find pecorino, but get real parmesan and grate it yourself, don't get that powdered crap in the green can).
So there you have it. If you are not a fan of lamb, you can use ground beef if you choose, although I think the lamb is one of the keys to the flavor in this dish.
Next up, back to the Keller recipes, Clams Marinieres with Soffritto from Bouchon.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Coming up...
I haven't updated the blog in a couple days, so I don't want everyone to think I had forgotten about it. I know I had planned to do the Red Mullet dish next, but due to lack of red mullet in the area, I'm going to switch to another dish and try the red mullet later.
Coming up this week will be two posts: Clams Marineres with Soffritto from Bouchon, and my own recipe for Bolognese sauce (which, I have to brag, is pretty freaking awesome). I will likely do the Bolognese sauce first, and then the clams later this week, so stay tuned.
Coming up this week will be two posts: Clams Marineres with Soffritto from Bouchon, and my own recipe for Bolognese sauce (which, I have to brag, is pretty freaking awesome). I will likely do the Bolognese sauce first, and then the clams later this week, so stay tuned.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Gazpacho (Part 2) and Balsamic Glaze
I thought about maybe naming this post Gazpacho Returns, or Gazpacho Strikes Back. Maybe even Gazpacho II: The Return. Anyway, needless to say, the gazpacho turned out wonderful, and the balsamic glaze really kicked it up a notch. There's wasn't much for me to do today (besides waiting around for over two hours for the glaze to reduce), so there won't be a ton of pictures and this post won't be very long.
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When I got home from work I started on the balsamic vinegar glaze.
Once it is done (in this case, about two and a half hours), you pour it into a squeeze bottle and it is ready to go after it cools a bit.
It doesn't make very much, but that's OK, because it's pretty potent, and you don't want to use very much at a time.
Then the gazpacho from yesterday's post, which has been sitting in the fridge all day, is blended, served in a bowl, and topped with a little of the glaze.
I tried to make some type of cool looking design, but ultimately failed in my food decorating skills. But hey, the flavor was fantastic. Michael and his girlfriend, Laura were around and they each loved it as well. The gazpacho, combined with the glaze, provide a pretty bold flavor.
So that's it for this post. I'm also going to be working to try to get a better design up for the blog. I know the current one is pretty "blah".
----
When I got home from work I started on the balsamic vinegar glaze.
The balsamic vinegar goes in a pan, which is then placed on a heat diffuser on about medium heat and reduced until it becomes almost syrupy.
Once it is done (in this case, about two and a half hours), you pour it into a squeeze bottle and it is ready to go after it cools a bit.
It doesn't make very much, but that's OK, because it's pretty potent, and you don't want to use very much at a time.
Then the gazpacho from yesterday's post, which has been sitting in the fridge all day, is blended, served in a bowl, and topped with a little of the glaze.
I tried to make some type of cool looking design, but ultimately failed in my food decorating skills. But hey, the flavor was fantastic. Michael and his girlfriend, Laura were around and they each loved it as well. The gazpacho, combined with the glaze, provide a pretty bold flavor.
So that's it for this post. I'm also going to be working to try to get a better design up for the blog. I know the current one is pretty "blah".
Gazpacho (Part 1) and Gnocchi
So I pretty much spent the majority of tonight in the kitchen. Actually, up until this point, I have sent the ENTIRE night in the kitchen. Not that I'm complaining, though. It was just a long night. First off, I made the grilled cheese sandwiches out of Ad Hoc (and once again, neglected to take pictures....rest assured, it's neither difficult, nor something you probably haven't seen before).
The grilled cheese from Ad Hoc have been proclaimed around our house several times as being the greatest grilled cheese ever. I don't know if I would necessarily say ever, being that I haven't tried that many different types of grilled cheese. But they are definitely good. Unlike the recipe, I make them on sourdough bread, as everyone enjoys them and I think it fits well with the gruyere cheese the recipe calls for.
Here's the entire process: put gruyere cheese in between bread (I also cut the bread in half), heat butter in a skillet, place bread with cheese in the skillet till it browns on the bottom, flip it, brown the other side, take it out of the skillet and put a little melted butter on both sides (so incredibly healthy), and put in the oven at 350 degrees till the cheese melts. That's it. Do this, and everyone will proclaim you to have made the greatest grilled cheese in the history of mankind.
----
On to the gazpacho. There's nothing difficult at all about The French Laundry's gazpacho recipe. It involves cutting up onions, bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, and garlic, and putting it, along with tomato juice, tomato paste, olive oil, salt, white vinegar, thyme, salt, lemon juice, and cayenne in a bowl, and putting it in the fridge overnight. And since I'm sure you all like pictures, here's the ingredients:
I made it slightly more labor intensive for myself because the grocery store only had tomato juice from concentrate. I'm not a fan of using things from concentrate, so I proceeded to make my own tomato juice by blending some tomatoes and straining them through my chinois to make the juice. Yeah, I know I could have done it the easy way and just bought some, but where's the fun in that?
The gazpacho will sit overnight in the fridge, and tomorrow I will conclude the gazpacho with Part 2, which will also involve making the balsamic glaze the book calls for to complement it.
----
Gnocchi. Gnocchi, gnocchi, gnocchi.
It's pretty fun to say, isn't it?
Well..it's pretty freaking time consuming to make when you've never made it before. Especially when the recipe ends up yielding 20 dozen of them. Yes, that's 240 total. I got so tired of rolling and boiling those suckers that I gave up around 200 and still have a ball of gnocchi dough in my freezer that I can use to make some more later. It's my fault though, I shouldn't have started making them so late.
So on to the whole process.
You start with these:
Bake them in the oven like you would when you want to make baked potatoes. Get them all nice and soft on the inside. Then, when they're done baking, take them out and scoop out the inside, like so:
That wonderful white and green contraption in the background is my new potato ricer I bought specifically to use for this recipe. And this is how it works: Potatoes go in, you squeeze the handles together, and potatoes come out looking like this:
After that, you make a well in the center of your newly riced potatoes, add some flour, several egg yolks, some more flour, and salt.
Then you mix it all together really fast with a dough scraper. And when I say fast, I mean...FAST. In all capitals, that way you know I mean business. Actually, Keller says it should take no more than 15-30 seconds, and you don't want to overwork it any more than that. Well, you can picture me frantically chopping away at this mixture with a dough scraper, trying to get it all mixed within a matter of seconds. It wasn't pretty....potato, flour, and egg ended up all over. Ok, so it wasn't that bad, but I did have quite a few bits go flying.
After getting it all mixed up, you roll it into a ball, break off a piece, and roll it out into a "snake" (Keller's wording, not mine).
The grilled cheese from Ad Hoc have been proclaimed around our house several times as being the greatest grilled cheese ever. I don't know if I would necessarily say ever, being that I haven't tried that many different types of grilled cheese. But they are definitely good. Unlike the recipe, I make them on sourdough bread, as everyone enjoys them and I think it fits well with the gruyere cheese the recipe calls for.
Here's the entire process: put gruyere cheese in between bread (I also cut the bread in half), heat butter in a skillet, place bread with cheese in the skillet till it browns on the bottom, flip it, brown the other side, take it out of the skillet and put a little melted butter on both sides (so incredibly healthy), and put in the oven at 350 degrees till the cheese melts. That's it. Do this, and everyone will proclaim you to have made the greatest grilled cheese in the history of mankind.
----
On to the gazpacho. There's nothing difficult at all about The French Laundry's gazpacho recipe. It involves cutting up onions, bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, and garlic, and putting it, along with tomato juice, tomato paste, olive oil, salt, white vinegar, thyme, salt, lemon juice, and cayenne in a bowl, and putting it in the fridge overnight. And since I'm sure you all like pictures, here's the ingredients:
I made it slightly more labor intensive for myself because the grocery store only had tomato juice from concentrate. I'm not a fan of using things from concentrate, so I proceeded to make my own tomato juice by blending some tomatoes and straining them through my chinois to make the juice. Yeah, I know I could have done it the easy way and just bought some, but where's the fun in that?
The gazpacho will sit overnight in the fridge, and tomorrow I will conclude the gazpacho with Part 2, which will also involve making the balsamic glaze the book calls for to complement it.
----
Gnocchi. Gnocchi, gnocchi, gnocchi.
It's pretty fun to say, isn't it?
Well..it's pretty freaking time consuming to make when you've never made it before. Especially when the recipe ends up yielding 20 dozen of them. Yes, that's 240 total. I got so tired of rolling and boiling those suckers that I gave up around 200 and still have a ball of gnocchi dough in my freezer that I can use to make some more later. It's my fault though, I shouldn't have started making them so late.
So on to the whole process.
You start with these:
Bake them in the oven like you would when you want to make baked potatoes. Get them all nice and soft on the inside. Then, when they're done baking, take them out and scoop out the inside, like so:
That wonderful white and green contraption in the background is my new potato ricer I bought specifically to use for this recipe. And this is how it works: Potatoes go in, you squeeze the handles together, and potatoes come out looking like this:
After that, you make a well in the center of your newly riced potatoes, add some flour, several egg yolks, some more flour, and salt.
Then you mix it all together really fast with a dough scraper. And when I say fast, I mean...FAST. In all capitals, that way you know I mean business. Actually, Keller says it should take no more than 15-30 seconds, and you don't want to overwork it any more than that. Well, you can picture me frantically chopping away at this mixture with a dough scraper, trying to get it all mixed within a matter of seconds. It wasn't pretty....potato, flour, and egg ended up all over. Ok, so it wasn't that bad, but I did have quite a few bits go flying.
After getting it all mixed up, you roll it into a ball, break off a piece, and roll it out into a "snake" (Keller's wording, not mine).
The picture's kind of blurry, but you get the idea. That's what happens when you try to take a picture with dough-covered hands. Next, you cut the dough into smaller pieces.
Then, roll each piece into a ball, and use the back of a fork (or gnocchi spoon, which I didn't have) to roll the pieces into the traditional gnocchi shape, with grooves and everything.
So my gnocchi rolling skills need improvement. At least Ive got more dough in the freezer to practice with. The gnocchi then go into boiling water, and boil until they float. Once they float, they are plunged into ice water to cool for a couple minutes, then drained on paper towels, and placed on parchment paper on a tray or cookie sheet, and frozen. Once they are completely frozen, they will be put into smaller plastic bags, and available to use anytime I feel like. Which might be tomorrow....we'll see.
So there's the gnocchi. Next up with be Gazpacho Part 2, including the balsamic glaze.
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