Saturday Breakfast: Mushroom, Leek and Gruyère Tart

It was my cooking compadre's idea to make the mushroom tart for brunch. She looked at a few recipes and had an idea of what it should be like: very mushroom forward (no eggs - we didn't want a quiche) with a nutty cheese. Both of us feel strongly that leeks are the right choice. They have such a buttery flavor, are ‘brighter’ than onions or shallots and they are a perfect taste companion to the mushrooms and the cheese. As we made it we collaborated on how it tasted - whether we should use ricotta or cream to bind the filling. We disagreed on herbs - I wanted to add thyme and she did not so we went without. She had an idea of what it should taste like and we went with it. I did add thyme as an optional ingredient.

This is the sentence where I whine about forgetting to bring my camera and having to take pictures with my ancient Blackberry...

The only thing that I think we both would change is that we used a press-in tart crust - one she has used before and likes a lot (I do too!). It just didn't have enough structure for the filling which was not heavy, but relatively dry. Oh well, adventures in baking! The tart was delicious and we will definitely make it again.

RECIPE: MUSHROOM, LEEK & GRUYÈRE TART

Turchetta: Turkey Breast Prepared in the Style of Porchetta

Hands-down, the best turkey breast I've ever had.

This recipe takes work, but once you've prepared the roast you stick it in the refrigerator for a couple of days and the final roasting is a breeze.

My cooking co-captain and I start talking about and thinking about what we want to cook for Thanksgiving at least as early as September. This year we decided to change-up a few things: 1. Instead of cooking a whole turkey we were going to do a turkey breast on the rotisserie and make a small-ish Porchetta. A couple of years ago we found Judy Rodger's genius recipe for "Mock Porchetta" and make it at least three or four times a year. 2. We decided to 'go simple' as far as sides go: gravy (yes, on Thanksgiving that can be considered a side), mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries and a salad. 3. We would prepare the meat on Tuesday and everything except for cooking the meat and making the salad on Wednesday.

Then I sent her an instant message. I found this on the Serious Eats site and thought that it was cool and that we should consider this for the next Thanksgiving. Truly, my intent was not to go rogue and try and change 'The Plan'.

A little later, I received  an email:

Subject: Oh kaaayyy.

You just had to throw a monkey wrench in our works. I want to make that Turchetta but we can't make a porchetta too.

It just looks too good to pass up. We should do it. Sometime in February we can rotisserie a turkey breast but let's make the damn Turchetta....oh you just had to go looking for recipes.

...and so, we did. Here's to monkey wrenches!

Here is a link to the Serious Eats article, The Food Lab: How to Make a Turkey Porchetta by J. Kenji López-Alt. There is also a slide show link and a link for the recipe. I'm not going to post the recipe here because we did not adapt it beyond a few changes, and have additional notes on what we will and will not do the next time (see NOTES, below), and there will definitely be a next time - it was delicious.

Browning the Turchetta

NOTES:

1. Changes to the spice and herb mix: we added the zest of 1 lemon, making the mixture identical to the one we use for Porchetta.
2. Other
• We made gravy, instead of a jus and used a different method to make the stock.
3. What we will change the next time:
• Stick with the turkey breast size called for in the recipe. We had a larger (2 times larger than the size called for) breast because we were worried about having enough leftovers for sandwiches (5 diners), and we had extra meat that was too much to roll up and fit. We ended up using much less of the breast meat and there are no problems with the leftovers for sandwiches. We probably ended up with a little more meat used in the roll than was called for in the recipe. If I had to feed a larger crowd, I'd make two (as the recipe suggests). Once you're done preparing it (or them) they can (and should) sit in the refrigerator for two days and two would still take up less room than a whole turkey.
• After you've separated the meat from the skin. Chill them both down for 30 min in the refrigerator. It will be easier to trim the fat pockets from the skin and to handle the meat. 
• Tying up the roast: After putting on the roasting bands (very useful - and re-usable - in many applications), we realized that we should have tied it up, as shown in the recipe, with butcher's twine. We did, before roasting, add butcher's twine along the length of the roast but next time it will be all butcher's twine.

Applesauce: Make It Today, But Don't Eat It Until Tomorrow

Seriously, your applesauce will taste 10x better the day after you make it. I am an applesauce purist. No sweeteners, no cinnamon, no cloves or nutmeg. Okay, mostly a purist. I added a teaspoon of ground Grains of Paradise (my winner for "Best Spice Name" and a great spice for apple pie. Or gin.), to this batch but I could have easily left it out. If I want apple spices, I'll make a baked apple, or a pie. (Mmm, pie!)

Sierra Beauties. Washed, then cut into quarters or eighths.

 The only tough decision you have to make is whether you want to do the heavy lifting up front (peeling and coring the apples) or at the end (getting rid of the cores and seeds and skin), by using a food mill after the apples are cooked. I prefer the latter.It also reminds me of when my mom made applesauce. She'd cook the apples, but whatever kid that was old enough and that was closest to the kitchen was pressed into duty milling the cooked apples with the Foley Food Mill (still around, but made for Mirro). For some reason, she always referred to it by all three names, as I do now. Mine's an OXO - smaller than my mom's, with three disk sizes - coarse, medium and fine. I use the medium for applesauce. The fine disk is perfect for milling tomato sauce. The fine disk also makes quick work of raspberries (and similar berries) when I make sorbet.

If I don't have time to mill, I can stick it in the refrigerator for a day but most important, you don't lose the taste and the color of the skins.

If I had to choose just  one apple from which to make sauce, I think I'd choose Jonathans or maybe Gravensteins, but applesauce can benefit from 2-3 types of apples. Think tart + sweet or tart + sweet + floral. Whatever you choose, applesauce is best made from the fresh fall-crop apples.

After about 15 minutes of cooking, after the water came to a boil.

Liquid? You can add water, cider or juice, but just enough so that the apples don't scorch. A batch of 5 pounds of apples takes about 30-ish minutes to cook and you need to be vigilant in the those last 15 minutes, stirring every minute or so and adjusting the heat down if necessary.

Your Wooden Spoon Doesn't Belong Here...

Your best friend in those last 15 minutes of cooking is not a spoon or a silicone spatula but an angled paddle. Stirring and turning the apples, clearing the sides and bottom of the pot and getting into the corners is what this tool was made for.

RECIPE: APPLESAUCE

Delicious Dippers: Cantucci (or Cantuccini, or Biscotti)

Biscotti derives from the Latin  "bis coctus", or "twice baked". Cantucci (or cantuccini) is a"dry" type, first documented in Prato, Italy in the 13th century as "biscotti di Prato" These cookies were made for dipping - originally in vin santo (sweet wine) but I think they taste good dipped into just about any beverage but not so easy to eat alone - you could chip a tooth on these things if you don't dip 'em. They taste wonderful when dipped and I'm serious about not waiting until you get your hands on some vin santo - dip them with whatever's at hand.

My hair stylist brought these in (along with a selection of other delicious cookies) when I went in for a pre-Christmas appointment. With no vin santo in sight, I dipped my cookie into herbal mint tea and kind of fell in love and my stylist very kindly sent me the recipe, which I adapted slightly.

There are endless combinations - next batch is going to be dried sour cherry and hazelnut.

One of the two logs, after kneading.

The only liquid besides sugar - which in baked goods world is considered a wet ingredient - are the two eggs and the dough looks impossibly dry and crumbly. When you knead it, it just barely holds together.

Slightly flattened, before the first bake.

After the first bake.

After the first bake, when you cut the logs into 1/2" slices, there are some end pieces left over, a.k.a. "the cook's treats".

You stand them up to bake the second time and they're done when they're just a little soft in the middle.

After the 2nd bake, let them cool completely.

RECIPE: CANTUCCI

Roasted Delicata Squash

This is dead easy and all you have to remember if you want crispy edges is, "the magic number is three". The Delicata squash half-moons are cooked on one side, turned to cook on the other side and then turned to cook on the original side once more for crispy edges and creamy flesh.

There may be other ways to achieve this, but this is my method learned by trial, error and, finally, success. Sometimes, as I did this time, I add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar per squash when I'm tossing them with a very small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper but you can omit that if you wish. Occasionally I sprinkle some balsamic vinegar on the slices instead of brown sugar before they go into the oven. I liberally sprinkled the half-moons with Ras el Hanout, but mostly what I was left with was a mild aromatic flavor and some of the heat from that spice mixture. 

Delicata squash is a more-or-less dirigible-shaped white or yellow squash with green or orange-gold longitudinal striations and a pale yellow-orange flesh. It's classified as a winter squash, but is very thin-skinned. When roasted, the skin is very easy to eat. You can roast it, stuff it and bake it, saute or steam it.. It's not as packed full of beta carotene as some of the other winter squashes, but has good fiber, potassium, and vitamins C and B.

RECIPE: ROASTED DELICATA SQUASH

Get Yer Groats On: Make Ahead Steel Cut (Irish) Oatmeal

Irish (steel cut) oatmeal with mix-ins: chopped, toasted almonds, un-sulphered, organic dried cranberries, a dash of cinnamon and a sprinkle of granola.

Once it gets chilly, I start thinking about adding oatmeal to my breakfast rotation. A bowl of oatmeal can be delicious, warming and nutritious. If you look at the types of oats available: hulled and whole (whole groats), steel cut (Irish), stone ground (Scottish), rolled, quick-cooking or instant, they are all whole grain and bring the benefits of that with them. The downside to the more highly processed oats is that the more a grain is processed, the easier it is digested which raises its glycemic level. To counteract this, eat your oatmeal with some protein, even adding milk can help.

Steel-cut a/k/a Irish Oats Steel-cut oat can come in several sizes (grades): pinhead (the largest), coarse, medium and fine. Which grade is pictured? I have zero clue, but I suspect pinhead. 

Quick-cooking and instant oats are like rolled oats (rolled and steamed) but rolled thinner and steamed longer. Also, if you buy prepackaged and flavored instant oats, check the ingredients. They often come with a bunch of sugar, fats, preservatives and even some mighty unnatural-sounding "natural" ingredients. I like steel-cut oats for their taste, texture and nuttiness.

I toasted these almonds in the toaster oven this morning, but you can do that ahead of time, or buy pre-roasted nuts.

Even if you stick with making your steel-cut oatmeal from scratch YOUR add-ins: milk, half-and-half or cream, fruit, sugar and butter - to name a few - while delicious, might counter-balance the nutritional pay-off. 

I like the taste of steel-cut (a/k/a Irish) oats but to prepare from scratch takes 30 to 40-ish minutes, including bringing the water to a boil. Soaking steel-cut or stone ground oats the night before cuts the preparation time to 10 minutes, but if you want to cut that down to 3 minutes for one or two servings at a time, this method works well.

I bring water to a boil, add the steel-cut oats and boil - not a furious boil, but more of an "angry simmer" - for 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring a couple of times. After 10 minutes, I turn off the heat, move the pan to a cool burner and put the lid on. Then I let it sit for a couple of hours without removing the lid. After that I pack the oatmeal in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator where it will easily store for 5-7 days. 

RECIPE: MAKE AHEAD STEEL-CUT (IRISH) OATMEAL

Friday Dinner: the Amazing Macaroni and Cheese, Oven Ribs and Creamy Coleslaw

I don't make mac and cheese or any pasta at home, nor do I order it in restaurants. Why? Because the angel on my shoulder reminding me that, "It's not as much about what you eat, it's about portion size." gets smacked into oblivion by "want". However, Friday dinners cooked with my amica in cucina, Lynn are the exception and boy-oh-boy this mac and cheese was fun, easy and delicious.

We compare notes on cooking shows we've watched, or recipes found and this one (Maccheroni al Formaggio) came from Lidia Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali's cookbook, "Lidia's Italy in America". I don't post recipes if they are not original, unless we've made significant changes in ingredients, preparation or sometimes both. With the exception of the cheeses and our choice of pasta (shells over the recipe's called-for "pipette"), we made this exactly as written, cutting the amounts in half.

Generally, when we find a new recipe, we do some research but we've never been steered wrong by Lidia - "In Lidia We Trust".

Why did we get so excited about this recipe? There is no Mornay sauce (a béchamel or "white sauce" to which grated cheese is added). The sauce is cheese, milk and two sage leaves. I've seen references to this type of sauce, but hadn't seen any recipes. Another big plus is the topping. Day-old Italian (we used a baguette) bread is hand-grated using the large holes of a box grater, lightly toasted in butter, cooled completely and the crumbs are combined with Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano (we used Romano) cheese. The variation in the crumb size really contributes to the topping's crunchiness.

Oven Ribs and Creamy Coleslaw - oh yeah, we did have a couple of other dishes and they were delicious, too. Lynn made a rub with brown sugar, paprika, onion, garlic, salt and thyme, rubbed down the ribs (1 rack of pork spareribs), wrapped them and refrigerated them for 24 hours and then we cooked them, covered in foil with a little white wine in the bottom of the baking sheet for 3 hours at 250 F, then broiled them for a total of 5 minutes right before serving. We made Al Bergez' sauce to accompany the ribs.

My creamy coleslaw dressing wasn't too creamy or sweet (I never add sugar to my coleslaw dressing) and one important thing to remember - unless you like too much dressing - is to under-dress the coleslaw and let it rest in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. The moisture released from the coleslaw as it breaks down a little will add to the dressing and the salad remains crunchy without a soupy mess of dressing in the bottom of the bowl.

RECIPES: MACARONI and CHEESE and CREAMY COLESLAW

Buttermilk Chronicles Part 1: Buttermilk Peach Smoothie

On my way to breakfast at Lynn's house yesterday - buttermilk biscuits, eggs, sausage gravy and fruit - I bought buttermilk for the biscuits. A quart. Why doesn't buttermilk come in pints and half-pints as it did in my childhood so I don't end up with left-over buttermilk? There are a lot of uses for buttermilk, but none of them were on my menus for the upcoming week. All I remember about buttermilk from my childhood is that my dad loved drinking it straight (with a little black pepper) and, as a child, I hated the taste. I had consigned myself to using powdered buttermilk for spur-of-the-moment biscuits ("Buttermilk Biscuits") when I had neither buttermilk nor milk (to transform into a substitute with lemon juice or vinegar).

Why I continued to hold this childhood prejudice against buttermilk I don't know. I love yogurt - the tangy-er the better. I make my own yogurt on the tangy side. Lynn talked me into taking the remainder home and I vowed to use it. This morning I made a buttermilk peach smoothie and I pronounce it... DELICIOUS! Will I buy buttermilk just for smoothies? YES!

I don't use ice in my breakfast smoothies because I think it dilutes the flavors. If all of the ingredients are frosty cold right from the refrigerator, or the fruit is frozen, it's absolutely chilled enough for me.

RECIPE: PEACH BUTTERMILK SMOOTHIE WITH NUTMEG AND LIME

Saturday Breakfast: Mashed Potato Pancakes

Ours weren't quite as fluffy as we expected them to be, but then I realized that 'somebody' (ahem, me) only beat the egg whites to 'soft' instead of 'stiff' peaks. Still, they tasted marvelous.

Who says you can't go home again? Taste memories are sometimes hard to recreate because what you remember tasting can be tied up with other kinds of memories: time, places, and people can all affect how you remember taste. Lynn, my co-cooking compatriot wanted to recreate the potato pancakes of her childhood from (long closed) "Farmer John's Pancake House" in Bakersfield, CA, formerly located at the corner of Union Ave and Golden State Hwy (Route 99). "Farmer John's" was a roadside diner and any of us who grew up in the U.S. prior to the 1970's can remember them well. They still exist, but largely they have disappeared, some have become regional chains and a very few are national or global chains.

Photos are reproduced with kind permission by Roadside Peek

These weren't the kind of potato pancakes like latkes that start off with shredded potatoes but American-style pancakes made with leftover mashed potatoes.

We modified the recipe from Aroostook on Food.com in that we did not add the sugar and added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of finely minced shallot. That amount of shallot was perfect - just a hint that didn't overwhelm.

Whether an exact re-creation or not, Lynn loved (as did I) how these turned out.

RECIPE: MASHED POTATO PANCAKES

Fried Asparagus with Miso Dressing

Found on Food 52, I made an adaptation of their adaptation of Nobu Matsuhisa's recipe in his cookbook "Nobu's Vegetarian Cookbook". I used onions instead of leeks and my sauce was thicker and reminiscent (in its consistency) of  Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche. Sauce Gribiche is a classic French sauce - a mayonnaise-based dressing with chopped boiled egg, herbs, and cornichons. I also used only about a 1" depth of oil for frying in a 10" skillet. My cooking compatriot (Lynn) wasn't as delighted with overall dish as I was, she loved the dressing and would also use it on a salad (I agree).

In Chef Matshuhisa's recipe, the leeks are deep-fried until browned, and then the asparagus is fried for a minute or two (depending on its thickness). While the asparagus tasted great, and except for the fact that the asparagus tips get crispy in such a delightful, delicious way, I will - while I will definitely make the other elements as indicated - likely roast the asparagus instead of frying it the next time. I fear neither the technique of frying nor the oil, but I hate dealing with a bunch of oil post-fry. I know you can re-use it but I use oil infrequently in that quantity. Yeah, a little lazy that way, but practical. If you do fry them, you will want to snap off all of the fried tips, dip them in a little dressing and eat them yourself. Just sayin'...

RECIPE: FRIED ASPARAGUS WITH MISO DRESSING

Friday Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping

Typically, chicken pot pie comes with a pastry topping that never seems to provide a good ratio of topping to filling once you've served everybody. America's Test Kitchen solved this by creating a recipe that provides a savory, crunchy topping for all. Besides the crispy, tender biscuit-y topping, it's the type of pan in which it's baked that really does the trick. You want a 13" x 9" pan with sides no more than 2 1/2 to 3 inchies high.

I don't think I'm telling tales out of school but if asked, Lynn (my cooking cohort) would be happy with topping, gravy and baby peas. The girl LOVES her baby peas! The topping is comprised of savory biscuit pieces that are first par-baked and then fully browned when the casserole goes into the oven. In fact, all of the filling ingredients are par-cooked and then baked  with the topping to heat everything up and provide the time for the biscuit bits to brown.

We've made this dish three times now. The first time around we made it as written and found it delicious- with two notes: not enough salt and felt it would benefit from some herbs. The second time, it seemed like there wasn't enough filling - and we adjusted the salt and added some thyme (but not enough for us). In between and before we cooked it last Friday, I looked at the recipe. It calls for "3 medium carrots, about 1 cup". Three medium carrots is definitely more than 1 cup so our adaptation includes more salt, the addition of a diced russet potato, herbs and some modification in how the amount of ingredients are defined.

This time was wonderful - although we still think we could increase the amount of herbs. The entire recipe as published calls for 1/2 teaspoon of salt, at one point during cooking the vegetables. It does call for adjusting the seasoning for the gravy to taste but  - and I didn't invent this - it is a conventional recommendation to season as you go.

RECIPE: CHICKEN POT PIE WITH SAVORY CRUMBLE TOPPING

Friday Dinner: Grilled Steak, Potatoes and Salad with Corn, Tomatoes and Avocadoes

Nothing new or difficult here (except that I added the final butter to the sauce too soon so it was a little 'broken' by the time we served), but just want to memorialize a fun dinner where everything tasted delicious from appetizers through the salad course.

APPETIZER:
Acme baguette slices spread with Heidi Swanson's, "Parmesan Cheese Spread" (left side of the plate) or misozuke tofu (right side of the plate) and garnished with sun dried tomato, quick preserved lemon, roasted red pepper, confit garlic and caper relish - this recipe is at the bottom of the post. It is delicious and could top anything from a baguette to fish or chicken.

 MAIN COURSE: 

Grilled steak with Marchand du Vin sauce, No-Name Potatoes garnished with creme fraiche. However you cook your steak, take it out of the refrigerator at least 30 (I prefer 60) minutes before  cooking. After patting them dry, we generously season with salt shortly before they go onto the grill or into a smoking hot pan on the stove top. Lynn reigns as the steak grilling chef supreme - she has the mojo.

SALAD

Baby greens with grilled corn, cherry tomatoes, avocado and red onion, dressed in a red-wine vinaigrette.

RECIPE: SUN DRIED TOMATO, QUICK PRESERVED LEMON, ROASTED RED PEPPER, CONFIT GARLIC AND CAPER SPREAD

 + Quick 'Preserved' Lemons
 + Confit Garlic

Friday Dinner: Coq Au Vin - Chicken Stew, to You

In the days of Yore (you know "Yore", it was before your parents' parents were born), when your rooster was too old to chase the hens, you cooked it. Old roosters make for a difficult chew so roasting was out of the question. Tough meat = braise, so maybe you dumped the dregs of your wine barrel (depending on where you lived, the wine might be white or red), some onions and mushrooms (or celeraic or carrots) cooked in the rendered lard of a hunk of salt pork into the pot and cooked Monsieur le Rooster (a 'coq') having been separated into his component parts, until the meat was edible and, "mon Dieu!", you have a sauce. Serve some chicken with a ladle of sauce on top, break off a hunk of bread to sop up the sauce and you have a tasty, filling meal.

One of the first published recipes for coq au vin was in Edmond Richardin's, "La Cuisine Française: L'art du Bien Manger" where he calls for mushrooms AND truffles, in 1906. I'd wager that as long as there has been wine, folks have used it to cook a hearty meat stew, using whatever vegetables were handy to extend the dish as well as for flavor. The preparation for coq au vin is similar to boeuf bourguignon. To thicken a stew, if flour wasn't in your pantry, you used blood from the former Monsieur le Rooster, at the end of cooking.

Nigel Slater wrote, "I once worked in a restaurant that, at the time, was considered to be the best in the land. At least several of the guides thought so. The chef patron had learned to make this dish in France, he understood its roots. We made coq au vin every week (believe me when I say that this is one of those dishes that improves, rather than deteriorates, after a few days in the fridge). I have never made it better than I did under his beady eye, but then we made it with the dregs of the glasses and bottles from the customers' tables. So whether it was the quality of the local birds, the excellent wines or that soupçon of saliva from each glass that made the difference I will never know."

Modern recipes can be tortured and time consuming. We have made it previously, using Julia Child's recipe - actually two recipes: one a "master" recipe for a ragout of chicken and onions in red wine, and the recipe for coq au vin. Not too long ago, we tried the version from America's Test Kitchen, "Modern Coq au Vin" and it was delicious.  The ATK recipe takes less time, but for us, it provided all of the flavor components from a traditional rendition and suits another Nigel Slater quote, "The sort of good-natured food that will fit in with us rather than us having to plan our day around it; the sort to eat off plain white plates on a paper tablecloth. The sort whose juices you mop up with bread and a plain, garlic-scented salad. In other words, a sound recipe that makes all the right noises." Mr. Slater's Coq au Vin recipe can be found here and if I ever run across an old rooster, that's the one I'll use.

We served our coq au vin with a spinach salad with raisin bread croutons, egg, toasted pecans, red onion and avocado and a red wine vinaigrette. Oh yeah, and bacon.

 RECIPES: MODERN (AND QUICKER) COQ au VIN