Wine and food pairings

I've just finished 24 half-hour lessons in a course called "The Everyday Guide to Wine." It's from "The Learning Company" if anyone is interested! I've always enjoyed wine, and always been interested, so after this course, I feel ready to truly frighten all my friends and family at the dinner table!

Just kidding... I am branching out from what I know (and think I know) and am willing to try some new things. For example, with BBQ pork ribs, I am sipping an Argentine Torrontes. Torrontes is Argentina's flagship grape. Don't know that it's grown anywhere else. As a rule, I would say I always prefer reds to whites, but I'm learning some surprising things. BBQ ribs are pretty greasy, high fat things. The crisp acidity of the Torrontes really cuts through the fat in a way that makes you look forward to the next bite! The spiciness of the wine played nicely on the sweet smokiness of the BBQ sauce. Who knew? Listen to me; soon I'll sound just like a shelf talker!

Sweet Potato and Bacon Salad

I'm always looking for an interesting sweet potato salad recipe, but they always seem to fall a little bit short. Here's something I played with today that turned out pretty tasty: (amounts here are very flexible!)

Diced, cooked sweet potatoes

chopped red onion

chopped red bell pepper (green or yellow would be fine)

diced cucumber (peeled, seeded, then salted for 30minutes to remove some of the liquid....I like to do this so my dressing isn't diluted)

Crumbled cooked bacon

Lots of chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

The dressing I used was very simple: vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, and some smoky onion mustard I picked up at Target. Whisk until emulsified and then pour over the salad and gently stir. Let salad sit for an hour or so for flavors to mingle. Best at room temperature.

Deconstructing restaurant fare...

Doesn't this look fabulous? It was, too. It's easier than you think to put gorgeous, delicious food on the table for those special meals, and without the big price tag. Let's de-construct: There are 7 elements to this dish, starting from the bottom:

mushrooms and reduction wine sauce

green beans

filet mignon

mashed potatoes

carrot

cherry tomato

potato waffle chip

Before firing up the grill, I would start with the sauteed mushrooms and the sauce. I imagine it's actually a pretty simple element: mushrooms sauteed in butter and maybe a bit of olive oil. Then deglazed with red wine and stock and reduced down until it coats a spoon. I wouldn't salt it--in reducing, it would be salty enough.

Then I'd cook the green beans--I would blanch or steam them until not quite done, and then have a little butter in a skillet ready to butter-steam them to doneness as well as reheat them.

Mashed potatoes would be next. These were very buttery and smooth, so the potatoes would be pressed through a ricer. While the potatoes are cooking, I'd steam some carrots and reheat them in a little butter, with perhaps a splash of brandy just before assembling the dish. Mashed potatoes keep surprisingly well covered with a piece of wax paper pressed into them. For real showmanship, put them in a pastry bag or decorator with a large star tip and pipe them out in a beautiful rosette.

Finally, I'd grill or pan-saute the steak. My preferred method is to put the steak on a rack over a pan in a 275 degree oven until it reaches an internal temperature of about 105 degrees (for medium rare). Then I would quickly sear it in a hot skillet with a little butter and olive oil to brown it on all sides and continue cooking it to about 140 degrees (3-4 minutes per side). I'd take the finished steaks and tent them with foil and place in a warm oven for ten minutes to rest. This would give me time to put my mushroom sauce into the same pan the steaks were cooked in, to deglaze it and collect all those wonderful flavors from the fond. It would also give me time to butter steam the vegetables and get everything ready to assemble. The final touch--a broiled cherry tomato half on top of the steak and voila!

(Making this for just two people, I would probaby skip that jaunty waffle chip, although with a good mandoline, that could certainly be made ahead of time and kept in the same warm oven the steaks would be in while they are tented.)

This was actually a split entree--this portion was probably about 4 ounces of steak. I enjoyed this wonderful meal at Chez Joel in Chicago.

Smooth and creamy sorbets

Take advantage of all the wonderful fresh fruit available right now by making sorbet. If you have an ice cream freezer, it's really easy. Combine pureed fruit with simple syrup (3 cups fruit to 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup syrup is about right, depending on the sweetness of the fruit) and--here's the secret--a tablespoon or two of alcohol. You can use a complimentary liqueur or even some dry or sweet vermouth. (I made peach with dry vermouth, pictured here.) The alcohol will keep your sorbet from becoming grainy or icy. You'll swear it contains dairy, it will be so smooth.

Enjoy!

Leftover green beans make a beautiful salad

What to do with a handful of leftover cooked green beans? These beans had been steamed to almost tender, then sauteed in a little bacon fat along with some sliced onions. Starting with chilled beans, I tossed them with a bottled Provencal vinaigrette, topped with some diced roasted red bell pepper, garnished with yellow pear tomato halves (from my own garden!) and a few shavings of pecorino romano cheese. Although I plated the salad on small (6 inch) plates, it would have been just as pretty on a larger platter.

coming soon...pictures!

OK, I'm joining the 21st Century. I got a Droid cell phone today that actually takes decent pictures. The next time I make a blog-worthy dish, I take a photo of it!

Do you like fancy desserts?

I am convinced that many wonderful things happen because something didn't initially work out right.

I made flan for dessert the other night (for guests), in small 1/2 cup ramekins and they really did shrink more than I thought they would. So I started thinking about how I could give them some height. In the freezer, I had a genoise round cake layer I had made a few weeks ago and ended up not using. I had split it horizontally so I had two thin layers. Genoise is an incredibly simple sponge-type cake. It isn't super sweet and tends toward dryness--in Europe it is the foundation for many wonderful desserts as it is typically brushed with some kind of syrup. This got me thinking: what if I took some liqueur, flamed off the alcohol and brushed that on little rounds of the genoise. Then placed the genoise on top of the ramekin before flipping it onto a dessert plate. The result would be a half-inch thick round of cake topped with a silky round of flan, with of course, the caramel shimmering on the top. I tried Chambourd raspberry liqueur and then tried Amaretto. Both were good--so I combined them! It needed something else, so I took a peach, a fresh apricot and a fresh plum (all local--from a Fredericksburg farmer I buy eggs from) and finely diced them. I let them macerate in a bit of the liqueur syrup. At serving time, I topped each flan with a nice mound of the diced fruit. Voila!

Fish in "crazy water"

This is really an Italian dish and I have no idea why the water works, but it does. Here's the basic idea--saute aromatics (onion, garlic) in a good amount of olive oil. Say 1/4 cup for 4 servings of fish. Add diced tomatoes, and some dry white wine. Bring this to the boil. Now add a cup or so of water and lower the heat. Let this cook until most of the water has evaporated. Add your fish and poach the fish until just done in the "crazy water" mixture. This becomes a thick, flavorful sauce. A 1 inch thick piece of cod takes less than 10 minutes to cook.

This dish also reminds me of a Spanish dish--"Urta a la Rotena" or white fish in the style of Rota, the southern Spanish town where I was stationed in the Navy. Yum.

Pasta in one pot? Yes!

Who would have thought that pasta can be cooked in a comparatively small amount of broth, along with other sauce ingredients, and come together into a fabulous, easy dish? All you need is a 12 inch skillet with a lid.

I've done this with linguine, but it should work with any strand-type pasta. Here's the recipe and some variations:

Ingredients:

12 slices bacon, divided

4 cups (1 L) chicken broth

2 cans (14.5 oz each) Italian-style diced tomatoes (3½ cups/875 mL)

1/2 cup dry white wine (optional--I use vermouth)

1 medium onion

4 garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 tsp (2 mL) crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

12 oz (350 g) uncooked linguini pasta

1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) loosely packed fresh parsley, divided

4 oz (125 g) cream cheese

1 oz (30 g) Parmesan cheese, grated

Halved grape tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice bacon crosswise into 1/4-in. (6-mm) strips using Santoku Knife. Place into (12-in./30-cm) Skillet; cook over medium-high heat 8-9 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from Skillet; drain on paper towels. Drain Skillet, leaving 1 tbsp (15 mL) drippings in Skillet.

2. Meanwhile, place broth and diced tomatoes in Large Micro-Cooker(R). Microwave, covered, on HIGH 6-8 minutes or until hot; carefully remove from microwave. On clean Cutting Board, finely chop onion using Food Chopper. Return Skillet to heat; add garlic pressed with Garlic Press and pepper flakes, if desired. Cook 10-20 seconds or until fragrant. Add onion; cook 2-3 minutes or until onion is tender. Carefully add broth mixture, pasta, half of the bacon and salt. Simmer, covered, 9-10 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked but still firm, stirring occasionally.

3. Finely chop parsley using Chef's Knife; reserve 1 tbsp (15 mL) for garnish. Cut cream cheese into cubes. Grate Parmesan cheese using Rotary Grater. Cut grape tomatoes in half, if using. Remove Skillet from heat. Stir in remaining parsley, cream cheese and grape tomatoes, if desired. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes or until pasta is tender and sauce is thickened. Serve with remaining bacon, Parmesan cheese and reserved parsley.

Variations: add diced cooked chicken, leftover vegetables such as asparagus tips or broccoli. Add shelled, deveined shrimp the last 5 minutes or so of cooking but be careful not to overcook them. You can probably omit the tomatoes, but increase the broth by a cup or so. I was add several kinds of cheese to this option; the result would be like linguini ai quattro formaggi or pasta with four cheeses.

Dinner in Paris on the Seine.....five courses, breathtaking views of the city and its architecture, great food and wine, and the best company.

When can I go back?

Fresh-baked scones

My kids love scones for breakfast, and I've figured out a good way to do them, even on school days. My favorite scone recipe is in the excellent book "Baking with Julia" from the PBS series. They are mixed in a food processor. So here's what you do--mix all the dry ingredients and pulse in the butter until it resembles coarse meal. You'll have bigger and small pieces of butter. DO NOT ADD THE LIQUID!

Now divide this into 2 portions (or more if you want even smaller batches). The easiest way to do this is with a scale. I found that the recipe makes 28 ounces before liquid is added, so I simply put 14 ounces of ingredients into two small, lidded batter bowls and refrigerated. I made the first batch the first day and the second batch this morning, but it would easily keep for essentially as long as butter will keep, as that is the only perishable ingredient in the mix at this point.

In the morning, add the appropriate amount of liquid and mix with a fork until just combined and coming together in a scraggly dough. Dump out onto a lightly floured surface (or if you have a pastry mat, flour is probably unnecessary). Shape into a disk and with a bench knife, cut into 6-8 wedges. Brush lightly with cream or half and half, sprinkle with coarse sugar, and bake in a 425 oven for about 10 minutes, preferably on a baking stone. The full recipe normally makes 16 scones (2 disks of dough, cut into 8 wedges each). I found that I could make really nice, smaller scones by still making two disks of dough and cutting each into 6 wedges. So for the entire recipe you'll get 24 scones instead of 16.

It takes longer for the oven to preheat than it does to put these scones together!

Having a Pampered Chef party tomorrow....

Well, I'm having a Pampered Chef party tomorrow at my home--a "mystery host" party where I'll do all the work but give the host benefits away.

I'm making pork medallions with Madeira sauce and chicken medallions with Marsala sauce. I'll have these made up ahead of time, but want to demonstrate how to sauté a medallion and create a quick pan sauce, so I'll be doing two of each as a demo. I'll also have "smashed" potatoes with cheese and green onions, a FABULOUS salad I've recreated from a wonderful French restaurant here in San Antonio, a couple of appetizers and a trio of mini desserts.

My appetizers will be mini quiches and cucumber boats filled with crab salad, as well as cheese and crackers, olives, etc.

My dessert trio: chocolate ganache torte squares, spumoni cookies (the classic pistachio, cherry, and chocolate cookies) and macadamia-coconut blondies.

For drinks I'll have red and white wine, punch, and coffee.

I thought I'd also demonstrate a couple of fun napkin folds. Everyone will leave with hopefully a full stomach and a booklet of all the recipes I prepared.

Retro dinner....and a great way to use leftovers

We had cheese fondue tonight for dinner. What a great way to use up stale bread (reheated and cut into cubes), two slices of roast pork (cut into cubes), some mushrooms, an apple. Not to mention all the odd bits of various cheeses I had.

Now for the fondue--my measurements aren't precise. I sauteed some minced shallots in a little bacon fat, then added a tablespoon or so of flour and made a roux. To this I added about a half cup of sauvignon blanc wine and once the alcohol cooked off, I added a cup or so of warm milk. I whisked this until it began to bubble and thicken, and then I started adding shredded cheeses. I had cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack, a bit of German butterkase, some Parmesan, and I think something like an Edam or Gouda. All told I probably added 2-3 cups of shredded cheeses. Keep in mind, this was for 4 people. Once the cheese was all melted and smooth, I added a bit of freshly grated nutmeg, some white pepper, and voila! To serve, I have a stand that holds square ceramic bowls that are heat-safe. I simply put a tealight under the bowl of cheese, and put all the other "dippers" in the stand and on the table in appropriate bowls. Then with fondue forks in hand, we all dug in!

Wouldn't want to do it every day or even every week or month, but once in a while, what a lot of fun!

Rescuing Girl Scout Cookies

I discovered a box of Girl Scout cookies (Trefoils--the shortbread ones) in my freezer that have been there since last year. One of the packages was open, and do you know that nasty, freezer taste that foods take on when they've been in there for too long? I know how to get rid of it!

I put the cookies on a sheet pan and baked them for about 10-15 minutes in a 200 degree oven. Viola! They tasted as fresh as this year's. (By the way, you can get rid of that freezer taste in bread too, by doing the same thing. Perfect for making bread crumbs.)

Probably wouldn't work with thin mints of course, but it'll work with Do-Si-Dos, or any of their cookies that aren't chocolate-covered.

Just thought I'd share...

A hearty breakfast idea

I've been away from my blog for a while--my apologies if anyone out there is reading it!

Here is an interesting concoction from this morning, reminiscent of "Eggs in the Basque Style." I had a small bit of leftover "pisto manchego," a Spanish mix of onions, red and green peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic, sauteed to a stew-like consistency in olive oil. I diced some potatoes and started them to cook in a little bit of olive oil. When they were about half way to tender, I added the bit of leftover pisto. I also had two slices of leftover roasted pork, which I diced and added. This was starting to remind me of hash, but the aroma of garlic and the bit of tomato made me think of Basque-style eggs, a very hearty dish.

Once the potatoes were tender, I spooned the mixture into two shallow baking dishes. (I have one from Spain, a rustic brown-glazed ramekin of sorts). I made a "well" in the center of the mixture and cracked an egg into it. I then baked it at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. I sprinkled it with a bit of cheddar cheese and ran it under the broiler for a few minutes.

I personally think the eggs were a little overdone. The yolks were not at all runny, and I think they should have been. Nonetheless, with a slice of toasted walnut bread and some melon, it was lovely!

More surprises from the microwave

I'm really learning not to be afraid of my microwave. Dinner last night, much to everyone's surprise was made entirely in the microwave. First, a pork tenderloin, trimmed of the silver skin, got rubbed with a little olive oil and a Jamaican jerk rub. In a covered baker, microwave for 9 minutes (yes, NINE minutes--not a typo). Let the meat rest for 10 minutes still covered. At this point, it will be perfect, although it can rest a little longer if you need it to.

I actually did the potatoes first, as follows: cut 4 Yukon Gold potatoes in half and put them in a covered baker with a bout 1/3 cup milk. Microwave on high for 10 minutes. Move the potatoes around (outside to the inside and vice-versa), add about 4 ounces light cream cheese, maybe another 1/2 to 1 cup of milk, salt and pepper and return it to the microwave for another 6-8 minutes. Then roughly break everything up with a masher or wooden spoon. These won't be like mashed potatoes--more like creamed or even scalloped potatoes. You could add some shredded cheddar cheese, green onions, sour cream, and the like. (I actually got the idea to do this from a baked potato chowder recipe. I figured less milk would give me a great potato side dish rather than a chowder and I was right.)

Finally, I just micro-steamed some broccoli florets with a little butter, salt, and pepper. Voila! dinner was on the table in about 30 minutes.