Oui, Chef

Rich and Spicy Applesauce

When the boys returned from a visit to their grandparent's house in VT. last weekend with a 1/2 bushel bag of fresh from the tree, organically grown apples, it could only mean one thing....time for some homemade applesauce!  Making your own applesauce is so easy to do, and the quality of the end product so far better than ANYTHING you can buy in a store, that we haven't bought a jar of applesauce in many years.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Cider Cream

This is a favorite recipe from Epicurious.com that I have cooked for years.  Each Fall when butternut squash are abundant, I make a huge batch of this soup and freeze about a half-dozen gallon sized ziploks of the stuff to get us through the Winter.  The recipe calls for a little cream which can certainly be eliminated if you are trying to watch such things.  When I make this, I do not add the cream prior to freezing, but will swirl a bit into the soup after it has thawed and been reheated.  This allows me to serve some without if someone requests it that way.  The drizzle of cider cream on top at service is a delicious touch, one I recommend you NOT skip unless you really must.

This year I got my squash from my guitar teacher, who, much to his surprise, found a bevy of the beauties growing out of his compost pile behind his garage!  How cool is that?

Fig and Anise Clafoutis

 

I've been visiting a new website over the past few weeks, it is called Food 52.  It is the brain-child of Amanda Hesser (NY Times food writer) and her partner, Merrill Stubbs.  The purpose of the site is to hold recipe competitions among member "home cooks" every week for a year, with each winning recipe being featured in a cookbook that will be published by Harper Studio sometime in 2010.

My recipe for a Fig and Almond Clafoutis has been chosen as a weekly finalist....kinda cool, huh?  Users of the site have a week to vote on which recipe will win, AND THE VOTING DEADLINE IS TONIGHT, TUESDAY OCTOBER 20TH AT MIDNIGHT!

I suspect that the Fig showdown will be a close race, so I would REALLY appreciate your VOTE should you deem my recipe worthy.  CLICK HERE to register on the site and place your VOTE for my "FIG AND ANISE CLAFOUTIS".  Below, you can watch a video of Amanda and Merrill making the two finalist fig dishes, which is way fun.

Your Best Fig Recipe from Food52 on Vimeo.

I am so pleased with the way this recipe turned out, and am thrilled just to have been chosen as a finalist in the competition.  I encourage all of you fig lovers to try this recipe while fresh figs are still in season, it really is special!

Cheers and Thanks - Steve

Recipe:

Fig and Anise Clafoutis       

(Print Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients:

20 Black Mission Figs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1 plump vanilla bean pod
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon Calvados
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of AP flour, sifted
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
Zest of one lemon, finely minced, about 1 packed teaspoon
Kosher salt


Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400 F
• Butter and sugar a 10 1/2 inch round baking dish
• Cut the stems off the figs, and quarter them lengthwise
• Spread the almond pieces of a sheet tray and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until nicely golden, remove from the oven and set aside.
• Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out of the pod and onto a small plate.
• Place the anise seeds in a small, dry saute pan over low heat and toast gently till fragrant.  Remove from heat and let cool.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat, and when ready, add the butter, honey, 1/2 of the vanilla seeds, and the vanilla pod, stir well.  Add the figs, a pinch of salt, the anise seeds, and cook, tossing occasionally, 2-3 minutes, until the figs are starting to soften, and are well coated with the honey butter.
• Pour the figs into the prepared baking dish, and spread evenly across the bottom.  Remove the vanilla pod, and sprinkle with the toasted almond pieces.
• Zest the lemon with a fine toothed micro-plane, reserve.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, blend the eggs until frothy, add the balance of the vanilla seeds, the lemon zest, the sugar, cream, and milk, and Calvados, and mix well.  Add the flour and a pinch of salt, and mix until well incorporated, 1-2 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes.
• Pour the batter over the figs, and place the dish in the center of the preheated oven.  Bake until the center puffs and turns a deep golden color, and the clafoutis feels firm and set, about 30-40 minutes.  
• Transfer to a cooling rack.  Serve slightly warm, or at room temperature, dusting with confectioner’s sugar, and with a dollop of freshly whipped cream if desired.

Chefs Collaborative Celebrates!

My wife and I had a blast Sunday night at the Chefs Collaborative's "Seasonal Celebration" held at The Regatta Bar in Cambridge.  I have been a member of the Collaborative for a couple of years now, and never miss an opportunity to join with member chefs and farmers as they work together to create magical food from our local, sustainable bounty.

Chefs Collaborative works with chefs, farmers and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply.  Through their actions, they encourage their members to embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies.  By providing member chefs with the tools necessary to make sustainable purchasing decisions, and then connecting these chefs with local, sustainable food producers, the Collaborative does a great deal to advance the health of local food economies nationwide.

Sunday's event was special in that it celebrated our region's RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) Grow-out, in which twenty-eight farmers and thirty-five chefs in Boston, MA; Portsmouth, NH and Providence, RI, participated this year.  Each farmer grew some of the sixteen varieties of regionally significant, heirloom vegetables chosen for the project.  Seeds were donated to the project by Seed Savers Exchange, Fedco Seeds, and Old Sturbridge Village.  Farmers “grew out” these seeds and participating chefs bought the produce, and featured them on their menus.

Friends and supporters of the Collaborative packed the room on Sunday, and were treated to dozens of creative dishes, all featuring local "heirloom" RAFT produce.  There was a delicious Boston Marrow Squash Flan from Chef Richard Garcia and his team at Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro, and a fabulous Smoked Taylor Bay Scallop with Caramelized Onion Risotto, all topped with a fresh Pickled Pumpkin Salad from Peter McCarthy and the gang at EVOO.

This year's event allowed the chefs to set up their cooking stations along the perimeter of the main room so that they could meet and greet the guests, and answer questions we all had about the treats they had produced, a definite improvement over last year's event, where the poor fellas (and ladies) were all locked in the kitchen, well out of reach of their fans.  Quel dommage!

For all of you committed to eating locally grown, sustainably produced food, and would like to help facilitate the bringing together of like minded chefs and farmers, I encourage you to check-out and support my friends at Chefs Collaborative.  It is a terrific organization doing great work for local food communities across the country.

Cheers - Steve

Shrimp Fried Rice

This is a recipe that was inspired by a Pineapple Rice dish that I recently found featured on the fabulous 101 Cookbooks blog.  I took Heidi's recipe and adapted it to what I had on-hand at the time when I first made this a few weeks ago.  It came out so well, that I thought I'd reproduce (and document) it for all of you.

Fried rice is absolutely one of those everything but the kitchen sink dishes, that lends itself well to any leftovers you have laying about.  You will find some combinations you like better than others, but as long as you start with a few cups of cold, cooked rice, and the makings of a tasty dressing, almost anything else you throw into the mix is sure to yield a satisfying meal.

Arthas put in some time working on his knife skills to pull this meal together, tailing and cutting the shrimp, mincing the garlic, and prepping the clementines.  This is one of those meals that is really all about prep, so if you have the space in your kitchen, pull a few of the kids into duty to speed along the slicing, dicing, and mincing process.  Once your "mise" is ready, only about five minutes of high heat stand between you and a healthy, delicious meal.

Enjoy!

Recipe:

Shrimp Fried Rice

Inspired by:  Heidi Swanson of "101 Cookbooks"

(Print Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mild olive oil, or sunflower oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1/8 cup orange juice

1/8 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

pinch of kosher salt

2 cups cooked brown long grain rice, cold from the fridge

24 large, cooked, peeled and de-veined shrimp, cut into thirds

4 cups baby spinach leaves

2 ears of corn, kernels stripped from the cob

3 clementines, each segment cut in half cross-wise

1 shallot, finely minced

2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and light green parts only

1 cup roasted, salted cashews, roughly chopped

1 small chile, seeded and finely minced

3 eggs, scrambled, cooked into a thin omelette, and cubed.

Fresh Cilantro

Method:

• Make the dressing by whisking the first nine ingredients together in a bowl, set aside.
• Whisk the eggs with a little salt and pepper, and pour into a pre-heated small non-stick skillet.  Cook on low-medium heat, undisturbed, until totally set.  Flip briefly if you wish before slipping the omelette onto a cutting board to cool.  Cut into cubes and reserve.
• In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon high-heat canola oil to almost smoking. 
• Add the corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. 
• Add the shallot, chile, rice, scallions, shrimp, and half the dressing, and cook till heated through. 
• Add the spinach, cooked egg, clementines, and cashews, and cook until the spinach wilts. 
• Taste for seasoning, adding more dressing if required.  
• Serve immediately, topped with freshly minced cilantro.

Serves 4-6

Bran Muffins Even Your Kids Will Like

A bold claim, I know. 

Just the mention of the word "bran" will have most kids turning tail and heading for the hills, but if you can get them to try these, I betcha they'll be hooked.....hey, have I ever lied to you?  This is a muffin that I make in double batches to freeze for a quick, healthy re-heatable breakfast or snack.  They get their  moist texture from pureed raisins, which along with a little brown sugar, make them perfectly sweet, but not overly so.  They are dense, rich, packed with flavor, and because they don't finish with a crown, but rather a flat-top, they are oh-so-fun to stack!

The recipe is Nancy Silverton's, perhaps you've heard of her?  She is thought by many to be the preeminent pastry chef in the States, and her famed La Bea Bakery in L.A. enjoys world-wide acclaim.  I bought her cookbook "Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery" some time ago, but it wasn't until I read a recent blog post by David Lebovitz raving about these muffins, did I decide to give them a try.  I am so glad I did.

Chorizo and Spinach Frittata

Making a frittata, much like a fried rice, is a great way to use up all the left-overs in your fridge.  Pick a few main ingredients that will define your flavor profile, and then feel free to toss in little remnants of past meals that are hanging on, begging not to become a science experiment in the back of your refrigerator.

The dish is endlessly versatile, can be tossed together in minutes, is great hot or cold, travels well, can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  As long as you like eggs, it is a nearly perfect food.  I've even thought of making a large one each Sunday, strictly for use throughout the coming week.  A slice is great re-heated for a quick breakfast, can be a healthy addition to a school lunch, and a satisfying meal on the fly with a quick salad as you race between appointments on your evening schedule.

Tomato Pie

I have a confession to make.

The kids barely had anything to do with the making of this pie. 

There, I said it....I'm such a bad, wicked, naughty boy.....will you ever forgive me?

We had every intention of conforming to the rules of our "Oui, Chef" work, and have Grid help me make the pie, but a cross-country track meet (his team won, YEAH) got in the way.  This happens to us occasionally, and when it does, we generally pass over the dish for inclusion in the blog so that we stay true to the spirit of our work here. Not that you'd ever really know, but we feel a responsibility to post only dishes that we actually made together, as we stand on our soap box and encourage you all to do the same.  But as Tom Cruise said in Risky Business, "sometimes you just gotta say, what the #@*?", and break the rules a little bit, or as is the case here, bend them a whole lot.  I say bend them because Boris did help me to make the pie dough for this recipe, but beyond that, I was flying solo.

We decided to run with this post anyway, not just because it is a really fabulous recipe, which it is, but because tomato season is fast coming to a close here in the Northeast, and we want our local readers to have a chance to make this dish with perfectly ripe local tomatoes while they still can.

The Chef's Table - Peter McCarthy of EVOO Restaurant

I am excited to be writing today's post, because it marks the first installment of a new feature that I am calling “The Chef’s Table”.  In it, I will profile a real honest to goodness chef (not just someone who plays one on TV, like me) who is also a parent.  I’ll ask my guest to not only opine on their food philosophy, but also on how they bring that thinking home, and what important food lessons they hope to pass on to their kids. 

I recently had a chance to chat with Peter McCarthy, the award winning chef/owner of EVOO Restaurant in Somerville, MA..  EVOO, an acronym for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, serves eclectic, New American cuisine, and was named best Eclectic restaurant in Boston in the 2007/2008 Zagat Guide!

Peter graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in November, 1987 where he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by his graduating class. Just out of CIA, Peter began working at the Bostonian Hotel, where he worked his way through the ranks and was promoted to Executive Chef in 1993, a post once held at various times by Jasper White, Lydia Shire, and Tony Ambrose....talk about big shoes to fill.  During his tenure, the restaurant received numerous awards and much acclaim, including a 1995 vote by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the Top Fifty Restaurants in America. In 1997, the James Beard Awards selected Peter as one of "America's Great Hotel Chefs." In 1997, he left the Bostonian to pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant. Peter and his wife Colleen opened EVOO ten months later.  In September, 2004, they opened their second restaurant, the very popular, Arlington-based Za, which offers an EVOO spin on pizza and salad.