Oui, Chef

Parchment Baked Fish with Fennel

Baking fish in parchment is a fabulous technique that I'd read about for years but didn't try myself until just the other day, inspired by having seen my chef-friend Jody Adams cook some this way in a recent cooking class I attended.  Jody, who along with her husband Ken write and shoot the fabulous home-cooking blog, The Garum Factory, prepared a similar dish in her class, and from the first bite I was hooked.

Ad Hoc Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Many of you may recall that when I posted David Chang's "Momofuku's Fried Chicken" a while back I said I'd be back soon with an honest to goodness buttermilk fried chicken recipe.  Well here it is, thought it comes to us not from America's deep south, but rather by way of one of my favorite chefs, Thomas Keller, and the gang at his Ad Hoc Restaurant in the Napa Valley.

While I have been a fan of traditional, batter coated fried chicken for years, I never endeavored to make it myself until now.  

Why?  

Pasta Un-Carbonara

 

As a cook, I’d love to be remembered as someone who took inspiration from my culinary heritage, but also relished making dishes my own, not feeling shackled by recipes, but rather enjoying the freedom to apply skills I’ve acquired over the years to bring new techniques and ingredients to my cooking.  I’d also like to be remembered for the time I’ve spent cooking with my family, teaching my kids a few things about cooking before they head out on their own in the world.

Corned Beef and Root Vegetable Hash with Poached Eggs

This post marks my first foray into the world of homemade charcuterie, and if the success of this dish is any indication, we are in for a fun and delicious few months of experimenting with this rather ancient culinary tradition.  You see, I've joined a group of adventurous food bloggers in what has been named "Charcutepalooza - A Year of Charcuterie".  The purpose of the group, which was founded and is being managed by the amazing bloggers Mrs. Wheelbarrow, and the The Yummy Mummy, is to encourage all of us participating to delve into the mystical world of charcuterie with a little help from cookbook author and food writer extrordinaire, Michael Ruhlman.

Cod and Cabbage Purses with Lemon-Caper Brown Butter Sauce

 
By the time I finished my training at Le Cordon Bleu, I had sworn that I would never again cook a dish that required my wrapping anything in a cabbage leaf.  Why?  Because over the course of my time there, it seemed that we spent an inordinate amount of time cooking things in cabbage, and to be honest, I wasn’t a big fan.

Training at the school is broken into three trimesters, the first concentrating on the very basics of knife skills and cuts, and learning the ins and outs of culinary building blocks such as stock, roux etc.  The second term is designed as a tour around regional France, with each week or so dedicated to exploring the classic dishes of the country’s varied regional cuisines. In the final term we stepped things up and created modern, internationally influenced “restaurant” quality dishes.

Buche de Noel

 
I don't have a lot of time today, but did want to wish everyone out there a joyous holiday season!  As another year wraps to a close, we at Oui, Chef are grateful for the friends we've made here, and look forward to cooking more great food with you in the new year.

This buche de noel is one that Boris and I whipped up over the past few days, and will be enjoyed after our Christmas Eve dinner tonight.  It is a combination of a few different recipes we found, inspiring a whole new holiday treat.  It has a chocolate genoise cake layer, a filling of white chocolate mousse, and a coffee buttercream frosting....a few meringue mushrooms for decoration and you have a festive dessert worthy of any holiday table.  This is not a difficult cake to make, but it does take some time.  It would be a great holiday school vacation week project to tackle with your kids...serve it at your New Year's party and thrill the crowd!

Wishing you all holidays full of love, laughter and lots of DELICIOUS food!  Thank you so much for being such an important part of our little blog, we'll see you next year!

 

Cheers - Steve and the Mrs., Grid, Boris, Arthas, Peyton and Muppet

 

Foodies of the World

I'm quite proud and happy to share that "Oui, Chef" was chosen to be among the 59 Food Bloggers that contributed to the just published "Foodies of the World" cookbook.  Our print copy just arrived in the mail today, and I must say that is was kinda cool to see our food and words in full-color print.

The book is beautifully designed and is chock-full of fabulous recipes from some of my favorite food bloggers.  Folks like Lynda Balslev of "TasteFood", Jaden Hair of "Steamy Kitchen", Denise Woodward and Laudalino Ferreira of "Chez Us", and Beatrice Peltre of "La Tartine Gourmande", have all contributed delicious recipes to the project.

The publishers chose two posts with recipes from each blogger to incorporate into the book.  There is also a brief profile of each "foodie" that details their background, as well as what inspired them to start blogging, and what motivates them to keep writing, cooking and sharing.  I'm really enjoying reading up on all the other bloggers in the book and getting a sense for what informs their writing and cooking styles.

In addition to the two recipes that I contributed, "Beef Bourguignon" and "Profiteroles", there are some terrific recipes for "Farro Risotto", "Lemon and Garlic Rack of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce", "Chocolate and Vanilla Petits Pots de Creme", "Curry Laksa", "Gratin Dauphinois au Chorizo", and "Chocolate Rum Raisin Bread Pudding" just to name a few.  There are so many I want to try, I just have to figure out where to start.....I'm thinking it just might be the bread pudding!

If you'd like to get turned on to some really great food blogs (or just have a hankerin' for a fab new cookbook), I urge you to click on the link below and buy your own copy of "Foodies of the World", I am quite certain you won't be disappointed.  Happy reading and eating!

Cheers - Steve

to order a copy of Foodies of the World, click HERE

Bouchon's Parisienne Gnocchi

Alright, let's just get this over with, shall we? 

Here it is, the last Keller recipe in the pipe-line.  Not that any of you have been complaining, in fact, over the past few days I've received more than a few requests from readers to "Keep Cooking Keller", but in an effort to offer you all a better balanced and wide ranging selection of recipes to cook with your kids, this will be the last we see of our friend for a while.....I'm all verklempt.

I don't know about you, but I do find that I'll roll with a particular chef, a new cookbook, or even a style of cooking for some period of time in order to really pull a lot from the experience.  I do think it helps to spend some unhurried time with a chef, or perhaps a "regional" style of cooking to really come to understand him/it, and so I have enjoyed finally cooking some of Keller's fab food, and I hope you have too.  I'm sure we'll get back to his great food some day in the not too distant future, like maybe if someone buys me his new book "Ad Hoc at Home" for my birthday this year....anyone....anyone?

Local Organic Steak with Kalamata Chimichurri Sauce

I love my grill.  I love the act of cooking just about anything on my outdoor grill, from the freshest swordfish, to thick, fat-marbled, beef rib-eye steaks.  Every man I know is the same, even guys that avoid cooking in their kitchens at all costs.  Put them next to a screaming hot grill and they have an almost instant primal reaction to the thing.....it's like we're all back living in a cave and trying to tame fire for the first time. 

Sadly, as a resident of the Northeast, my opportunities to grill outdoors in the winter are fairly limited.  We've had such a bad spell of weather as of late, that I haven't even bothered to dig a path through the snow to my grill, you know, just in case we have a day that creeps above 40℉ and tempts me to fire up the beast.

That said, we have found ourselves doing more braising, making pastas and soups, and generally taking a break from grilled meats.  It's been all good, and natural, and seasonal, and in keeping with the proper rhythm of life in New England. 

That was, until the other day when Peyton said she was "really...really...REALLY hankerin' for a steak, and questioned if there was there anyway...PLEEEEASE that we could cook one indoors, because she really missed the sizzling, juicy, charred goodness of beef flesh done on the grill!"  Clearly, she has been working on connecting with her inner cave woman.

Happily for her (and for all of us, really) there is a perfectly excellent way to cook steaks indoors, one that imparts many of the flavors that open-flame grilling does when cooking on an outdoor grill.  There are two keys to crafting a "grilled" steak meal indoors to satisfy your inner caveman (or woman as it were), the first is to start with a nice thick steak (at least 1 -1/2" - 2" thick), cut from organically and humanely raised cattle.  Second, you need BIG heat.  For me, that translates into a fully pre-heated cast iron grill pan over a high flame to start cooking your steak, and a pre-heated 425℉ oven in which to finish the cooking.  Oh....and you might want to be sure you have a good kitchen exhaust fan too.

I'm a proponent of adding complexity to the flavor of a good steak.  For a filet, that may come in the form of a nice sauce bernaise, or perhaps a dollop of compound butter on top, for a  sirloin or well marbled rib-eye, it is hard to beat a great chimichurri sauce.  I was first introduced to chimichurri when I used to travel to Houston frequently for work.  There was a great Argentinian restaurant there called Churrascos, that served fabulous steaks with the best chimichurri.   The freshness of the parsley, the acidity of the vinegar, and the bite of the garlic are all perfect foils for the melting fat and earthy chew of the beef.  It is so quick to throw one together, that once you've tried it, you'll be making it a lot, I promise.

So let's begin, shall we?

Recipe:

Kalamata Olive Chimichurri

adapted from: Bon Appetit Magazine - February 2009

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons fruity olive oil, divided
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1 bay leaf, broken in half
• 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 4 tablespoons roughly chopped, pitted Kalamata olives
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add  shallots, red pepper, and bay leaf. Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add garlic and sauté, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, olives, and vinegar.  Season chimichurri with salt and pepper, and add a little water by teaspoonfuls to thin as needed. Let sit at room temperature while you cook your steaks, remove the bay leaf before serving.

For the Steaks:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Season steaks on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Brush heavy, large oven-proof grill skillet (preferably cast-iron) with vegetable oil. Heat over high heat until just smoking. Add steaks. Cook until nicely browned, about 4-5 minutes. Turn steaks and transfer skillet to oven. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into steaks registers 125°F to 130°F for medium-rare, about 10 minutes.

Let steaks rest at least 5 minutes. Thinly slice crosswise, and spoon chimichurri over.

Bouchon's Quiche Lorraine

OK. 

This is not a recipe for the casual, "I just like to throw it together" kind of cook, and certainly not one you will be whipping up in a rush on a weeknight, but if you have any interest at all in making what is likely the best quiche on the planet, I urge you to stop clicking on your mouse and hang with me here for a while.

It also is not a recipe that you can give your kids free reign over, but it does have plenty of elements that the kids can help with, and I encourage you to make them part of the process.  Not only will most kids LOVE this quiche, but I think it important that we make the effort to train our next generation in the fine art of quiche making, an art that is still alive and well in Europe, but sadly died here in the States in the "real men don't eat quiche" days of the early 80's.  Americanized quiches baked in factory-made, soggy pie shells, with over-cooked, curdled custards make me want to scream....our kids deserve better, don't you think?

This dish is actually not difficult to make, but as with every recipe Chef Thomas Keller creates, it IS exacting, and therein lies its brilliance.  Keller is not one of those chefs who lives on the bleeding edge of culinary adventure, like Heston Blumenthal, Feran Adria, or Grant Achats.  These guys make their livings pushing the edge of the envelope with regard to cooking technology and high tech ingredients, that allow them to reconstruct food in ways that leave diners giddily questioning what exactly it was they just ate. 

In contrast, what Keller does better than anyone else is rip classic dishes down to their most basic elements, and then reconstruct them using only the finest ingredients, and with such a finely honed and thoughtful technique, that the end result is a dish that is instantly recognizable for what it is, but is of a quality that has been elevated almost beyond measure.  When finished, you will immediately recognize this dish as a quiche, but what you will have created will make every other quiche you have tasted seem like a cheap, plastic imitation.  Successfully creating this dish will not require technical wizardry on your part, but it will require a tight eye on a few key details.  The rewards for your vigilance will be ample, I assure you.  You game?.....Then let's go.