This dish comes to us courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis of FoodTV fame. You may have noticed that I rarely, if ever, cook food that I picked up from a TV show. That’s mostly due to the fact that the abundance of food tv these days is food as blood sport, not food you’d ever necessarily want to cook and serve your family and friends. That’s not to say I don’t watch the competitive stuff, in fact I loved watching my friend Jody Adams compete on Top Chef Masters last season, and regularly tune into other Top Chef series’ when they air. I also have to admit to being a sucker for any Gordon Ramsey show, you know, like “Hell’s Kitchen” or “The F Word”. I think part of the appeal of Ramsey’s shows for me is a little game I play in my head as I watch, trying to gauge whether I think I could survive his tirades without throwing a dish at his head.
Entrees
Chicken with Tarragon and Sherry Vinegar
Long before I ever had the pleasure of meeting Patricia Wells (I had the very good fortune to cook with her for a week while I lived in Paris), I was a HUGE fan. There is just something about her approach to food that really resonates with me. Perhaps it’s her focus on delicious “approachable” regional French cooking, stripped of its Michelin starred pretense, that really feels right and authentic. That’s not to say that she can’t saddle up with the best of them and cook haute cuisine meals, because she can. Her work with the famed Chef Joel Robuchon should put any question of that to rest. It’s just that she seems most comfortable sharing everyday (yet extraordinary) French cooking with those of us looking to inject a little joie de vivre into our kitchens.
Savory Buckwheat Crêpes – Galettes de Sarrasin
While traveling to Paris this past Summer, our young Muppet fell in love. Awww…I can hear you all sighing at the news…..how sweet.
Yeah, the poor little thing fell fast and hard, and I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that her Mom and I were a bit concerned, it all happened so quickly. One day she’s a sweet and innocent 5th grader on her first trip to Europe, the next she’s on her knees begging that we take her back to the little restaurant on the Ile St-Louis where she lost her heart to a……..savory crêpe. Zut alors!
That’s right, it wasn’t a handsome young frenchman that stole young Muppet’s heart (though Pierre Hermè came close), it was a delicate egg and bacon (oeuf-lardon) galette that brought her to her knees. She was, in fact, so smitten with the thing that we returned to the scene of her infatuation (the charming “Au Lys D’Argent” at 90 Rue St-Louis-en-I’lle) two more times during our time in Paris…..such are the demands of a girl in love in the “City of Light”.
BLT’s Marinated Skirt Steak
The boys and I traveled to Washington DC a few weeks ago to visit with my brother and his family, and to catch Roger Waters’ “The Wall” concert. Before we go any further, a quick tip from a long time Pink Floyd fanatic. Any of you out there that have even the slightest interest in seeing this show, I strongly urge you to do so. It is a musical and theatrical extravaganza unlike anything you have seen before, a real tour de force, and worth every penny of its admittedly high ticket price.
OK…switching hats now from my concert promoter’s baseball cap to my restaurant promoter’s toque. Today’s dish is one that was handed to us on a promotional card (pitching a new cookbook,Bistro Laurent Tourondel: New American Bistro Cooking ) as we left dinner at the quite fabulous “BLT Steak” the night before the concert. BLT Steak is the uber-steakhouse of the talented French chef, Laurent Tourondel, and while this particular recipe was not on the menu the night we dined there, we knew immediately that it was one we wanted to try soon.
Fig and Radicchio Risotto
This was one of the fabulous dishes we learned to cook on our recent trip to Italy with Chef Jody Adams, and the gang from ItaliaOutdoors. This risotto is packed with flavor, but is relatively “light” as risottos go, there is NO cream, and not a lot of butter and cheese to speak of. I know…I know, it’s hard for you to believe that I can like it so much given that it isn’t just swimming in fat, to be honest, as someone that’s used to lots of cream, butter or cheese in my risotto, I was a little shocked myself.
What makes this dish so exciting is the classic juxtaposition of sweet (from the figs) and bitter (from the radicchio), toss in a little saltiness from the cheese, and the earthy richness of the rice and red wine, and you have a dish in perfect balance, without unnecessary fat and calories. As you all know, I’m not exactly afraid of fat, but if I don’t NEED it in a dish, I don’t WANT it in a dish.
Italian Pot Roast
My wife and I sat down the other night with a few cookbooks to suss out some new “ski house friendly” recipes to add to our normal seasonal rotation. These are dishes that are either easily and quickly prepared at the end of a long ski day, can be made without much fuss by tossing a bunch of stuff in a slow-cooker before hitting the slopes in the morning, or can be made at home in advance and easily transported to the mountain.
This “Italian Pot Roast” immediately caught our eye, and was SO GOOD, that it easily earned a spot in this ski season’s meal plan. We found the recipe in a great cookbook called The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World by Lynn Alley, in fact, it is the dish that graces the cover of the book. Lynn shows the pot roast served over polenta, which was my intention too, but when I went to the pantry to reach for some, I found much to my horror, that we were out! Luckily, I had some wheatberries there, and some leftover soffritto in the fridge that combined to make a tasty bed over which to serve this delicious roast.
Maiale al Latte – Pork Cooked in Milk
This is a very traditional Italian dish that we cooked up the other night to rave reviews. It is very quickly getting colder here in the Northeast, and we are wasting no time cooking up some of our favorite, and discovering some great new, braises.
I’ll be honest with you, as much as I love the light, fresh foods of summer, and being able to harvest part of our evening meal from our very own garden, I am more than ready for the low and slow comfort foods of fall. This recipe is from Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray’s Italian Country Cook Book: The River Cafe. Rogers and Gray are the chefs behind the highly regarded “River Cafe” in London, the place where Jaime Oliver was working when he was “discovered”. Their approach to food and cooking is very straightforward. Do as little as possible to the best ingredients you can find, respect tradition and don’t overcomplicate things…..Amen.
Penne with Shrimp, Artichokes and Feta
As I mentioned in my last recipe post, my wife and I had the great pleasure to travel to the Veneto region of Italy recently with a fun group of folks and one of our favorite chefs, Jody Adams of Rialto Restaurant in Cambridge. The trip was organized by a terrific new tour company called “ItaliaOutdoors” that specializes in travel throughout the Veneto where their “guests enjoy tasting of provincial products, biking, walking, hiking or skiing in the local area, learning to cook regional foods, and relaxing evenings with lively discussion, excellent food and a few glasses of good wine!” Amen.
We were in HEAVEN, it was hard to come home.
Steaks with Creamy Beans and Leeks
This gorgeous little treat is a slight adaptation of a Jaime Oliver recipe from his great cookbook,Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook , and it was a big hit around our table a few nights ago. We found it a delicious way to serve steak, and just loved the way the meat juices mingled with the creamy beans and leeks to create a plate-licking pool of goodness.
Arthas, who is always up for a big old slab of red meat, assisted with seasoning and grilling the meat, as well as slicing and washing the leeks. Beyond that, there was hardly anything else to do. The mincing of some fresh herbs, and the dumping of the canned beans into the pan he left to yours truly….he’s a slave driver I tell you!
PFB #2 – Shrimp Mole with Black Bean and Corn Cakes
This post marks my second entry in Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog contest. The contest is a 10 part challenge to determine the “Next Food Blog Star”, with some bloggers eliminated after each qualifying round. This post is meant to satisfy the second challenge of the competition which is for me to cook a “classic” dish of a cuisine that I don’t normally cook, this in order to get me outside of my comfort zone. You can learn more about me and Project Food Blog by clicking on the contest widget to the right of this post. Voting for the 2nd round entries starts on Monday, September 27th, and I’ll be writing a follow-up post in a few days describing how you can follow the competition, and vote me through to subsequent rounds if wish. Thanks!
For my second entry to Foodbuzz’s “Project Food Blog” competition, I have decided to cook a Mexican meal that I first had (and loved) over 30 years ago, but have never cooked myself. I feel a bit uncomfortable submitting this dish to the competition, because I am writing this post prior to even knowing if I have advanced to the second round of the challenges. You see, I will be out of town when the second entry is due, so I am forced to take a leap of faith and pre-date the post for publishing in my absence in the hope that I live to see round two. Please don’t think me too presumptuous.