Breakfast Comfort Food: Easy Oven Pancake, or Dutch Baby

ovenpancake-blueberry

Many years ago, when my sister and I both ended up living in Northern California, our mother decided that her progeny were not properly taken care of for Thanksgiving way out there on the Left Coast. She sweet-talked her friend Nancy, who had a house in Napa Valley, to invite us up for Thanksgiving dinner. We  did not need to be asked twice. The meal and scenery were incredible, but what has lasted with me all these years is Nancy’s “easy oven pancake”, which many would call a Dutch Baby.  It is much easier than making individual pancakes, and is perfect comfort food in the morning, especially with some thick-cut bacon on the side!

Lately, I’ve taken to adding fresh fruit to the dish (the top picture has blueberries thrown in) and have been quite happy with the results. Warning: it takes no time to make, but it gets devoured even faster!

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Grilling ideas: ground lamb, marinated london broil steak

ground-lamb-meatballs-done

When summertime arrives, as it did in gorgeous fashion this weekend, a lot of my cooking shifts outside to the grill.  If you are the same, and looking for ideas, here are two different flavor profiles you might find interesting: grilled lamb and feta meatballs with a yogurt mint sauce, and a ginger, mustard seed and soy sauce marinated london broil (aka flank steak).

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Random Thoughts and Recipe Links 5-14-09

wisteria

Random Thoughts

  • I learned from Bron Marshall that floury potatoes are what New Zealanders call non-waxy baking potatoes.  But I think it is much more fun to imagine little gnocchis growing in the ground.
  • I was able to attend the Foodbuzz 1 millionth post party in New York the other day, and it was a marvelous time. It was wonderful to see Ryan(thegirl) again from Foodbuzz and meet Ben Dehan, their CEO.  I got to see friends like Stacey Snacks, Colloquial Cookin’, and No Recipes.  I got to finally meet some folks who I’ve read for a while like the wonderful Culinary Types and Red Cook, as well as Amateur Gourmet (Adam really is as genuine and nice as he appears on his blog, but then I’ve found that blogs tend to be a pretty good indicator of a person’s character). I also got to meet some new folks like Taste As You Go, Balance (who is writing a fascinating PhD studying health issues with molecular gastronomy), Culinary Wannabe, NY Crumbs, and Chez What?.  It was much fun and I wish I could have met more folks, but it got a little crowded.  I would post a picture, but the camera flash was a bit severe and, well, if I did, Stacey might never talk to me again. Thank you Foodbuzz 🙂
  • I have never cooked with lovage. I have never even seen it in a market. Sounds interesting though.
  • I learned today that the EU wants to allow wine makers to dump a bunch of red and white wine together and market it as rosé. To paraphrase Cai Palmer, the proprietor of my favorite local wine store Wine at Five, Provence rose makers have spent years trying to undo the brand damage to rose done by Sutter Home and cheap “blush” zinfindels, and now the EU wants to undo all of that and legitimize a flood of cheap junk.
  • I attempted to make ravioli last night. Trying to roll pasta made from bread flour (Hazan says use all-purpose, while Oliver votes for bread flour) with a normal rolling pin was an ugly sight (note to self for billionth time: must get pasta maker).  Still, I made an interesting discovery with the filling:  chop up and saute an onion, some ham (I used black forest), and some garlic with olive oil and a bit of vermouth.  Pulse it thoroughly in a food processor with hazelnuts, ground pepper and red pepper flakes. The taste has a definite similarity to lobster.  Lisl agreed, so I’m not completely nuts.
  • Williams Sonoma sells personal brands for searing your initials into steak.  Is that for the beef possessive, or folks who commonly misplace their steaks at family picnics?

Recipe Links
Here are a few recipes from the blogosphere that sounded really wonderful:

What’s for Lunch Honey, Caramelized Potato Leek and Brie Quiche
Food Blogga, Fruity Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
What We’re Eating, Wild Mushroom Gratin w/ Macadamia Nut-Blue Cheese Topping
Bitten, Spanish Croquettes
The Wednesday Chef, Moroccan Carrot Soup with Mussels
White on Rice, Chili Garlic Hot Sauce (ie homemade sriracha)
Zen Can Cook guest at Rasa Malaysia, Grilled Shrimp with Green Papaya Salad
Wrightfood, Clam and Pork Belly Chowder

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Cauliflower and Fennel Gratin (say “bechamel” 10 time fast)

cauliflower-fennel-gratin2

My predilection for comfort dishes means that gratins, bechamel and cheese are recurring themes, but before I begin, forgive me a small rant: there is a fine line between a dish that is richly delicious, and one that is so packed with cream and butter that you can barely eat a second bite.  Too many restaurants err on the wrong side of that line.

I remember reading the author of Cooking School Confidential write about learning the optimal way to prep potatoes for mashing in order to get as much butter into them as possible.  My first reaction was “interesting” and my second was “maybe this is why I never like the mashed potatoes in restaurants.”

It reminds me of watching Anne Burrell explain, as she grabbed a huge handful of salt, how restaurant food is tasty because it is “better seasoned.”  And I thought, “is that a euphamism for salty?”  It is true that many tentative home cooks under-salt in the cooking process, but at least guests have a chance to rectify that.  I find American Italian restaurants to be the worst offenders of over-salting.

This isn’t just about health, although that is relevant to this topic, but just the observation that more is not always better.  I understand a restaurant’s desire to exude luxury, but you shouldn’t need a red wine strong enough to punch you in the jaw to make it through more than a few bites of a dish.

Now isn’t that a marvelously hypocritical way to introduce a dish with bechamel (one with more butter than flour even!) and cheese?!  This dish is not something I would eat every night, but it was utterly delicious and while it went right smack up to the aforementioned line, it stayed just on the right side.

I’d quip that I ate my hypocrisy most happily, but perhaps the serious  analysis is that the term “too rich” is subjectively like what the judge said about pornography: “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.”

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Chicken, Ramp and Hot Paprika Skewers

chicken-ramp-skewers

If you are like me, and have used your ramp whites for pickling, then you have a whole bunch of delicious ramp greens to use before too much time passes.  Here is a really simple thing to try that got a great response from Lisl:

Chicken, Ramp and Hot Paprika Skewers
Chicken breasts
Ramp greens
salt
pepper
hot hungarian paprika (or a mix of paprika and chili powder)
olive oil

If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in cold water.

Place chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap on a sturdy surface, and thin them to 1/4 inch or less by banging with the bottom of a heavy sauce pan (cast iron has *so* many uses!).

Cut into slices 1.5 inches thick and about 4 or 5 inches long. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then place a ramp green on top, roll it up, and place on the skewer.  If you end up with some smaller pieces of chicken, just cut them into squares about the same height/width as your rolls, cut up some ramp greens to about the same size, and alternate chicken and ramp green on the skewer, packing together closely.

Sprinkle both sides of the skewer with a little more salt, pepper, and a liberal amount of the hot paprika. Flip and do the same for the other side.  Let rest for 20 minutes or so.

chicken-ramp-skewers-raw

Ideally you will cook these on a hot grill, but in my case my grill is not totally fixed, so I broiled them right up under the heating elements in the oven for just over two minutes a side.

Serve by drizzling e.v. olive oil on top, and with a slight sprinkle of coarse sea or kosher salt.  The ramp flavor really comes through and it all works together nicely. Don’t forget the olive oil at the end!

Pork Pastries with Pickled Onions, or The Stuffed Cabbage That Kept On Giving

stuffedcab-meat-pie-plated

I barely know how to start this post, or write it. It was the story of the recipe that turned into three. Our saga begins with our protagonist (that would be me) adapting a Richard Olney recipe for stuffed savoy cabbage. Enter cabbage stage left. Enter stuffing stage right.  The audience gasps.

Now, I don’t know what kind of uber-cabbages Olney was eating in the south of France, but as my imaginary heckler would say, “zat stuffing will nevarre feet in zat cabbage! Zat ees not a vrai Franche cabbage!”

I had a lot of extra stuffing. I mean I had 6 pork pastries and a meatloaf worth of extra stuffing.  But like all good tales, our protagonist learned along the way and came to a happy conclusion. The learnings: that I prefer to stuff individual leaves to an entire cabbage, and that this stuffing makes a damn good meat pastry/pie!  Yes valiant readers, unlike a French movie, this tale ends happily (and with no cigarettes or accordian music either!).

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Weekend Tinkering: Lime Pickle; Slow Baked Pork

pickled-limes

Rainy weekends call for tinkering in the kitchen. Tinkering, however, runs smack up against one of the hidden catches to having children.  They never tell you this beforehand, for fear of putting you off.  It belies description, this 10th circle of hell, this other-worldly zone of chaos, sugar, and tears.  See, just a few words and you already know what I am talking about: children’s birthday parties.

Like Sartre’s No Exit, you cannot escape.  The unwritten rule is that your child has to go to every birthday party of every other child in his or her class.  And (warning: you cannot escape this either), those children have to come to your child’s party too. They, and by “They” I of course refer to SPECTRE, who after some market testing decided to rebrand under the code M.O.M.S. … They insist on attendance, but (wait for it) they want you to take the kiddo. It’s right there in the M.O.M.S. 21st Century Handbook: when facing suicide mission, find patsy to take the fall.

Fear not. With almost catlike powers of resurrection, I have emerged from these experiences, emotionally scarred, occasionally paint splattered, and usually hard of hearing.  Kitchen tinkering has been disturbed, oh so unjustly, but it has taken place as it can.  This weekend’s journey took us through the beginnings of pickled limes, slow baked dry rub pork, and the stuffed cabbage that kept on giving (subject of another post).

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Stuffed Zucchinis with Pork, Ramp Greens, Asiago, Crème Fraîche and Lemon Zest

zucchini-stuffed-plated

What defines a “comfort” dish?  Sentimentality, based on good home cooking? Texture? Ingredients? Process?  Rustic presentation? I can’t quite put my finger on it.  This particular dish qualifies, but perhaps anything with the word “stuffed” in its name stacks the deck a little too steeply in its favor.  It is interesting how a word so derogative when applied to humans becomes so delightful when applied to food.

As I mentioned the other day, Gourmet Worrier’s recipe for Qarabaghli mimli bil-laham caught my eye. I ran with the concept, and created my own version, which combines ground pork shoulder, some nicely smoked bacon, aged asiago cheese, breadcrumbs, crème fraîche… oh nevermind, the recipe is below the fold!

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An Early Taste of Summer

The peach blossoms are barely out, but weather’s whim delivered 80+ degree sunny days this weekend. It felt like a whiplash jolt into summer, and I had to keep on reminding my optimistic brain that the local produce was still some time away.  Not that I am complaining — I fired up the grill and we ate like kings.

grill-collage

I had thought that the re-emergence of warm weather would put me in a vegetarian mood, harkening back to those wonderful Food Blogga salads from last year.  That was before I made a stop into my favorite butcher, Fleishers.  So much for being leaf-eaters. We devolved into fully fledged T-Rex.

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Olney’s Simple French Food; Recipe Links 4-23-09

olney

“Even vegetarians expend most of their ingenuity trying to destroy the vegetableness of the poor fresh things, welding them into horrible imitations of meat dishes in pathetic compensation for self-imposed deprivation.”
— Richard Olney on cooking vegetables, Simple French Food

Do you find that the longer it takes you to read a book, the harder it becomes to pick it up and start?  Some of you might have noticed that I’ve been referencing Richard Olney a lot recently. The truth is I’ve had his book Simple French Food for almost 15 years, collecting dust on my bookshelves all this time. I picked it up right after college when I decided to learn to cook, out of a sense of associated loyalty. Olney and my father (an editor) worked together on the Time Life Good Cook series, but I was very young at the time and did not meet him.  So novice-me bought the book and was intimidated right off the bat.  I scurried back to the familiarity and ease of my Julia Child, and kept this one on the shelves.

Fast forward to a month ago, when I picked it up in earnest. What a change! All of a sudden, it wasn’t scary anymore.  Quite the contrary, to the older, more experienced me, this book is brilliant, accessible and often funny.  A book like this does not go out of style.  I read it basically cover to cover, and was quite inspired.  I like that Olney often explains his reasoning and purpose behind a decision, rather than just dumping out some ingredients and assembly instructions. Verdict: an oldie but very goodie.

P.S. Another book of Olney’s that I love, and which has not collected so much unjustified dust, is Lulu’s Provençal Table.

It has been way too long since I posted some recipe links, though my list has been stacking up. Here are a few from the pile that inspired me: