Health Nut

I recently came across a recipe in Ina's Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook that intrigued me because it called for a grain I'd never heard of before - wheatberry.  A little research made it obvious - in a way it probably should have been by the name alone.  I mean, c'mon - I know what wheat is, I know about cracked wheat, and bulgur, and I know we make flour out of wheat grain.  But a wheatberry?  Who cooks with that?!  Oh.  Turns out this berry makes a couple of salads worth a try.

The other ingredients for this first salad were basics - red onion, scallion, bell pepper, carrot, good olive oil (which Natalie and I read as: "not the cheap bulk crap you can buy by the gallon at Costco", but who knows?), and balsamic vinegar (undefined).  The picture looked downright healthy. In light of the week's menu and its, shall we say, not-so-heart-healthy focus, I thought it a good idea to throw in a couple salads that might help combat complete artery blockage.

So on Saturday I set to work boiling the wheatberries I'd found at, where else, Berkeley Bowl.    The recipe said "45 minutes or until they are soft".  Well, they definitely got softer after 45 minutes - and by comparison to their uncooked rice-like firmness, I judged them officially soft.  Having never eaten these before, I have no clue if they would have become softer still with more time. As it turned out, this salad was a bit of a workout to chew, what with the chewy wheatberries, the raw carrot and the raw bell pepper.  Surprisingly, Jack was not a fan (that boy's starting to get on my nerves) but Natalie was!  I think I'm a fan.  I'll try it again, and maybe boil the berries a little longer to see what happens.  Then again, maybe all that chewing is part of the "healthy" in this dish - a little workout with your meal.

Sunday I turned to another recipe from the same book - Chicken with Tabbouleh.  Looking toward the week ahead, and knowing roasted chicken was going to be on the menu for Sunday dinner, I thought this would make for a healthy lunch alternative to my recent salami sandwiches, and fried spring rolls from Sunflower which I might eat every day if I could justify it.  This is another straightforward recipe from Ina - an Americanized version of tabbouleh, which is supposed to be primarily parsley and mint, but which we tend to make with more bulgur or cracked wheat (which are not the same thing but are both derived from the wily wheatberry) than traditional recipes call for.  And I liked the addition of protein to round out the dish as a more complete meal.  I didn't have the tomatoes called for but had some bell pepper left over from the other salad so I used that.  I also increased the quantities of parsley and mint because a) I love both of them and 2) I didn't see the point of leaving partial bunches of either in the fridge for some future dish when I knew they would only make this one better.

That's the salad before the addition of chicken and it was great just like that - again, Natalie loved it!  And I mean loved it - she came back to my house from school, on a week she was staying at her Dad's house, to get a tupperware full so she could have it for lunch later in the week.  I have no doubt that she ate her away around the abhorrent bell peppers that are such an affront to her taste buds, but I still call that a success!  She would have eaten around the tomatoes too.

I had it for lunch, with the chicken, a couple of different times last week and it was really perfect - filling but with a bright, fresh, and nutty taste that was just perfect at lunch.  In fact, I felt so dang healthy at lunch this week that I didn't care when I served up more meatballs and pasta for dinner.

Loving Tom

So.  Thursday dinner was the meatballs with pappardelle.  First of all I confess that I did not make the pasta.  I had some dried pappardelle that was begging to be eaten.  And I've never made pasta.  This didn't seem like the time to try.  That was my only short cut in the meal, though.

I started the Sunday prior by making the meatballs - ground chuck, ground sirloin, pork and veal.  Oh wait, I also did not buy, as Tom does, cuts of meat and grind it myself - but ONLY because I lack the technology at home (yeah, right.).  Anyway, I think that's made up for by having on hand my own toasted brioche breadcrumbs.  I'm proud that I resisted my usual urges and didn't simply chuck the crusts that I had to remove from the loaves back when I made the leek bread pudding, instead lovingly whirring them in the food processor and nestling them into a baking sheet and gently turning them over the course of the next 20 minutes or so as they slowly turned a buttery, toasty brown in the oven.  They have come in handy several times already (recall the hot crab dip, and also as breading for parmesan breaded chicken cutlets) and I loved being able to use them here.  It's the little things, sometimes.  I think Tom would approve.

The recipe itself is fairly standard - a mixture of meats, sauteed onions and garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, S&P.  The addition of a little lemon juice might be a twist (?), but then you see: 4 ounces of fresh mozzarella cheese.  What?!  Yes, these are stuffed meatballs!  After tenderly mixing the meats and other ingredients, being careful not to over mix of course so as to avoid ending up with tough little rubber balls, you loosely form rounds and press a 3/4 inch piece of mozzarella into the center and then finish shaping the ball.  Yay - a little surprise!  It was Tom's note that the meatballs could be frozen at this point and finished later that made the meal possible as a midweek option.

I also made the oven roasted tomato sauce that day - and it was phenomenal. I don't care what Jack says  ("There's something 'off' here... Oh, it's the fennel.")  Onions, leeks, fennel, garlic, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, San Marzano tomatoes, S&P, and another fun surprise: a sachet.  A little bundle of herbs (in this case bay leaf, thyme sprigs, peppercorns, and a whole garlic clove) tidily bound in cheesecloth and roasted along with the tomato mixture.  My only quibble with this recipe is the instruction to drain the tomatoes before chopping and roasting them.  I was very happy that I reserved that tomato sauce because I needed to add some of it back into the tomatoes as they roasted in order to allow the length of roasting time needed to achieve the rich, concentrated flavor I was after without ending up with a mess of dried out and charred tomato bits.

That night's accompaniment was parmesan roasted asparagus, compliments of Ina.  It's so simple that I'm not sure it it should really be given a dedicated page in a cookbook.  Toss asparagus with olive oil, S&P, and place on a baking sheet.  Roast for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven, remove and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan and return to oven for 5 more minutes.  Serve with lemon wedges.  That's it.  Yum.  And in case you don't work with asparagus very often, the best way to avoid getting a tough stringy stalk on your plate is to hold the fresh stalk at both ends and bend until it snaps - it will break at the point where the tough stringy part begins.  You can either discard the end pieces or find another use for them such as the start of a homemade vegetable stock that you might use for say, a cream of asparagus soup, or added to chicken stock to use in an asparagus mushroom risotto, perhaps.  

Having prepared so much of this meal in advance, and pairing it with such an easy side dish, made it possible for me to spend some time with a fun little garnish: Fried Oregano (see photo at top).  I've had fried sage before, but never oregano.  What fun to watch - and jump back squealing - as the stem is dropped into hot oil and immediately starts spattering like crazy while it does a little jig around the pan!  It only takes a couple of seconds to burn I learned, but if you can manage to approach the pan and get it out before that happens, and sprinkle a little kosher or sea salt on it, it's delicious!

This meal was another winner.  Hearty and satisfying.  Added bonuses: I got to try some new things, making it in advance made getting dinner on the table so quick and easy, and LEFTOVERS!  I ended up having this for dinner again on two other nights and it was just as good then - well, the pasta was a little tired but even that worked when twirled up with some of the sauce and a bit of meatball.  When I make these again I want to try stuffing them with that swanky newcomer Burrata....

Vocabulary Word of the Day: Unctuous

I admit it:  I got a special joy this week from serving my children food originally created by Thomas Keller.  It made me feel like I was expanding their boundaries in new ways - even if I was really only making soup and meatballs.

Wednesday night it was Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Torn Croutons and Red Beet Chips and, as it turned out, more kale salad (yay!). Technically I started making this dinner on Tuesday after we'd eaten and we were watching the most inspirational show on TV.  Tom's first word to describe this soup is unctuous - and is he ever right.  Unctuous is one of those words that doesn't have a particularly positive definition and yet, especially when it describes food, has a distinctly positive connotation: rich, creamy, velvety, full.

I confess, I tried to make the parchment lid, failed, and gave up.  I'm fairly sure that placing the lid ajar on top of the pot while cooking the cauliflower florets, onions, and leeks with just a smidgeon of curry powder, achieved a similar result.  And while I do not own a Vita Mix in which to puree my soup to a "smooth and velvety texture", I am happy to say that, after adding sick amounts of milk and heavy cream and simmering for another 30 minutes, my old KitchenAid blender did just the trick!  The soup was thick, creamy and, frankly, had somehow less to do with the flavor of cauliflower than just being rich and comforting - one of those soups on the menu that make you wonder what else is going on in there.

The real fun came on Wednesday with a little mid-week mandoline action, and frying hand-torn pieces of bread from an Acme rustic Italian loaf in the garlic confit oil and a little butter:

Transforming my hands into beet-pink appendages and red beets into crispy little chips that my son said I should package and sell:

And creating a meal that not only tasted fantastic and was spot-on in its seasoning, but even managed to fairly closely resemble the picture in the book! I was so pleased with the outcome that even I got a chuckle from Natalie's announcement that she could have done without the "olive oil sperm" in her soup.  

Oh Martha!

I began this culinary week with two of my BFFs, Martha and Ina.  Monday night it was Curried Vegetable Potpie from Martha's Dinner at Home and Green Salad with Creamy Mustard Vinaigrette from Barefoot Contessa Family Style - both are the latest gifts I received for my last birthday from my former in-laws - what wonderful and generous people.  Martha's plan included making cute personal potpies in cute little "vintage pudding molds", and I was bummed that I hadn't yet received the (critically, oven safe) cute little double-handled soup bowls I'd ordered earlier in time to use them. Ah, well.  Instead I made the ungainly family-style potpie above, using a pyrex baking dish that my Mom probably gave me when I graduated from college and that has managed to withstand numerous trips to the broiler.  Despite its definite lack of cuteness, it was very good!  Both spawn gave it a thumbs up.  I liked it as well, though I thought it a little heavy on the parsnip, and the combination of those, carrots and frozen peas as the primary vegetables gave the potpie an overall sweet flavor that I would have preferred to have balanced by something more savory in there.  Say, meat.  It was a good thing (ha!) that we paired the potpie with a crisp romaine salad tossed with a tangy dijon dressing that offered great textural and flavorful contrast.  Natalie once again made the vinaigrette and is quickly becoming a favorite kitchen companion since adopting the culinary equivalent of "first do no harm" by reading the whole recipe before commencing and mise en place!!!!

@Anon: I used my Great Auntie Pepperidge's recipe for puff pastry, which you can see here.

Tuesday we moved on to Sausages with Red-Onion Gravy, Rosemary Yorkshire Pudding, and Tuscan Kale Salad - also Martha.  But, before I can even begin to describe how yummy this meal was, I have to start at the moment I arrived home after work, having spent the commute contemplating the process ahead of me and knowing that before I could enjoy any cooking I would have to wade through the mountain of dirty dishes in the sink that were Monday night's leftovers.

Imagine my amazement when, upon walking through the door, I was greeted by my favorite daughter ever, measuring spoons in hand, proclaiming that she had unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, preheated the oven, prepped step one (recall: 1. make pudding batter, and let rest.) and was moving on to step two (recall: 2. shred kale and mix dressing.).  I was overwhelmed with surprise (read: shock and awe), parental pride, love, and yes, relief, in that one exquisite moment. It may never be repeated and I am glad for the chance to document it here - as an example for some (Jack) and a reminder for others (Nat).  I think perhaps I could die happy now were it not for my overwhelming need to see if it ever happens again!

I recovered myself and we got back to the work at hand.  After all, although Martha so kindly offers a preparation schedule for these meals, she does NOT provide a timeline and, I discovered, probably for good reason.  These are NOT meals one can whip up - in a snap - after work - and have on the table near anything approximating the dinner hour (unless one has set the dinner hour for perhaps 10:00 pm in the European style).  Indeed, my thankfulness for Natalie's earlier efforts grew as I finished the batter by chopping the rosemary and mixing the ingredients until the batter was smooth and stiff, sliced enough onions to double the recipe since I would be making two gravies (one vegetarian), began searing the sausages (both real italian sweets and soy-protein based), and prepped the hodgepodge of mismatched ramekins that I am ashamed to call my collection (5 in total) for the puddings.

The careful reader will note three pans on the stove - that's because I quickly discovered that my first pan (lower left) was in no way large enough to sear the sausages while nestled amongst onions intended to caramelize.  It would have been nice if I'd given that some thought before trying to put everything into it.  As I didn't do that, I was forced to frantically scramble for the second pan (right front), spewing expletives about in the manner usually reserved for when I am in the car. (That reminds me, however, of the question posed to my children when they were quite a bit younger - maybe 7 and 8? - about whether or not I ever used bad words and I think it was Jack who answered "oh yes - but I don't know if it's more in the car or in the kitchen.")

Look at those cute little yorkshire puddings!  In a meal that was an all-around winner for all of us, they were the hit!  Unusual and fragrant with rosemary, light, crunchy and chewy, they were the perfect vessel with which to mop up the delicious onion gravy.  And really, they couldn't have been easier and are made with basic ingredients that every cook's kitchen stocks: flour, eggs, milk, salt, rosemary, olive oil.  That's it.  I predict that these will become a frequent side dish and I am looking forward to experimenting with different aromatics and new ramekins.

For me, however, the truly eye-opening player in this meal was the kale salad.  I'm not sure I've ever had kale before - if I did, I didn't recognize or appreciate it.  Martha's instruction for this salad was to find Tuscan kale, sometimes known as cavolo nero, lacinata or dino kale.  She was clear that regular kale would be too tough and bitter to serve this way.  It was probably this recipe that made it clear that I would be shopping at Berkeley Bowl.  I was certain they, and only they, would have it and I got a little panicky when neither my search nor my first three inquiries resulted in Tuscan Kale.  My relief was complete when the 4th produce person directed me to the organic vegetable cooler and suggested "dinosaur kale", saying: "Once you eat this, you'll never eat the other kind", and there before me was something that looked exactly like the picture in the cookbook.  The lightbulb went on above my head: dino kale = dinosaur kale.  The salad was excellent!  The greens were crisp and not the least bit bitter when paired with the lemony tart vinaigrette (prepared once again by Natalie the Dressing Queen) and tempered with freshly grated parmesan and fresh cracked pepper.  It was a salad that BOTH of my kids actually liked.  I am thrilled to have discovered a dark green leafy vegetable to add to the repertoire.

This meal was a complete success.  Everything about it was delicious individually and together it made a meal that I would readily make for company. It may not be a particularly "fancy" meal, but it offers a couple of unusual accompaniments that I think most of the people that I might invite over, anyway, would enjoy and be a bit surprised by.  They might even think to themselves "Hmm.  I guess she can cook."

I served the meal with a mid-priced bottle of French red wine from the Rhone region that was recommended to me by the wine assistant on duty while I was shopping at BB.  I've had better wines, because I am blessed by friends who know of these things, but for about $20 it worked on a Tuesday night!

Up next: Wednesday's and Thursday's dinners ala Thomas Keller.

Finding Inspiration. And hopefully redemption.

I awoke this morning inspired to cook.  I can't exactly say why, or what was responsible (though I can say with assurance that it was NOT the phlegm-filled cough that one of my neighbors has felt it necessary to share with us for the past 3 months and with which I was awakened at 8:00 am).  Sorry, gross.  It's possible that the responsibility lies in the ruined bread I attempted yesterday, or in the shattered baking dish of my last post.   Maybe it's the fact that I had popcorn for dinner 3 nights out of 6 last week while the kids and I tried to make educated guesses about which films will get the Best Picture nominee...?

Whatever the reason, I got up and starting pouring over cookbooks while I sipped my Peet's, and then made my way to Mecca.

Here's the plan:

1. Curried Vegetable Potpie compliments of Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home. This is a recipe Natalie spied recently and we both agreed that it seemed worth a try.  I think I love the concept of this book - composed meals categorized by the four seasons.  And Martha so nicely offers a "preparation schedule" for each meal as well.  I think it could easily work if I was looking for a meal to serve company. The day-to-day drawback, of course, is finding a complete meal that would please both Natalie and Jack.  I'm not sure there is one in here that fits that description.  No matter, I'm used to cobbling meals together.  So, instead of being accompanied by butter lettuce with brie and pears (yum!), we'll make Ina's creamy mustard vinaigrette and toss it with romaine, which we planned to do last week but didn't get to.  I may try to make the Spiced Lemon Cookies that round out this meal - at least then I'd be 2 for 3. Curry filling in the foreground below - which will be topped with puff pastry. 

2. While thumbing through MSDaH, I came across another meal that caught my eye: Sausages with red-onion gravy, rosemary yorkshire pudding, and shredded tuscan kale salad (we'll leave out the spiced prunes in red wine, for now).   Natalie will have to substitute a meatless sausage, of course, but otherwise it just might work!  If only I remember to follow the schedule: 1. make pudding batter, and let rest; 2. shred kale and mix dressing; 3. Bake puddings; 4; Meanwhile, cook sausages and make gravy; 5. add kale and cheese to dressing.  A snap, no?!

3. Roasted chicken breasts, haricots verts with shallots and mashed potatoes with garlic confit.  I'm leaning on a tried and true recipe for the chicken (Barbara Kafka), a doubtlessly perfect though as yet untried recipe from Ina for the beans, and a recipe I plan to make up (?!) using the garlic confit ala Thomas Keller that currently simmers happily atop its diffuser (see the small pan above).

4. Ina's herb marinated pork loin and wheatberry salad with a vegetable to be name later.  Hmm...  I have some carrots...?

5. Creamy cauliflower soup with torn croutons and red beet chips.  Who else but Thomas Keller?  Thinking just a tossed salad with a basic vinaigrette with this.

6. Tom is also offering us Meatballs (shh, they're stuffed with fresh mozzarella) with Pappardelle this week and I think I'll serve it with Ina's parmesan roasted asparagus, because I think if I say salad one more time, I'll have a mutiny on my hands.  Today I made the meatballs (below) and oven roasted tomato sauce (see middle of photo above and contents of my sachet at the top) and can only say that I am once again amazed at what tomatoes can become when you cook them.

OK, there they are - my hopes and dreams for the culinary week starting 1/18/10.  We'll see how far I get - though I have high hopes given the amount of prep I did today.

Damn

Lemony New Year!

I was recently blessed with a bag of Meyer lemons from Edward and Veronica's yard (so many thanks!).  I would say they might be the best Christmas gifts I received this year if it wasn't for the Moe's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix that my kids got me.  And while they technically arrived prior to the start of what I know is going to be a phenomenal year, they are the thing I went to 1st - on the 1st - to begin my culinary year.  

Determined to try something beyond my usual lemon bread and lemon sorbet, I decided to try Meyer lemon curd. I've never made it before and now I can't imagine why not.  It couldn't be easier (thank you Ina, Goddess of the Kitchen) and the results are nothing short of excellent.  Creamy lemony deliciousness with a fresh, bright taste you just can't find in a jar you nabbed off the shelf in some fancy-pants gourmet market.  And I should know - I've nabbed more than my share of jars off the shelf at fancy-pants markets too numerous to count.  You can find the recipe I used here.   I cut the sugar to 1 cup since I knew the lemons would be sweeter than regular lemons and I prefer a nice tart curd (that doesn't sounds quite right).  I think I could have reduced it even further and it would still be delicious.  I also used large eggs because that's what I had. I managed to stop myself short of just eating it all with a spoon and started giving some thought to what I would serve it with....

But before I could decide, my daughter reminded me that she wanted to return to school with homemade fudge for her teachers.  Including a vegan fudge for her chemistry teacher who, as she put it, "is teaching me chemistry in a way that I am actually liking and learning it."  How do you say no to that even if you DO think the concept of vegan fudge is downright wrong?!  So, we made one batch of traditional fudge and one vegan.  The traditional recipe is my Mother's and the vegan one Natalie found here.  I found the vegan margarine at Berkeley Bowl, naturally.  And I have to say, it's not terrible.  The texture is almost right and the flavor is definitely chocolate.  And yet...  it's just wrong.  Plus, it seized up so quickly I ended up with those unsightly droppings blobs you see below.  Thank goodness Natalie has a vegan friend as well so we can give the rest of it to him!

Back to the curd.  After a bit of soul searching, some online research, and the dawning realization that I'd forgotten to buy the heavy cream that would be necessary to make scones, I decided on the "very" thing to pair with the curd: a rich wintery gingerbread cake.  How fortuitous, as well, that I happened to have molasses and crystalized ginger on hand!  (I nearly ruined it all when I momentarily forgot that I was doubling the recipe...)  I found the recipe here, read all of the reviews and decided I would double the ground ginger and add about a 1/2 cup of minced crystalized ginger.  It's dense, dark, and delicious.  But I'm not convinced it's the "very" thing for the curd.  Interesting combination, but they are both strong flavors and compete with each other too much.  The cake just needs sweetened whipping cream and the curd just needs fresh scones.  Jack thought it was great, though.  Good son.  I'm already thinking about how I can make lavender lemon curd and perhaps give it as Christmas gifts this year....  Also thinking about candied lemon peel....  

Oh - and in case you're interested, here's what my baking cupboard looks like:

And here's the spice drawer:

Is it any wonder I covet the spice shelf in my previous post?  No.  It isn't.