Goin' Veggie - Gourmet Style

The longer my daughter sticks with this whole vegetarian business the further out I have to branch to come up with meals that will work for her.  There are only so many pre-packaged boca burgers and meatless chik patties (and macaroni and cheese) a person should eat, ya know?  So last week I incorporated tofu into the menu not once, but twice.  Which might have been overkill.  That's Tofu Bob above.  He didn't survive.

The recipe I found in The Gourmet Cookbook (see previous post) turned out best, though it's safe to say that tofu is not Jack's favorite.  That's OK - I've come to understand that it won't kill him (or me) to go meatless now and then.  So I whipped up some Panfried Tofu on Sesame Watercress with Soy-Orange Dressing and basmati rice.  I found the most gorgeous hydroponic watercress at Berkeley Bowl:

And unlike so many recipes for Chinese-inspired dishes, this one didn't have a list of ingredients as long as my arm and didn't require a trip to Chinatown for unusual items in packages written in a language I don't read.  It seemed like the perfect place to start.

Extra-firm tofu, watercress, peanut oil, toasted sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce and orange juice.  That's it. Fry the tofu on both sides in a tablespoon of the oil until golden brown.  Remove to a plate and wilt the watercress in the pan and add sesame seeds.  Place the watercress on plates, combine remaining ingredients in the pan and and simmer for 1 minute.  Place tofu on top of the watercress and drizzle pan sauce over the tofu.

I served this with rice because a) I knew that it wouldn't be enough to fill Jack by itself and 2) what's Chinese-inspired food without rice in there somewhere?  Plus, it provided another blank canvas for the sauce.  I say "another" because that's what tofu is - a blank canvas.  It really has little if any taste of it's own and merely adopts the flavors that you create to serve with it.  It's completely innocuous and totally undeserving of anyone's disgust.  (Jack.)  

That said, I can't say that this was really delicious, and had there been enough for seconds, I'm not sure anyone would have wanted them.  But it wasn't bad at all.  And it made me feel lots better about all that mac 'n cheese.

Mac 'n Cheese - Gourmet Style

Several Christmases ago my sister gave me the first Gourmet Cookbook, published in 2004 (could it really be six years ago?  I would have guessed three).  She was so enthusiastic about the contents that she also bought one for each of her adult sons.  It was pretty funny sitting around the tree watching as each one of us in succession hefted the gift to our laps, tore away the wrapping, and squealed in surprise and delight.  Ok, my nephews didn't exactly squeal.

It didn't take long to discover the one recipe that would justify buying three copies, even if the other 999+ recipes wouldn't (thankfully not the case):  Macaroni and Cheese.  In fact, I think I'd barely walked back into my house following the holiday when I had a message from my sister:  "Make the macaroni and cheese.  It's the best recipe ever.  The boys agree."  I rarely disagree with my sister because she's the oldest and she's (almost) always right.  This time was no exception.

Since then, this has become the go to recipe.  It's what I took to my friend's house following the birth of her third child (along with some fried chicken that we don't discuss) and is hands down the best one I've tried.  You start by making the easy peasy topping: panko breadcrumbs, butter, and extra sharp cheddar cheese (see large bowl in center above).  Next comes the spicy roux of (more) butter, flour, and red chili flakes.

When you have a light caramel colored roux you add a crapload of whole milk and, once that has come to a boil, (more) extra sharp cheddar cheese, nearly a cup of heavy cream, some dijon mustard, and salt & pepper.  Mix the sauce with cooked pasta and a little of the reserved pasta water, and sprinkle with the topping. I've taken to dusting it with paprika (the smoky kind when the kids aren't looking) before popping it in the oven.  Before:

And 25 minutes later you have bubbly cheesy deliciousness which will more than likely require a second helping.   After:

Which is why it's important to remember to do something like this as well:

The good news is, this recipe makes a LOT of mac 'n cheese - enough for the three of us to have it for dinner twice in one week.  Actually, maybe that's not such good news.

Make This - Now.

Have you ever tasted something that was so phenomenally good and yet so simple that your mind was boggled by the fact that it had taken 44 years to think of it?!  And that you'd lived those 44 years without it?! That happened to me two nights ago.  I'd been thinking about an appropriate side dish for a beer marinated flank steak recipe that I wanted to try when slowly the pieces started falling into place...

Potatoes, naturally.  Mashed, preferably.  And what about some... pepper bacon?  Definitely.  Add a little butter, a little heavy cream and, why not we've come this far, sour cream.  Finish with a splash of chives.  Oh. My. God.

I mean it.  Make this now.  Sure, it may shave a few days off the end of your life, but let's face it: When you're 87 what's a couple of days going to matter? What, you'll miss that rerun of Southpark that you've already seen 3 times and don't remember?  You'll miss your favorite American Idol getting bounced as a result of stupid Vote For The Worst idiots?  It'll be worth it.  I promise.

Serves Two (unless you don't feel like sharing)

3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and sliced in half (you'll want to do that to speed the goodness to your mouth)
1 cup chopped, cooked pepper bacon (I used Niman Ranch)
1 cup gently warmed heavy whipping cream
5 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter (because you're avoiding high sodium diets these days)
2 Tablespoons finely chopped chives
1.5 Tablespoons sour cream
Salt and Pepper to taste

Remove the potatoes from their jackets, slice in half and place in a pot of salted (or not) water.  Bring to a boil and simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes until they are easily pierced with a fork, but not falling apart. Drain potatoes for 5 minutes to allow excess water to evaporate.  Place potatoes in a ricer if you have one (ingenious invention) and press into a medium size bowl; if you don't have a ricer, put them in a bowl and get out your Grandmother's potato masher.  Get back to me in 25 minutes when you've gotten rid of almost all the lumps and your arm has fallen off.  Add the butter and mix.  Gradually add 3/4 of the cream and stir.  Add the sour cream and stir some more.  Add the heavenly bacon and chives and stir yet again.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired (I said TASTE, not DEVOUR THE ENTIRE BOWL).  Finish by slowly adding the last of the whipping cream and stirring.

Lest you be so crazed by the desire to have this in your mouth that you want to dump everything in all at once, give a quick drive-by with the spoon and eat it the entire bowl whilst standing there, please note: There is a method to the madness of gradually adding all of those liquids.  Over time the potatoes continue to absorb the liquids so by adding them gradually you can assess the consistency at stages and identify when they have reached velvety perfection: smooth, with an almost pureed and glossy visage.

Pause.  Sit down.  Taste.  And if you really like living on the edge, do this:

You'll thank me later.

Entertaining Creative Teenagers

On a recent Saturday Natalie's boyfriend joined us once again for a cookie baking and decorating extravaganza.  The holiday this time was Easter.  We are not religious and Nate is a Hare Krishna.   Go figure.  Perhaps needless to say, we were reverent in our focus, if not in the occasion.

It was a long day, starting with the dough at about noon.  We followed a new recipe provided by Hillary and my eyes nearly popped out when I saw the amount of flour and butter called for - until I realized it was going to make approximately 60 cookies.  About 3 hours later (1 hour to chill the dough and about 2 to roll, cut out and bake) we had 56 rabbits, chicks, eggs, butterflies and tulips cooling while I turned to the next task: frosting.

We stuck with my usual frosting recipe, but I wish we'd tried this, because we really didn't have enough butter in those cookies.  We went with a conservative (ha!) 7 COLORS: white, pink, purple, teal, yellow, blue and green.  And in a moment of divine inspiration, we added rose petal syrup to the pink frosting for a new twist.  A mere 4 hours later those 56 cookies were decorated and everyone was starving.  It was time to switch gears.

Ever since the kids were small we've had Make Your Own Pizza nights.  It started with Boboli crusts I admit, but has evolved to include homemade pizza dough using the bread maker that my former mother-in-law gave us back when they were the new thing and all the rage.  I have to say, for a time I made a lot of bread in that thing and it was really pretty good, if somewhat similar.  For the most part it now sits on the baking shelf in the hallway, but when it's pizza night it has pride of place next to the range.

At the outset of cookie cutting I'd also started the first batch of parmesan herb pizza dough, which makes three 10-inch, thin crusts; or about enough to feed Jack right now. So I made a second batch as well.  When the cookies were decorated I sent Natalie and Nate to the store to round out the desired meatless toppings and Jack and I got to work creating our meaty magic.  I don't own a pizza stone (yet), so I start my pizzas on metal pizza trays that have been drizzled with olive oil and scattered with cornmeal and after about 15 minutes at 425 I slide the tray out and finish them directly on the rack to give them a crispy crunch.

What do we have here?  The classic pepperoni and black olive, and the absolutely inspired pastrami and smoked fontina that Jack came up with.  Below that, another wacky winner: BBQ chicken with sliced onion, bell pepper and Chipotle Tabasco (thus explaining the presence of the Tabasco and BBQ sauce in the middle of all the decorating insanity above).  

Natalie and Nate decided on two variations of Taco Pizza, using the meatless taco filling I made for Natalie a couple of days earlier.  On the left, Nate's Happy Pie, with bell peppers, pineapple and jalapeno spiced black olives. On the right, Natalie's Tasty Taco Pie with pineapple and minced black olives (sans jalapeno spice, thank you).

Not pictured: pesto and pineapple pizza.  It was all pretty dang good.  Ok, I didn't try the taco pizzas, I took it on faith that they were good.