Trout and Tomatoes

We pan-fried trout, made mashed potatoes with celery root and roasted tomatoes the other night.

The trout and mashed potato recipe came from Donna Hay, and it could not be easier.

Bascially, she calls for rubbing the fish inside and out with a combination of salt and pepper and juniper berries. Since we didn't have any berries we decided to pour about two tablespoons of gin in the pan, along with some oil to saute the fish. We cooked it for about 5 minutes per side to allow it to cook through and brown. Our kitchen smelled like a fish pond, but the fish tasted delicious. I loved the flavor of a freshwater stream, and the texture of the fish was light, soft and tender.



For the mashed potatoes, we cooked the potatoes (only two small potatoes) in a cup of milk along with one chopped up celery root. After five minutes, we strained the potato/celery root mixture and "mashed" it in our food processor. They turned out very well mashed, and they were a nice base for the fish. I like the idea of cooking potatoes in milk, and I'm going to do that again in the future.



As for the tomatoes, I coated them in olive oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, threw in many sprigs of basil and roasted them for about 35 minute at 450 degrees. Let me just say that I can think of no better flavor combination. I love the way roasting tomatoes breaks them down and unleashes all their natural sweetness. The basil enhances the sweetness and brings out the full flavor of the tomatoes. I also love how roasting tomatoes causes them to lose all firmness and become a watery tomato slush. They were delicious.



It was a fantastic meal.

Dinner at Chez Panisse

We ate dinner at Chez Panisse on Saturday night, September 23rd.

I usually try calling on the day I want to go to Chez Panisse to check for cancellations, and I'm usually able to get a table in the cafe upstairs or, on occasion, I luck out and get a table downstairs in the restaurant. I had tried for a table a few times before the 23rd, so I was thrilled when they had an opening for us that night. I booked a table in the restaurant for 9:15 pm.

We did not know what was on the menu (I like surprises), so we were both delighted when we saw the menu and realized that it had a Spanish theme. We started with a glass of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and toasted almonds. Then, we were served a tapas plate made up of anchovy toasts, button mushrooms with aioli, thinly sliced ham, an egg and a few other things. The third course was shrimp and clam paella with saffron, and the main course was both a piece of rack of lamb and lamb loin served with beans and cubed sauteed eggplant. For dessert, we ate fig tart with homemade cinnamon and anise ice cream.



True to Alice Waters' style, the food was simple, yet intensely flavorful. For me, the tapas, the lamb, the eggplant and the dessert stood out. Overall, I would characterize the preparation and presentation at Chez Panisse as pure and light, and our meal was a study in lightened purity.

The tastings of tapas--that's really what it was--played off each other and danced together. The saltiness of the anchovy, the garlic in the aioli the butteriness of the mushrooms all complimented each other and blended well. The lamb was perfectly moist and flavorful. I was struck by the eggplant because I have so much trouble cooking eggplant and because the cubes were crisp on the outsides and tender and juicy on the inside. It was remarkable. The tart was light and refreshing, especially with a scoop of ice cream on the side. Lou even liked the tart, though he usually dislikes figs.

On the whole, it was a wonderful meal. We brought along our last bottle of Patty Green 2004 Sauvignon Blanc, and it made for a sweet, but fitting pairing for our Spanish themed meal.

We hope to return to Chez Panisse with Lou's parents when they come visit in November.

Labor Day In Lexington

I made a trip to my hometown in Virginia for Labor Day weekend to visit my family. What made the trip special was that Lou came along and that he met my sister, my niece and a number of my friends for the first time. He had met my parents once before when they came to visit me in San Francisco, but this was the first time he'd stayed with my family and seen where I grew up. It was a wonderful weekend. We shared some delicious meals together, and he and I found a way to do some cooking-- actually, we found a way to do some grilling.

The first night my mom threw a "picnic" for us and for most of my friends who still live in or around Lexington. The rain from the remanents of hurricane Ernesto forced us inside, so it wasn't as much of a picnic as she had hoped. She fed seventeen of us in all--twelve adults and five kids--and she served pulled pork barbecue from a local barbecue pit. The barbecue was good, though not spectacular, and she treated us to a variety of traditional barbecue side dishes--baked beans, cole slaw, pasta salad, chips and brownies for dessert. We all had fun eating and catching up. Here's a picture of the kids' table:



On our second night, Lou and I decided to make use of my parents charcoal grill. We trekked off to the grocery store (it's such a small town that I ran into three people I knew and introduced them to Lou) to buy some steaks, corn and greens for salad. I coated the meat in olive oil, salt and pepper and threw them on the fire. For most of you this may not sound so special, but I was excited about cooking over the open fire because we use normally use a stovetop grill, which does not expose the items on the grill to the flame. I was curious about how different the steaks would taste over the fire. The steaks, and the corn for that matter, turned out well. They tasted smoky (we used mesquite charcoals, so that helped) and I pulled most of them off in time to keep them medium rare. We served a simple salad with tomatoes and avocado on the side. Here's a picture of us toasting each other before we dug in:



The third night there, Lou announced that he was craving ribs and suggested buying some baby backs, making our own barbecue sauce and grilling them over the fire. His plan sounded good to me, so we headed to the store to find some ribs. We ended up buying about two and half pounds worth of ribs, some more corn and the ingredients for a simple barbecue sauce.

Lou made up the sauce, and neither one of us paid close attention to the exact ingredients and proportions. He tweaked the sauce several times while making it, so it's hard to give an exact recipe. Here is our best guess at the sauce he made for us:

Lou's Impromtu Barbecue Sauce

1 bottle of Guinness Ale
about 5 medium tomatoes
1/2 cup of vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
about 3 tablespoons molasses
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup of jalepeno peppers
1/2 an onion, or several small shallots

Combine all ingredients, except lime, in sauce pan over medium low heat. Let simmer for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar or molasses as necessary. Once sauce has thickened, add lime juice and either serve or use to marinate meat.

Ideally, I think we would have let the sauce simmer for at least an hour to reduce and thicken, but because my parents, sister and niece were hungry we rushed the sauce and basically barely combined it before pouring it over the ribs. It did the job, however.







We dressed the ribs with lime juice before basting them with the sauce, and then I threw them on the grill. Flipping them only twice, I let them cook covered for about twenty minutes in all. I deliberately used only about 20 coals, so as to keep the temperature relatively low. Not surprisingly, it turned out that twenty minutes wasn't quite long enough to cook the thickest part of one of the sections of ribs, so I had to throw that section back on the grill for another five minutes or so. Other than that, the ribs turned out perfectly. A hard brown and crispy crust formed on the outside, which sealed in the moisture and juices, so the meat came off the grill tender and soft. And, best of all, the ribs tasted both of smoke and the dark, vinegary sauce.





We served the ribs with the remaining sauce, which had thickened somewhat while the ribs cooked, and with some more corn. Here's a picture of the corn on the grill:



My mom asked us to make a salad we had made for her when she was visiting us in San Francisco, so we set her up so she could make it herself. It's a very simple salad of consisting of endive, sliced Asian pears, toasted pecans, roquefort and simple honey-mustard vinaigrette. Here she is crumbling roquefort:



And, here are the beautiful salads she arranged for us:



As always, we ate well, and it was a pleasure to enjoy some special meals with my family and special friends.

A Feast for Friends from LA

Well, faithful readers, it's been some time since I lasted posted on foodphiles, but this past weekend some dear friends came up from LA for a quick visit and I promised them I would post about our dinner. Actually, I promised this would be the beginning of regular posting, so here goes...

All summer long we've been making the most of our stovetop grill by charring, searing and otherwise grilling fresh vegetables and meats. The method of preparation is basically the same: coat the meats or vegetables in olive oil, add salt and pepper, and throw them on the grill. I like the simple flavors of vegetables and meats mixed with the flavor of the grill itself. And there's no easier way to cook.

On Saturday, we began the evening by serving a collection of cheeses--soft and hard--along with almonds and honey:



Here we all are around the table enjoying some Patty Green Pinot Noir with the cheese:



For dinner, I grilled flank steak and green onions (these were some of the largest green onions I've ever seen!). I also threw together some mixed greens with cherry and plum tomatoes, and we microwaved some corn. Here's a picture of the green onions on the grill:



The highlight of the evening, however, was the flourless chocolate cake that I made for dessert. Several years ago I came across a recipe in Bon Appetit that captivated me. The recipe was created by Jacques Torres, who was the executive pastry chef at Le Cirque in New York. The recipe could not be easier--the only ingredients are chocolate, sugar, water, eggs and butter. It's moist and rich, and it's been a hit every time I've made it.

Here's a photo of the cake after it had cooled but before we decorated it:



Greg and Michele made vanilla ice cream to top off the cake.



Lou made marzipan leaves, mushrooms and acorns to decorate the cake and help us envision the upcoming fall:







All in all, it was a wonderful evening of food, conversation and friendship. I'm glad they came for dinner.

Maple Scones

I made maple scones on Sunday morning from a recipe I noticed in The New York Times last week. They came out soft, light and airy, as opposed to dense and thick, and I thought they were perfect. I loved the color of them too (they really turned golden brown), though Lou said he thought he could taste a little too much baking powder. We ate them immediately after I pulled them out of the oven with hot coffee.

Here's the recipe:

MAPLE SCONES
Adapted from the Samuel Sewall Inn, Brookline, Mass.
Time: 30 minutes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour (more as needed)
2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) chilled butter
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or cooked wheat berries
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk, or as needed
Vegetable oil or nonstick spray for greasing baking sheet.

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, 1 cup white flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, or two knives scissors-fashion, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. Add nuts or wheat berries. Stir in the maple syrup and egg and just enough milk so that dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead lightly; if dough is very soft, roll in flour again. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet. Pat or roll into an 8-inch disk; cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate.
3. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet, and carefully separate. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings.

(from The New York Times)

And here are a few more pics:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples, Fennel and Spices

Well, faithful foodphiles readers, I'm finally getting around to posting again after a few weeks away. Don't fear, I've been cooking these last few weeks. I just haven't managed to set aside the time to post on here. Please forgive me.

Last Sunday night I prepared a fantastic recipe for slow roasted pork shoulder from the current issue of Bon Appetit. I adapted the recipe slightly to use a pork tenderloin--basically I altered the cooking time so as to not completely overcook the meat--and it worked out well. The combined flavors of the fennel, coriander seeds and garlic, along with the hint of apple, were magnificent. I'll have to post the recipe later because I could not find it on epicurious. I suspect that they do not post the recipes published in RSVP on the web because they did not create the recipes. I'll post it on here and give full credit to the chefs.

Slow-Roasted Pork with Apple-Fennel Jus (from The Kitchen in Boulder, Colorado, Chef Hugo Metheson)

2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
6 garlic cloves, corsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 pound boneless pork butt (shoulder) roast (I used the tenderloin)

1 750 ml bottle dry white wine
3 Fuji apples (about 1 3/4 pounds), peeled and chopped
2 cups coarsely chopped fennel tops and fronds (bulbs reserved for another use)
1 large onion, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using spice mill or coffee grinder, process coriander seeds, fennel seeds, salt and peppercorns until coarsely ground. Add garlic and grind until paste forms. Transfer mixture to small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Rub spice paste all over pork.

Boil wine in heavy medium saucepan 3 minute. Place chopped apples, fennel and onion in large roasting pan, spreading evenly. Pour boiled wine into pan. Place pork atop apple mixture. Cover roasting pan tightly with foil (or lid). Roast pork until tender, 3 hours (or 20 minutes per pound for tenderloin).

Carefully remove foil from pan. Transfer pork shoulder to platter; tent with foil to keep warm. Strain liquid from roasting pan into large saucepan, pressing on solids to release any liguid. Discard solids in strainer. Spoon off fat from surface of pan juices. Boil juices until reduced to 3 cups, about 25 minutes.

Slice pork. Serve, passing apple-fennel jus alongside.

Finally, since it's so easy to post photos of me cooking, here are a few of me and my loin:

Lamb, Gnocchi and Eggs Rolls

Well, despite the fact that it may look like it's been a slow weeek for this blogger, I've actually been cooking up a storm.

Last Sunday night, Lou and I hosted six other folks for dinner before playing bridge. We made a gruyere and fontina fondue (with french bread, asparagus and cherry tomatoes for dipping), rack of lamb with a preserved lemon gremolata crust served over a bed of spicy chili nodles, and for dessert, our friend Joey, baked a delicious chocolate espresso cake.







The lamb recipe came from Donna Hay's "New Fast Food," and she lived up to our expectations of her spectacular recipes. We modified the recipe slightly by matching the lamb with the spicy noodles (basically we exchanged noodles for potatoes), and it turned out well.

Here's the modified recipe for the lamb:

Ingredients:

for the lamb:
sea salt
olive oil
1 lamb rack of 12 cutlets, trimmed of fat

for the preserved lemon gremolata:
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped preserved lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place a frying pan over high heat. Add the lamb and cook for 3 minutes or until the meat is sealed. Remove from the pan and set aside.

To make the preserved lemon gremolata, combine the garlic, parslep, preserved lemon and oil. Spread the gremolata over the lamb and place in a baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the lamb is cooked to your liking.

To serve, slice the rack into cutlets.



Hay suggests shielding the gremolata from the heat with tin foil, but I thought the gremolata might have looked better a little browned. Next time I may put the lamb under the broiler for a minute or two. I also wonder if browning the gremolata might help it better adhere to the lamb.

On Valentine's Day, Lou and I made spinach gnocchi. Here's the recipe:



Making gnocchi is a four step process in which you prepare the basic ingridients, combine them with flour to form a dough, drop the dough in boiling water and then bake it in butter and cheese.

I was thrilled about how they turned out. They were softer than I expected, and they tasted delicious.

Here you can see us mixing the dough and preparing them for the boiling water:






And lastly, on Friday night we cooked some beets (you can see the beets in the pot just before we pulled them out) and made egg rolls. Donna Hay again supplied us with the idea for egg rolls. It could not have been easier:

Egg Rolls

2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 green onions, chopped (we used part of a larger onion because we didn't have any green onions)
4 eggs (we used up the remaining quail eggs--about 12 in all)
fillings (Hay suggests smoked salmon, spinach ot tomatoes, but we used prosciutto)
thick, sweet soy sauce

Heat the seame oil in a large, non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Remove half the onions and set aside.

Beat the eggs lightly to combine them. Add half the egg to the pan and swirl to evenly coat the base. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until almost set. Slide the egg from the pan and place the fillings of your choice down one side. Roll up and serve with thick soy sauce. Return the remaining onions to the pan and make a second egg roll. Serves 2.

It had been years since I'd seen an egg rolls like these. My aunt and uncle lived in Japan for a year when I was a kid, and I remember my aunt making them for us when they got back to the US. I've grown accustom to the crispy egg rolls served in most chinese restaurants, and I had honestly forgotten that you can make an egg roll like thin omlette and roll it up with tasty fillings to your own liking. I thought ours turned out slightly too thick, so the next time I make them I want to try to make the egg layer as thin as possible. Here's a photo sequence of me rolling them up.