Whole Wheat Waffles with Ginger

Waffles to the third power!  I decided that our weekend waffles needed a kick in the pants.  So, what could be better than whole wheat and ginger?

Whole Wheat Waffles with Ginger

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup gingerale (diet or regular, no matter) or ginger beer
• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 Tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root (use more if you want more ginger flavor)

Preparation

Blender method: Put wet ingredients into a blender then add all the dry ingredients and blend.  Scrap down sides as necessary and blend until it's smooth.

Bowl method:  Put all dry ingredients into bowl, make a well and pour in the wet ingredients.  Whisk until all lumps are gone.

Let stand 10 minutes.  It should be the thickness of heavy cream.  If it's too thick add a little water and blend or mix briefly again.  Ready, set, make waffles!

Makes 3-4 waffles depending on your waffle maker.

Grating Ginger

If you've seen a recipe that calls for "grated" ginger and don't have any implement that grates other than a cheese grater, here is what you need: a ginger grater.  Now, I don't often go in for implements that have only one use, but for this it's totally worth it.

There are more varieties than one would guess for a sole-use implement.  I picked up a lovely painted ceramic one at a market in Aix-en-Provence last year as a gift for a friend.  I so wished I had gotten myself one that I went hunting for one when I returned.  I found a very utiltarian one at our local Asian market for around $5.  It's not pretty like the one I brought my friend, but it does a superb job of producing pulpy "grated" ginger.

Why would you want grated ginger versus minced or chopped?  There are times when you need it to blend into a liquid and not leave chunks that even the finest mince would leave.  Grating also releases more juice and results in a slightly milder flavor than mincing or chopping. That means the effect on a dish is different and can be taken into account when deciding which method to use. The three methods line up in order of intensity from least (grated) to most (chopped). I think about using grating if I want the flavor of ginger, but mincing or chopping if I want the taste to jump out.

I hope you have an excuse to use grated ginger and find yourself a ginger grater!

Duxelles

I've been thinking about bruschetta toppings for a dinner party and remembered an old favorite - mushrooms.  While one could just sauté up some mushrooms and use that as a serviceable topping, I am more inclined to make a version of a duxelles sauce.  This one is thicker than the traditional since I'll be using it as a topping rather than a sauce.  I like to add sherry to my duxelles as well.  Sherry and mushrooms go well together. The sherry brings out the earthiness of the mushrooms and adds another savory note of its own.

Duxelles

• 10 ounces cremini mushrooms or large portobellos, finely chopped (you need a flavorful mushroom - don't make this with white mushrooms)
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 1 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons Sherry
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
• 2 Tablespoon mixed herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage), minced
• 1/2 cup chicken stock, cold
• 1 Tablespoon whipping or heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation 

Finely chop mushrooms and mince shallots. In a skillet add butter and oil and heat over medium flame until butter is melted. Turn heat to low and add shallots, cooking until they are translucent - be careful not to let them brown.  Turn up heat to medium and add mushrooms.  Cook until they release their water and it is mostly cooked off.  Add herbs and sherry and cook for 1 minute.  Add flour and stir until incorporated.  Stir in cold chicken stock and cook until mixture is thick.  Add cream and lemon juice.  Taste and adjust salt and add freshly ground pepper.  Spread onto slices of toasted baguette and top with a herb sprig for garnish.

You can also put the same topping into pre-baked pastry tartlets and serve warm, which is how we are having them this time, since our starter course will be served with a slice of baguette.  Rather not have baguette twice in a row.

Serve with sherry or perhaps bubbles.  We'll be serving it with bubbles this time.

Tuscan Kale Salad

I had never had a kale salad until reading Melissa Clark's New York Times article. If you have access to NYT archives look this recipe up and read her description!  I won't be able to do it justice.  It was posted on Oct 24, 2007 in the Dining section.  Her eloquent description made me immediately go out and buy the ingredients and make it. She also writes a blog @ http://www.melissaclark.net/blog/.  I continue to make this often with a few minor adjustments from the original recipe, but mostly the same.

Tuscan Kale Salad with Pecorino

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Lacinato kale (also known as Tuscan or Black Kale)
• 1/2 garlic clove crushed with a pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 cup finely grated pecorino cheese, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 cup high-quality, extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
• Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste

Preparation

Trim bottom 2 inches off kale stems and discard. Slice kale, including ribs, into 3/4-inch-wide ribbons.  You should have 4 to 5 cups.  Place kale in a large bowl.

Juice lemon - you want at least 2 Tablespoons of juice, so juice another lemon if you don't get enough from one.  Using a mortar and pestle, or with the back of a knife, pound garlic with salt into a paste.  Transfer garlic into a small bowl.  Add ¼ cup cheese, a 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper flakes, and black pepper, and whisk to combine.  Pour dressing over kale and toss very well to thoroughly combine (dressing will be thick and needs lots of tossing to coat leaves).

Let salad sit 5 minutes, then serve topped with additional cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 2-4.

Simple Dinner

A simple delicious dinner.  Not sure what to call this amalgamation of soft, creamy, peppery, crunchy, onion-y, lemony-goodness, but it was divine, especially with the accompanying Spanish Rioja wine.  The one we had tonight was "Lan".  Mmmm.

The meal consisted of:

Grilled multi-grain sourdough bread (brushed with olive oil previous to grilling). After grilling, I slathered it with pesto (freshly made with almonds rather than pine nuts and pecorino rather than parmesan).  The pesto-covered bread was then topped with grilled asparagus (tossed with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper before grilling), a poached egg, and arugula salad (which had been tossed in a lemon vinaigrette - 1 part lemon to 2 parts olive oil, salt, pepper and a pinch of Coleman's mustard powder).  This collection was then garnished with chèvre, garlic chives and freshly ground pepper.  The flavors burst in every bite and the yolk gushed just enough to add creaminess to a bite here and there.  We followed it up with a little dark chocolate as we sipped the last bit of the wine -- complete satiation.

Dinner for 12

I've been asked how to plan a multi-course menu for a large dinner party while still spending most of your time visiting with your guests rather than in the kitchen. It's not easy, but it can be done.  The key is lots of prep and small pyrex dishes.  Pyrex dishes, you ask?  Yes, you'll see them over and over again.

Let's say you want to have 12-16 people over for a dinner.  The first thing to deal with is the menu.  Will it be a 3-course, 5-course, 7-course? Let's assume a 7-course, just to make it challenging.  You can scale back as necessary.  In planning a menu of that length, I usually stick to the following order:

 
• First course: Appetizer
• Second course: Soup
• Third course: Fish
• Main course: Not fish ;)
• Salad course
• Dessert course
• Cheese course

Almost everything in each course should be preparable ahead of time with little adjustment in seasonings necessary at serving time. So, get your recipe books out and start searching! A few things I might serve in each course would be:

• For the first (appetizer) course - because you are serving fish and another meat in the third and main courses, I would start with something light and let the meal progress to a crescendo at the main course and then back down again.  Here you could serve a trio of bruschetta on individual plates - something you'll have to prepare close to your guests arriving, but not difficult.  Make one bruschetta with purchased pâté, one caprese (fresh tomatoes, a little chopped buffalo mozzarella, chiffonade of basil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, freshly ground pepper), one with purchased tapanade or prepare a duxelle mixture (a divine mushroom mixture - I'll post about this soon).  Garnish each with a unique herb (pâté - possibly use a sprig of fresh rosemary, the caprese of course garnish with a basil leaf, the tapanade or duxelle perhaps a small sprig of thyme) - all chosen and prepared ahead of time and waiting in a small pyrex dish to be applied just before serving.
• For the soup course - again because you want to build complexity and depth leading up to the main course, I would recommend a lightly creamed leek soup.  Soups can always be prepared ahead and are often better that way.  Then re-heat, ladle into bowls, and garnish with chopped fresh chives (which you will have previously prepared and stored in a small pyrex bowl).
• For the fish course - I might go with a lightly poached fish (salmon, halibut) served chilled in aspic or served chilled with a lemon cream sauce. Garnish with fresh dill or chervil (sprigs that you've already selected and prepared, stored in a small pyrex bowl).  If you have the space, plate your fish course and keep it chilled in the refrigerator.  Garnish as you serve - never garnish ahead.
• For the main course - I might go with Chicken with Figs and Apricots (see recipe below and double it for 12) served with couscous.  While this dish requires one step in the middle of cooking (set your timer and carry it with you), it is worth it if your guests like meat and fruit in one dish.  If not, find a dish that can be cooked in the oven for the length of time you expect your previous courses to take so you can put it in as everyone sits down to the first course.
• For the salad course - now you want to start backing off.  No heavy salad dressings.  Try a light, lemony dressing.  I would highly recommend the Tuscan Kale salad with Pecorino from Oct 24, 2007 in the Dining section of the New York Times (for those NYT subscribers that have access to the online archives).  I am going to write a whole blog post for this recipe.  It is so amazing, as was the article about it!  Grate extra pecorino for garnishing and keep covered in a small pyrex bowl.
• For the dessert course in a 7-course menu - I recommend something cold, fruity and light.  Perhaps a chiffon pie that is topped with a fresh berry and whipped cream sauce before serving.
• For the cheese course - find 3 or 4 of your favorite cheeses and let people help themselves. Depending on the cheeses, you could also include some marcona almonds, honey, dried apricots or cranberries, but not really necessary.  Some people can't seem to eat cheese without bread, so be sure to include a little baguette for those who want it.  If you go for bold, heavy cheeses, it's the optimal time to pull out a Sauternnes, Ice Wine, or Muscat.  They go so well with the pungent cheeses (see my blog post about a delicious sheep cheese).  You can have this entire plate ready to go ahead of time, just make sure you pull it out in time for it to warm up to about 65 degrees or so before serving.

After all that cooking, I hope you have someone to help clean up!

A few notes - another approach to creating a menu is to pick one dish you want to make and then build out the menu to match it.  I tend to stick to cuisines within a broad region rather than crossing continents.  Fusion cuisine, while good,  can be tricky in the home kitchen for multi-course meals.

Chicken with Figs and Apricots

This recipe originally came from the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook.  I've adapted a few things so that you spend less time in the kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2.5 - 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3-4 pieces each
• 6 large garlic cloves, finely  minced
• 1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 teaspoons green peppercorns packed in water - drained
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives (or your favorite pitted olive)
• 1 1/2 cups dried apricots (I use the Blenheim variety)
• 1 cup dried small figs - if large, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Madeira
• 1 cup large pecan pieces, toasted
• Grated zest of 2 lemons

Preparation

A day before serving, combine chicken, garlic, thyme, cumin, ginger, salt, vinegar, oil, peppercorns, olives, apricots, and figs in a large bowl or ziploc bag.  Marinate covered in the refrigerator overnight.  Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in a large shallow pan(s).  Spoon the marinade mixture evenly over the chicken.  Sprinkle with the sugar and pour the Madeira, cover pan, and return to the refrigerator.  One hour before cooking, remove the pan from the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees,  cover the pan with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  (Heat the oven just before you serve the first course and, depending on your guests and how leisurely you are planning on dinner, either just before the soup course or fish course pop it into the oven - use your timer to remind you to get up and remove the foil and then again to remove from the oven.)  Remove the foil, baste the chicken, and bake another 15 minutes.  It can rest up to 5-10 minutes after removing from the oven, if you need the time.  Serve on a bed of couscous and garnish with the pre-toasted pecans and lemon zest before serving.

Serves 6.

Peter - happy 20th anniversary to you and your wife!  I hope this post isn't too late to be helpful!

Let me know if you have questions, I'm sure I haven't explained everything!