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!

Last minute party food

I'm sitting here wracking my brain for a bright food idea.  My husband just told me this evening that we should bring food to a baby shower the day after tomorrow when the next two days are more-than-full workdays.  There really isn't much food in the house so a trip to the store is definitely in order.  Oh, and we still need to buy a baby gift.  Yikes!

What shall I cook?  It will have to be very quick to prepare and all ingredients have to be available at our local grocery store.  It also needs to be a little more hearty than most finger food appetizers because so far people are bringing either doritos and beer or salad.  So....I'm thinking Rosemary Biscuits.  Simple ingredients, quick to make, and can be served warm or cold.  I'll bring a Spiral Ham and 2 Mustards to accompany.

The biscuits are headily scented with rosemary.  They can be flaky and more scone-like or sturdier so they can provide the basis for a little biscuit sandwich.  Either way they go really well slathered with fresh strawberry jam, but I don't have any of that to bring along so the ham and mustards will have to do.

The original recipe (Shaker Rosemary Biscuits) comes from my time long ago at The Herbfarm in Washington State.  Back then everything was located on the original farm, including a restaurant and shop. The farm grew and sold every imaginable herb from medicinal to culinary.  I learned a lot in those days and wish I had a green thumb to grow all that I love to cook with.

Roberta's Rosemary Biscuits (adapted from The Herbfarm's Shaker Rosemary Biscuits)

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup very cold butter cut into small chunks
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried)
• 3/4 cup milk (or 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk)

Preparation

Heat oven to 425F degrees.  Sift dry ingredients together and stir in rosemary.  Cut in butter until most chunks are the size of english peas.  Make a well in the center and add milk (if using milk/egg combo beat the egg slightly before adding to the flour mixture).  Stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.  Turn out onto a floured board and knead lightly 10-12 times.  Cut or roll into golf-ball size pieces.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Notes: If you use the egg/milk combination the biscuits are a little sturdier whereas with just the milk they are very fragile and flaky -  more like a scone.   In the picture the biscuits on the left are made with the milk/egg combo. Those on the right are made with only milk.

Almost any herb can be substituted for rosemary such as sage or thyme. The key is using fresh herbs if you can.

Basil Shrimp Risotto



It's been a hot and wet summer this year and our basil is at its peak. We have two varieties growing -  genovese and thai.  The genovese is the common, large shiny-leaf variety used in dishes like caprese salad and pesto. It's slightly peppery and sweet. Thai basil, which has a slight licorice flavor, has smaller darker leaves with purple blossoms and is used in thai dishes such as basil chicken. There are many other basil varieties: lemon, lime, cinnamon, globe...almost a flavor for everything.

Today I want to use the genovese basil to make Basil Shrimp Risotto. It would be ideal for the height of basil season to coincide with asparagus and spring pea season, but alas, that is not the case.  Nevertheless, if you can get either good asparagus or peas when basil is also available, this dish suits itself to either of those additions. I've already picked the basil and have the shrimp thawing in the refrigerator.  Now I just have to wait until dinner time.  Maybe I'll make a honey lemon cake while I wait!

Basil Shrimp Risotto

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons canola oil
• 1 pound shrimp (shells on, I recommend 21-30s)
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup bacon, cut crosswise in 1/4"-wide strips
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 4 cups shrimp, fish or chicken stock
• 3/4 cup asparagus, 1" pieces lightly steamed or fresh peas, lightly steamed
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup cream, optional
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced for garnish
• 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, shaved for garnish

Preparation

Shell and clean the shrimp. Rinse both the shells and shrimp. Refrigerate the shrimp until needed later on.  Put the shells in a pot and cover with 1" of water.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Strain and return to a clean pan, add enough stock to bring the quantity to 4 cups and keep warm on a low flame.

In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and bacon.  Cook down until bacon renders its fat.  Lower heat and add shallots.  Saute shallots until transparent, do not allow them to brown if possible.  Add rice and stir to coat with oil.  Cook for 1 minute.  Increase heat to medium and add white wine.  Stir until wine has been absorbed.

Begin adding stock one ladle full at a time.  Stir the rice until each ladle has been absorbed and then add another.  Continue to add stock until rice is almost tender.  Stir in rest of ingredients, cover and let stand while you prepare the shrimp.

Heat a 12" saute pan (do NOT use a non-stick surface pan for this) over the highest heat you have.  The next few steps need to be done as quickly as you can.  When hot, add canola oil.  Let heat for a few seconds, then add the shrimp.  Try to get them in a single layer as best you can.  As soon as they start turning pink on the one side, which is almost instantaneous, turn them over.  As soon as they are all turned over, turn off the heat (if you are using an electric stove take it off the burner), throw in 2 Tablespoons of butter (cut into a few pieces so it melts quickly), add the basil and put the lid on.  Do not lift the lid for 3 minutes.  After 3 minutes you are ready to assemble your dish.

Pour all the contents from the shrimp pan into the rice and gently stir. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.  If the risotto seems too stiff, gently stir in more cream or stock.  Serve with a few shaves of parmesan and basil on top.

My favorite summer cocktails - #4

Hot weather has a way of making watermelon more refreshing than beer, water, or soda. Add two more cooling ingredients - cucumber and mint - and you have the ultimate cool, refreshing cocktail.  Throw some carne adovada and tortillas on the grill, toss together a quick roasted corn, poblano and zucchini side and you've got yourself a stellar summer meal and drink.

Watermelon Mint Margarita

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 3 Tablespoons mint-infused simple syrup (see mint post)
• 1 Tablespoon Cointreau (or Triple Sec)
• 1/2 cup Tequila
• 2 generous cups of frozen watermelon, 1" chunks
• 1" peeled english cucumber, roughly chopped (if seedy, remove seeds)
• 15-20 fresh mint leaves
• 2 mint sprigs for garnish
• Sugar or kosher salt, optional

Preparation

Ahead of time cut up a watermelon into 1" chunks and make sure you get all the seeds out - even the white ones if you can.  Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for several hours at least.  If you are preparing this ahead or making more than you will use, once frozen ply off the sheet and put into a ziploc bag and keep frozen until needed.  Add liquid ingredients to a blender then add the rest of the ingredients.  Blend in short bursts until watermelon is pureed.  If you like, use a slice of lime to wet the rims of the margarita glasses and dip rims into sugar or kosher salt (I prefer a light dip into salt).  Pour in frozen margarita mixture and garnish with a mint sprig.

Makes 2 drinks, depending on the size of your margarita glasses!

BBQ Sides

The famous Club Yankeelov (aka "The Club") came over for dinner tonight and Todd BBQ'd a pork shoulder. I find it hard to pair healthy foods with BBQ. It just cries out for deep fried sides and/or lots of starch. However, I had to try for a healthy starter and sides so that we could splurge a little on dessert. Given that 7-month old Lexie the Great was coming to dinner as well, I knew that dinner would not be a long drawn out affair.  So, a quick simple appetizer, healthy-ish main course, and a satisfying chocolate-y dessert (The Club loves chocolate!) were in order for the menu.

For the appetizer I settled on dried apricot halves slathered with a little goat cheese (I used blue goat cheese for half of them and a French chèvre coated with dried tarragon for the other half), and I topped each with a roasted Marcona almond and drizzled them with a touch of honey. Inspiration came from a recent Sunset Magazine. The ingredients make all the difference in this little morsel.  If you can, use Blenheim variety dried apricots. They are the best apricot for eating outright. If you were going to cook apricots I might suggest something else, but for eating out of the bag I haven't found any dried apricot better than the Blenheim variety I buy at Trader Joe's, well, other than those my Grandmother dried from her own little tree that she rescued from the cherry orchard.  Use high quality goat cheese (good French chèvre is unbelievable - you could mix it with a little fresh basil or thyme if you have a plain variety).  Only use Marcona almonds - luckily these are fairly easy to find now.  I've seen them at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and even Costco. Yes, they cost more than regular almonds, but they are totally worth it.  Regular run of the mill apricots, almonds, or goat cheese will just not be the same experience.

For the sides, I made a double salad.  The bottom layer was a stripped down spinach salad with a roasted garlic and smoked paprika caesar dressing.  The top was a roasted corn, Vidalia onion, basil and cherry tomato salad layer (in the most recent, July 2011, Sunset Magazine).  Along with the BBQ'd pork and buns, it was a fairly light meal as BBQ goes.

To finish the meal we had crepes stuffed with peanut butter & chocolate (a la "Reeses") topped with vanilla bean ice cream.  The stuffing was made with a little creamy peanut butter mixed with grated Mexican chocolate (yes, the stuff you melt in milk to make hot chocolate - "Ibarra" is a common variety). I used about 2 Tablespoons peanut butter to 1/3 cup grated chocolate.  Microplane the chocolate before mixing with the peanut butter.  Because the chocolate has an almost gritty sugar texture, the filling ends up having a slight crunch to it.  Mmmm. 'Twas good. However, if that crunch doesn't appeal to you just - your favorite chocolate instead.  If you need a good crepe recipe, French Classics Made Easy has a good one with detailed drawings and instructions (although it neglects the "always throw out the first" one rule).

That's my menu planning for the week!