The end to another weekend, I hate that! Oh well, I have been meaning to cook this recipe since last Sunday so I thought it was about time to finally get it done. The first step in this recipe is to create a portion of meat stock. This, although a very easy process, takes 3.5 hours, a pretty decent chunk of Sunday.
Upon returning from the store to buy the necessary ingredients, I cubed veal and beef and put it in a stew pot, covering the meat up with water. Once it boiled and I, as directed by The Silver Spoon, skimmed the top for scum. And boy howdy was there a lot of whatever meat scum is. After de-scumming the stock I added onions, celery and a shallot and left it alone for 3 hours.
Around the three hour mark, I started cleaning leeks. Leeks are a very dirty vegetable and are a challenge to clean. Every TV chef tells you a different technique; here's the way that seems to be the most successful for me. I cut the ends off the leeks and trim the tops. Then I cut them in half the long way and pull the layers apart. I, then, put them into a colander and rinse them until the water runs clean.
Once I had managed to clean the leeks, I turned my attention to the sausages. I sautéed them in a pan with olive oil. While they were browning, I separated the liquid of the meat stock from its ingredients and added the stock to a new pan with the cleaned leeks. I boiled the leeks in the stock for 15 minutes and then drained them and added them to a buttered dish. I saved the stock for another day because all I did was boil a vegetable in it. Am I wrong?
Anyway, I popped the sausages on top and poured 2/3 cup of cream to finish it off. Once this creamy buttery casserole was built all it needed was about 15 minutes in the oven to bubble up and brown. The leeks were peppery and the cream sauce rich. My fiance even ate some after eating duck at his parents so it must have been pretty good.
According to my tabulations I have made 22 Silver Spoon recipes so far, used 3 quarts of heavy cream and 4 pound of butter. Yikes, that is a lot of animal fat. This week, I will take on ribs and pork chops and spinach with more butter and cream. Pray for my waistband!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Eggs with Mushrooms
For a few days I have been trying to make the recipe for a "Warm Mushroom Salad" from The Silver Spoon. I couldn't make it last night because I forgot that I need corn salad and there is no recipe for it in the book. This morning I woke up hungry with a ton of mushrooms and decided to browse the SS to see if there was any recipe that I could knock off to utilize some of the abundance of mushrooms. I discovered a shirred egg recipe that used 3 and 2/3 white mushroom caps, pretty specific SS but I'll allow it.
The recipe is very simple, first sauté sliced up mushroom caps in butter for 10 minutes. While they are simmering, grease a few ramekins with more butter (especially the sides). Evenly divide the 3.66 mushroom caps among the ramekins (that's 183/200 mushroom cap per ramekin) and crack an egg on top of each one, seasoning with salt and pepper. Then simply bake in the oven for 10 more minutes and there you have it. I added my own twist by frying additional mushrooms while the eggs baked and combining them with the left over pot roast and cream sauce from last night. You can read about that culinary delight here. Boy, was my fiance impressed, two fantastic meals back to back! Shirred eggs are such an awesome morning dish, and they are really easy too!
The recipe is very simple, first sauté sliced up mushroom caps in butter for 10 minutes. While they are simmering, grease a few ramekins with more butter (especially the sides). Evenly divide the 3.66 mushroom caps among the ramekins (that's 183/200 mushroom cap per ramekin) and crack an egg on top of each one, seasoning with salt and pepper. Then simply bake in the oven for 10 more minutes and there you have it. I added my own twist by frying additional mushrooms while the eggs baked and combining them with the left over pot roast and cream sauce from last night. You can read about that culinary delight here. Boy, was my fiance impressed, two fantastic meals back to back! Shirred eggs are such an awesome morning dish, and they are really easy too!
Friday Night Cooking: Fried Fennel and Pot Roast
Friday night, still standing (a miracle in itself, shout out to C, my partner in teaching crimes!) and cooking a delicious meal, look at how domestic I can be! I knew that I would need some time to cook the pot roast, so immediately after walking through the door, and changing into my cookin' pants, I was ready to go. The pot roast recipe was very simple, brown an onion in a large quantity of butter, add meat, add vinegar and cook for two hours. I did these things, not without a huge smoke cloud forming from adding the vinegar. Of course this threatened to set off my smoke alarms. Thank goodness one of my future sisters in-law walked into the kitchen and scared the crap out of me because she helped with life saving ventilation.
After starting the Pot Roast with Cream, I started perusing The Silver Spoon and realized I could make something with my stray fennel. As a child, I had an extreme dislike for two things: meatloaf and black licorice. Suffice it to say, I managed to outgrow my dislike of meatloaf. I still hate the taste, smell, heck even the sight of black licorice. Due to this prejudice, I avoid licorice tasting things such as fennel. I even dislike sweet italian sausage because of the seeds of fennel.
I purchased some fennel because of a recipe I thought I would cook during the week that I didn't have the rest of the ingredients to do. (I know, you are shocked) I wanted to use the alien vegetation before it went bad and luckily found a very simple recipe to keep me occupied as my pot roast roasted. Essentially, to make fried fennel, you first boil the fennel in salted water for 45 minutes, then slice it and bread it with parmesan cheese and fry it in butter.
I set the fennel to boil while my pot roast was roasting and experienced a new feeling in the kitchen, I had nothing to do. My fiance, his brother and my BFF were playing Super Mario on the Wii in the living room omitting the option of me relaxing on the couch, so I cleaned and watched Bones on my tiny kitchen TV, cleaned some more, stabbed the fennel to see if it was softening, cleaned, and finally the fennel was ready to come out of its boil.
The directions say to slice the fennel thinly, pat it dry and bread it with egg wash and cheese. I was lost at "slice thinly." The bulb of fennel had a couple of branches, so the thin slices started to fall apart as I cut them. The sliced, boiled fennel truly looked more like weird onion rings. I went with it, and fried the life out of them in butter. They were so delicious and not licorice like at all! As soon as the fennel was fried, it was time to finish the pot roast. I took the meat aside and added a cup of cream to the pot liquor and stirred until it thickened. Dinner was served. I evened out the spread with a green salad dressed with homemade vinaigrette.
Two more recipes down, less than two thousand to go. I loved the pot roast, but the fennel was the stand out of the evening. Fennel, you have converted me! At 29, I am finally growing up, now there is no food I will avoid. I should have known, C. told me that it was good, and she totally knows what is up when it comes to Italian cooking. What foods have you grown to love?
After starting the Pot Roast with Cream, I started perusing The Silver Spoon and realized I could make something with my stray fennel. As a child, I had an extreme dislike for two things: meatloaf and black licorice. Suffice it to say, I managed to outgrow my dislike of meatloaf. I still hate the taste, smell, heck even the sight of black licorice. Due to this prejudice, I avoid licorice tasting things such as fennel. I even dislike sweet italian sausage because of the seeds of fennel.
I purchased some fennel because of a recipe I thought I would cook during the week that I didn't have the rest of the ingredients to do. (I know, you are shocked) I wanted to use the alien vegetation before it went bad and luckily found a very simple recipe to keep me occupied as my pot roast roasted. Essentially, to make fried fennel, you first boil the fennel in salted water for 45 minutes, then slice it and bread it with parmesan cheese and fry it in butter.
I set the fennel to boil while my pot roast was roasting and experienced a new feeling in the kitchen, I had nothing to do. My fiance, his brother and my BFF were playing Super Mario on the Wii in the living room omitting the option of me relaxing on the couch, so I cleaned and watched Bones on my tiny kitchen TV, cleaned some more, stabbed the fennel to see if it was softening, cleaned, and finally the fennel was ready to come out of its boil.
The directions say to slice the fennel thinly, pat it dry and bread it with egg wash and cheese. I was lost at "slice thinly." The bulb of fennel had a couple of branches, so the thin slices started to fall apart as I cut them. The sliced, boiled fennel truly looked more like weird onion rings. I went with it, and fried the life out of them in butter. They were so delicious and not licorice like at all! As soon as the fennel was fried, it was time to finish the pot roast. I took the meat aside and added a cup of cream to the pot liquor and stirred until it thickened. Dinner was served. I evened out the spread with a green salad dressed with homemade vinaigrette.
Two more recipes down, less than two thousand to go. I loved the pot roast, but the fennel was the stand out of the evening. Fennel, you have converted me! At 29, I am finally growing up, now there is no food I will avoid. I should have known, C. told me that it was good, and she totally knows what is up when it comes to Italian cooking. What foods have you grown to love?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Spicy Indian Meatballs, Spiced Cauliflower and Saag
It was international night at my house this evening a la The Silver Spoon! Due to my upcoming wedding and my perpetual carb bloat, about the face, due to the SS, I am avoiding carbs until I am married. Therefore, I am placing an additional challenge to this already challenging project, no carbs while cooking The Silver Spoon(at least for three months). Because of this additional complication, I will be specially choosing recipes to do until my special day.
Spicy Indian Meatballs are done with ground chicken, chile, garlic, and onion and that's it. No bread needed which is great for me right now. No egg either, although that issue is neutral. As I turned to start assembling the meatballs I realized that I didn't have any chiles or cloves. (This is another emerging theme of this project, my forgetfulness) I blame MarketBasket as they didn't have any chile peppers when I was there, and I also blame myself. Admittedly, I'm not that good at making shopping lists, using them, following them, and organizing ingredients. My fiance agreed to go get the missing items, awww isn't he great? In the meantime I chopped garlic and made Spiced Cauliflower.
Spiced Cauliflower is a simple salad of carrots, cauliflower and spice. I chopped up a head of cauliflower, tossing all the tough root pieces and combined them with two shredded carrots. I then, whisked together paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, white wine and oil, added it to the cauliflower and that was that. Another recipe down in 5 minutes or less!
The fiance returned and I was able to add the chiles to my chicken and mix. The directions instructed me to peel an additional onion and "stud" it with cloves. I, then, fry the "studded onion" in a quarter cup of butter and throw it away. I hate throwing perfectly good onions away, but I am here to listen, so I do.
To recap, I have a pan full of clove/onion flavored butter, and ground chicken with afore mentioned ingredients in meatball shapes. I put the meatballs in the pan and fry them for ten minutes. I do, and they stay together beautifully, way better than the last time I tried to make meatballs from the SS, you can read about my struggles here: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/meatballs-with-potatoes-and-spinach.html
While the meatballs were frying, I whipped up a quick Saag ala Adrian at http://www.thefreshdish.com/. Please check out my friends' wonderful website that literally helps me out on a weekly basis. I have cooked Adrian's Saag before and it is a surefire winner. My BFF doesn't like Saag at our really good Indian restaurant but loves it when I make it, all because of Adrian. That is some good Saag.
After 10 minutes passed, I turned the heat down and cooked them through for an additional 20 minutes. They turned a beautiful carmel color and smelled fantastic. This recipe was easy and went really well with the Saag and Spiced Cauliflower. For a Thursday night, I really outdid myself, and have rewarded myself with a kitchen full of dishes. Oh well, dishes are a fact of life I suppose, SS or no.
Here's a pic for those inclined (Pat, I am looking at you)
Spicy Indian Meatballs are done with ground chicken, chile, garlic, and onion and that's it. No bread needed which is great for me right now. No egg either, although that issue is neutral. As I turned to start assembling the meatballs I realized that I didn't have any chiles or cloves. (This is another emerging theme of this project, my forgetfulness) I blame MarketBasket as they didn't have any chile peppers when I was there, and I also blame myself. Admittedly, I'm not that good at making shopping lists, using them, following them, and organizing ingredients. My fiance agreed to go get the missing items, awww isn't he great? In the meantime I chopped garlic and made Spiced Cauliflower.
Spiced Cauliflower is a simple salad of carrots, cauliflower and spice. I chopped up a head of cauliflower, tossing all the tough root pieces and combined them with two shredded carrots. I then, whisked together paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, white wine and oil, added it to the cauliflower and that was that. Another recipe down in 5 minutes or less!
The fiance returned and I was able to add the chiles to my chicken and mix. The directions instructed me to peel an additional onion and "stud" it with cloves. I, then, fry the "studded onion" in a quarter cup of butter and throw it away. I hate throwing perfectly good onions away, but I am here to listen, so I do.
To recap, I have a pan full of clove/onion flavored butter, and ground chicken with afore mentioned ingredients in meatball shapes. I put the meatballs in the pan and fry them for ten minutes. I do, and they stay together beautifully, way better than the last time I tried to make meatballs from the SS, you can read about my struggles here: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/meatballs-with-potatoes-and-spinach.html
While the meatballs were frying, I whipped up a quick Saag ala Adrian at http://www.thefreshdish.com/. Please check out my friends' wonderful website that literally helps me out on a weekly basis. I have cooked Adrian's Saag before and it is a surefire winner. My BFF doesn't like Saag at our really good Indian restaurant but loves it when I make it, all because of Adrian. That is some good Saag.
After 10 minutes passed, I turned the heat down and cooked them through for an additional 20 minutes. They turned a beautiful carmel color and smelled fantastic. This recipe was easy and went really well with the Saag and Spiced Cauliflower. For a Thursday night, I really outdid myself, and have rewarded myself with a kitchen full of dishes. Oh well, dishes are a fact of life I suppose, SS or no.
Here's a pic for those inclined (Pat, I am looking at you)
Monday, January 25, 2010
"Chicken in Lager," A Partial Fail.
Post number 11, I am well two out of the single digits and was just starting to feel in The Silver Spoon groove. Tonight's recipe, "Chicken in Lager" read like a very easy recipe. Ah Silver Spoon, you elusive creature! This easy recipe is for sure the most unsuccessful I have done.
Essentially, SS says to salt and pepper the cavity of a chicken, cut up leeks, carrots and onion and add everything into a pan with four cups of beer. The recipe also says that the beer should almost cover the chicken entirely. This is where I went wrong. I added a little more than the amount stated and it still didn't cover the chicken, I mean it was not even close, so then I added a lot more. Then, as directed, I brought the mixture to a boil and set a timer for 30 minutes.
After thirty minutes I flipped the bird, as SS told me to, and then began to worry that none of the beer had evaporated as SS had it would. I set the timer for an additional 30 minutes as directed and tried to watch The Wire with my fiance. I don't think I gave it a fair chance because of the beery quality of my chicken. When the timer went off my chicken was still drowning in beer so I gave it a little more time and grilled some left over polenta from my dinner party. Checking in with the chicken again, the beer level was still too high and it hadn't turned the golden brown that SS had described. The color was more of a rubbery tan. Damn.
Ah well, dinner was served and predictably my fiance said it was delicious. He called the left over beer "beer gravy," (more like beer soup, - Ed.) and was excited that it combined two of his favorite things. The chicken was tender and tasted fine, but I wanted the caramel color and crisp skin. If I had it to do over again, I would add only four cups of beer, maybe a little less depending on the size of the bird. I think that would do it. Oh well, I look onward to a week filled with SS recipes including but not limited to "Pot Roast with Cream," " Sausages and Leeks," and "Warm Mushroom Salad."
Essentially, SS says to salt and pepper the cavity of a chicken, cut up leeks, carrots and onion and add everything into a pan with four cups of beer. The recipe also says that the beer should almost cover the chicken entirely. This is where I went wrong. I added a little more than the amount stated and it still didn't cover the chicken, I mean it was not even close, so then I added a lot more. Then, as directed, I brought the mixture to a boil and set a timer for 30 minutes.
After thirty minutes I flipped the bird, as SS told me to, and then began to worry that none of the beer had evaporated as SS had it would. I set the timer for an additional 30 minutes as directed and tried to watch The Wire with my fiance. I don't think I gave it a fair chance because of the beery quality of my chicken. When the timer went off my chicken was still drowning in beer so I gave it a little more time and grilled some left over polenta from my dinner party. Checking in with the chicken again, the beer level was still too high and it hadn't turned the golden brown that SS had described. The color was more of a rubbery tan. Damn.
Ah well, dinner was served and predictably my fiance said it was delicious. He called the left over beer "beer gravy," (more like beer soup, - Ed.) and was excited that it combined two of his favorite things. The chicken was tender and tasted fine, but I wanted the caramel color and crisp skin. If I had it to do over again, I would add only four cups of beer, maybe a little less depending on the size of the bird. I think that would do it. Oh well, I look onward to a week filled with SS recipes including but not limited to "Pot Roast with Cream," " Sausages and Leeks," and "Warm Mushroom Salad."
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Dinner Party Number 2, in Which I use Lard as a Verb
Yay, I am having a great weekend! Friends, the last couple of weekends I was sick, sprained or sick again so this weekend is offering a fantastic contrast. This, of course, despite having to say goodbye to Conan. Two friends joined us for dinner last night, C. a fellow practicioner of the teaching arts and P. a repeat guest from dinner party number one. In case you missed it, you can read about that infamous dinner party here.
The menu: Cucumber Salad, Braised Beef with Onions, Green Beans with Garlic Sauce and Polenta (4 glorious recipes!)
It was great having C. to help me, we even went grocery shopping together which made things go quickly and efficiently. Immediately upon returning, I set upon a 5 pound beef eye of round. My task was to lard it, meaning infuse the meat with additional fat. In order to do this, The Silver Spoon gives us this hint, "make small incisions in a piece of meat and insert pieces of pancetta or bacon fat. . . The fat melts during cooking and tenderizes and seasons the dish (pg.28)."
"Alright, " I say, "I like seasoning and tender things." I started making cuts into the beef and stuffing pancetta into the cuts. Around the third stab I started to feel a little like Dexter Morgan. You can meet him here, in case you are unfamiliar:
The work went quickly and I soon turned to address the onions. The recipe calls for 2.25 pounds of onions. The fiance attempted to help me prep them but I am quicker and wanted to minimize all of our exposures to onion fumes. Once they were all chopped, and I could see straight, I lined the pan with the onions and checked my directions again to see what kind of braising liquid I had to use.
I carefully read the recipe a few more times and it dawned on me, finally, that there was no braising liquid in the recipe. Now, I have an intense love of braising. Braised meat, cabbage, grean beans, I don't care, just give it to me. I've read a whole cookbook on the subject of braising alone thanks to my future mother in law's amazing collection of such things. Every recipe I have ever seen calls for some liquid, without liquid the meat will get tough! "SS, don't make me do it," I cried. I relented, placing the meat on top of the pounds of onions with no liquid, on a very low heat and set the timer for an hour.
C. washed and trimmed green beans while I started the cucumber salad. SS wanted me to blanch cucumbers "Why?" I said. This project is about trusting, so I am trusting The Silver Spoon with a large piece of meat and with a blanched salad, but not without questioning it loudly to anyone who'll listen. I put some salted water on to boil and added the sliced cucumbers to the water. Within a minute the cucumbers turned a beautiful green, I scooped them out and set them to dry on some paper towel.
This is the part of the story when your champion of the kitchen realized she got pre cooked polenta flour. It feels like cheating but I have hungry people to feed, so I put it aside and gather my guests in a game of Rummikub.
After hour one was up for the beef, I excused myself from game time and went to flip it. Anxiously opening the lid, I peered in and saw glorious braising liquid surrounding the meat. Thanks SS! I flipped the meat and checked my green bean recipe.
The recipe calls for a slice of bread to be soaked in white wine vinegar while you boil the green beans for 10 minutes in salted water. I do as directed and set to make the garlic sauce when I realize the recipe calls for a mortar and pestle. Nope, don't have one of those either, though I registered for one for my upcoming wedding. "Okay," I think, "I have to McGyver a mortar and pestle." This didn't go well. The best I came up with is crushing the garlic with my meat tenderizer on a plastic cutting board and scraping the results into a bowl. It didn't have the creaminess that the recipe describes, and I am going to chalk that up to lack of materials and move on. Next I add the bread, after squeezing it out, to the sauce and combine with the cooked (within an inch of their life) green beans. It looked weird. Judge for yourself:
Oh well, it was semi-instant polenta time. Pre-cooked polenta is very easy, although I will offer this word of caution: when stirring the polenta, wear an oven-mitt. When the polenta boils it can pop up and cling to your hand as it burns you. Yes, this happened to me. Once the polenta was stirred sufficiently it was time to eat.
First we had the cucumber salad, and I have to say blanched cucumbers are great! I served them with thin pear slices, feta cheese and a quick balsamic vinaigrette. C. said that it was better than a fancy restaurant. Hey! Thanks C.! The beef was fork tender and flavorful. In fact, the beef was one of those dishes that causes loud, talkative people consuming it to eat quietly for a few minutes.
My fiance and friends played Top Chef over my dishes, I asserted that the polenta was very plain but they insisted it provided a nice textural contrast. I thought the green beans were weird. The other "judges" liked them, one comment was that the bread offered a hint of the vinegar to balance the garlic, asking if she sounded enough like Tom for everyone's liking. P. was very curious as to what larding was and I explained it while we all ate the beef and onions. He commented that my cooking knowledge was growing, and because he was coming over, his was too. That's pretty cool, I think, I am learning and spreading the knowledge of The Silver Spoon one dinner guest at a time.
Now for my first full week as a healthy person in a long while, what to cook. . . .
The menu: Cucumber Salad, Braised Beef with Onions, Green Beans with Garlic Sauce and Polenta (4 glorious recipes!)
It was great having C. to help me, we even went grocery shopping together which made things go quickly and efficiently. Immediately upon returning, I set upon a 5 pound beef eye of round. My task was to lard it, meaning infuse the meat with additional fat. In order to do this, The Silver Spoon gives us this hint, "make small incisions in a piece of meat and insert pieces of pancetta or bacon fat. . . The fat melts during cooking and tenderizes and seasons the dish (pg.28)."
"Alright, " I say, "I like seasoning and tender things." I started making cuts into the beef and stuffing pancetta into the cuts. Around the third stab I started to feel a little like Dexter Morgan. You can meet him here, in case you are unfamiliar:
I carefully read the recipe a few more times and it dawned on me, finally, that there was no braising liquid in the recipe. Now, I have an intense love of braising. Braised meat, cabbage, grean beans, I don't care, just give it to me. I've read a whole cookbook on the subject of braising alone thanks to my future mother in law's amazing collection of such things. Every recipe I have ever seen calls for some liquid, without liquid the meat will get tough! "SS, don't make me do it," I cried. I relented, placing the meat on top of the pounds of onions with no liquid, on a very low heat and set the timer for an hour.
C. washed and trimmed green beans while I started the cucumber salad. SS wanted me to blanch cucumbers "Why?" I said. This project is about trusting, so I am trusting The Silver Spoon with a large piece of meat and with a blanched salad, but not without questioning it loudly to anyone who'll listen. I put some salted water on to boil and added the sliced cucumbers to the water. Within a minute the cucumbers turned a beautiful green, I scooped them out and set them to dry on some paper towel.
This is the part of the story when your champion of the kitchen realized she got pre cooked polenta flour. It feels like cheating but I have hungry people to feed, so I put it aside and gather my guests in a game of Rummikub.
After hour one was up for the beef, I excused myself from game time and went to flip it. Anxiously opening the lid, I peered in and saw glorious braising liquid surrounding the meat. Thanks SS! I flipped the meat and checked my green bean recipe.
The recipe calls for a slice of bread to be soaked in white wine vinegar while you boil the green beans for 10 minutes in salted water. I do as directed and set to make the garlic sauce when I realize the recipe calls for a mortar and pestle. Nope, don't have one of those either, though I registered for one for my upcoming wedding. "Okay," I think, "I have to McGyver a mortar and pestle." This didn't go well. The best I came up with is crushing the garlic with my meat tenderizer on a plastic cutting board and scraping the results into a bowl. It didn't have the creaminess that the recipe describes, and I am going to chalk that up to lack of materials and move on. Next I add the bread, after squeezing it out, to the sauce and combine with the cooked (within an inch of their life) green beans. It looked weird. Judge for yourself:
Oh well, it was semi-instant polenta time. Pre-cooked polenta is very easy, although I will offer this word of caution: when stirring the polenta, wear an oven-mitt. When the polenta boils it can pop up and cling to your hand as it burns you. Yes, this happened to me. Once the polenta was stirred sufficiently it was time to eat.
First we had the cucumber salad, and I have to say blanched cucumbers are great! I served them with thin pear slices, feta cheese and a quick balsamic vinaigrette. C. said that it was better than a fancy restaurant. Hey! Thanks C.! The beef was fork tender and flavorful. In fact, the beef was one of those dishes that causes loud, talkative people consuming it to eat quietly for a few minutes.
My fiance and friends played Top Chef over my dishes, I asserted that the polenta was very plain but they insisted it provided a nice textural contrast. I thought the green beans were weird. The other "judges" liked them, one comment was that the bread offered a hint of the vinegar to balance the garlic, asking if she sounded enough like Tom for everyone's liking. P. was very curious as to what larding was and I explained it while we all ate the beef and onions. He commented that my cooking knowledge was growing, and because he was coming over, his was too. That's pretty cool, I think, I am learning and spreading the knowledge of The Silver Spoon one dinner guest at a time.
Now for my first full week as a healthy person in a long while, what to cook. . . .
Friday, January 22, 2010
Meatballs with Potatoes and Spinach Salad
Okay everyone, did you know spaghetti and meatballs is an American invention? I am sure many of you know that. I knew spaghetti and meatballs is not Italian cuisine but often didn't admit it to myself. Despite its inauthenticity, I love the dish, and I feel guilty because I know it isn't real Italian cuisine. But hey, meatballs are real and Italian AND Silver Spoon has several recipes for us to try. So we will.
The first meatball recipe up is meatballs with potatoes. The recipe asks to boil and mash two potatoes and combine them with raw hamburger meat while they're still hot, yikes, I think, bacteria? What do I know? So I mash and let the hamburger meat fly, add a beaten egg and a couple of slices of chopped up mortadella. The recipe also tells us to season with salt, pepper and parsley. I always use Himayalan pink salt and really really suggest it. After all this, I coat with bread crumbs. A warning, these meatballs are very tender, almost fragile.
Of course, we get to fry the meatballs in the SS's favorite way: butter and olive oil. This is the part the story where your champion of the kitchen (me again) frets about meatballs falling apart. Folks, I don't know if I should have coated more with bread crumbs or used a a bigger egg, but these guys looked like if I blew on the pan I was going to have American chop suey instead. I stepped away and let them really develop a crust over low heat, while I wrung my hands for a good five minutes. Meanwhile, I directed my BFF to make the spinach salad.
The spinach salad is very simple, spinach plus mushrooms sprinkled with lemon juice. My best friend performed the slicing of the mushrooms and washing of the spinach while I combined some more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make a dressing. She has dinner here a lot, as it turns out.
When I turn back to the meatballs, they are way more stable. My advice is don't move them too much when cooking, flip them only to cook the sides and middle evenly. By the way, I should learn to follow my own advice more with cooking the protein portions of any meal I cook. I am an over flipper from way back. It makes meat tough, and less juicy. I am really retraining myself to be patient with food and not flip it so much, jeez. Learning patience is a theme emerging through cooking The Silver Spoon, and I really appreciate it and struggle with it at the same time.
The results were excellent. These meatballs were decadent, moist and fiancé approved. I didn't even miss the pasta! The crumb coating with pink salt was a great contrast to the tender quality the meatballs have because of the potatoes. Even the spinach salad was greater than the sum of its parts. Liberate yourself from expensive salad dressings that are full of chemicals; all you need is olive oil, lemon and a brisk stir with The Silver Spoon.
The first meatball recipe up is meatballs with potatoes. The recipe asks to boil and mash two potatoes and combine them with raw hamburger meat while they're still hot, yikes, I think, bacteria? What do I know? So I mash and let the hamburger meat fly, add a beaten egg and a couple of slices of chopped up mortadella. The recipe also tells us to season with salt, pepper and parsley. I always use Himayalan pink salt and really really suggest it. After all this, I coat with bread crumbs. A warning, these meatballs are very tender, almost fragile.
Of course, we get to fry the meatballs in the SS's favorite way: butter and olive oil. This is the part the story where your champion of the kitchen (me again) frets about meatballs falling apart. Folks, I don't know if I should have coated more with bread crumbs or used a a bigger egg, but these guys looked like if I blew on the pan I was going to have American chop suey instead. I stepped away and let them really develop a crust over low heat, while I wrung my hands for a good five minutes. Meanwhile, I directed my BFF to make the spinach salad.
The spinach salad is very simple, spinach plus mushrooms sprinkled with lemon juice. My best friend performed the slicing of the mushrooms and washing of the spinach while I combined some more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to make a dressing. She has dinner here a lot, as it turns out.
When I turn back to the meatballs, they are way more stable. My advice is don't move them too much when cooking, flip them only to cook the sides and middle evenly. By the way, I should learn to follow my own advice more with cooking the protein portions of any meal I cook. I am an over flipper from way back. It makes meat tough, and less juicy. I am really retraining myself to be patient with food and not flip it so much, jeez. Learning patience is a theme emerging through cooking The Silver Spoon, and I really appreciate it and struggle with it at the same time.
The results were excellent. These meatballs were decadent, moist and fiancé approved. I didn't even miss the pasta! The crumb coating with pink salt was a great contrast to the tender quality the meatballs have because of the potatoes. Even the spinach salad was greater than the sum of its parts. Liberate yourself from expensive salad dressings that are full of chemicals; all you need is olive oil, lemon and a brisk stir with The Silver Spoon.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Chicken with Green Peppers at Long Last
Ah, the joy of having a cold on my day off. I spent most of the day alternating from resting and fretting about my recipe. I was concerned about the chicken going bad. I bought it on Wednesday at Trader Joe's. I try to buy all my meats at McKinnon's or Market Basket because they have better prices and variety. For example at Market Basket, I can get a whole roasting chicken for 2.50. It would have been whole, but I don't mind breaking down the chicken into its parts if it saves money. At TJoe's cut up or whole I had to pay 10.32. Aggravated by the cost however, at that point I might as well get it cut up. So I did.
So I am fretting and coughing, still and it is getting to be around dinner time. I look longingly into the eyes of my dear, dear fiance and point sadly at my very short, very easy Chicken with Green Peppers recipe in the SS and he acquiesces. Yay! Okay, so my fiance starts the dish with melting some butter in olive oil (there is certainly an olive oil/butter pattern developing here and I am fine with it). He then pan fries the chicken pieces for about 15 minutes. I am able to sustain coughing long enough to chop up some green peppers. He seasons the chicken with salt and pepper, then adds the peppers to the pan with some cut up garlic. We let that simmer for another 20 minutes on low heat. My BFF made some delicious homemade macaroni and cheese earlier, and so dinner is served. It is essentially fried chicken, Italian style. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and very juicy. Thanks fiance! Thanks BFF! Maybe this cold thing isn't so terrible.
Next up, meatballs? I might surprise you.
So I am fretting and coughing, still and it is getting to be around dinner time. I look longingly into the eyes of my dear, dear fiance and point sadly at my very short, very easy Chicken with Green Peppers recipe in the SS and he acquiesces. Yay! Okay, so my fiance starts the dish with melting some butter in olive oil (there is certainly an olive oil/butter pattern developing here and I am fine with it). He then pan fries the chicken pieces for about 15 minutes. I am able to sustain coughing long enough to chop up some green peppers. He seasons the chicken with salt and pepper, then adds the peppers to the pan with some cut up garlic. We let that simmer for another 20 minutes on low heat. My BFF made some delicious homemade macaroni and cheese earlier, and so dinner is served. It is essentially fried chicken, Italian style. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and very juicy. Thanks fiance! Thanks BFF! Maybe this cold thing isn't so terrible.
Next up, meatballs? I might surprise you.
Friday, January 15, 2010
An Absent Cook
Hi All,
This week has been a tough one for your champion of the kitchen. I've been really sick with a hacking cough which is super appetizing for a cook. Insert $2.00 sarcasm mark here. http://www.myfoxla.com/dpps/news/dpgo-Sarcasm-Mark-Sarcmark-fc-20100113_5538683
(wince fox news) So, I haven't been cooking. I am finally feeling better so tomorrow it is on kitchen! I have a lot of catching up to do, so stay tuned!
Your humble servant
This week has been a tough one for your champion of the kitchen. I've been really sick with a hacking cough which is super appetizing for a cook. Insert $2.00 sarcasm mark here. http://www.myfoxla.com/dpps/news/dpgo-Sarcasm-Mark-Sarcmark-fc-20100113_5538683
(wince fox news) So, I haven't been cooking. I am finally feeling better so tomorrow it is on kitchen! I have a lot of catching up to do, so stay tuned!
Your humble servant
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
10 Herb Sausage
Tonight was 10 Herb Sausage, italian sausage cooked with 10 herbs and a little bit of wine. This seemed to be a pretty basic dish until I actually got to cooking it. The directions tell you to chop up two teaspoons of a variety of fresh herbs while you get the sausages started cooking. So far so good, I'm doing fine, chopping up basil, parsley, shallots, celery, rosemary, and sage. I realize that I was a fair few short, and should celery and shallot even count? SS says yes, so we move on.
Here is where the cognitive dissonance rears its ugly head. The Silver Spoon directed me to add two tablespoons of water to a pan and cook the sausage until it turns golden brown. Wait, you want me to steam sausages? Flashes of my mother threatening to make New England boiled dinner flash in front of my eyes, I grab the counter to steady myself. "Come on Balzano," I say to myself, "Listen to the book, it knows more than you!" I wanted to protest and say that the sausages would turn a weird white color, not brown! Also, I wanted to assert that a work colleague of mine from years past would gag if she looked at them, but then I would have been having a full fledged conversation with myself so I just thought these things and cooked the sausages in water.
At first, the sausages were a weird white color, but SS also fosters patience as well as cooking skills. The directions call to cook the sausages for ten minutes in water before adding the herbs. I do so, the sausages are still white, patience. I add the celery and herbs and reach for the white wine. This is the part where our champion of the kitchen realizes she doesn't have any white wine. Crap! I call my best friend hoping she has some upstairs, she says no (damn) but offers to pick some up. That is why she is my bff, phew, the recipe is saved! I put the pan aside and decide to do another bonus recipe. Vinaigrette number 2, vinegar, oil, and anchovy paste, yum, very salty, perfect PMS salad dressing. The fiance tastes the bonus dressing and thinks it is a keeper so I dump it into my salad just in time for my bff to come home. For more vinaigrettes, read this post: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/quiet-monday-steak-pizzaiola-with-salad.html
I put the sausages back on add the wine and cook for a a few more minutes, twenty minutes then they finally turned a golden brown! Ah, much more appetizing, dinner is served. Fiance and friend like the sausages, I thought it was kinda fussy and tame. Later my best friend admits that she likes my preparation of Sausage and Peppers grilled in the oven better. (Me too, I wince)
Everything else that I have cooked so far has been bold and really said, "cooking is serious business." This said, "Eh." Don't get me wrong, I am glad I tried it. This recipe taught me it is acceptable to cook sausages in water as long as you are prepared to wait until they turn the right color. My fear of New England boiled dinner is properly compartmentalized once again, and I look forward to tomorrow, a day in which I have all my ingredients on the first try for "Chicken with Green Peppers!" A dish I hope speaks to me in the bold tones to which I have become accustomed.
Here is where the cognitive dissonance rears its ugly head. The Silver Spoon directed me to add two tablespoons of water to a pan and cook the sausage until it turns golden brown. Wait, you want me to steam sausages? Flashes of my mother threatening to make New England boiled dinner flash in front of my eyes, I grab the counter to steady myself. "Come on Balzano," I say to myself, "Listen to the book, it knows more than you!" I wanted to protest and say that the sausages would turn a weird white color, not brown! Also, I wanted to assert that a work colleague of mine from years past would gag if she looked at them, but then I would have been having a full fledged conversation with myself so I just thought these things and cooked the sausages in water.
At first, the sausages were a weird white color, but SS also fosters patience as well as cooking skills. The directions call to cook the sausages for ten minutes in water before adding the herbs. I do so, the sausages are still white, patience. I add the celery and herbs and reach for the white wine. This is the part where our champion of the kitchen realizes she doesn't have any white wine. Crap! I call my best friend hoping she has some upstairs, she says no (damn) but offers to pick some up. That is why she is my bff, phew, the recipe is saved! I put the pan aside and decide to do another bonus recipe. Vinaigrette number 2, vinegar, oil, and anchovy paste, yum, very salty, perfect PMS salad dressing. The fiance tastes the bonus dressing and thinks it is a keeper so I dump it into my salad just in time for my bff to come home. For more vinaigrettes, read this post: http://aprojectforacook.blogspot.com/2010/01/quiet-monday-steak-pizzaiola-with-salad.html
I put the sausages back on add the wine and cook for a a few more minutes, twenty minutes then they finally turned a golden brown! Ah, much more appetizing, dinner is served. Fiance and friend like the sausages, I thought it was kinda fussy and tame. Later my best friend admits that she likes my preparation of Sausage and Peppers grilled in the oven better. (Me too, I wince)
Everything else that I have cooked so far has been bold and really said, "cooking is serious business." This said, "Eh." Don't get me wrong, I am glad I tried it. This recipe taught me it is acceptable to cook sausages in water as long as you are prepared to wait until they turn the right color. My fear of New England boiled dinner is properly compartmentalized once again, and I look forward to tomorrow, a day in which I have all my ingredients on the first try for "Chicken with Green Peppers!" A dish I hope speaks to me in the bold tones to which I have become accustomed.
Monday, January 11, 2010
A Quiet Monday: Steak Pizzaiola with Salad
After the cooking smorgasbord that was Saturday, I didn't do too much in the way of the culinary arts for the remainder of the weekend. I made some nice sandwiches with leftover prosciutto but that was about it. On Sunday night, I made a goal of trying 5 new recipes during the work week. Tonight was Steak Pizzaiola.
This was a very easy recipe. The Silver Spoon told me to put some oil and butter in a pan. Hey! This is a cooking trick I have been doing forever, courtesy of my dad. The oil keeps the butter from burning and provides a delicious flavor. After the butter melted I added a few cloves of garlic and let them cook to a golden brown. The SS tells the cook to discard the garlic after browning. This was challenging for me, discard of perfectly good garlic? Alas, whatever The Silver Spoon asks of me, I shall do, so I did.
Next. the steaks seared for one minute, and were salted and peppered and put aside. Meanwhile I was supposed to chop up five ripe tomatoes. Because I live in Massachusetts and it is winter, fresh tomatoes present a problem. I bought mini roma tomatoes and used ten of them instead. I added them to the pan with the oil, butter and steak fat and simmered for ten minutes. Then I put the steaks back in a cooked them until done. I think I flipped them a few too many times because they were chewy, but very flavorful.
While the steak was working I threw together a quick salad and looked up a bonus recipe for vinaigrette. I always make salad dressings from scratch. They just taste better and because I have a lot of food allergies, it keeps life simple. My standard dressing is simple, vinegar, oil and a spoonful of dijon mustard. The Silver Spoon says that's one of their recipes too, but another way is vinegar, oil and a spoonful of plain yogurt. Voila, there you have it a delicious dinner in less than 45 minutes with a new dressing for my repertoire! Recipe Count: 1992 to go, Butter Count: 4 quarters used, Cream Count 2 pints.
Tomorrow: 10 Herb Sausages!
This was a very easy recipe. The Silver Spoon told me to put some oil and butter in a pan. Hey! This is a cooking trick I have been doing forever, courtesy of my dad. The oil keeps the butter from burning and provides a delicious flavor. After the butter melted I added a few cloves of garlic and let them cook to a golden brown. The SS tells the cook to discard the garlic after browning. This was challenging for me, discard of perfectly good garlic? Alas, whatever The Silver Spoon asks of me, I shall do, so I did.
Next. the steaks seared for one minute, and were salted and peppered and put aside. Meanwhile I was supposed to chop up five ripe tomatoes. Because I live in Massachusetts and it is winter, fresh tomatoes present a problem. I bought mini roma tomatoes and used ten of them instead. I added them to the pan with the oil, butter and steak fat and simmered for ten minutes. Then I put the steaks back in a cooked them until done. I think I flipped them a few too many times because they were chewy, but very flavorful.
While the steak was working I threw together a quick salad and looked up a bonus recipe for vinaigrette. I always make salad dressings from scratch. They just taste better and because I have a lot of food allergies, it keeps life simple. My standard dressing is simple, vinegar, oil and a spoonful of dijon mustard. The Silver Spoon says that's one of their recipes too, but another way is vinegar, oil and a spoonful of plain yogurt. Voila, there you have it a delicious dinner in less than 45 minutes with a new dressing for my repertoire! Recipe Count: 1992 to go, Butter Count: 4 quarters used, Cream Count 2 pints.
Tomorrow: 10 Herb Sausages!
Gnocchi Time Part II, in Which our Heroine Loses her Mind and Finds it Again
We left off with your champion of the kitchen (that's me) covered in gnocchi dough with the guests due to arrive at any minute. As I mentioned before, I was in the weeds. In other words the meal is taking too long to cook or is not coming together. Mine was the former, and to remedy my problem I enlisted some help.
I quickly readied the orange sauce for the pork, combining 3 tablespoons of butter with orange juice and some chili powder and garlic. Once the sauce came to a boil, I started shouting to the fiance to lend a hand in getting the pork ready for the oven. Now I should mention that my husband to be is extremely detail oriented and spent a good four minutes looking for "the way to open the pork." At approximately minute three I screeched, "are you joking?" He then used scissors and got the pork into the pan, I topped it with the orange sauce and we were off. In the meantime, I drained the asparagus and created the apple cream by adding cream (obviously), yogurt, a green apple and horseradish in a bowl for the crostini. I made the fiance go and slice the baguette for the crostini in another room where I could not see how detail oriented he was being, fiance finished slicing bread, we toasted it in the oven and the guests arrived.
What to do when no food is ready and your guests arrive? Give them beer and put them to work. The crostini came out of the oven and one of the guests was directed to top the breads with the cream and another to add proscuitto. Guests tried the "Mountain Crostini" and really liked it, "Hurray!" I thought. One of the more silent and stoic guests even asked, "Hey, is there horseradish in here? Cool."
In the meantime, C. the gnocchi snob, and I commenced to getting the asparagus in the oven. Cue brow sweat as I look at the Bechamel which is solid and slightly lumpy. The urge to run from the kitchen was a 7 out of 10 at this point. I remembered that Silver Spoon told me that if the Bechamel gets lumpy I can add more milk, okay, I added more milk and stirred and got the water on to boil for the gnocchi. I asked C. to stir the Bechamel as I buttered the Au Gratin pan. Asparagus was then officially baking and now once again it was "Gnocchi Time."
The directions state that it is best to put in a few Gnocci at a time into boiling water. When the gnocchi floats to the top it should be scooped out with a slotted spoon and put in the serving dish. C. and I worked together to put gnocchi in and scoop them out. Again, Silver Spoon was right! The gnocchi stayed together, cooked beautifully and did I mention that they didn't fall apart? We plated them with the "Quick Tomato Sauce," and my first ever prima piatti was done.
As we sat down together to eat, I realized "gnocci time" was worth it. A disclaimer, they are not the best gnocci I have ever had. The best gnocci I ever had was in Bologna with Bolognese sauce when I was 17, made at a restaurant that had been making them for over a century. I wasn't expecting to top them on the first shot. Accolades were received from all the guests, especially the "gnocchi snob." Though, one complained about the nature of the project. He surmised I won't be able to make this gnocchi again for 2 years. I reassured him that there are plenty of sauces that would count as a new recipe.
Just as we finished discussing how great the gnocchi were, and how great I am (kidding) the pork timer dinged and we moved on to the second course, Orange Flavored Pork and Asparagus Au Gratin. The pork was juicy and had a nice orangy flavor, but I wasn't too pleased with the asparagus. I followed the directions from the SS. It states to boil the asparagus for 15 minutes in salted water, and after combining with the Bechamel and cheeses, bake for an additional 15 minutes. The asparagus was very soft. I prefer crisp or crunchy vegetables. If you are the same I would suggest that the boiling time be decreased 5 or so minutes. When I asked my guests about the consistency of the asparagus, they refused to agree saying it was tasty and good. Wait until I serve them calves brains, they'll have something to say then that might be more constructive.
Next, C. helped me to do dishes and the gentlemen adjorned to the living room to play Super Mario on Wii. C. told me that she is going to try to make gnocchi on her own, I am inspiring people already! I kid, but it still felt great that my friend was willing to try a new, challenging recipe because I did it and the dish succeeded. I think that is what this project is all about in a way. I am just a regular average everyday person who likes cooking. Why should I cut corners all the time and buy pre-made less than healthy things to make a quick dish? One answer is "there are no shoulds," but Karen Horney came up with that before I was even born. Another answer is, you don't have to cut corners, you can try new things and be successful, broadening your cooking scope at the same time.
So join me, put down the take out menu, say no the rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, resist buying chicken nuggets for your children, and try something new. I wager that you will find that you are more capable than you think, that is what I found out. Also I found out it is great to have friends who do the dishes. Tonight, Steak Pizzaiola and maybe some more self-actualization.
I quickly readied the orange sauce for the pork, combining 3 tablespoons of butter with orange juice and some chili powder and garlic. Once the sauce came to a boil, I started shouting to the fiance to lend a hand in getting the pork ready for the oven. Now I should mention that my husband to be is extremely detail oriented and spent a good four minutes looking for "the way to open the pork." At approximately minute three I screeched, "are you joking?" He then used scissors and got the pork into the pan, I topped it with the orange sauce and we were off. In the meantime, I drained the asparagus and created the apple cream by adding cream (obviously), yogurt, a green apple and horseradish in a bowl for the crostini. I made the fiance go and slice the baguette for the crostini in another room where I could not see how detail oriented he was being, fiance finished slicing bread, we toasted it in the oven and the guests arrived.
What to do when no food is ready and your guests arrive? Give them beer and put them to work. The crostini came out of the oven and one of the guests was directed to top the breads with the cream and another to add proscuitto. Guests tried the "Mountain Crostini" and really liked it, "Hurray!" I thought. One of the more silent and stoic guests even asked, "Hey, is there horseradish in here? Cool."
In the meantime, C. the gnocchi snob, and I commenced to getting the asparagus in the oven. Cue brow sweat as I look at the Bechamel which is solid and slightly lumpy. The urge to run from the kitchen was a 7 out of 10 at this point. I remembered that Silver Spoon told me that if the Bechamel gets lumpy I can add more milk, okay, I added more milk and stirred and got the water on to boil for the gnocchi. I asked C. to stir the Bechamel as I buttered the Au Gratin pan. Asparagus was then officially baking and now once again it was "Gnocchi Time."
The directions state that it is best to put in a few Gnocci at a time into boiling water. When the gnocchi floats to the top it should be scooped out with a slotted spoon and put in the serving dish. C. and I worked together to put gnocchi in and scoop them out. Again, Silver Spoon was right! The gnocchi stayed together, cooked beautifully and did I mention that they didn't fall apart? We plated them with the "Quick Tomato Sauce," and my first ever prima piatti was done.
As we sat down together to eat, I realized "gnocci time" was worth it. A disclaimer, they are not the best gnocci I have ever had. The best gnocci I ever had was in Bologna with Bolognese sauce when I was 17, made at a restaurant that had been making them for over a century. I wasn't expecting to top them on the first shot. Accolades were received from all the guests, especially the "gnocchi snob." Though, one complained about the nature of the project. He surmised I won't be able to make this gnocchi again for 2 years. I reassured him that there are plenty of sauces that would count as a new recipe.
Just as we finished discussing how great the gnocchi were, and how great I am (kidding) the pork timer dinged and we moved on to the second course, Orange Flavored Pork and Asparagus Au Gratin. The pork was juicy and had a nice orangy flavor, but I wasn't too pleased with the asparagus. I followed the directions from the SS. It states to boil the asparagus for 15 minutes in salted water, and after combining with the Bechamel and cheeses, bake for an additional 15 minutes. The asparagus was very soft. I prefer crisp or crunchy vegetables. If you are the same I would suggest that the boiling time be decreased 5 or so minutes. When I asked my guests about the consistency of the asparagus, they refused to agree saying it was tasty and good. Wait until I serve them calves brains, they'll have something to say then that might be more constructive.
Next, C. helped me to do dishes and the gentlemen adjorned to the living room to play Super Mario on Wii. C. told me that she is going to try to make gnocchi on her own, I am inspiring people already! I kid, but it still felt great that my friend was willing to try a new, challenging recipe because I did it and the dish succeeded. I think that is what this project is all about in a way. I am just a regular average everyday person who likes cooking. Why should I cut corners all the time and buy pre-made less than healthy things to make a quick dish? One answer is "there are no shoulds," but Karen Horney came up with that before I was even born. Another answer is, you don't have to cut corners, you can try new things and be successful, broadening your cooking scope at the same time.
So join me, put down the take out menu, say no the rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, resist buying chicken nuggets for your children, and try something new. I wager that you will find that you are more capable than you think, that is what I found out. Also I found out it is great to have friends who do the dishes. Tonight, Steak Pizzaiola and maybe some more self-actualization.
A Dinner Party AKA I Do Battle with Gnocchi Part I
In order to eat the massive amounts of food produced from "My Own Silver Spoon Project," my fiance decided to enlist the help of our friends. Saturday I committed myself to a full dinner with as many recipes as I could cram in, knowing that our friends would be there to dig in. Below is the most accurate account of "Gnocchi Time" and side dishes I could muster.
The menu: Mountain Crostini with Proscuitto and Apple Cream, Basic Gnocchi with Quick Tomato Sauce, Asparagus Au Gratin (made with Bechamel Sauce) and Pork with Orange Sauce. Five, count them five glorious recipes for all to enjoy. The one that had me the most worried was gnocchi. It is essentially making my own pasta. Self-efficacy was low my friends, very very low. To procrastinate, I began with making the Bechamel Sauce, while prepping the asparagus for the Au Gratin. This was hectic and unadvisable. My Bechamel was then put aside (another mistake) as I finally took on the gnocchi, by boiling potatoes. The potatoes were ready and it became gnocchi time. Gnocchi time is not unlike "boss time" in that it can be awkward. Please see the following link if my pop culture reference is meaningless to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYhKOZhcG24
I digress, back to the gnocchi. I drained them and mashed them according to the SS. So far everything was calm, too calm. Meanwhile, I started the "Quick Tomato Sauce": tomatoes, parsley, garlic and oil, cook for 10 minutes. "That is quick!" said my inner monolouge. I started to feel reassured that the dinner was coming together with ease.
Back to tending the gnocchi, I added flour and a beaten egg and kneaded and the Silver Spoon was right, a dough was born. A fairly sticky dough that I remedied by putting flour on my workspace and my hands. I rolled them into snakes, thank goodness I was good at that in preschool, and there you had it, gnocchi. It was wonderful. Domestic Goddess status reached and then of course, I realized I still had to form them into gnocchi type shapes.
The directions then told me to use the underside of a grater to make a mark in the middle of the gnocchi. I realized that halfway through, the directions meant a box grater and I was using a plane grater. No, I don't have a box grater. Kitchen things I don't have might become a common theme. I switched to a butter knife dipped in flour and the work became much easier. I set them aside on a linen napkin dusted with flour. Not so bad.
I started boiling the asparagus for the 15 minutes as prompted by the directions and went onto the orange sauce for the pork just as I realized that my guests were to arrive in a half hour. This is what is known as being in the weeds. I also simultaneously remember that C., an invited guest of ours is a self proclaimed "gnocchi snob." Cue cold feeling in the stomach. I have both timers going for different dishes and gnocchi dough on my hands, my jaunty hosting sweater and a little bit in my hair. How will our cook manage in bringing the gnocchi to life? Will the guests arrive early? Only this cook knows, and her 5 dinner guests. Part II coming soon. . .
The menu: Mountain Crostini with Proscuitto and Apple Cream, Basic Gnocchi with Quick Tomato Sauce, Asparagus Au Gratin (made with Bechamel Sauce) and Pork with Orange Sauce. Five, count them five glorious recipes for all to enjoy. The one that had me the most worried was gnocchi. It is essentially making my own pasta. Self-efficacy was low my friends, very very low. To procrastinate, I began with making the Bechamel Sauce, while prepping the asparagus for the Au Gratin. This was hectic and unadvisable. My Bechamel was then put aside (another mistake) as I finally took on the gnocchi, by boiling potatoes. The potatoes were ready and it became gnocchi time. Gnocchi time is not unlike "boss time" in that it can be awkward. Please see the following link if my pop culture reference is meaningless to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYhKOZhcG24
I digress, back to the gnocchi. I drained them and mashed them according to the SS. So far everything was calm, too calm. Meanwhile, I started the "Quick Tomato Sauce": tomatoes, parsley, garlic and oil, cook for 10 minutes. "That is quick!" said my inner monolouge. I started to feel reassured that the dinner was coming together with ease.
Back to tending the gnocchi, I added flour and a beaten egg and kneaded and the Silver Spoon was right, a dough was born. A fairly sticky dough that I remedied by putting flour on my workspace and my hands. I rolled them into snakes, thank goodness I was good at that in preschool, and there you had it, gnocchi. It was wonderful. Domestic Goddess status reached and then of course, I realized I still had to form them into gnocchi type shapes.
The directions then told me to use the underside of a grater to make a mark in the middle of the gnocchi. I realized that halfway through, the directions meant a box grater and I was using a plane grater. No, I don't have a box grater. Kitchen things I don't have might become a common theme. I switched to a butter knife dipped in flour and the work became much easier. I set them aside on a linen napkin dusted with flour. Not so bad.
I started boiling the asparagus for the 15 minutes as prompted by the directions and went onto the orange sauce for the pork just as I realized that my guests were to arrive in a half hour. This is what is known as being in the weeds. I also simultaneously remember that C., an invited guest of ours is a self proclaimed "gnocchi snob." Cue cold feeling in the stomach. I have both timers going for different dishes and gnocchi dough on my hands, my jaunty hosting sweater and a little bit in my hair. How will our cook manage in bringing the gnocchi to life? Will the guests arrive early? Only this cook knows, and her 5 dinner guests. Part II coming soon. . .
Friday, January 8, 2010
So it is 2010, Disclaimer and a Terrifying Look Inside my Mind
It is 2010 and I need a project. I'd love to write about the exciting work that I do encouraging young minds but it is secret and if I told you the ins, outs and what-have-yous of my job, I'd be looking for another one. Plus, who wants to talk about work after work, no thanks. A few years ago another lady named Julie wrote a blog about Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and we all know what happened with that. A colleague of mine has her own website with fabulous recipes and food chat with fans all over the country and I want to play too! Check out my friend's website at http://www.thefreshdish.com/. I know here are a million great blogs out there and I don't expect mine to be one of them, I just need a project and I have an idea. Here goes:
For Christmas this year, I received the Silver Spoon cookbook as a very generous gift from my future husband's Aunt and Godmother. She also gave me a nifty little baking rack. I really needed one of those. I was pleased, happy to receive a generous present. I went home giddy with the potential energy of gourmet meals in my first non Rachel Ray cookbook. My fiance is always telling me what a great cook I am, I love to cook and play around with the websites available to us cooks that wax poetic with chicken breast for the second time in a work week. I grew up cooking delicious homemade meals with my dad, the best cook I know. I thought I was more than ready to transition to the Silver Spoon. Oh how wrong I was. . .
One afternoon of my winter break, I decided to luxuriate in my grown up type person's actual cookbook and whip something up for dinner. As I opened the massive tome that is Silver Spoon I began to realize that 1. I am not a very good cook, 2. nor am I a very informed person of Italian decent and 3. the most surprising, I can have cookbook induced panic attacks! I didn't recognize any recipes, all of the pasta is supposed to be made from scratch, and there is a substantial chapter on sweetbreads. I whined to my fiance about never being able to cook anything from my brand new fancy grown up cookbook, and he said, "course you can." He is a man of few words when I write about him, and a keeper to boot. We ate takeout that night, and I went back to the drawing board.
Onward!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The First Recipe!
Tonight I cooked my first recipe "Bistecche Tritate Con Panna e Funghi," roughly translated into hamburgers with bread and mushrooms and a ton of cream and butter. The recipe was very straightforward, but for hamburgers slightly time consuming. First, I soaked porcini mushrooms in warm water for an hour. By the way, it looked like way less than 7 dollars worth of mushrooms, but for what they lack in volume they made up for in mushroom flavor. Then I drained and chopped the little guys and put them aside. I put a few slices of Italian bread minus the crust in some milk and let it soak. I think that's how my grandma made meatballs a long time ago.
Anyway, I fried the mushrooms in some butter and then I was supposed to put them through a food mill. That was a problem, as I don't have one. I improvised using my Cuisinart to get the desired consistency, maybe? I went back to my milk/bread conglomeration to which my best friend stated, "It looks like Play-Doh!" She is a preschool teacher; I assert a rorschach effect. To me, it looked like bread and milk. I squeezed out the excess milk, combined with the ground beef, dusted them with flour, and put yet some more butter in the pan to fry it. A confession, I almost didn't put flour on the patties, I thought it was unnecessary, but I decided to follow the recipe to the letter. Silver Spoon may just know more than me and that is the whole point in this exercise. Remember, I told you, I needed a project.
To finish the recipe up, I added some cream to the mashed up porcinis and made a simple sauce while frying the patties. The burgers burned a little, I suspect they were too thick and the heat was a touch too high. However, both fiance and best friend gave rave reviews, ah the power of a cream based sauce. I am surrounded by positivity and am domestic goddess with a sink full of dirty dishes from hamburgers for dinner. I served the italian cream butter burgers with salad and home made mac and cheese. It didn't look very italian but I enjoyed it and hey, 1 recipe down 1999 to go.
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