Two Out of Three Worked!

Wine:

Nocenxio Marche Rosso
Chateau de Cazeneuve Coteaux du Languedoc 2005
Foxglove Chardonnay Edna Valley 2006
Cesanese del Piglio 2003

We wanted to cook a warm winter dinner. We had recently been to Mozza and had an amazing soup that you eat with a fork. It is called: Riboletto. It is a very thick soup that is then poured over toasted bread and baked. The soup when served is completely non-liquidity. The soup was fabulous at Mozza. Our version was not. Oh well. We won’t make it again, but we can get it at the restaurant!

The rest of the meal was great however. We had lots of excellent wine. We then had our favorite Macaroni and Cheese. It is always a winner! We also served the wonderful Fruit Cake that we make every year. It gives fruit cake a good name!

Billy and Kevin joined us, then we played lots of mah jong!

Macaroni and Cheese from Paris Bistro Cooking by Linda Dannenberg
===================================================

This is the BEST Mac and cheese recipe we have ever had! We make it several times per year.

Gratin de Macaroni a l’Ancienne
(Old-fashioned Baked Macaroni)


12 oz Elbow Macaroni
7 oz Prosciutto cut in Strips
3 oz blanched bacon
1 1/2 Cups Crème Fraiche
1 ½ cups Milk
Salt and Fresh ground black pepper
6 tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 ½ cup Grated Gruyere Cheese

Preheat the oven to 425

Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water until still quite firm.
Drain. Mix the macaroni with the prosciutto, bacon, crème fraiche, and milk and adjust the seasoning. Add about ½ cup of the grated Gruyere.

Spread in a buttered shallow ovenproof glass or earthenware casserole.
Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the cheese is browned on tap and liquid is completely absorbed. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Barbara Visits

Wine:

Clos Pegase 2002 Palisades Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Podere Casale Gutturnio Riserva 2001
Lw Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-pape 1998
Domaine Yaymond Dupont-Fahn Bourgogne 2006
Donnhoff Niederhausen Hermannshohle Riesling Auslese 1998

Our friend Barbara arrived from San Francisco and we cooked a dinner for her. Billy and Kevin joined us.

We started with one of our favorite salads from The Cuisine of California: Sauted Red Cabbage Salad with Pancetta and Broiled Goat Cheese. It is a wonderful warm salad.

For the main course we made a Pork Roast. We purchased the pork from Harvey Guss. It was great. The recipe was from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. We really liked it and will make it again.

We also made Mashed Potatoes from the same cookbook. It is a very rich recipe.

I know that Fruit Cake has a bad reputation, however we make one every year that is just great. It has none of the candied fruit in it, just rasins and walnuts. It is very good. It is in The New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne.

We had lots of very good wine!

Risotto of the Vigil

Wine: Chateau La Canorgue 2006

We bought some really excellent pears at Whole Foods.. They were very sweet. We made a Salad, of arugula, pear slices, toasted walnuts, saba, and a great Basque Blue Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. I sprinkled some fresh pomegranate seeds on the salad to add Christmas color.

For the second course we made a special risotto. It is from The Splendid Table cookbook by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We really recommend this Italian cookbook.

The risotto is called: Risotto of the Vigil. It is made with beef, carrots, onions, celery, sage leaves, cabbage and salt pork. In addition, Cathy added marrow bones for extra richness. However, Cathy thought to replace the salt pork with a fatty chunk of prosciutto. It was an inspired exchange. At the end Parmesan Cheese is mixed in and sprinkled over the Risotto. We make the risotto once a year around Christmas. The risotto was great.

We had purchased more beef than we needed (a chuck roast), so we cubed the remaining unused beef and raided the pantry to create a great a great Vegetable Beef Soup. I added onions, garlic, celery, potato, tomato to the stock. It was delicious. Los Angeles has been cold and raining and we have really enjoyed the soup for lunch.

All White Dinner

Wine:
Crocker Starr 2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Macon Verze Grand Vin de Bourgogne 2006


Bea was able to join us for dinner!

It is time for my Colonoscopy. Yuk. So, in preparation I am on a white diet this week. We made an absolutely delicious Cauliflower Soup form the Chez Panisse Vegetables Cookbook. I really liked it!

For the main course we had one of my all time favorite dishes Macaroni and Cheese. However this is not like any Macaroni and Cheese from Paris Bistro Cooking by Linda Dannenberg. It is very special and very rich! It has been cold in Los Angeles and this was a perfect winter dinner.

For desert we had ice cream.


French Cream of Cauliflower Soup
================================

1 large Cauliflower (2 – 3 pounds)
1 onion
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons crème fraiche
Salt
Nutmeg
Chervil
1 tablespoon butte

Cut off the stems of the Cauliflower and any green leaves. Break up the flowerets. Wash them in cold water. Reserve a handful of flowerets to garnish the soup.

Peel and slice the onion thin. In a soup pot, stew the onion slices and flowerets in the butter with a little water for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, without letting them brown. Add water to cover and cook for 25 minutes covered, over medium heat. Meanwhile, parboil the reserved flowerets in boiling salted water for 8 minutes or so, keeping them crunchy.

Puree the soup in a blender and reheat gently to just under boiling. Add the the crème fraiche and season with salt and nutmeg to taste. Add 1 tablespoon butter.
Serve the soup very hot, garnish with the whole flowerets and a few sprigs of chervil.

Serves 4


This is the BEST Mac and cheese recipe we have ever had! We make it several times per year.

Gratin de Macaroni a l’Ancienne
===============================
(Old-fashioned Baked Macaroni)


12 oz Elbow Macaroni
7 oz Prosciutto cut in Strips
3 oz blanched bacon
1 ¼ Cups Crème Fraiche
Salt and Fresh ground black pepper
6 tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 ½ cup Grated Gruyere Cheese

Preheat the oven to 425

Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water until still quite firm.
Drain. Mix the macaroni with the prosciutto, bacon, crème fraiche, and milk and adjust the seasoning. Add about ½ cup of the grated Gruyere.

Spread in a buttered shallow ovenproof glass or earthenware casserole.
Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the cheese is browned on tap and liquid is completely absorbed. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Indian Dinner

We decided to cook an Indian Dinner. Bea had been ailing and this was the first night she was able to join us in quite a while. The first course was an easy choice.
We have made Grandmother's Cauliflower with Cheese many times. It is from Madhur Jaffrey's memoir: Climbing the Mango Trees. It is absolutely delicious. If you don't like cauliflower this is the dish you should make!

For the mail course Cathy found a very unusual to us Indian recipe. She calls it: Maria Fernanda Sousa's Arroz de Pato of Duck Risotto. The recipe is from another cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey: Flavors of India. The recipe is from Goa. Goa is on the Arabian Sea on the West Coast of India and was colonized by Portugal. It is the only part of India that is Catholic. It has beaches like Hawaii and in the 60's it is where a lot of hippies hung out. (Pot is legal in India). The recipe is very much like an Italian Risotto or Spanish Paella. We made it with basmati rice. It made the dish very light. It was delicious. We took the leftovers and sauted it adding egg, soy sauce and copped scallions and made a great fried rice! A very multicultural dish!


Grandmother’s Cauliflower With Cheese (Vali Gobi)
=================================================
SERVES 4-6
I don't have my grandmother's exact recipe. I never asked her, being too young at the time to know better. But the recipe here is a good approximation (as Jimmy Durante, the American come¬dian, used to say, "Da nose knows") and utterly delicious.

Do not use jalapeno or serrano chilies for Indian dishes. They have the wrong texture and flavor. Green bird's-eye chilies or any long, slim, thin-skinned variety, such as cayenne, are ideal. If you can't find them, use ½ - 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper instead of 1/4 teaspoon.
2 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 pounds (8 cups) medium-sized
cauliflower florets, cut so each floret has a stem
1 3/4 cups grated fresh tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons heavy cream
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated to a pulp on the finest part of a grater or Microplane
2 fresh hot green chilies, cut into slim rounds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/4 cup coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 45o°F.
Pour the oil into a large, preferably nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 10 seconds. Add the cauliflower florets, and stir them around for 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes, ginger, chilies, cayenne, turmeric, ground coriander, and salt. Stir to mix. Stir and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, or until the tomatoes are almost absorbed and the cauliflower is almost done. Add the cilantro and mix it in.

Put the contents of the pan into an ovenproof dish about 8 inches square, add the cream, mix, and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Put in the top third of the oven and bake for 10-12 min¬utes, or until the cheese has melted and developed a few light brown spots. Serve hot. For dessert we Ice Cream with Don PX 1971 poured over it!


Maria Fernanda Sousa's Arroz de Pato - Duck Risotto
===================================================


Where there is a lot of fresh water, there are, invariably, ducks. Goa, apart from its coastal sea, has rivers, ponds and, perhaps most important, paddy fields where ducks can splash and feed. The local populace feels free to turn them into vindaloos and risottos.
This is what Maria Fernanda, an aristocratic Goan with much Portuguese blood, serves on Christmas Day, along with a dozen other dishes that come in a steady stream, starting off with a soup of potatoes and dill called Caldo Verde. Many of the dishes, such as this one and the soup, are not at all "spicy." Instead, they barken back to Maria Fernanda's Portuguese connection, to southern Europe and gentle seasonings such as garlic and onion and tomatoes.
Rice risottos, known as arroz refogado, are really crosses between pilafs and risottos and may be made with meat, peas, saffron or local sausages. This "arroz" requires basmati rice and a nice duck. On advising us on which kind of duck to buy, Maria Fernanda said firmly, "Make sure that it is a nice, plump, local duck. I do not want one that has walked all the way from Kerala, eating fish from every paddy field along the way!" It is best to make the stock a day in advance as it can then be refrigerated and skimmed of surface fat.
This rice dish may be eaten as a meal by itself, with a salad. It is a perfect lunch or light supper. You could also serve it as part of a grand banquet.
FOR THE STOCK: YOU ALSO NEED:

Freshly ground black
1 (41/2 Ib) duck
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and halved
2—3 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 celery stalk, cut into 3 pieces

You Also Need

3 cups basmati rice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A generous pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 large pork sausages (sweet Italian, Spanish chorizos or Portuguese chouricos),
boiled, covered, in a littlewater until cooked through and cut into 1/2 inch slices
15-20 black olives

Put the duck and all the other ingredients for the stock in a large pan. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 1 hour, or until the duck is very tender. Strain and save the stock. Save the duck. When the stock has cooled, cover and refrigerate it.
When the duck is cool enough to handle, remove all the meat. Cut the meat into neat pieces (or pull it into coarse shreds). Set aside the meat pieces with skin.
Skim off any fat from the stock. It should measure 4 cups. If there is more, reduce it over high heat. If less, add water.
Meanwhile, wash the rice in several changes of water and then soak in water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain and leave in the strainer.
Heat the oil in a heavy, wide, preferably non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the onions. Stir and fry until the onions are lightly browned. Put in the garlic
and tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir and fry until the tomatoes are soft and reduced. Put in the drained rice. Stir it gently for 2-3 minutes, making sure not to break the grains. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the lemon juice and cover tightly. Turn the heat to very low and cook for 25 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. Do not uncover the pan during this period.
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (In an ovenproof dish, put a layer of rice, then a layer of duck meat without skin. Continue this until all the lean duck meat is used up. End with a layer of rice. For the top layer, put some pieces of duck meat with skin and the sliced sausages in a neat design. Cover the rice entirely. Bake for 10-15 minutes until heated through and browned lightly at the top. Scatter the olives over the top and serve.
Serves 6 - 8

Jar Pot Roast

Wine:

Chateau de Cazeneuve 2005

We started out with a Date Salad. We made it with Mache lettuce, walnut oil, and parmesan cheese, then dressed it with Saba. It is amazing how good such a simple salad can be. We always get our cheese at The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

We always like going to Jar for dinner. They have some great dishes that are always on their menu. The VERY BEST French fries in Los Angeles. The best Duck Fried Rice, and their signature Pot Roast. We decided to make the Pot Roast. The dish is made from boned short-ribs and is the essence of comfort food. We loved it! Of course we picked up the meat from Harvey Guss!

With the Pot Roast we made Couscous.

It was a perfect winter meal.

pot roast with caramelized onions and roasted carrots from Jar
Epicurious | December 2006
Suzanne Tracht; adapted by Adeena Sussman
Ingredients
For pot roast
1/2 cup canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 pounds boneless short ribs, denuded (all surface fat removed; have your butcher do this)
1 cup dry sherry
4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped
8 stalks celery, peeled and roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 bay leaf
About 8 cups (2 quarts) chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

For roasted carrots and caramelized onions
6 medium carrots (about 2 pounds) peeled, halved lengthwise, then halved horizontally
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 medium Spanish onions, sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 6 to 7 cups)
Preparation
Prepare pot roast
Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350°F. Season beef liberally with salt and pepper. In large Dutch oven or heavy ovenproof pot over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add beef and sear until dark brown and crisp on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer beef to large plate. Pour off oil in pan and discard. Add sherry and simmer uncovered, scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Pour reduced sherry into heatproof liquid measuring cup.

In same pan, combine carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and bay leaf. Lay beef on top of vegetable mixture and pour reduced sherry over. Add enough chicken stock to cover 3/4 of meat. Cover and transfer to lower rack in oven. Roast until fork-tender, about 3 hours.

While beef is roasting, prepare roasted carrots and caramelized onions
During final hour of roasting, in large bowl, toss carrots with olive oil until well coated. Season generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Spread on baking sheet and transfer to upper rack in oven. Roast until slightly tender and browned, about 45 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and keep warm.

During final 30 minutes of roasting, in heavy 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat, heat canola oil until hot but not smoking. Add onions and sauté, stirring constantly, until caramelized, about 20 to 25 minutes. Season to taste with kosher salt, add to roasted carrots in large bowl, and keep warm.

Finish dish
When beef is tender, transfer to serving platter; tent with foil. Skim fat from liquid in pot. Strain liquid through fine-mesh sieve, pressing on solids with back of spoon to extract all juices, then discarding solids. Return liquid to pot, set over high heat, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to moderate and simmer, uncovered, until reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Season juices to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour half of juices into bowl with carrots and onions; toss to combine. Pour other half of juices into gravy dish. Arrange carrots and onions around beef on serving platter and serve immediately, with extra juices on side.

Prime Rib

Wine

Charles Krug Grande Cuvee
2002 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 Duckhorn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Bangin Red Pinot Noir 2006

Steve and Don had come up from San Diego to stay with Billy and Kevin for the Thanksgiving. We decided we would have a dinner together on Saturday night. Because Billy and Kevin had almost 60 people over for Thanksgiving we decided to have the dinner at our place.

We decided to have a blowout dinner with the main course being Prime Rib. We don’t make it very often but we have a great recipe. Of course we got the meat from Harvey Gus Meats. The recipe calls for a lot of spices on the meat, but last time we made prime rib, I thought it was too spicy. This time we only used Salt and Pepper on the meat, but made the GREAT sauce that we served on the side.

Kevin prepared appetizers and they were perfect with the great Champagne. We had Caviar and Bilinis with crème fresh and chopped onion. We then had Fois Gras on crackers

We then served the Prime Rib with the accompanying sauce. For sides we served Creamed Spinach from Campanile. We also had some Green Beans from Campanile. Cathy had the idea of sautéing them with almonds in brown butter. It really worked. Finally we made “Smashed Potatoes” from the Sunday Supper at Lucques cookbook.

For desert we served Ice Cream with Biscotti and Crème de Cassis.
We also served Almond Brittle that we bought at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

It was a delicious meal. We discovered that Donny had a relationship of some sort with our cat: Polenta in a previous life! They really bonded! Our only problem now is what to do with all of the Leftover, Prime Rib and Turkey!


SPICE-CRUSTED PRIME RIB WITH WHIPPED POTATOES
=============================================
Adapted from David Burke
Time: About 2 1/2 hours

For the roast:
13-rib portion of prime rib (6 to 8 pounds, preferably dry-aged), trimmed of excess fat (reserve it) and tied
1/2 cup ground cumin
1/3 cup ground cayenne
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup freshly ground black pepper

For the steak sauce:
2 cups Worcestershire
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Tabasco
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened2 teaspoons sesame oil

For the potatoes:
3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 scant cup whole milk
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
1. Remove roast from refrigerator 2 hours before cooking. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Set roast fat-side up on counter and rub a thick layer of spice mixture over entire surface. Transfer roast to a wire rack in a shallow roasting pan and place in oven for 13 to 15 minutes per pound.
2. While meat roasts, prepare steak sauce and potatoes. In a medium-size pot, combine Worcestershire, ketchup and Tabasco and set over medium heat. Reduce for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened. Lower heat to warm and whisk in butter and oil. Transfer to gravy boat or bowl and allow to cool before for serving. (Stored in an airtight container, sauce will last in refrigerator for 2 weeks.) 3. While sauce reduces, place some trimmed fat in a small, heavy-bottomed pot over low heat until it melts. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, add salt and place over high heat. When water boils, lower heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Shut off heat.
4. After roast has cooked for an hour, check temperature by inserting a meat thermometer deep into its thickest part, away from any bone. For medium rare, remove from oven at 125 degrees. Allow to rest 15 to 20 minutes before carving.
5. While roast rests, finish potatoes. Place a small pot over medium-low heat,add milk and garlic and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Shut off heat and discard garlic. Drain potatoes in a colander. Pass them through a potato ricer or sieve back into pot in which they were boiled. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper, place pot over low heat, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or whisk. Add olive oil, stirring, and a few tablespoons of rendered fat. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to warm.
6. Carve roast. Remove bones by slicing down their sides: reserve for later use or serve in a bowl with meal. Carve an inch-thick slice per person. Place on plate with whipped potatoes and sauce on the side.

A Zuni Dinner

Wine:

DeRose 2002 Zinfandel
Debit05 Croatia White Wine

We had Bea over for dinner. We made one of our favorite salads from The Zuni Café Cookbook: Caesar Salad. It is a great recipe We like to serve the romaine leaves whole, that way you can pick up the leaf and eat with your hands. Messy but fun, plus you get to lick your fingers at the table!

For the pasta we made PASTA ALL 'AMATRICIANA, a very simple but delicious Sauce with Canned Whole Tomatoes and sautéed onions and my favorite seasoning: bacon. We served it with bucattelo pasta which looks like regular pasta but actually as a tube. It holds the sauce. We topped with grated pecorino from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.
This recipe is also from The Zuni Cookbook.

It is amazing that you can make great tomato pasta in the fall without fresh tomatoes.





PASTA with BRAISED BACON & ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE
===============================================

Zuni’s version of the much-loved dish from Abruzzo, PASTA ALL 'AMATRICIANA, Since the traditional signature ingredient, guanciale {tender pig-cheek bacon], is not available to us, we blanch and slow-cook a piece of slab bacon, which renders much of the fat and mellows strong cures. Consider braising a larger chunk of bacon than you think you will need; you can use the extra for other. I like the tender leftover bits and scraps fried in the same pan with eggs, with a trickle of the bacon braising juices spooned over the top. You can prepare this multipurpose bacon up to a week in advance, which is a boon. But for those times when braised bacon is not an option, make this dish with little strips of thickly sliced bacon. (Brown them while the pasta boils, then drain off most of the fat, stir in the peppery tomato sauce, and simmer together for a minute or two.}
We always make this sauce with canned tomatoes-roasting them concentrates their flavor and gives them a fleshy texture.

Pasta all'amatriciana is traditionally made with bucatini (also called perciatelle], but penne, penne rigate, and spaghetti are good alternatives. Offer freshly grated pecorino romano or pecorino sardo to garnish; the salty, feral flavor is a good match for this aggressive sauce. Parmigiano-Reggiano would taste out of place here.
Wine: Rioja Reserva Vina Ardanza, La Rioja Alta, 1995
FOR 4 TO 5 SERVINGS:
for the braised bacon {makes 1/2 to 3/4 pound]:

3/4 to 1 pound slab bacon, in one piece, skin removed
About 1/2 cup dry white wine
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1 small carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
About 1/2 cup Chicken Stock
About 1/2 cup dry white vermouth
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 small yellow onion, thickly sliced

For the roasted tomato sauce {makes about 2-1/2 cups):
2-1/2 cups drained canned whole tomatoes, juice reserved
1 bay leaf
Salt
Sugar, if needed
About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces sliced yellow onion (about 1 medium onion]
1 pound bucatini, penne, penne rigate,or spaghetti
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Freshly grated pecorino romano or pecorino sardo, to taste
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more for serving

Preparing the braised bacon:
Preheat the oven to 300°.
Place the bacon in a wide pot and add cold water to cover by a few inches, over medium heat, bring to a simmer, and cook until the bacon softens a little, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse. {This process will draw out some of the sweet-salty brine and more important, rehydrate the bacon, to produce a tender, succulent result.}
Place the bacon fat side up in a shallow flameproof baking dish just large enough to hold it and the vegetables in a single layer (A 1-quart gratin dish should work; cut the bacon into 2 pieces if necessary}. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and bay leaf and moisten with equal parts of the wine, vermouth, and stock, adding enough to come to a depth of 1/2 inch. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cover with parchment paper and then with foil, dull side out, transfer to the oven, and bake until melting tender, about 2-1/2 hours.
Uncover the baking dish, raise the-heat to broil, and leave just long enough the color the surface, 3 to 5 minutes. By now the bacon will have rendered about 30 percent of its weight, most of it in fat. Leave to cool completely in the baking dish, then skim or scrape off and discard the rendered fat. Strain and save the braising liquid to flavor beans, soups, or braised greens. (I usually discard the braising vegetables as too strong and too cooked to be of interest.}
If not using the bacon right away, cool completely, then replace in a clean baking dish, add the strained liquid, cover, and refrigerate.

Preparing the tomato sauce:
Preheat the oven to 500°.

Halve the tomatoes and place cut side down in a shallow roasting pan or gratin dish that holds them in one crowded layer. They shouldn't be stacked, or they will steam and stew rather than dry out and color. Add any juice they released when you cut them in half, plus enough of the reserved juice to come to a depth of 1/4 inch. Drizzle with a tablespoon or two of the olive oil.
Roast until the tomatoes char slightly and are bubbling around the edges, about 15 minutes. Use a dough cutter to very coarsely chop in the roasting dish.
Shortly before the tomatoes are done, in a 12-inch skillet, cook the onions in about 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until they begin to color at the edges, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat and stir in the garlic, pepper, and bay leaf.
When the onions are just beginning to soften through, stir in the warm toma¬toes and another few tablespoons of olive oil. Salt lightly to taste, and add a pinch or two of sugar if you find the tomatoes too tart. Add a spoonful of the reserved tomato juice if needed to keep the tomatoes saucy. Simmer briefly, just long enough to combine the elements, but without sacrificing their textures and indi¬viduality. Set aside.

Cooking and saucing the pasta:
Cut the braised bacon into strips about 1/4 inch thick and I inch long.
Drop the pasta into 6 quarts rapidly boiling water seasoned with a scant 2 tablespoons salt {a little more if using kosher salt}. Stir, and cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, brown the bacon strips in a 12-inch skillet or 3-quart saute pan over medium heat, stirring as needed, until both sides are slightly colored, a few minutes at most. If the bacon seems dry, add a trickle of olive oil. Stir in the tomato sauce. Simmer together for a minute or so.
Drain the pasta well and fold into the tomato sauce. Offer the pecorino and additional black pepper.

Great Old Standby's

Wine:

GC Pinot Noir 2004

We made some old favorites.
Radicchio Salad recipe from The Zuni Café Cookbook.
Polenta made with Sage, onions
Pork braised in milk from the great cookbook by Marcella Hazan Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

We love these dishes

Better than the New Restaurant

Wine: (from Bea)
Melville Chardonnay 2003
Kosta Browne 2005 Pinot Noir Reserve


We wanted to have a roast chicken for dinner and planned a meal around it.
The LA Times reviewed a new French Bistro, so we went there on Monday night and had a whole chicken for two. Lots of leftovers.

We planned to make our own version the next night.
We used a recipe from the New York Times, by: Laurent Tourondel named: A Bird with a Secret Under its Skin. This dish was far better than the chicken from the restaurant. We love it!
Once again we made a Fall Salad of: Pomegranate, Persimmons, Almonds, Prosciutto dressed with Saba. Cheese, Almonds and Saba from The Cheesestore of Silverlake.

The Potatoes are cooked under the chicken with lots of butter and onions they were delicious.

For desert we served German Chocolate Cake from Perfectly Sweet.

A great meal!

Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemons
Adapted from Laurent Tourondel
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

1 6 1/2- to 7-pound chicken
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) soft butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons finely diced onions, plus 2 large onions, sliced
1/4 cup finely diced preserved lemons (available at Middle Eastern markets and specialty food stores)
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
3 pounds unpeeled fingerling potatoes, cut in two lengthwise
8 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1/4 cup olive oil.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a cleaver, chop wings from chicken at joint closest to breast; reserve.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter, one tablespoon rosemary, diced onions, lemons and bread crumbs to form a thick paste. Using your fingers, separate skin from breast of chicken, and slather mixture under skin about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle skin liberally with salt.
3. Place wings in a roasting pan, and place chicken on top. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining rosemary, the potatoes, garlic, sliced onions, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to mix well and add to pan around chicken. Roast, occasionally basting chicken and tossing potatoes, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife at joint of leg, about 1 1/2 hours. Carve and serve each portion with some seasoned skin and potatoes and onions.
Yield: 6 servings.

Fall Salad and Pasta

Wine: Vigneti Massa Monleale 2003

We made a Radicchio Salad, composed of Radichio, Shallots, Apples, Lemon Juice, Olive Oil, Walnuts, Saba, Gorgonzola Cheese from Sunday Supper at Lucques cookbook. We made some changes adding apples and replacing the treviso with Radicchio. This is a great fall salad. It is easy to make and tastes of fall.

We then made Orecchiette Pasta, Broccoli Rabe, Sausage from Fra Mani that we purchased from Cube, Pecorino Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. The recipe is from Cooking with Master Chefs by Julia Child. This is a wonderful pasta dish and is vey earthy. It reheats especially well.

Radicchio Salad
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Shred 1 radicchio
Thinly slice one medium size shallot
1 apple cubed
Mix well in a bowl
Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup walnuts
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix well
Plate the salad then top with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and douse with Saba

Got my "P" Back

Wine:
Domaine De Nerleux Saumur-Champigny 2000
Chateau au Pont-de-Pomerol 2000


I had spilled some wine on my keyboard and had to send the computer into Sony to get fixed. For some reason the wine made it so my letter "P" wouldn't work. Glad I got it fixed because the ingrediants in this dinner have a lot of "P's"!

Bea came over to join us for dinner. Fires are ranging everywhere in Southern California and it was great to be with friend for dinner. Luckily other than the air quality we aren’t affected by the fires. For some reason they ring LA but aren’t in the LA basin itself.

We started with a fall salad. This is the first time since last fall that we have made this great salad. The salad is very easy to make. You just need (as usual) great fresh ingredients. The pomegranates were exceptionally good this year. We make the salad with Persimmons, Prosciutto, Pomegranate, Saba and Mescaline
Lettuce.

From the Bistro Cookbook by Patricia Wells Tendrons de Veau le Cameleon with Pasta. This is classic dish. Veal shanks are cooked for hours until they fall of the bone. It makes a great pasta sauce.

We had been to the newly enlarged Joan’s on 3rd Street. Who can resist Coconut Chocolate Cupcakes?

It was a very nice dinner and the wines were perfect for the food.

Fall Stew

Wine:

Virginie de Valandraud Sait-Emilion Grand Cru 2004
Batic Sivi Pinot 2004
Curran Sytrah Black Oak Vineyard 2004

Billy was on vacation and so we invited Kevin and Bea to join us for dinner. The weather has cooled in LA and it was a great fall dinner. We started with a Radicchio Salad - from the Zuni Café Cookbook.

We followed that with a great stew, Estouffade Provencale, from the Bistro Cookbook by Patricia Wells.

We had been to Campanile on Friday and a very simple and good desert. Ice Cream with a Sherry poured over it and a cookie on the side. The Sherry is called: Don PX 1971. We had never had the Sherry before and it is GREAT over ice cream, couldn’t be simpler (or better).

Estouffade Provencale
==================
2 ½ pounds stewing beef cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, peeled and cut into ½ rounds
1 celery rib, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 bottle red wine
1 bunch of fresh thyme
3 imported bay leaves
1 stip of orange zest, chopped

1. 2 days before serving the stew, combine all ingredients except the zest, in a large enameled casserole. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. The next day, open the lid of the casserole and cover the stew with parchment and then replace the lid.
3. Place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour
4. Lower temperature to 250 and bake 4 more hours.
5. Allow the stew to cool down.
6. Refrigerate until the fat rises to the top and can easily be scrapped off with a spoon, about 12 hours.
7. At serving time, scrape off any additional fat, reheat on top of stove until heated through, about 10 – 15 minutes, remove the bay leave and thyme, stir in the orange zest. Serve over La Macronade pasta.

8. Cook the Macaronade, then drain. Pour half the cooked pasta in a gratin dish and add 1 cup of the cooking liquid from the stew and stir. Cover with ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese. Top the mixture with the other half of the cooked pasta and cover with another ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Broil a few minutes till browned. Serve the Stew over the pasta.

NYC Day 5 - Hot!

This was the hottest day on record in NYC for this day! It was very hot! After being in Thailand, Loas, and Cambodia we were in condition for this!

We got left the hotel and subwayed to Zabor's on the West Side where we bought some bread and rolls for the flight home. We then walked into Central Park where we met Courtney and walked around the reservoir. From there we went to a great art exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum located in the Andrew Carnegie Mansion. The show was called: "Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer". He does magical things with lighting. It was really a great show.

We then took the cross town bus and the subway and went to the West Village to have lunch at a great little fish restaurant: Mary's Fish Shack. The food is delicious, just like being in New England. Loved it!

We then walked around the Village to Washington Square. It was VERY hot and humid. Like the middle of summer. We then subwayed back to Mid-town and went to the Sony store at what used to be the AT&T Bldg. We checked out the new Sony's and Courtney bought and great PC Laptop.

Then on to the rooftop of the Peninsula Hotel for drinks at sunset. It is a great outdoor location with a view of 5th Ave. A very nice hotel indeed!

From there we said our final farewell to Courtney who has made this NYC time so exciting for us. We went back to our hotel packed and then headed our for our last dinner in NYC. We had reservations at Peter Lugar Steak House in Brooklyn but canceled. Instead we went to Fatty Crab in the Meat Packing area. It is a spicy Malaysian restaurant and was recommended to us by our restaurant friends in LA. It was excellent and we really liked the neighborhood. We will explore the area some more on our next NYC adventure.

We tried to reach our friend Harsha but he was unavailable. Our biggest regret was that we weren't able to see our in-law Jessica and her new husband Danny this time, we will on our next NYC visit!

Back to the Hotel, and ready to fly back to LA tomorrow and see our cats and have dinner at our friends Billy and Kevin!

NYC Day 4

We left the Hotel and took the Subway to the look at the new New York Times building. We were not overly excited. We then taxied to Columbus Circle to see the nicest mall in NYC - the Time-Warner Center. Same stores as everywhere but an incredible view through the window of Columbus Circle. I walked over to view the new Hearst building and then we went to see more of the West Side to a flea market, where we were met by Courtney. Best of the flea market a guy he sells reconditioned vintage toasters. He was great and the toasters were fun.

We grabbed a sandwich and ate while walking to a clothing store: Really Great Things. We then took the subway to SOHO. We went to a huge Chinese gift store but it was kind of tacky, then on to the Yohji Yamamoto Store which was not tacky, but very black! The salesmen recommended two other stores that we went to, one was great: IF Soho.

We then went to the Mercer Hotel for drinks but they won't serve drinks to non-registered guests in the lounge. We walked to the Soho Grand Hotel which does serve wine to all in a far more beautiful room. It is a great Hotel and we would consider staying there but don't really like the location. We then subwayed and taxied to dinner at Momofuku Ssam where we met Yuh who we know from visiting her store near Tokyo and then re-meeting in Santa Fe. Scott joined us and we basically ate the menu and drank a lot! The food was very good, I really liked the ribs. They were terrific!

We then joined Courtney and Scott and they took us in a taxi to our Hotel.
Great Day!