A Taste of Providence

Wine: Shotfire

We went to Lucques for a dinner and book signing. Suzanne had once cooked at a restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island named Al Forno. The owners and chefs Johanne Killeen & George Germon had a new book out: On Top of Spaghetti. We received a copy of the book. In addition we bought their first cookbook: Cucina Simpatica.

We saw two recipes in Cucina Simpatica that we decided to make. Chris as The Cheese Store of Silverlake had given us the end of a Prosciutto and we wanted to use it in the dinner.

The first dish is called: Cavolo e Pancetta Soppresa. It is an incredibly rich cabbage dish. It could serve as a very cheesy side dish, or an appetizer. We plan to use some of the left over as a pizza topping. Never had a cabbage pizza but we think it will work. We really liked the dish.

For the second course we wanted to use the rest of the Prosciutto that Chris had given us. We found a recipe in the book for: Pasta with Lentil and Prosciutto Sauce. We ground the Prosciutto up in the K5A and made the sauce. It is wonderful. It was very rich and meaty tasting. We will make it again. No cheese is needed (and none was wanted after our cabbage first course!). One unusual part of the pasta is that when it is served it is topped with chopped raw diced red onion. It gives it a real kick! I would recommend the pasta.

For dessert we finished the Apple Crisp we had previously cooked.

So, we are two for two with the new cookbook!

Cavolo e Pancetta Soppresa
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7 cups finely shredded savoy cabbage
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
¼ cup shredded Bel Paese or Fontina Cheese
¼ cup crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 oz. pancetta chopped

1. Preheat oven to 500 Degrees
2. Combine all the ingrediants except the pancetta, toss to to combine, and transfer to shallow ceramic baking dish
3. Top the cabbage with the pancetta and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Cabbage will be cooked through and crusty on top.

The Asana of Eating and Drinking

Wine:
Portal Terra Alta Roble 2004
Pago Florentino Tinto 2003
Farnese Pecorino Terre di Chieti 2005

We had our Yoga instructor Jonathon and his wife Juliette over for dinner. Luckily we didn’t have to stand on our heads or do downdogs!

We started with Carrots Puree with Caraway and Feta from the Casa Moro cookbook. The carrots at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market were exceptionally sweet. I had picked up some more pita chips from Joan’s on 3rd Street. They are definitely the best pita chips in Los Angeles.

For a first course we had Sautéed Red Cabbage Salad with Pancetta and Broiled Goat Cheese from The Cuisine of California. This salad is one of my favorites.
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We then made Braised Chicken with Saffron Onions, Italian Couscous, and Dates from Sunday Supper at Lucques. It is a multi-layered dish with lots of contrasting flavors. The dates at the Farmer’s Market are especially sweet right now. They were so sticky it was hard to cut them in slices.

For desert, we made an Apple Crisp. Cathy improved the topping by adding diced Crystallized Ginger and Amond Paste and Calvados. We added Haagen-Dazs Dolce-de-Leche ice cream.

Sautéed Red Cabbage Salad with Pancetta and Broiled Goat Cheese
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½ pound pancetta, sliced
6 oz Goat Cheese
½ Olive Oil
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 or 2 red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
3 large shallots, finely chopped
4 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/3 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon coarsely cracked pepper
½ cup toasted walnuts

1. Over Medium-low head cook pancetta until crisp and lightly brown, place on paper towels to drain, crumble into small pieces and reserve
2. Slice goat cheese into 4 equal portions. Brush each piece with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs so they adhere to cheese. Refrigerate covered for 1 hour.
3. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of pancetta drippings add 3 tablespoons olive oil to skillet. Add cabbage and sauté until it begins to wilt. Remove to a bowl.
4. Add remaining olive oil to pan. Add shallots and sauté until soft. Add sherry vinegar and boil for about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and pour over cabbage. Add pancetta and toasted walnuts and mix well.
5. Preheat broiler. Broil coated goat cheese until golden brown.
6. Place cabbage mixture on 4 individual plates. Set goat cheese in center and serve.

A Soft Dinner for a Sore Mouth

Wine: Shotfire


We were on the west side of Los Angeles, both having dentist appointments. The key criteria was soft food because we knew our mouths with be sore!

We went to Clementine and picked up their great Chicken Pot Pie. We also picked up their Banana Cream Pie, It is very good.

Chris at The Cheese Store of Silverlake had given us the end of a Prosciutto. We made a great warm winter dish: Rici-e-Bici from Bugialli’s Italy by Giuliano Bugialli. We needed to cut up the Prosciutto and I experimented with grinding it using the K5A meat grinder attachment. It was perfect, it came out just like sausage. The Rici-e-Bici is much easier to make than a risotto and reheats well.

We had the Banana Cream Pie for dessert (it was a small one).

The dinner almost made going to the dentist worth it!

Kevin is the Valentine

Wine:
Chateau D’Aiguilhe 2003 Cotes De Castillon
The Lackey 2004 Shiraz
Saint-Veran 2004 Vieilles Vignes


Billy was off to Southeast Asia, and Kevin was alone for Valentine’s Day. We decided to invite him to dinner.

We made some old favorite comfort foods for dinner.

We started with a Caesar Salad from the Zuni Café Cookbook.

We then had Gratin de Macaroni a l’Ancienne from Paris Bisto Cooking by Linda Dannenberg. This is the BEST Macaroni and Cheese ever! It uses, Cream Fresh, Bacon, Prosciutto, Parmesan Cheese and Gruyere Cheese. We bought all of the cheeses and prosciutto from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. I love this dish! However, I probably should take an extra Lipitor!

Cathy was working, so I decided to bake Date Bars from the City Cuisine Cookbook for desert. All went well, until Cathy came home and noticed they looked strange. I was supposed to layer the oatmeal crust on the bottom of the pan, add the filling and then top with more of the oatmeal crumbs. Woops I put all of the oatmeal on the bottom and put the filling on top rather than in the middle. While the Date Bars were cooling, we went to some museums downtown. On the ride back we decided to throw the date bars out and start again. We then decided to try them first, if they were OK we wouldn’t discard them. We cut a small piece and tried it. It was good! We had a dessert.

Kevin arrived and we drank lots of wine and had a great meal, sorry Billy missed it!

Bye Bye Billy

Billy was leaving for Southeast Asia and had a late night flight. He was nervous about leaving and we decided that Kevin and Billy should come over to our house, and play Mah Jong. They arrived at about 6:30 and we ate first then played Mah Jong. We had Beef Daube, the Polenta Pie, we had made with the Spinach topping. Billy didn’t want to eat before the long flight, but he did decide to drink wine. For desert we had Brownies. We then played Mah Jong until it was time for them to leave for the airport. It was fun for us and it really calmed Billie down.

Veal Shanks Goes Head To Head

Wine: Shotfire

We had dinner on Sunday night at Mozza and had brought home some left-over Pizza. They really don’t have Pizza to go, but this worked will. We re-heated the pizza and it was great.

We had previously made the Roasted Veal Shank and had joked that Mark at Campanile hasn’t had it on the menu for a long time. It was one of our favorite dishes. When we went to Campanile on Monday night we found the Veal Shank had returned! We intended to order the special Monday night dinner, but instead ordered the Campanile Veal Shank. It was great and we had leftovers that we took home.

We decided to have a veal shank shoot-out and served both of the Shanks: the Campanile version and the recipe that we had made. We both agreed we liked Campanile’s better. It wasn’t only that they made it, but the preparation is braised not roasted, making the meat moister. The only downside, of course, is the recipe for Campanile’s Veal Shank is more complex to make. Maybe we will try it later this winter.

We made a wonderful dish from Paula Wolfert’s Mediterranean Grains and Greens: Provencal Tian with Creamed Spinach. We highly recommend it!

We also made Polenat to serve as a side. We always use the recipe from the Zuni Café Cookbook to make polenta.

When we were finished with the dinner, we used the leftover Polenta and Spinach Tian to make a great Polenta Pie. We buttered a ceramic dish, the covered with the remaining Polenta and topped with the Spinach Tien. We later baked it and it was delicious.

Provencal Tian with Creamed Spinach
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4 quarts stemmed spinach
5 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped onions
Salt
1 ½ cloves garlic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoon milk, heated
Grated Nutmeg
¼ cup grated bread crumbs
1 teaspoon olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 Degrees
2. Wash and drain the spinach
3. Heat 3 tablespoons butter until bubbling. Add the onions and cook, covered over medium heat for 10 minutes.
4. Chop the spinach
5. When the onion is soft but not brown, stir in the spinach, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Raise the heat and cook for 10 minutes while stirring, until the spinach is very liquidity.
6. Drain the liquid into another pan and reduce the liquid by ½
7. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute without browning
8. Pour in the reduced liquid and stir until creamy and smooth
9. Gradually stir in the warm milk, nutmeg bring to a boil stirring
10. Add the spinach and stir to mix
11. Place the spinach mixture in an oiled 10 inch earthenware dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and drizzle with oil
12. Bake 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are brown and the tian bubbling
13. Cool for 15 minutes and serve warm

A Hearty Dinner for Two

Wine: Shotfire Barossa Shiraz 2005


We decided to make a Daube, a great winter dish. The weather didn't totally cooperate and Los Angeles has been un-seasonably warm. We decided to use a recipe we found that had been adapted from "Mediterranean Cooking," by Paula Wolfert. We did augment the recipe by almost doubling the meat. This will ensure plenty of leftovers.

We started with a Pear Salad. Lots of lettuce, salt, sliced pears, toasted walnuts, and walnut oil were mixed in a salad bowl. We then plated the salad and sliced Gorgonzola Natural cheese over it that we purchased at The Cheese Store of Silverlake. We then dribbled Brauerei Noble Sour P.X. over the cheese. It adds a great taste to the salad.

We started marinating the meat on Sunday. Turning several times on Monday and Tuesday AM. The actual cooking of the dish is very easy. Basically throw in the pot, and put it in the oven for 4 hours or so, one adds the mushrooms and pitted olives at the end, and serve over noodles. This is a great winter dinner.


Daube de Boeuf Provencal
Serves 6

1/2 cup carrots, peeled, in 1/2-inch slices
1/4 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary or savory and dry bay leaf)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 cups dry red or white wine
Salt to taste
12 black peppercorns
1 pound beef shank (meat left in one piece)
1 pound beef short ribs
1 pound well-marbled beef chuck, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup (3 ounces) pancetta, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 28-ounce can and 14.5-ounce can tomatoes, seeded and chopped (5 cups)
Bouquet garni of dry bay leaf, 5 parsley sprigs and 2 thyme sprigs, tied together in cheesecloth
1 tablespoon orange zest
Parchment paper cut to fit the inside diameter of the pot
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 dozen brine-cured black olives, rinsed and pitted
2 tablespoons chopped parsley


In a small skillet, saute carrots, celery and onion in olive oil over low heat for 5 minutes. Add herbs and garlic and continue cooking until the flavors are released, about 1 minute. Add wine, salt and peppercorns. Bring liquid to a boil, then reduce and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Place beef cuts in a bowl and add cooled marinade. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight, turning the meat once or twice.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place meat and made in a large, heavy casserole or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. Scatter with sliced onions, then add tomatoes, bouquet garni and orange zest. Wet circle and place it on top, pressing down to remove any air bubbles. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Lower the temperature to 250 degrees and cook an additional 3 to 4 hours, until meat easily falls apart.


Set pot on top of stove over very low heat. Remove parchment and stir in mushrooms and olives. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove bouquet garni and bones, then skim fat from the top of the cooking liquid. Adjust seasoning. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve over cooked noodles.

Mahjong-a-Thon

Wine
Domaine Raymond Dupont-Fahn Bourgogne 2005
Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape 2004
Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape 1998
Vieux Telegraph Chateauneuf du Pape “La Crau” 1998
Kracher Nouvelle Vague 1998 Desert Wine


This was the last Saturday night we could play Mah Jong with our friends Billy and Kevin, because Billy is leaving for South East Asia for 5 weeks of traveling.

We served a lot of great red wines to celebrate. We think that the Hummus at Joan’s on 3rd Street is absolutely the best. In addition, they have incredibly crispy pita chips. For another appetizer we picked up the Baba Ganoush at Marouch Lebanese Restaurant. The Baba Ganoush is very smoky tasting. Every one loved it. We love their Yogurt Kabobs, when we eat there we always order it!

For our main course we made Expatriate Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives from the The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert. The chicken is cooked in the oven over a water bath, that has grated onion and cinnamon in it. The result is a crispy chicken that is very moist with a Moroccan flavor. We served it with cous-cous.

Half way through the mah jong game we served desert. We went to Whole Foods and bought 7 different small deserts from Perfectly Sweet Bakery. Cheese Cake, Boston Cream Pie, German Chocolate Cake, Carrot Cake, Lemon Pie, etc. We each a little bit of each one. It was quite a sugar rush. We played until 1pm. When we quit Cathy was ahead!

Fun Night, we will miss Billy and our Sat. nights.


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