Mark and Nancy Together Again

Wine: Domaine de Piaugier Gigondas 2004

We had been to Campanile and had some left over Steak. In addition we had been to Mozza and has some leftover Chopped Salad. It was only natural to put them together as an appetizer.

We had seen two interesting recipes for slow cooked seafood. Previously we make the Slow Cooked Salmon. Now it was time to make the Slow Poached Shirmp. It was very easy to make. After a cleaned and de-veined the shrimp they are put in a plastic baggie and dropped in boiling water. The only addition we would make to the recipe would be to put some sliced garlic in the bag. It is a great and simple recipe.

We served the Risotto we made from the Vignole as a side.

We had been to a new new bakery called Milk. We brought home some small chocolate candy that we had for desert. They were very rich.

Slow-Poached Shrimp
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Total time: 15 minutes

Servings: 4

Note: This method is based on a recipe from "Small Bites, Big Nights" by Govind Armstrong.

1 pound medium (26 to 30) shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or other herb (or 1 teaspoon fennel seeds)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper to taste

4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 slices

2 cups cooked rice (such as basmati; follow cooking instructions on the package)

1. Bring a large pot of water to 150 degrees, just below a simmer.

2. Pat the shrimp completely dry. Place in a bowl and toss with the dill, salt and pepper until the seasonings are well dispersed. Transfer to a quart-size resealable freezer bag. Add the butter. Fold the bag over to force out as much air as possible, then seal.

3. Check the temperature of the water with an instant-read thermometer. Lay the bag into the water and cook 5 minutes, then turn the bag over and continue cooking until all the shrimp are just pink, 3 to 7 minutes longer. Turn out into a shallow bowl. Serve over rice.

Morels and More

Wine:
Domaine Raymond Dupont-Fahn - 2005
La Deveze 66 Cotes du Roussillon Villages

In the morning I went to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market with our friend and neighbor Billy. I purchased some morel mushrooms from David, our favorite mushroom provider. I also purchased asparagus and cipollini onions. We love both of these spring vegetables and look for them when they come into season. From there we went to Santa Monica Seafood. Billy had never been there. It is a great fresh seafood store that also sells to many Los Angeles Restaurants. I purchased Salmon, Indian Candy, Smoked Mushrooms and large Shrimps. Billy purchased skate wings and crab meat.

We went to a meeting at our Los Angeles City Councilman’s house: Tom LaBonge. Our neighbor Bea was there and we invited her to come over for dinner.

We served the Smoked Mussels and Indian Candy as appetizers as we drank wine and jointly cooked. Indian Candy is a sweetly smoked salmon chunks. It is very addictive.

For a first course we served Asparagus with Morel Mushrooms. We cleaned and cooked the Asparagus and topped it with the morels cooked in butter with cipollini onions. It was delicious!

The Los Angeles times had a very unusual recipe for Slow Cooked Salmon. We made it and liked it. It is very easy.

To accompany the Salmon we made a Risotto. We ground up Prosciutto and Parmesan Cheese we had purchased from The Cheese Store of Silverlake we then added the Vignole we had previously made.

The risotto was wonderful and lead to some great leftovers!

Slow-Cooked Salmon
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Total time: 10 to 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting

Servings: 4

4 wild salmon fillets (5 to 6 ounces each)

Coarse sea salt

Olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fines herbs (equal parts tarragon, chives, parsley and chervil)

1. Sprinkle the salmon evenly with sea salt to taste, about one-fourth teaspoon on each fillet. Set aside for about 30 minutes to bring to room temperature.

2. Heat the oven to 225 degrees. (If your oven does not allow that, set it at 200 or 250 degrees.)

3. Brush about 2 tablespoons olive oil over a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold the salmon in one layer. Strew the onion slices over the oil. Brush the fillets lightly with olive oil (about 1 teaspoon per fillet) and place them on the onions, skin side down.

4. Bake until the salmon is done to your taste. If you like it almost raw, it will be done in about 10 minutes; cooked through, it will take up to 30 minutes (a thin-bladed knife inserted into the thickest part will penetrate easily).

6. Remove the salmon from the oven (you can discard the onions). Sprinkle the salmon with the chopped fines herbs and serve hot or cold.

Spring is Green

Wine: L'automne Pinot Noir 2005

We went to the Hollywood Farmer's Market and bought lots of green spring Vegitables: Fresh Fava, Fresh Peas, Fresh Asparagus, Baby Artichokes.

For a first course we made Vignole from the Italian Country Cookbook, by the owners of the River Cafe in London. Vignole is a kind of stew of peas, fava's and Artichokes. It is stewed with a thick slice of Prosciutto (we purchased it at The Cheese Store of Silverlake). The stew is flavored with Mint, olive oil, butter and mint. We served with the Vignole mini Cheese Rolls from The Bread Bar. These are our favorite rolls!

The dish is easy to make, once the prep is complete. The prep in this case is the double peeling of the fava beans, the shelling of the peas and the blanching and cutting up of the artichokes. The dish has a great taste with the many green vegetables blending together. We had lots of left overs and plan to make a risotto next week with the vignole as the base.

For the second course we made Asparagus Pasta. We really like this spring pasta. It is very simple and rich.

Asparagus Pasta
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1. Break Asparagus stalks where they naturally break towards the stem end
2. Wash and shave the stalks lightly if you wish
3. Cook the Asparagus for about 3 minutes in boiling water till just tender
4. Meanwhile brown butter in a small pan till bubbling and brown
5. Cook Pasta, we use a cork-screw pasta
6. Rinse Asparagus in cool water to stop cooking, cut in 1 1/2 inch pieces
7. Combine Asparagus, Brown Butter and Pasta in dish mix well
8. Top with grated Parmesan Cheese


A great spring dinner with lots of leftovers!

Brisket as Pasta Sauce

Wine: Portal N Sra Porta Tera Alta Roble 2004 Pinot

We have been on a Bollywood movie kick especially watching lots of Shah Rukh Khan movies. To add a culinary flavor, and because we like it we once again made the delicious dish: Grandmother’s Cauliflower from Madhur Jaffrey memoir: Climbing the Mango Trees. It is wonderful!

We decide to make a variation on Mark Peel Pasta Sauce that he serves at Campanile. We use the leftover Brisket. It turned out great! We shredded the brisket and combined it with the leftover brisket gravy with the carrots and onions. It was easy to make and delicious.

Passover: the One Question

Wine:

Chateau Sainte-Marie Entre-Deux-Mers 2005
Saxum Broken Stones 2004 Paso Robles from Bea


We reduced the 4 Passover questions to one: Do you want Red or White Wine?

I went to Jerry’s Deli in the Valley and picked up some Creamed Herring (I love it, no one else in our house does). I also picked up Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls.
They turned out to be quite light and good. I also picked up some Coconut Macaroons at La Brea Bakery.

We exchanged potatoes for the turnips in the recipe. One thing we definitely discovered was that the meat was even better the second day! We had purchased the Brisket from Gus Meats and it was one of the best briskets we have had in a long time.

The previous Friday we had been to one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, Canale. We noticed a side dish on an entrée that we didn’t order: Fava Bean Hash.

We ordered it as a side for our dinner, and it was great.

At the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sunday we had purchased fava beans with the intention of making fava bean puree sometime this week. I decided to stop by Canale to ask Corina for her recipe for the Fava Bean Hash. She graciously gave it to me. It turned out that the leftovers vegetables from the brisket were the beginning of the hash. All we had to do was to separate the carrots out from the Cipollini Onions and Carola Potatoes that we had used for the brisket. We added some olive oil, the mint and the beans. We warmed it in the oven and it was great! Thanks Corina.

For a first course we made a great spring salad from The Zuni Café Cookbook. We never had made it before. The title of the salad tells it all: Mixed Lettuces with Mandrins, Hazelnuts and Hazelnut Vinaigrette. It is made with fresh slices of Pixie Tangerines that are just arriving in the market, we surrounded the salad with Manchego Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. I liked the idea of a salad with fresh fruit in it.

We were basing our Brisket on a recipe from the Los Angeles Times

Braised Beef with Turnips and Onions

March 28, 2007

Total time: About 1 hour, 40 minutes, plus 4 hours roasting time, plus 24 hours marinating time

Servings: 8 to 10

Note: Adapted from "The Cafe Boulud Cookbook" by Daniel Boulud

1 (4- to 5-pound) brisket

2 cups white wine

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 sprigs thyme

4 bay leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups beef broth

24 pearl onions

4 medium to large turnips

1 cup apple cider

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1. Place the brisket in a shallow pan or container that will hold it snugly. Mix the wine, brown sugar, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and pour over the meat. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the meat once.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lift the brisket from the pan and scrape off the garlic and herbs, adding them to the marinade. Save the marinade. Pat the meat dry and season it with three-fourths-teaspoon salt and one-half-teaspoon freshly ground black pepper on each side. Warm the olive oil on the stove at medium high in a Dutch oven that fits the meat. Brown the meat evenly and carefully for 7 to 10 minutes. Add the marinade and bring to a boil. Pour in the beef broth to cover. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and cover. Braise in the oven for 3 hours.

3. While the brisket is in the oven, bring a small pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the pearl onions, and blanch for about 1 minute. Remove the onions and shock in cold water. Cut off the ends of the onions, and squeeze off the outer skin. Peel, trim and quarter the turnips lengthwise.

4. Remove the brisket from the oven. Add the onions and turnips to the meat in the pan, spooning liquid from the pan over the brisket. Cover with foil and cook for 1 hour more, or until the turnips are fork tender.

5. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, slice it against the grain in thin slices and place them on a warm platter. You will need a large spatula, as the meat may be starting to fall apart. Spoon vegetables around the meat, removing bay leaves and sprigs of thyme. Cover loosely and keep warm. Put the pan with the liquid (you will have about 6 1/2 cups) over medium to high heat. Add the cider and cider vinegar, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and reduce for about an hour until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (this makes a little more than 1 cup sauce). Taste and season the sauce as needed with salt and pepper.

6. Strain the sauce over the meat and vegetables and serve.

For dessert we had Strawberries macerated in Balsamic and a little Sugar with Coconut Macaroons.



Fava Bean Hash from Corina at Canale

Portions according to taste
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Carole Potatoes Quarter then Slice
Cloving Green Garlic – Confit it
Cipollini onions
Salt
Sauté all in ¼ olive oil

Add to Pan
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Double shucked Fava beans
Chopped mint leaves
Cracked Picholine olives
Warm through and serve