Chicken and Fig

Wine: Little James’ Basket Press Gigondas

It was a warm night and we decided to eat outside on the deck overlooking the city. Figs are in season, so we decided to build a dinner around them. We made a great chicken dish that we really like from The Zuni Café Cookbook. It is easy and very tasty. The dish is called. Chicken Braised with Figs, Honey & Vinegar. The name tells the story. We served it over freshly made cous-cous.

Tomatoes are just coming into season (they are late this year) and we picked up our first box of Cherry Tomatoes. We made a great salad from The Casa Moro Cookbook: Feta Salad with Anise Bread, Tomatoes and Oregano. It is absolutely delicious.

For dessert we had Fresh Cherries from the Hollywood Farmer’s market.


Feta Salad with Anise Bread, Tomatoes and Oregano
====================================
Casa Moro, The Second Cookbook

6 slices of Anise Bread, Crackers or Toasted Feta
Cherry Tomatoes cut into halves or quarters
½ medium red onion, finely chopped
Feta Cheese
2 tablespoons fresh or dried oregano leaves
2 handfuls oily black olives

Dressing
1 Garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
1 ½ tablespoons good-quality red wine vinegar
1 medium to large tomato, sliced and pureed to juice in a food processor
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

For the dressing, whisk the garlic, vinegar, tomato juice and olive oil together then season with salt and pepper.

Combine all ingredients and add dressing and toss. Don’t over dress the salad.


Chicken Braised with Figs, Honey & Vinegar.
==============================

for 4 servings:

4 chicken legs (8 to 9 ounces each}
Salt
About 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
A sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
About 1 tablespoon honey
8 to 10 ripe fresh figs - Kadota, Smyrna, Excel, Adriatic, or Black Mission
About 1/2 cup Chicken stock
A few black peppercorns, barely cracked in a mortar
About 1/2 cup dry white wine
About 2 tablespoons mild-tasting olive oil
About 2 tablespoons dry white vermouth
1 medium yellow onion (about 8 ounces), root end trimmed flat, peeled, and cut into 8 wedges

Seasoning the chicken (for the best flavor and succulence, do this step 12 to 24 hours in advance).

Trim the excess fat, then season the chicken evenly all over with salt (we use a scant 3/4 teaspoon sea salt per pound of chicken). Cover loosely and refrigerate.

Cooking the chicken:

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Pat the chicken legs dry; this will make them less likely to stick. Heat a scant
2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, then add the
chicken legs, skin side down. The oil should sizzle, not pop explosively, when
you add chicken. Adjusting the heat as necessary, cook until the skin is evenly
golden, about 8 minutes. Turn the legs over and color only slightly on the other
side, about 4 minutes. Pour off the fat.

If your skillet is ovenproof, arrange the onion wedges in the spaces between the chicken legs; otherwise, transfer the chicken to a shallow flameproof braising dish that will easily hold the chicken and onions in a single layer, and add the onions. Add the wine, the vermouth, and enough stock to come to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Bring to a simmer and add-the bay-leaf, thyme, and cracked black peppercorns.

Place, uncovered, in the oven, and cook until the meat is tender but not quite falling off the bone, about 40 minutes. The exposed skin will have turned golden and crispy; the liquid ought to have reduced by about half. Remove from the oven and set on a slight tilt so the fat will collect at one side of the pan.
Combine the vinegar and honey and warm slightly. Taste. The vinegar should dominate, but without making you squint. Trim the stems and cut the figs in half.

Skim as much fat as possible from the braising liquid, then set the pan over
medium heat. Bring to a boil and swirl as you reduce the liquid to a syrupy con¬sistency. Distribute the figs evenly around the pan, add about 2 tablespoons of the vinegar-honey syrup, and swirl the pan to diffuse the bubbling, amber syrup without smashing the tender fruit. The sauce will be glossy. Taste - it should be rich and vibrantly sour-sweet. Add more, or all of the syrup, to taste. The vinegar adds a bright but unstable note of acidity, which will fade with boiling, so sim¬mer for only a minute or less.

Serve each chicken leg with 2 wedges of sweet, soft onion and 4 or 5 fig halves, bathed in a few spoonfuls of the sauce.

Best Damn Ribs Ever

Wine:

GC Pinot Noir 2006
Prosecco Sparkling Wine Brut Zonin
Vin Du Bugey-Cerdon “La Cueille ” (2 bottles)
Amador Foothill Zinfandel 2006

It was a warm night and we ate on the deck. Billy and Kevin joined us for dinner. We sure drank a lot of good wine!

We started with Hummus and Pita Chips from Joan’s on 3rd. They have the BEST toasted pita chips! We also purchased their Green Bean / Potato Salad, The Los Angeles Times had recently reviewed it and given it high marks, we wouldn’t grade it that high.

Besides wine, Kevin and Billy brought a great home made Asian Cole Slaw.

The high point of the dinner was the Barbequed Ribs. We purchased baby back ribs from Harvey Guss and decided to SLOW smoke them. We followed a recipe that Cathy found in License to Grill by: Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. The recipe is called: Chinese-Style Baby Back Ribs with Ginger-Scallion Sauce.

This is an AMAZING recipe! We cooked the ribs covered in our Weber Grill to smoke them. We first marinated the ribs and then cooked them wrapped in aluminum foil. At the end we removed the foil and moved all the coals to one side of the grill and placed the ribs on the other side of the grill to cook them via indirect heat. The name of the game is to keep an even temperature of about 220 degrees for about 2 ½ hours. You really have to play with the vents and adding fuel to the fire to make it happen. Billy at the end showed us how minute changes in air openings vastly affect the temperature. I don’t think we ever had better ribs, anywhere!

We made a great salad that we ate with the leftovers, Cherry Tomatoes, sliced Persian Cucumbers, Green Onions, Basil, some of the Toasted Pita and home made blue cheese dressing. It was really tasty.


For dessert we had a Peach / Blueberry Pie from Joan’s on 3rd. It was good!

Chinese-Style Baby Back Ribs with Ginger-Scallion Sauce
=======================================

½ cup soy sauce
½ cup white vinegar
¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons freshly cracked white (or black) pepper
2 tablespoons five-spice mix (found in Asian section of grocery)

6-7 pounds pork spareribs

For the Sauce

½ cup white vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
½ cup minced scallions (white and green parts)

1. Build a small fire in ½ of covered grill besides coal we soaked some pieces of Apple and Maple wood, drained and added to the fire to produce a better taste; let the fire burn down somewhat.

2. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper, and five-spice mix and mix well. Generously coat the ribs with this mixture and place them on the grill but NOT over the coals. The other option is to do what we did, and spread the ribs on the grill and then loosely cover the ribs with aluminum foil. Put the cover on the grill and try to maintain a temperature of 220 degrees. After about 45 minutes flip the ribs and continue cooking. Ribs are done when you cut one open and there is NO pink meat in the center. Usually this will be about 2 ½ hours.


3. While you are cooking the ribs, make the sauce: in a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the scallions and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the fire, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes until sauce has been reduced by half. It should coat the bottom of a spoon when dipped in the sauce. Remove the sauce from the heat allow to cool and stir in the scallions.

4. When the ribs are done, paint the ribs and return to the grill for a final browning of the sauce on the ribs.

Gad Zooks

Wine: Beaune 1er Cru Grand Vin de Bourgogne 2005

We started with a Salad made from Fresh Figs from the Farmer’s Market and Prosciutto from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

We made a great vegetarian pasta. It is very easy and good. It is from a cookbook by Mark Bittman, The Minimalist Cooks at Home. He names the recipe: Spaghetti with Zucchini (Carbonara without the Bacon). We went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and bought some great fresh zucchini. The Parmesan cheese was from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

We ended the dinner with Fresh Cherries and those wonderful Ginger Cookies from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.


Here is the recipe for the pasta.

Spaghetti with Zucchini (Carbonara without the Bacon)
=====================================================

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 or 4 or more small zucchini washed, trimmed, and cut into slices 1/8 to ¼ inch thick
2 eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound spaghetti or linguine
½ cup roughly chopped mint, parsley or basil (we use fresh basil)


Salt water and bring to boil
Place olive oil in 10 to 12 inch skillet over medium high heat.
Add zucchini, cook stirring occasionally, until very tender and lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with a little salt and a lot of pepper.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and ½ cup of the Parmesan together.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until tender but firm. When it is done, drain it and combine it immediately with the egg-cheese mixture, tossing until the egg appears cooked. Taste add more salt or pepper if necessary.
Toss in the herb and serve immediately, passing the remaining Parmesan at the table.

A Cheese Store Dinner

Wine: Les Aphillanthes Cote-du-Rhone

Bea came over and we had some great wine along with an excellent dinner.

For the first course we had a Salad made from: Walnuts, Radicchio, Spanish Cheese Queso de Garioneado Cow / Goat Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake and Saba. The recipe is from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

When I stopped by The Cheese Store of Silverlake, Chris informed us that he was carrying a new Bacon, David’s Bacon. It is an artisanal Bacon that comes a slab, and he slices it to order. We decided to create a dinner around it. The oblivious choice was: Pasta Carbonara. We decided on the recipe from The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. It is different from traditional ones in that it has both fresh peas and fresh ricotta cheese. We chose this recipe because peas are delicious right now at the Farmer’s Market. It is very rich and good.

For dessert we had the fabulous Ginger Cookies from The Cheese Store and Fresh Cherries from the farmer’s maket.

A great summer dinner.


PASTA alia CARBONARA
====================

THIS ROGUE VERSION OF CARBONARA IS BASED ON ONE I HAD IN ROME. It IS not
very saucy, and the ricotta makes it pleasantly curdy. The bacon should be crispy-tender and aromatic; don't be tempted to cook it in advance-you will sacri¬fice much of its aroma to convenience, and it will tend to harden. And don't sub¬stitute Parmigiano-Reggiano for the aged pecorino.
Serve with a chewy, dried semolina pasta shape that does not grab too much sauce: spaghetti, spaghettini, penne, or bucatini.

Wine: Bodega Norton, Mendoza, Argentina, Malbec Reserve, 1999
FOR 4 TO 5 SERVINGS:

5 ounces bacon {4 or 5 thick slices}, cut into 1/4- to i/2-inch segments
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large or 5 small eggs, at room temperature
About 2 ounces pecorino romano or 1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese, at pecorino sardo, grated {1 cup lightly packed)
1 pound spaghetti, penne, or bucatini
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt
About 3/4 cup shucked sweet English peas or mature sugar snap peas or double-peeled favas



Warm the bacon in the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet or 3-quart saute pan {see Note below) over low heat. It should gradually render a little fat, which will mix with the oil.
Meanwhile, lightly beat the eggs with the ricotta.

Cook the Pasta until al dente.
When the pasta is about 1 minute from al dente, add the peas or favas to the water, and raise the heat under the bacon. Cook bacon till just crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. Let cool briefly.
Drain the pasta, and add to the pan with the bacon.
Immediately pour in the beaten eggs, all over the steaming pasta. Add most of the pecorino and lots of cracked black better and the ricotta and fold to combine.
Serve with additional pecorino and pepper.

Cherries and Mushrooms

Wine:

Chehalem 2001 Pinot Noir
Movia Sauvignon 2005

Cherries have finally appeared at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. At first they weren’t to sweet but now they are excellent. Cathy found a very unusual salad in
The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers: Mixed Lettuces with Roasted Cherries, Hazelnuts, and warm Saint-Marcellin Cheese. The recipe title says it all. The salad has the warm cherries and cheese and is a real treat. We will definitely make it again.


When we arrived at the Market, David, the Mushroom seller, had a large selection of Porcini Mushrooms. We decided to make a Pasta with the Porcinis.
The recipe itself is easy, it is just the mushrooms that are expensive and hard to find. David thinks they will only be around for 2 weeks or so, so I am glad we got them! We used the Porcini Mushroom Pasta recipe from: The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

For dessert we had Coffee Ice Cream (that Billy and Kevin left) with Ginger Chocolate Cookies from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. We topped it with a great Black Cherry Sauce with Cognac from Stownwallkitchens. Someone had given us the sauce (unfortunately we don’t remember who) and we had it in our refrigerator for a few months. When we finally tried it, it was fantastic! Now we have to find out where we can buy it! At least they have a web site. We really recommend it!


Mixed Lettuces with Roasted Cherries, Hazelnuts, and warm Saint-Marcellin Cheese
===========================================================================

About 24 hazelnuts (3/4 ounce, or scant 1/4 cup)
16 or more ripe cherries (or more)
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
A few splashes or kirsch or grappa
About 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt
2 wheels Saint-Marcellin Cheese (about 3 ounces each) at room temperature
Young lettuce

Preheat oven to 325 degree

Roast the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet until the skin darkens and starts to split, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven increase the temperature to 400 degrees.

What the nuts are still hot, rub skin off and and coarsely chop.

Rub the cherries with few drops of olive oil, and season with a few drops of the kirsch or grappa and a pinch of salt.

Combine the oil, vinegar, and salt to taste. Add another few drops of kirsch or grappa and adjust for taste.

Place the cherries on parchment paper, with the cherries on a baking sheet. Roast until the fruit is near to burst and the cheese is beginning to slouch, about 6 minutes.

Dress the lettuces and hazelnuts with the vinaigrette and arrange on the plate. Top with the hot Cheese and Cherries. Watch out for the cherries pits! Enjoy!