Fantastic Birthday Leftovers!

We ate the leftovers from our birthday dinners all week long! We made a stock with all of the leftover lobster shells. The broth tasted like the sea (if there were lots of lobsters in it). We then made Risotto using the lobster broth and placed leftover lobster meat on top. Later in the week, we created Fried Risotto Cakes. We fried the risotto in butter untill they cakes were crispy and then put lobster on top. Both presentations were great. The first time I ever had risotto cakes was at Campanile. They usually are on the menu there.

We stretched the risotto into one more fantastic meal. We were at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and they had the very first Chanterelle Mushrooms of the season. Unlike most foods, chanterelles are best early in the season. So these first picked chanterelles are the best of the year. We sautéed them and spooned over the reheated risotto.

Palate had given us some Suckling Pig from the birthday dinner to take home. Cathy found a recipe for a Gratin of Flageolet Beans in Chez Panisse Cooking cookbook. We went to The Santa Monica Farmers Market and ran into Jason from Palate who told us where we could find fresh Flageolet Beans. They were beautiful. We then made the Gratin with the beans using the leftover pig. It was outrageously good! I actually took some to Jason at Palate. Guess you would call it: Take In.

Andrea stopped by and joined us for dinner on the patio. It was a warm night and we ate out on the deck.

We started with a delicious Tomato Salad with Burrata.


Gratin of Flageolet Beans
From Chez Panisse Cooking – Paul Bertolli and Alice Waters

For 4

1 1/4 cups flageolet beans, washed, soaked in cold water overnight
2 tablespoons pure olive oil
1 small carrot (2 ounces), finely diced
1/2 large stalk of celery (2 ounces), finely diced
1 small yellow onion (5 ounces), finely diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 leafy sprigs thyme
4 tomatoes (14 ounces), peeled, seeded, diced
Piece of prosciutto hock with rind attached (j ounces)
5 cups beef broth or water
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 A cups bread crumbs
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan

Warm the olive oil in a 6-quart noncorroding pot. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften slightly and release their perfume. Add the thyme, tomatoes, prosciutto hock, and beans. Cover with the broth and stir in the salt. Bring the beans to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the cover after i hour, raise the heat slightly so that the liquid bubbles all over its surface, and allow the liquid to reduce during the last 30 minutes so that it is at the same level as the beans. When stirred, the beans should appear saucy.

Preheat the oven to 35o°F.

Remove the prosciutto hock and the thyme sprigs. Cut the meat and rind from the prosciutto, chop it into coarse bits, and add it to the beans. Stir in 2 1/2 tablespoons of the parsley.

Pour the beans into a baking dish (10 by 8 by 2 inches). Mix the crumbs with the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, extra virgin oil, and Parmesan and spread them over the beans in an even layer. Bake the beans in the oven for 40 minutes, or until the edges bubble and the crumbs are evenly browned.