Spring Meals

We have been cooking up a storm. Spring has finally arrived and the Hollywood Farmer's Market is replete with the young green vegetables that we love. Asparagus and Fresh Peas are their in abundance. The Academy Awards and then the Los Angeles Marathon had closed the area near the Farmer's Market for several weeks. Now they were over we could once again easily shop on the street.

We purchased a rack of lamb from McCall’s Meat and Fish and had them cut them into chops. We then used a wonderful recipe from the Cookbook: Indian Home Cooking for Tandoori Lamb Chops. The lamb is marinated in the spices and yogurt and and is delicious when grilled. You can get the recipe from our blog of July 16, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

We have been cooking with spring asparagus making a variety of recipes. Sometimes the easiest and simple preparations are the best way to bring out the flavors of vegetables. We cooked one of our all time favorites: Asparagus Pasta. We make this several times every spring. You can get the recipe from our blog of: May 11, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

We had also purchased smoked salmon from McCall’s and made a wonderful Salad - Smoked Salmon With A Frisee from: Thomas Keller’s -Bouchon Cookbook. If you don't want your smoked salmon on a bagel this is for you!

We had the final dish made from our Confited Pork Belly: Pork Fried Rice. Boy did we get a lot of use our of the pork! We had the most amazing fried rice we ever had in Hong Kong. Cathy realized that what made the fried rice so special was that the egg was scrambled separately from the rice. When it was cooked it was mixed into the rice. This made the texture of the rice much lighter. We had purchased fresh snap peas and added them to the rice. They were so fresh and crisp we only had to cut them in little chunks and throw them into the rice, no peeling required. With the addition of the Pork Belly we had a great dish.

Once again we had a Salad with Fresh Dates, Parmesan Cheese, Almonds and Saba. We are waiting for the good tomatoes to appear in the market. I hope they arrive soon!

Smoked Salmon With A Frisee Salad
With Oranges And Radishes
Saumon Fume Et Salade Frisee Aux Oranges Et Radis
Thomas Keller – Bouchon Cookbook


CITRUS VINAIGRETTE

3/4 cup fresh orange juice, simmered until reduced to 3 tablespoons
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Cara Cara (red or pink navel) oranges or blood oranges
1 to 2 heads fnsee lettuce
40 tarragon leaves
40 Italian parsley leaves
40 chervil leaves
1 heaping tablespoon minced chives
12 slices (about 8 ounces) smoked salmon
2 large breakfast or Icicle radishes, trimmed
and thinly sliced (to get 24 rounds) Extra virgin olive oil


Here smoked salmon is paired with bitter greens, citrus vinaigrette, and peppery radishes. Fresh herbs are meant to be one of the dominant flavors, and they go well with all the elements here, so don't be shy about using them. And notice how light the vinaigrette is—just three tablespoons of reduced orange juice, one tablespoon of vinegar, and one of olive oil.

FOR THE VINAIGRETTE: Whisk together the reduced orange juice, sherry vinegar, and olive oil in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cut off the top and bottom of 1 orange. Stand the orange up and use a serrated knife to cut away the peel and pith in wide strips, working from top to bottom of the orange. Cut between the membranes to release the segments, letting them fall into a bowl. Squeeze any juice from the membranes over the segments. Repeat with the second orange. Set aside.

Remove the dark green outer leaves from the frisee and reserve for another use. Cut off and discard the core from the inner yellow leaves. Separate the leaves, trimming the bottoms as necessary to separate them. Wash the leaves and spin-dry. Place 1V2 cups greens (reserve any extra for another use) in a medium bowl and add the herbs.

TO SERVE: Arrange 3 slices of salmon in the center of each of four serving plates, overlapping them, their edges following the perimeter of the plate, to make a large circle.

Toss the frisee salad with enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss in the radish slices.

Drizzle the salmon with olive oil and some of the juice from the oranges. Mound the salad in the center of the salmon and distribute the orange segments among the salads.

Asparagus Season is Here!

Asparagus is now in season. We love the long green vegetable! We served it twice last week. We served it once with a recipe provided by us with Jason from Palate. It is for Asparagus Topped with a Fried Egg and Green Garlic. It is delicious. You can get the recipe in our blog of: March 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. We also made Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese. We steamed the asparagus and the topped with brown butter and grated Parmesan Cheese. We then broiled till the cheese was brown and bubbly. Yum.

We had an absolutely large bone-in Rib-Eye Steak. We purchased it at McCall’s Meat and Fish. We love the way that Osteria Mozza prepares steak. Cathy found the recipe in the Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali. This is a delicious recipe for Dry-Rubbed Rib Eye. We cooked one big one and sliced it down for the two of us. It was fabulous!

Dry Rubbed Rib-Eye Steak
Babbo Cookbook – Mario Batali

2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry porcini mushrooms, ground to a fine powder in a spice grinder
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 28-ounce rib-eye steak, cut 2 inches thick
Best-quality extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Best-quality balsamic Vinegar for drizzling

We dry-rub a thick-cut, well-marbled steak to help it form a nice crust while cooking. The effect of the sugar and salt on the meat is similar to dry aging, as it causes some of the steak's water weight to dissi¬pate overnight and intensifies the beefy flavor. Serve with roasted potatoes.

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt, garlic, red pepper flakes, pepper, mushroom powder, and olive oil and stir well to form a thick, fairly dry paste. Rub the paste all over the steak, coat¬ing it evenly, and refrigerate, wrapped in plastic, for 12 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat the grill or broiler.

3. Remove the steak from the refrigerator and brush off the excess marinade with a paper towel. Cook on the hottest part of the grill for 25 minutes, turning every 6 minutes, or to an internal tem¬perature of 120°F. for medium rare.

4. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes, then slice against the grain. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

Serves 2

Mary Beth Dinner

Mary Beth, a friend of Cathy from college, came and spent a week with us, while she was attending a conference in Los Angeles. We made one of our favorite dinners: Roast Chicken with Preserved Lemons Adapted from Laurent Tourondel. It is a wonderful one-dish recipe. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Jan. 23, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe. We also served asparagus. Mary Beth brought a friend from the conference who joined us for the dinner. There was lots of talk about cinema. It was a fun night.

Pork Belly and Shrimp!

We went to McCall’s meat and fish and purchased Fennel Sausage. They make it themselves. It is delicious. We added it to the leftover Lentils made with Confit Pork. It made a great winter dish.

McCall’s Meat and Fish also had Live Santa Barbara Spotted Shrimp. They are huge and delicious. It is one of my favorite shrimps, filled with lots of roe. Cathy told me if I brought home live shrimp, I would have to take them to the ocean and dump them back in. We don’t like to eat food that we have to kill. I know it is hypocritical, but that is the way it is. Let’s just say that the shrimp we were dead when they left the store.

We prepared a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic, butter and olive oil and cooked it over a low heat. When the garlic was softened we removed it from the mixture and covered the shrimp with the mixture. We then broiled the shrimp till browned. We served them over Noodles. Great, simple recipe.

Orecchiette Pasta

We went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market at picked up lots of fresh snap peas. They were very sweet. We decided to make Orecchiette Carbonara with English Peas and Pea Shoots from a recipe by Suzanne Goin in the fabulous cookbook: Sunday Suppers at Lucques. You can get the recipe from our blog of: April 29, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. We didn’t even have to shell the peas. We simply washed them and cut them up, shell and all. Of course we used Nueske’s Bacon, our favorite!

Billy and Kevin had dropped off some Pixie Tangerines. Cathy made a great salad with pixies using the orange juice as part of the dressing. I really like fresh fruit in salads.

Pork Belly!

The LA Times had a recipe for Pork Belly Confited in Olive Oil. Talk about a Lipitor experience! We purchased a large piece of pork belly from McCall’s Meat and Fish. We decided to confit the pork belly and then used the preserved pork in several different dinners. Confit means basically slow poaching (we used olive oil). The meat can then be preserved for an extended time covered with the congealed fat. We had no intention of preserving longer than the one week that it would take to prepare the various dinners.

For the first dinner we decided to make a recipe that we saw in the New York Times for Yakisoba With Pork and Cabbage. Instead of using the recommended pork chop we substituted our Pork Confit.

We started with The Hungry Cat Salad that we like so much. You can get the recipe from our blog of: November 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

For the second meal we decided to make Slow Cooked Salmon on a bed of lentils. Cathy used the recipe for Lentils Braised in Red Wine from The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. She used the oil from the pork confit and some small pieces of the meat. It was incredibility rich. Just delicious.

When I went to McCall’s to pick up the salmon I saw some fresh Santa Barbara Spotted Prawns. They were huge and beautiful, filled with roe. I couldn’t resist getting 4 of them for a starter. We sauted them in olive oil and garlic. They were absolutely wonderful.
The Pork Confit is serving us well!

Recipe: Pork belly confited in olive oil
LA Times
March 4, 2010
Pork belly confited in olive oil


Total time: About 3 hours


Servings: Makes about 1 quart, enough for 18 to 20 servings


Note: Adapted from a recipe by Jim Drohman in "Charcuterie" by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn
3 to 4 pounds pork belly


10 grams black peppercorns (about 3 1/4 teaspoons)


3 grams ground cinnamon (about 1 teaspoon)


1 gram whole cloves (about 10)


1/2 gram whole allspice (about 6)


2 bay leaves


1 ounce salt (about 4 teaspoons)


5 sprigs thyme


3 cups dry white wine


3 to 4 cups olive oil


1. Use a sharp knife to peel the skin from the pork belly: Cut a corner free, then grab it firmly and pull away, cutting with the knife while keeping the sharp edge of the blade against the tough skin. When the skin has been removed, cut the pork belly into roughly 3-by-1-inch pieces.
2. In a spice grinder or coffee mill, grind the peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, bay leaves and salt to a powder. Sprinkle the mixture over the meat, add the thyme and mix well. Add the wine and mix again. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.


3. The next day, heat the oven to 250 degrees. Remove the pork pieces from the marinade and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place them in a Dutch oven in as close to an even level as possible. Cover completely with olive oil. Bring to a slow bubble on top of the stove over medium heat, then transfer to the oven and let it cook, uncovered, until the meat is quite tender, about 2 1/2 hours.


4. Remove from the oven and let the meat cool in the fat. When the meat is cool, transfer it to storage containers and pour the fat over top, seal tightly and refrigerate. The meat should be completely submerged. (The confit can be used immediately, but it's better if it's refrigerated for 24 hours.)


5. To cook, remove the meat from the container along with a little of the fat. Fry over medium-high heat, turning to brown all sides. When the meat is well browned and heated through, serve immediately.


Each of 20 servings: 605 calories; 7 grams protein; 0 carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 64 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 57 mg. cholesterol; 0 sugar; 81 mg. sodium.

Yakisoba With Pork and Cabbage
New York Times
March 3, 2010
Salt
6 ounces dried Chinese egg noodles, or 10 to 12 ounces fresh
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 pork chops, thinly sliced
1 small head Napa or savoy cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
2 carrots, shredded
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons mirin, or a bit of sugar
Few drops Tabasco sauce, or to taste
1 bunch scallions, chopped, white parts only.
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it and add noodles. Cook until just done, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water. Toss noodles with sesame oil to keep them from sticking together, and set aside.
2. Put peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add ginger and cook, stirring, until just fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork and cook for about 5 minutes or until the pork is no longer pink and is starting to brown around the edges.
3. Add cabbage and carrots to skillet and stir; sprinkle with salt. Continue to cook until vegetables soften, adding a bit of water as needed to keep them from sticking.
4. Meanwhile, stir together in a small bowl ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mirin and Tabasco. When vegetables are soft and any liquid has evaporated, add noodles and sauce to skillet. Toss to coat everything well and cook until noodles are warmed through. Serve, topped with chopped scallions.
Yield: 4 servings.

Lentils Braised in Red Wine

Here is simple dish full of character. If it suits your taste, and the rest of the meal, you can elaborate on the basic recipe by adding bacon rind or prosciutto scraps, or a branch of thyme or a bay leaf, all at the beginning- The stingy-with- liquid method, which will remind you of risotto-making, keeps the flavors con¬centrated. We use tiny, plump black lentils or dark green French lentils, both of which are about the size of a peppercorn. If you use flat olive green lentils, they may cook more rapidly and require less liquid. In either case, using chicken stock will slow the cooking a little, but will give the dish a more complex flavor.

We serve red wine lentils with game birds, sausage, and red meat. They are also tasty with grilled salmon and meaty fish like monkfish and eel. And they are delicious with fried eggs and bacon, or spooned onto crostini and topped with a strip of anchovy and julienned roasted peppers.

If you prepare them in advance, cool, and then reheat them, they will have a mellower flavor and creamier texture than a freshly cooked batch.

FOR ABOUT 4 CUPS, OR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS:

1/4 cup mild-tasting olive oil
1/2 cup finely diced carrots (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup finely diced celery [about 2 ounces)
3/4 cup finely diced yellow onions (about 3 ounces)
Salt
1 bay leaf 1-1/4 cups lentils (about 8 ounces), preferably tiny French lentils or the black lentils sometimes sold as "Beluga" lentils
1 or 2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
1 cup medium-bodied red wine, such as Sangiovese or Pinot Noir
2 to 2-1/2 cups water, Chicken Stock or a combination
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Warm the olive oil in a 3-quart saute pan or 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, and a few pinches of salt. Stir for about 5 minutes as the vegetables release their moisture and begin to hiss, then add the lentils, bay leaf, optional thyme, the wine, and about a cup of the water and/or stock. Raise the heat slightly to achieve a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered, stirring as needed, as you would risotto, and adding more water or stock as the last of each batch is just about absorbed, until the lentils are nutty-tender and just bathed in their cooking liquid. You may not use all of the liquid. Allow about 30 minutes. Taste. If using water or unsalted stock, the lentils will need salt; if using lightly salted chicken stock, they may need none.

Add the extra-virgin olive oil to taste and simmer for a minute longer to bind it with the cooking liquid.

Two Spring Dinners

Andrea went to New York City to assist Devin in moving, so we decided to take pity on Roger and invite him over for dinner so that he wouldn’t be alone.

We started with Zuni Cesar Salad. It is our favorite presentation of a Caesar because you don’t cut up the romaine lettuce, you get to eat it with your fingers. Yummy!
You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 25, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. It is a great rendition of the famous salad.

We then had Risi-e-Bisi. This is a very thick rice dish made with fresh peas and prosciutto. It is a perfect spring dish when fresh peas are at their best. It is very satisfying on a cold rainy night. It was perfect for our Los Angeles weather.

If you have never made Risi E Bisi you should try it!

Later on in the week we made a Chanterelle Pasta with Wild Mushrooms. The recipe for the Chanterelle Pasta was from the Chez Panisse Vegetables – by Alice Waters
It was excellent. We then put the left over pasta in casserole and baked it. It was delicious that way also, as the noodles became firm and chewy.




RISI E BISI Rice
Makes 6 servings
Bugialli’s Italy by Giuliano Bugialli

For The Broth:
4 pounds snow peas or, if using fresh peas for the dish, 4 pound of the pods of the peas
16 cups cold water
1 medium-size carrot, scraped and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium-size stalk celery, cut into large piece
1 very small clove garlic, peeled
5 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, leaves only
Coarse-grained salt

For The Rice:
4 – 6 ounces pancetta or prosciutto, in one piece
1 medium-size cipollotto (Venetian white onion) or yellow onion, cleaned
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) sweet butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium-size clove garlic (optional), peeled
15 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, leaves only
1 pound very small, sweet fresh peas or frozen "tiny tender" peas, not defrosted
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup raw short-grain rice, preferably Vialone or Italian Arborio

To Serve:
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) sweet butter
6 tablespoons freshly grated Grana Padano cheese
Sprigs fresh Italian parsley

Wash the snow peas or pea pods very well under cold running water. In a large pot bring the cold water to a boil with the snow peas or pods, carrot, celery, garlic, and parsley over medium heat. While boiling, add coarse salt to taste, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for SO min¬utes. Strain the broth and discard all the vegetables.

Finely grind the pancetta or prosciutto in a meat grinder and coarsely chop the onion on a cutting board. Place the butter and olive oil in a medium-size casserole set over low heat. When the butter is melted, add the pancetta or prosciutto, onion, and garlic clove, if used. Saute slowly for about IS minutes, then add the parsley and mix very well, then add the fresh or still frozen peas. Season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium, add 1 cup of the vegetable broth, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic and discard. Pour in 5 cups of the broth and when

it reaches a boil, add the rice. Mix very well, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 18 minutes. Be sure to have enough broth in the casserole for the rice to absorb to cook completely, with a tiny amount of liquid left; the final texture should be something between a real risotto and a thick bean soup. Remove the casserole from the heat, add the butter and cheese, and mix very well. (Mantecare—to churn—is the word used to describe the movement of absorbing the butter and the cheese into the rice.) Serve with the Italian parsley.

Chanterelle Pasta
Chez Panisse Vegetables – Alice Waters

1 ounce dried porcini
3/4 cup heavy cream 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or Mushroom and Herb Broth
1 pound chanterelles (or horn) of plenty, hedgehogs, etc.)
3 or 4 sprigs thyme
2 cloves garlic
1 leek
4 tablespoons unsalted-butter
Salt and pepper
1 pound fresh pasta
Reggiano Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Optional: Toasted Bread Crumbs



Put the dried porcini in a saucepan with the cream and chicken stock or the broth and heat gently for 30 minutes or so to infuse the mixture with mushroom flavor. Remove the porcini from the cream with a slotted spoon or strainer, and strain the cream through cheesecloth or a fine sieve to remove any sand.

Clean and slice the chanterelles. Chop the thyme leaves and peel and chop the garlic. Clean and chop the leek and sauté in 1 tablespoon of the butter until soft and translucent. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Put a pot of water on for the pasta.

Saute the mushrooms in the rest of the butter, seasoned with salt,

Pepper, and the chopped thyme. When nearly cooked through, add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Pour the strained cream and stock over the mushrooms, add the leeks, and simmer gently while the pasta is cooking. When the noodles are done, add them to the mushrooms. Taste and correct the seasoning. Serve garnished with grated Parmesan, the parsley, and, if you like, a scattering of Toasted Bread Crumbs.

Serves 4 to 6.