The Didn't Pace Yourself Dinner

JJ arrived and we decided invite to Billy / Kevin and Robert / Darryl over for dinner. The watch word for the dinner that was definitely disregarded was “Pace Yourself”. We started out with Popcorn with Truffle Butter. Couldn’t be easier to make: Pop your popcorn and the coat with melted truffle butter and a little salt. Everyone liked it.

Crab with Dynamite Sauce has become a signature dish for us. Once again we made it. The sauce is terrific but it MUST be made with Japanese Mayo. We started with a recipe that we found on The Fine Lobster Blog called: Creamy Spicy Lobster: a twist on a Nobu Classic. Everyone loves it! We served Japanese Rice with it. We purchased excellent canned Lump Crab meat from McCall's Meat and Fish. It is called: MeTompkin. Look for it! The recipe can be found in our blog of: Sep 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe. With the crab we served Uni and Seaweed. They were a great accompaniment to the crab.

For the main course we made a Smoked Salmon. We had purchased a beautiful salmon filet from McCall’s Meat and Fish. We decided to slow cook the salmon in the egg. This is a great (and easy recipe). We used the recipe for Honey-Cured, Smoked Salmon from Cooking with Fire and Smoke by Phillip Stephen Schulz. You can find the recipe in our blog of: Jan 15, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. We served Corn with Lime and Broccoli that with the salmon.

For dessert we made a ChewyDate Bars from the City Cuisine cookbook.

Darryl and Robert brought Brownies. Unfortunately due to not-pacing yourself, there are no pictures of the dessert. Those who attended will understand.

Chewy Date Bars

City Cuisine

By Susan Feniger Mary Sue Milliken

1 POUND PITTED DRIED DATES, CHOPPED

1 CUP WATER

1 CUP GRANULATED SUGAR

1/2 CUP FRESH LEMON JUICE

3 CUPS ROLLED OATS

2 1/2 CUPS ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR

1 3/4 CUPS PACKED BROWN SUGAR

3/4 TEASPOON BAKING SODA

3/4 TEASPOON SALT

1 3/4 CUPS (3V2 STICKS) UNSALTED BUTTER, MELTED

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9 x 12-inch pan.

Combine dates and water in a saucepan. Cook at a low boil for 5 minutes, until mixture is as thick as mashed potatoes. Stir in sugar and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add melted butter to dry mixture. Stir to evenly moisten.

Spread half oat mixture in baking pan to form an even layer. Cover evenly with all date mixture. Spread remaining oat mixture over top.

Bake about 40 minutes, until top is golden brown and pebbly. The edges should start caramelizing. Set aside to cool, in pan on rack, about 1 hour. Run a sharp knife along inside edges to loosen. Invert, trim edges, and cut into squares.

Makes 12 Large Squares

Bye Bye Tim

Tim was heading to Shanghai, China with his father and other family members. We decided to have him over for a farewell dinner. We also invited Alan.

We started with a salad of Arugula, Blue Cheese, grapes and Saba. It was delicious. I really like the idea of fruit in Salads. It gives a great flavor balance to the bitterness of the Arugula and the sweetness of the Saba.

For the main course we made the biggest damn chicken I have ever seen! It was a chicken that thought it was a turkey! We used a recipe that we really like and make over and over. The combination of the onions, and roasted potatoes baking under the chicken and getting marinated by the chicken juices is a real winner. The recipe is: 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.

Alan who apparently knows every bakery in LA brought us dessert. Yum.

Mary Beth Dinner

Mary Beth had a arrived from Arizona to stay with us for awhile. Her husband JJ would arrive a few days later. She is an old college friend of Cathy and teaches Cinema in University of Arizona, in Tucson. She was over on business meeting with various movie studios (glamorous life, no?).

We made a simple, delicious dinner for Mary Beth. Two standby’s we have made many times. Always winners!

If you haven’t tried the Mac n’ Cheese, I guarantee this will be the best Mac n’ Cheese you will ever make! We get the cheeses from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. You can get the recipe from our blog of Feb 2, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We once again started with what we call The Hungry Cat Salad. We really like the avocado in it. It is easy to make and excellent. You can get the recipe from our blog of Nov 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Pork-a-Thon

We invited Darryl and Robert over for dinner. It was a real endurance test, there was so much great food.

I had stopped by McCall’s Meat and Fish and saw Nate butchering a whole Berkshire Pig. The pig was amazing very pink with layers of fat. It looked delicious. This kind of a pig is rare and difficult to get. We got what was probably the best cut from the entire pig: The Shoulder. We had the meat but weren’t sure what we would make with it.

The weather has been cool and wet here in LA. It was very yucky, and winter like. I did something I often do when I am looking for a recipe; I searched this blog, this time for “Pork”. I found a recipe for Pork Stew with Prunes and Onions. It is from the cookbook: The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert. We had made the recipe September 26, 2007. We had loved the dish then and subsequently had forgotten about it. Click the date to get the recipe. It can be made days in advance, it only tastes better when re-heated. The book calls for it to be served over baked Polenta but we made Fresh Polenta from a recipe from the Zuni Café Cookbook. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Feb. 22, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

Robert started the dinner by making Striped Bass over Fresh Vegetables with a Bona Calda Sauce (an anchovie based sauce). This for normal dinners would have been sufficient main course. For us of course….

We then served a responsible sized pasta course of the Pork Ragu we had hade made on Oct 12, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe. It is delicious.

Finally we served the Pork Stew with Prunes and Onions over Polenta.

We finally finished up with a delicious Sour Cherry Tart that Darryl had baked.

It was an excessive night. We need to do it againJ

Pork Ragu

The New York Times had a recipe for a Pork Ragu. We decided to make it. It called for a bone-in pork butt. I tried to buy it and learned some interesting things about pork nomenclature. I assumed (wrongly) that pork shoulder came from the front legs of a pork and pork butt came from the hind legs. Wrong! They are both from the top of the leg, sitting next to each other. The butt can only be found at the top of the pigs front legs, who knew? Here is a link to a good article on it: Porkmap.

This recipe is really great. You simmer the pork meat in broth and then let it cool and then pull the meat off the bone. The meat is then returned to the broth to absorb the flavors and liquid, making it flavorful and moist. The lemon is then added to the pork. Bottom line, this dish is like the best pork burrito meat that you have ever had. It is DELICIOUS! Give it a try!

The Cheat: Ragù How-To

As for the malfatti, it is but a moment’s work to break pieces of boxed lasagna into shards and to cook these exactly as you might dry linguine or shells. Mix everything together, shower with the arugula and cheese and serve. This is true restaurant cooking for the home: a recipe born of a professional kitchen’s need to use up leftovers, then cheated upon to strike away extravagances like suckling pigs, fresh-made pasta and veal stock. See what you think. Anderer said that when he tasted it for the first time with his staff, everyone started murmuring. “I knew we had a good dish then,” he said. “The general feeling was, ‘Yeah, let’s put it on the menu.’ ” 

Recipe: Pork Ragù al Maialino



1 pork shoulder, bone in, roughly 4 pounds

Kosher salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium white onion, peeled and cut into large pieces

1 rib celery, cut into large pieces

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into large pieces

1 quart chicken stock (or enough to almost cover the pork)

3 sprigs fresh thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 9-ounce boxes dry lasagna, broken into 3-inch shards

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons grated grana Padano cheese

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Small handful arugula leaves, cleaned.

1. Using a sharp knife, remove the thick skin from the pork, leaving a sheen of fat on top of the meat. Season aggressively with salt and place in the refrigerator until ready to use, as long as overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a deep saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When it shimmers, gently cook the onion, celery and fennel until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Rinse pork to remove excess salt, dry with a paper towel and add to seasoned broth. Cover and place in the oven for 90 minutes or more, until the meat just begins to pull away from the bone.

3. Allow both meat and broth to cool on the stove top for 30 minutes, or until you can touch the meat with your hands. Remove the pork and gently pull the meat from the bone, then tear the chunks into bite-size shreds. Place these in a large bowl.

4. Strain the liquid into a separate bowl and then pour enough of it over the meat to barely cover. (Use the rest for soup.) Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

5. Put a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.

6. Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add the pork and braising liquid. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the butter and stir to emulsify.

7. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water according to the directions on the package, 10 to 12 minutes. When it is finished, drain and add to the sauce along with a splash of pasta water. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the lemon juice, half of the cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil and the parsley. Stir to incorporate.

8. Serve immediately, topped with arugula and the remaining cheese. Serves 4.

Adapted from Nick Anderer at Maialino in New York.

Wild Mushroom Pasta Gratin

There are a lot of Chanterelle Mushrooms in the market this fall - we decided to make Wild Mushroom Pasta Gratin from Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters. It is a delicious baked pasta. We really liked it.

We made a first course of a great salad from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook: Radicchio with Croutons, Hardboiled Eggs and Anchovy Vinaigrette. It is an excellent salad and easy to make. The recipe is can be found on our blog of: Jan 31, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Wild Mushroom Pasta Gratin

Chez Panisse Vegetables

Alice Waters

1 ounce dried porcini Mushroom

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups reduced chicken stock

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

Nutmeg

1/2 pound fresh wild mushrooms (chanterelles, cepes, hedgehogs, etc.)

1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 pound fettuccine

Reggiano Parmesan cheese

Put the porcini in a bowl and cover with boiling water.

While the porcini soak, make a thin bechamel sauce: Melt 1 table-spoon of the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook gently for a few minutes. Warm the chicken stock and cream and whisk into the flour and butter. Season lightly with salt and pepper and a scraping of nutmeg. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the porcini soaking liquid to the sauce, being careful not to disturb any sand that has settied to the bottom of the bowl. (The strength of the mushroom liquor will vary; add it to taste.) Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes or so.

Clean the fresh wild mushrooms and slice thin. Lift the porcini out of their liquor, chop them, and saute with the other mushrooms in the rest of the butter. Season with salt and pepper, and when the mushrooms are nearly cooked, add the garlic and the parsley. Add the sauce to the mushrooms and taste. If needed, strain in more mushroom liquor.

Preheat the oven to 425 °F.

Cook the pasta and add it to the mushroom sauce; taste and correct the seasoning. Put the pasta in a buttered gratin dish or in individual dishes and top with grated Parmesan. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the top is crusty and golden.

Serves 4 to 6.

Bon Voyage Billy

We decided to take it easy and have a Chicken Pot Pie from Clementine, one of our favorite take out restaurants. We try to keep several of their delicious foods in our freezer. The have great soups, apple pie and absolutely the best Frozen Chicken Pot Pie. We started by making the Caesar Salad from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. We love their recipe. You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 25, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. Billy and Kevin were leaving for Hawaii the next day and we invited Billy over for a goodbye byte.