Best Steak Ever!

We purchased two thick Dry-Aged 40 days Rib-Eye Steaks from McCall’s Meat and Fish. They were beautiful! We planned to have them and then maybe have some leftovers. Tom and Scott stopped by and joined us for dinner. It turned out the 2 steaks served four of us and then I had plenty of meat leftover for steak sandwiches (and to give to the cats). The meat was so rich you didn’t have to eat a lot (but we did). We like the meat on the rare side, I grilled them on one side for 8 minutes then flipped and did 6 minutes on the other side. I didn’t even need to use a thermometer to know they were done.

We started with a Tomato Salad with Burrata Cheese that our friend Guillermo had brought  from Italy especially for us. It was much richer than the Burrata we buy locally.  I purchased the Tomatoes at the farmers market (where I also bought the Corn). Basil is in season so I bought several bunches and made fresh Pesto from a New York Times recipe.

Cathy made the best crispy potatoes - the recipe is called Oven-Roasted Potatoes Patate al Forno from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. Fantastic! They were like French Fries without the oil. You can get the recipe from our blog of: April 10, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

Scott brought a very light and rich Cake from a Japanese bakery.

Basic Pesto

New York Times

Pesto is a mouthful of bright summer — basil made more so. You can buy it in a jar or in the refrigerator section of your grocery story, but there is nothing better than making it yourself. Fresh basil can be found in abundance at farmers’ markets in the summer. Just clean, take the stems off and throw the leaves in a food processor with nuts and garlic. Dribble in the oil and you’ve got a versatile sauce for pasta, chicken or fish.

Ingredients

2       cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)

2       tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts

2       large cloves garlic

½      cup extra-virgin olive oil

½      cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Combine basil leaves, pine nuts or walnuts and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely minced.

2. With the machine running slowly dribble in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth.

3. Add the cheese and process very briefly, just long enough to combine. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Chicken and Fig

Figs are in season! This is a fabulous recipe for Chicken and Figs. It is another one of those recipes that we make repeatedly. It is always good. It gives great leftovers. If you haven't made it you should give it a try. I know you will like it!. You can find the recipe on our blog of: June 27, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe. 

We started with an Endive Salad with Pine Nuts and Shaved Parmesan Cheese. It was a wonderful outdoor summer meal!

Convention Night

We never watch TV while we eat. However, being ardent Democrats we watched from our living room steps the speakers. Every rule needs an exception. This was ours. 

Scarpetta’s Pasta

We made the Scarpetta’s Pasta we liked so much. We also made Endive Salad with Creamy Pine Nut Dressing and Shaved Parmesan. These are two favorites that make for a wonderful dinner.

You can get the recipe for Scarpetta’s Pasta from our blog of: August 24, 2015. Click the date to get the recipe. The recipe for the Endive Salad With Creamy Pine Nut Dressing And Shaved Parmesan is below. They are both great!

Endive Salad With Creamy Pine Nut Dressing And Shaved Parmesan

The Scarpetta Cookbook

Scott Conant

For The Dressing

¼       cup pine nuts, toasted

¼       cup fresh lemon juice

3       tablespoons honey, such as wildf lower

Kosher salt

Pinch of crushed red pepper

½       cup extra-virgin olive oil

For Serving

16       endive leaves, cut in half lengthwise

12       radicchio leaves, quartered

16       arugula leaves, preferably wild arugula, torn in half

28       strips shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

¼       cup pine nuts, toasted

For the Dressing: In a blender, puree the pine nuts, lemon juice, honey, m teaspoons salt, and the crushed red pepper. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil a little at a time; the dressing should be a thick, mayonnaise-like consistency, transfer the dressing to a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons water. Taste and season with additional salt if necessary. (The dressing can be kept in a covered container for 2 days in a refrigerator).

To Serve: In a large bowl, gently toss the endive, radicchio, and arugula with ¼ cup of the dressing and half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Divide among the serving plates and top with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano and the Pine Nuts. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette and serve.

Zucchini Pasta

Zucchini Pasta is one of our favorites! It is from a recipe by Mark Bittman from the New York Times. We make it every summer when Zucks are at there best. You WILL see this again, because we are patiently waiting for our FAVORITE Zucchini's to arrive at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. They are an heirloom zucchini and are only sold there for a very short period. Every week we ask are they there yet? They tell us to cool our jets. The zucchini is sliced very thin and sautéed until dark and crisp. They cook down to very little, so start with a lot of zucks. You can find the recipe for this simple and delicious pasta in our blog of: June 19, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Buttermilk Roast Chicken

We made Miso Chicken. We did not like it as much as the Buttermilk Chicken. Make that one! You can find the recipe on our blog of: June 24, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a Tomato and Mozzarella Salad with Basil and Red-Onion. The refreshing taste of summer is here!

Pork Ragu Pasta

We had lots of leftover Pork Butt. Cathy had the great idea to make a pasta sauce with it. She used a recipe from one of our favorite restaurants Campanile (now closed) for Duck Ragu but substituted the Pork Butt for the duck. It was fantastic. We also used a new a different pasta. Is is called:  Casareccia. I really like it. It has a chewy texture,e being thicker than normal pasta, and has a slit down the side allowing for more sauce to penetrate the pasta. It can be bought on Amazon (as most everything can be). You can find the recipe for this on our blog of: May 30, 2016. Click the date to get the recipe.

July 4th

What a beautiful butt!

We had the usual cast of characters over to watch the fireworks and eat bar-b-que on our deck. We did do a few things differently however. We always get the ribs, brisket and pork from our favorite place in Compton: Bludso’s. However this time we decided to try their other restaurant on LaBrea. It was a wise choice: closer and NO lines. We also did not get the pulled pork. We decided to make our own Pork Butt with Ssam Sauce using the great recipe from Momofuku in New York City. It is a winner!

We purchased a 12 pound Pork Butt Sauce from McCall’sMeat and Fish. You can get the recipe on our blog of: May 27, 2016. It is delicious!

We had all the side dishes that you could think of, and lots of great desserts. The weather was very warm and the sky was clear, so we saw lots of fireworks.