A Whole Lot of Pork

Wine:
Bourgogne Rose De Pinot Noir 2007
Capote Velho 2006
Qupe Syrah 2006

Wen decided to make the Herb-Crusted Pork Loin Roast on the Egg. Once again it turned out great. We were expecting some guests who didn't show up and we were delighted to have a lot of leftovers. I published the recipe in our blog on: July 2, 2008. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

We started with Feta Salad with Anise Bread, Tomatoes and Oregano from Casa Moro, The Second Cookbook. I love this salad! I published the recipe in our blog on: June 23, 2008. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

To go with the Pork we made Polenta and added fresh corn to it. Yum!

For dessert we made for the first time this summer a Fig Raspberry Crisp. There is only a short period of time where figs and raspberry are at their peak. It is now!

The recipe is variation that Cathy based upon a recipe by Jeremiah Tower.

Fig Raspberry Crisp
=================

In an oven proof baking dish place a layer of Raspberries
Cover with Cream Fraiche
Layer with sliced figs
Cover with Dark Brown Sugar

Bake at 350 degrees until crisp and bubbly. It can be served with ice cream.

Fig Pasta

Still cooking with Figs. This is a fast and easy pasta: Fig Pasta. It is from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. I published the recipe in our blog on: Aug 22, 2006. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

Labor Day 2008

Wine:

Vi D’Agulla aVinYo 2007
Cruner Le Colture Prosecco Di Valdobbiadene
W Schwartz 2004 White Table Wine
Copain Grenache 2003
Lombardo VinSanto Di Montepulciano 1998

For Memorial Day we decided to cook a lamb recipe from the new Mario Batali cookbook: Italian Grill. Bea had purchased the book and we decided to cook from it. We purchased a butterflied leg of lamb. One of the interesting things about the meat, is that when it is butterflied it has different thicknesses. This is great for grilling because you can with one piece of meat grill it and have very rare to charred ends. It makes life easy!


We started with Guacamole and Chips on the deck with lots of great wine!
We also had Prosciutto and Figs.
We tried a new creation from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. They created an absolutely delicious Goat Cheese with Candied Ginger. We served it with Crackers. It is a great combination. I am glad they came up with it!

For the first course we had Papa Al Pomodoro. This tomato / bread soup is from Italian Country Cookbook. It is a summertime favorite of ours. We make it several times every year. I published the recipe in our blog on: Aug 2, 2006. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

With the meat we made a dish we often serve with lamb: Baked Eggplants and Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs and Basil. This provincial style dish reflects ALL of the tastes of summer!

Because figs are still in season and we love them, and because it is easy to make we once again made a Fig Upside Down Cake. I published the recipe in our blog on: Aug 4, 2007. Click the date and scroll to the recipe


Butterflied Leg of Lamb With Garlic, Rosemary, and Mint
================================================
SERVES 8

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vin santo
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
18 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed a bit with the side of a heavy knife
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
One 4J/2- to 5-pound boneless leg of lamb, butterflied and trimmed of excess fat (or one 7-to 8-pound bone-in leg, boned, butterflied, and trimmed)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
COMBINE THE OLIVE OIL, vin santo, mint, 6 of the garlic cloves, the salt, and the pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Make 12 small incisions in the fatty side of the lamb and insert one of the remaining bashed garlic cloves and some of the rosemary into each slit. Put the lamb in a large baking dish and pour the marinade over, turning to coat. Let stand at cool room temperature for 1 hour, or cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or overnight; turn the lamb occasionally as it marinates.
If the lamb has been in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature. Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Remove the lamb from the marinade, draining it well, and pat dry. Pour the marinade into a small bowl. Place the lamb on the grill and cook, basting several times with the reserved marinade, for 10 to 12 minutes, until well charred on the first side. Turn and cook, basting several more times, for 10 to 12 minutes longer, or until well charred on the second side; the internal temperature should register 130 for medium-rare. Transfer the lamb to a carving board and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Carve the lamb into1/4 -inch-thick slices and serve immediately.
The vin santo in the marinade helps the meat develop a tasty char on the outside, like a steak. Cook it medium-rare, or even medium; unlike a butterflied beef tenderloin, for example, a butterflied leg of lamb always has some thicker and some thinner parts, which is actually a good thing—it means that when the meat is cooked, there will be something for everyone, some medium-rare, some medium, some a bit more done.


Baked Eggplants and Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs and Basil
===================================================
From Chez Panisse Cooking by Alice Waters and Paul Bertolli
For 8
At the restaurant, where large numbers of people are served at definite times, the success of any dinner, from the standpoint of the kitchen, depends upon how well prepared we are. Timing is critical, and accordingly, many dishes that would be impossible to assemble and cook to order are designed so that they can easily be finished and served. This logic and organization is valuable at home as well and can often help to simplify the work of the cook, particularly just before mealtime, when many tasks need to be attended to simultaneously. This eggplant dish may be prepared well in advance of being served.
I have never liked to cook eggplant in oil as it acts like a sponge and becomes heavy and indigestible. So before even assembling the ingredients for this dish, the eggplant is salted and peppered and baked in a little water. Precooking the eggplant also releases its brown, sometimes bitter juice and insures that the raw tomatoes, which will later be layered with the cooked eggplant, will finish cook¬ing at the same time. The bread crumbs are also precooked for proper texture. An important part of this recipe is the reduction that occurs in the final mo¬ments. As the vegetables cook they release their juices, which mingle with the vinaigrette, basil, and garlic. Serve this dish with grilled meats, lamb, in partic¬ular. It is also excellent with grilled chicken, salmon, sea bass, or cod.

3 globe eggplants (2 ounds)
Salt and pepper
3 large beefsteak tomatoes (2 pounds)
12 ounces sourdough bread, to yield 2 1/2 cups bread crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the vinaigrette:
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put a pot of water large enough to hold the tomatoes on to boil.
Peel the eggplants with a sharp knife. Slice the eggplant into ½ inch rounds, discarding the hard end piece near the stem. Lay the eggplant out on a cutting board and salt and pepper one side. Then turn them over and arrange them, slightly overlapping, in a non-corroding baking dish approximately 16 by 10 inches. Pour over enough water (about 1/8 inch) to come barely up the sides of the eggplant. Lightly salt and pepper the other side of the eggplant. Cover the dish and bake about 1 hour, until the eggplant is soft but not mushy.
Core the tomatoes and drop them into the pot of boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove from the water. When cool, remove the skins and cut the tomatoes into ½ -inch slices.
Cut the crust off of the bread, break the bread up into small chunks, and grind into coarse crumbs in a food processor. (If you have no processor, pull the bread apart and break it up by hand.)
Melt the butter, add to the bread crumbs, and mix well so that all pieces are coated. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet. Put into the oven with the eggplant and bake for about 1 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn the bread crumbs over with a spatula every so often, so they will brown evenly.
Prepare the vinaigrette: Whisk the garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper together until the salt is well dissolved. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the basil and whisk until blended.
When the eggplants are ready, remove from the oven, transfer to a plate to cool, and discard any juices remaining in the pan.
Cut the eggplant and tomato slices in half, making half-moon shapes. Layer them, by alternating and overlapping them in the same pan used for baking the eggplant. Fit any extra pieces into the cracks. Stir the vinaigrette again and spoon it over the slices, distributing the basil and
pepper. At this point, the vegetables can be covered and held for 3 hours before being baked.

To finish: Scatter the Parmesan. over the top. Put the dish in the oven, reduce to 350°F, and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and bake 1 5 minutes more. Let cool slightly, garnish with the remaining 2 tablespoons basil, and serve.

Soup and Pasta of Summer!

We have been cooking very seasonal food and we decided to make two more of our summer favorites!

We started with a cold Yellow Tomato Gazpacho Soup from Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook. This is a PERFECT soup for a hot day! It is absolutely one of my favorite recipes. I LOVE it! I published the recipe in our blog on: Sept 3 2007. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

We then made one of favorite pastas: Spaghetti with Zucchini (Carbonara without the Bacon). This is an easy recipe and depends on getting fresh Zucchini. The recipe is from The Minimalist Cooks at Home by Mark Bittman. The previous time we were able to get heirloom zucchinis at the Farmers Market this time they didn’t have them. I published the recipe in our blog on: June 18, 2008. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

Uses of Leftover Brisket

You can serve it again!
or
You can shred it and make a fabulous pasta Sauce! Cathy thought to add Fig Preserve to the sauce. It gave it a great crunch and offset the smoky taste! Yum!

Brisket on the Egg

Wine:

Quivira 2007 Sauvignon Blanc
Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Shotfire 2005 Barossa Shiraz
Frog’s Leap 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Vin Du Bugey-Cerdon “La Cueille”
Movia Sauvignon 2005


We had Bea, Billy and Kevin over for dinner. We wanted try a Smoked Brisket in our egg. We started cooking it (low and slow 200 degrees) at 10am. I had purchased the brisket, of course, from Harvey Guss. It was a giant slab. 12.8 pounds! When it was finished 10 hours later at 8pm surprisingly it was still a little tough. Oy! Bea reminded me to cut it across the grain and on the smaller end it was fine. We decided that we would then braise the brisket before we next served it. Two days later we braised it in beef stock with fresh tomatoes and it came out perfect! Moist, tender and retaining the smoky flavor. It was a good recovery! We still have a lot of left over brisket and plan to make a pasta sauce from it,

We started with Hummus and Pita Chips from Joan’s on Third. They are just great.

We then had a wonderful new soup. It is from the Moro East Cookbook. The soup is Tomato and Fig Soup. I would never had thought of putting those two ingredients together in a summer soup. It was fabulous! It is made with fresh and dried figs and the best summer tomatoes. Delicious!

With the Brisket we served the sinfully good Bacon-Potato Gratin from the Sunday Supper at Lucques Cookbook. Bacon is my favorite seasoning. We published the recipe in our July 8, 2008 Blog.

For dessert we made a Fig Upside Down Cake. Joy and Brenda gave us the recipe. It is easy to make and perfect! We published the recipe in our Aug 4, 2007 Blog.

Did I say we drank lots of great wine!




Tomato Soup with Cumin and Figs
===============================
From Moro East by Sam & Sam Clark
This soup is based on a recipe from Fra Juan's restaurant in the monastery of Guadalupe. It is strictly a summer dish, an interesting Spanish twist on a classic tomato soup. While serving this soup at the restaurant, a waiter over¬heard a customer say it was the best tomato soup she had ever had. Of course, it was a moment when the ingredients did shine. It was at the beginning of August, after a heat wave, and British tomatoes tasted as good as they get. The allotment figs were superb, too. It's a thrill to find recipes that have been cooked for hundreds of years, but in the end this means nothing unless the ingredients are at their peak.

Serves 4

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 kg flavorful tomatoes, roughly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
150-300ml water
3 garlic cloves, chopped
a little caster sugar (optional) ^
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a pan, then crushed
5 or 6 ripe, plump fresh figs, finely diced
400g tin of chopped plum tomatoes, drained of juice (we used fresh tomatoes)
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, to serve
lOOg dried figs, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion and green pepper with a good pinch of salt and cook gently for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and continue cooking until sweet and golden brown. Add two-thirds of the cumin and cook for 1 minute more. Now add the tinned tomatoes and dried figs and simmer gently, uncovered, for 50-60 minutes, stirring now and then. When the mixture is rich and concentrated, put in the fresh tomatoes and increase the heat slightly, then simmer for 15 minutes more. With a handheld blender, whizz until smooth, then pour in enough of the water to achieve a consistency like double cream. Season well with salt, pepper and sugar if necessary.

Stir half the fresh figs through the soup and use the rest to garnish each portion in the bowl, along with the remaining cumin and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Turkish Salad and Corn Pasta

Wine:

Sportoletti Assisi Grechetto 1999
Darioush Napa Valley Chardonnay

We started with drinks on the deck,it was a warm night. I had decided to make this the summer of chopped salad. Since all of the vegetables and greens smell so great at the Farmer’s Market we have been experimenting with various recipes. We really like this recipe for a Turkish Chopped Salad that we found in Casa Moro The Second Cookbook. I really liked it. It is topped with Yogurt and butter and then sprinkled with a Mid-Eastern spice: We will make it again!


Corn is at its peak at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. Every year we make Fresh Corn Pasta. We use the recipe from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. It is delicious and easy to make.

We followed with Brownies from Clementine. Great summer meal!



TURKISH CHOPPED SALAD
=======================
.
Unlike most restaurant kitchens, the one at Mangal (our favorite Turkish cafe in Arcola Road, Stoke Newington) has an oblong charcoal grill that the chef sits in front of. When we go, we often order chopped salad, a refreshing, finely chopped mixture of tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and coriander offset with creamy yoghurt and nutty caramelized butter. Wonderful on its own, it is even better with some grilled or roast¬ed marinated lamb. Visiting Mangal before Moro opened made us determined to cook over real charcoal.
Serves 6-8 as a mezze, 4 for a starter or light meal

• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ Persian cucumber, peeled
• 1/4 small red onion, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, halved and seeded
• ½ green pepper, halved and seeded
• 2 heaped tablespoons each of roughly chopped fresh coriander and parsley
DRESSING
• 1/2 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper „
TO SERVE
• 200g Greek yoghurt thinned with 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 quantity caramelized
• 1 teaspoon Turkish chili flakes (kirmizi biber) warm Flatbread or pita bread
For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together and taste for seasoning.

Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, onion and red and green peppers very finely and place in a bowl. Do not be tempted to use a food processor. Add the herbs and dressing. Toss well and check for seasoning. Spread the chopped salad out on a large plate. Spoon the yoghurt over the centre of the salad, then drizzle the warm caramelized butter all over. Sprinkle with the chili flakes. Eat with bread or grilled meats.


PASTA with CORN, PANCETTA, BUTTER,AND SAGE
===================================
ONCE THE FIRST LOCAL SWEET CORN ARRIVES IN JUNE, WE MAKE THIS PASTA, None form or another, a few times a week. My favorite version is whichever one we are making on a given day. The formula is delicious with or without the Parmigiano-Reggiano, with a little cream added at the end, with prosciutto in lieuof the pancetta, or without meat at all. An unmeasured scatter of sweet peas in addition to the corn is another pretty and delicious variation.
Buy fresh-picked corn, and when choosing ears, root around for the young ones with small kernels-you'11 get less corn per cob, but what you sacrifice in yield is inconsequential, given the difference in quality. Fat, full kernels tend to be tougher, dry, and starchy. Juicy, young kernels need less butter to make a succulent pasta dish. Otherwise, you can't skimp on butter without stripping the dish of succulence. (If less butter is your goal, reducing portion size makes more sense). I have tried this dish with various olive oils and found the flavor disappointing.
FOR 4 OR 5 SERVINGS:

• Salt
• 2 to 3 ounces pancetta, minced {1/3 to1/2 cup]
• 2-1/2 cups freshly scraped corn kernels and their milky juice - 5 to 10 small, young ears, depending on yield
• Up to 1/2 pound {2 sticks) unsalted butter
• A trickle of water
• 6 fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
• Small chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 pound fettuccine, tagliarini, or other slender egg pasta
Cook the pancetta in a few tablespoons of the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Stir and scrape to make sure it cooks evenly. When the pancetta has browned slightly on the edges and is starting to sizzle, turn off the heat, add a few drops of water to cool the pan, and stir, then add another few tablespoons of butter, the sage, and a few grinds of black pepper. Swirl the pan, then leave the aromatics to infuse the melting butter.
Drop the pasta into 6 quarts of rapidly boiling water seasoned with a scant 2 tablespoons salt (a little more if using kosher salt). Stir, and cook until the pasta is al dente.
Meanwhile, turn the heat under the skillet to medium, and add another 6 to 8 tablespoons butter, sliced. Swirl the pan. When the butter is nearly melted, add the corn, stir, and cook until heated through. Taste for salt. If the corn seems dry, add a trickle of pasta water and some or all of the remaining butter, to taste. Reduce the heat to low. When the pasta is cooked, drain well, then toss with the corn, taste again for salt and serve. Offer freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Goan Shrimp

Once again we made the Goan Shrimp. This is a great recipe! We served it with Biryani Rice.

We followed the dinner by watching a Bollywood movie. A very Indian night!


Goan-Style Shrimp Curry
======================
Adapted from Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur, Devi
Time: 25 minutes
1 1/3pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/8teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4cup canola oil
4 dried red chilies
1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups canned chopped tomatoes, with juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
1. Place shrimp in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag, and add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne. Mix well and refrigerate.
2. In a deep skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, combine oil and chilies and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cook for 1 minute longer. Add ginger, onion, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, ground coriander and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes. Stir, scraping sides and bottom of pot, for 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.
4. Stir in curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, and add shrimp. Bring to a simmer and cook until shrimp are opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro. If desired, serve with rice.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings.

Expatriate Chicken with Diva

Wine:
Domaine du Mas Blanc Banyul’s Blanc 2005
2 Wiv\ves Sauvignon blanc 2007

We just purchased a new cookbook: Moro East. It is from one of our favorite restaurants in London. This is their 3rd cookbook. Since Tomatoes are in season we made an unusual Tomato Salad with Cumin. The Salad is topped with Roasted Cumin that we crushed in mortal and pestle. We also crushed fresh black pepper and sprinkled it on the on the salad. The recipe calls for the onion slices to be soaked in milk with ice cubes to make the onions both crisper and less strong. After about 30 minutes they are drained, patted dry and added to the salad. We add crumbled feta to the salad.

We had Bea over for one of our favorite Chicken recipes:
Expatriate Roast Chicken with Lemon and Olives from The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert. This is a very easy chicken to cook and the Moroccan flavors are exceptional. You need Preserved Lemons which you can either buy or preserve yourself.

With the chicken we made Cous-Cous, the traditional side for this dish. It absorbs all of the great sauce that the Chicken recipe creates.

Once again, dessert was Ginger Cookies from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.



Expatriate Roast Chicken with Lemon and Olives
========================================
This super-moist Moroccan roast chicken is first stuffed with a lavish amount of preserved lemon and a bit of hot pepper, scented with ginger and black pepper, and flavored with garlic and good extra virgin olive oil. The bird is then roasted over onion and spices. These subtle and elementary flavors remind me of Morocco—in other words, it is an expatriate's delight.
SERVES 4 TO 6
One 4-pound chicken, preferably free-range or kosher
Salt
Pinch of saffron threads
1 preserved lemon, rinsed and quartered, pulp and skin reserved
1 cinnamon stick, 2 inches long
1 small onion, grated
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon sugar
Pinch or cayenne
1cup green olives (about 5 ounces), such as picholine, rinsed
Freshly ground pepper
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Early in the day, rinse the chicken inside and out; thoroughly pat dry. In a bowl, combine the pulp of the preserved lemon with the ginger, cayenne, ¼ teaspoon of the black pepper, the garlic, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place this mixture in the cavity of the bird. Tuck the wings under the chicken and tie the legs together. Cover with paper towels and refrigerate until 3 hours before serving. Let the chicken return to room temperature before roasting.

2. About 2 hours before serving, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Rub the chicken with salt and black pepper. Lightly oil a shallow roasting pan, set an oiled V-shaped rack in it, and put the chicken on the rack, breast side up. Set the pan in a cold oven and pour the 4 cups boiling water into the pan under the chicken. Add the saffron, cinnamon stick, onion, and sugar to the hot water. Turn
the oven temperature to 55O°F and roast until the breast of the chicken is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 275°F. Turn the chicken on one of its sides, brush with olive oil, and roast for 2O minutes. Turn the bird onto its other side, baste again with olive oil, and continue to roast for another 20 minutes. Finally, turn the chicken upside down to brown the back; roast for about 10 minutes. Test for doneness: an instant-read .thermometer inserted in ie thigh should register 160° to 165°.

4. Leaving the oven on, remove the chicken on its rack to a carving board, cover with foil, and rest for 20 minutes. (The internal temperature will rise to 170°F.) Meanwhile, skim the fat off the pan juices. Add the olives and half the cilantro; mix and return the pan to the oven to reduce for 2O minutes.

5. Carve the chicken and arrange in a heatproof serving dish. Spoon the olives around the chicken. Season the pan juices with additional salt and pepper and pour over the meat. Arrange preserved lemon peels on top. Garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro.

Chopped Salad and Pasta

Finally lots of tomatoes in the Market! We made one of our favorite pastas. We originally had it at an Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles: Italian Lentil Pasta. When you eat this you would believe you are eating a sauce with meat. There is no meat in the dish. I wish all vegetarian food was this good. We enhance the recipe by using the recipe for Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes from: The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

We started with an improved version of Chopped Salad. I really want to get the recipe for a chopped salad down and this one is approaching what I want. I hope to make several more this summer. Red Onions, Garbanzo Beans, radicchio, romaine lettuce, cubed salami from The Cheese Store of Silverlake, cubed cheese, cherry tomatoes, and a fresh herb vinaigrette.

Lots of leftover pasta, yea!


Italian Lentil Pasta
=============
From Locanda Veneta in Los Angeles

¾ cups lentils
water
bunch spinach
Oven-Candied Summer Tomatoes
Salt, pepper
1 small bunch Italian parsley, chopped
Dried Oregano
Olive Oil
1 small carrot, minced
1 red onion, minced
1 stalk celery minced
1 lb. Spaghetti
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Rinse lentils, then cover with water and soak 2 hours drain
2. Rinse spinach and remove stems, keeping some water on the leaves. Saute spinach in skillet over medium heat until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
3. Heat 1/3 cup oil in in large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrot, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and celery, and sauté until vegetables are golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add lentils and enough water to come to 2 to 3 inches above lentils. Cook over low heat until lentils are al dente, 30 to 35 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Return reserved water to lentils and set aside.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large saucepan over high heat. Add spinach and tomatoes, breaking them up with wooden spoon. Saute 1 minute. Add lentil mixture and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer.
5. Cook Spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes. Strain and pour spaghetti into saucepan with the lentil sauce. Cook 1 minute over high heat, adding butter and Parmesan cheese while tossing.
6. Serve with additional cheese


Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes
=======================

From: The Italian Country Table (Lynne Rossetto Kasper – one of our favorite cookbooks)

2 to 2 ½ lb. delicious ripe medium sized tomatoes
1 cup robust extra-virgin olive oil
salt

Use only the ripe, delicious summer tomatoes. Be sure to “ripen” the roasted tomatoes at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours before eating. Store them covered in the refrigerator up to 6 days. They freeze beautifully for 3 months – they sometimes even taste better for it.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Core the tomatoes and halve vertically. Do not seed. Leave small tomatoes in halves, cut slightly larger tomatoes into 4 wedges, medium ones into 6ths, and large ones into 8. In a half-sheet baking pan, or two 2 ½ quart shallow metal baking pans (not glass or enameled metal), arrange the tomato wedges cut side up, about ½ to 1 inch apart. Coat the tomatoes with oil. Sprinkle with salt.
2. Bake 30 minutes then, lower the heat to 350 degrees. Bake another 30 minutes and turn oven to 300 degrees and bake 30 minutes more, or until the edges of the tomatoes are slightly darkened. If the edges are not yet colored, turn the heat down to 250 degrees and bake another 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the oven. Cool 20 minutes. Transfer them to a shallow glass or china bowl and pour the oil from the pan over them. Let mellow, uncovered, at room temperature 4 to 6 hours.
3. Layer the tomatoes in a storage container, pouring in their oil, and refrigerate or freeze in their oil in sealed plastic container up to 3 months.
4. Serve at room temperature.

Tandoori Lamb

We are still trying different types of cooking in our Ceramic Egg. We really enjoy Indian food and in the great new Indian cookbook: Indian Home Cooking we found a recipe for Tandoori Lamb Chops. It was a perfect test of our Egg. Once again the Egg came through. In fact we have decided to give away our old Weber Grill. It isn’t needed any more not that we know we can also grill on the Egg. The recipe was delicious and provided lots of extra chops for leftovers.

We made a Saffron Rice to go with the chops.



Gael's Tandoori Lamb Chops
====================
From Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran
Burrah Kabab
SERVES 4
Burrah literally means "big," so this is a recipe for people who like big kebabs. (Our good friend Gael Greene, for whom this recipe is named, is a particular fan.) There is a mosque in Old Delhi calied Jama Masjid that is the largest mosque in India. The streets around it are peppered with stalls selling street foods. One such stall is Karim's, one of my favorite places to take friends and especially first-time visitors to India. Karim's is famous for many of their lamb preparations, and this is one of them. I serve these chops at my restaurant Devi, in New York City.
The kababs taste of the warm flavors of garlic, cumin, nutmeg, and mace, balanced by the sharpness of vinegar and lemon. The chops need to marinate overnight to absorb the marinade, so if you spend a few minutes to toss together the marinade the night before, the next night's dinner will take almost no time at all to put together.
Be sure to drain the yogurt for at least 2 hours before using or the lamb will never develop that savory crust during cooking.

2 pounds rib lamb chops, cut 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon toasted cumin seeds, coarsely ground
8 medium garlic cloves, minced very fine or ground to a paste

A 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced very fine
or ground to a paste
1/4 cup malt vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup yogurt, drained in a cheesecloth-lined strainer or a coffee filter for 2 hours
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons melted butter



Cut three or four deep slashes in each of the chops.

Mix all of the remaining ingredients except the oil and melted butter in a nonplastic bowl large enough to hold the chops. Add the chops and toss to coat in the marinade. Put the chops with the marinade in a large, resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

Heat the grill to a high temperature, or heat a grill pan for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.

Add the oil to the bag with the chops, reseal, and massage the bag between your hands to oil the chops. Remove the chops from the marinade. Grill the chops for 5 minutes on each side; let rest 5 minutes off the grill, then brush with the butter and grill 5 more minutes on each side.

Our Favorite Tomato Pasta

Every summer we wait for the tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market to be plentiful.
Finally there are a lot of great tomatoes. When they appear we ALWAYS make this recipe from Italian Country Cookbook: Penne with Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar. It is absolutely simple and delicious. The key is getting great tomatoes. We buy a variety of heirlooms. The Pecorino Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake was particular good. The KEY to this dish is to use good quality Balsamic!

We started with a Caesar Salad. We use the recipe in The Zuni Cookbook.

Penne with Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar
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From: Rogers and Gray: Italian Country Cookbook

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into slivers
1 handful fresh basil
1 – 28 ounce can peeled plum tomatoes (we used fresh heirloom tomatoes, of course!)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 ounces penne pasta
8 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, at least 10 years old
6 tablespoons butter cut into pieces
1 heaped cup pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oil in large pan and gently sauté the garlic slivers until lightly browned.
Add a few of the basil leaves and then the tomatoes. Stir and cook gently for 30 to 40 minutes, until reduced to a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper and add the remaining basil.

Cook the pene in salted water, drain thoroughly, and return the pasta to the sauce pan along with the butter. When the butter is melted, add the balsamic vinegar and toss over gentle hear for a few seconds until the penne has turned brown in color.

The in a handful of grated cheese, and finally stir in the tomato sauce. Serve with more cheese.

Zuni Chicken - Yum!

Bea joined us for dinner. We decided to make Zuni Chicken. When we visit San Francisco we ALWAYS have this chicken at Zuni. There are several recipes for the chicken that Judy Rogers has published. They are all very similar. This is the first time that we had made a chicken in our Ceramic Egg. The result was fantastic. Just look at the crisp brown skin! Fabulous!

It was a warm night and we ate on the deck. We started with a salad of cherry tomatoes and Burrata Cheese with Truffles. I think we would use regular Burrata next time. There wasn’t a big enough Truffle hit in the Cheese for our taste.

We then had the incredible Zuni Chicken with the warm bread salad that it is served with.

For dessert we leveraged an idea from a dessert that we had at LA Mille. We Crumbled a Ginger Cookie and topped with Dolce De Leche Ice Cream.

We all are looking forwards to the left overs! Great dinner. The Egg Rules!

The Article from the Los Angeles Times on how to make Chicken is linked below.
I have posted it to the web.

Zuni Chicken

The Best Gratin!

We had lots of the wonderful smoked Sirloin left over from the 4th of July dinner so we decided to just slice some down and eat it at room temperature. Bea joined us bringing some great wine. We started with a salad but the real hit of the night was the cholesterol loaded Potato Gratin!

We have eaten many times at Lucques and love the cookbook of Sunday Nights at Lucques, but somehow we had missed the potato Gratin recipe in the book. Cathy says “She will NEVER make any other gratin recipe”. This is quite a statement but it is that good! Of course, bacon is my favorite seasoning, and that goes a long way to explain why it is so good. The caramelized onions also are a treat! It really helped that we have an electric meat slicer, it works perfectly on the potatoes and makes it easy to cut thin ones uniformily.

For dessert Cathy Sautéed Cherries and served them with the now famous Ginger Cookies from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

Potato-Bacon Gratin
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1/2 pound slab applewood-smoked bacon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced onions (about 1 pound)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons thyme leaves
2 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
About 2 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

This potato and bacon gratin was created by Rob Chalmers, a chef de cuisine at Lucques who had a great love of food and a big Boston attitude to go along with it. When he first told me about this gratin, 1 thought he was joking. That much fat in one pan might put even me over the edge. But lo and behold, bacon, potatoes, and cream really do taste good together!

Preheat the oven to 350°
.
Cut the bacon into 3/8-inch-thick slices, and stack them in two piles, then cut the bacon crosswise into 3/8-inch even-sided rectangular shapes, or lardons.

Heat a large saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat for a minute. Swirl in the olive oil and add the bacon. Cook the bacon about 5 minutes, stirring often, until tender and lightly crisped. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon, reserving the bacon fat in the pan.
Add the onions, 2 teaspoons thyme, i teaspoon salt, and some pepper to the pan. Cook 15 minutes, stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon, until the onions start to caramelize. Turn the heat down to low, and continue to cook, about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are a deep golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Use a mandoline to slice the potatoes into 1/16-inch-thick rounds. Pour 1/2 cup cream evenly onto the bottom of a 9-by-9-inch (or equivalent) gratin dish. Place one layer of potatoes side by side, slightly overlapping, on the bottom of the dish. Spread a third of the onions over them and scatter a third of the bacon on top. Arrange a second layer of potatoes, drizzle 1/4 cup cream over it, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, a healthy pinch of pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme. Press the potatoes down with your fingers, letting the cream soak up through the layers. This will ensure that the cream is evenly distributed and coats the potatoes well.
Arrange another layer of potatoes on top, followed by another third of the caramelized onions and the bacon. Drizzle over another 1/4 cup cream, and con¬tinue with two more layers of potatoes. Drizzle with 1/2 cup cream and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Press the potatoes down with your fingers again. Scatter the rest of the onions and bacon over the potatoes, and driz¬zle with 1/3 cup cream. Season one last time with 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon thyme, and a pinch of pepper. The cream should cover the potatoes but not be "soupy." Add more cream if the gratin seems dry.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap (yes, it can go in the oven) and then foil. Bake 1-1/2 hours, until the potatoes are tender when pierced. Remove from the oven, and carefully uncover. Turn the oven up to 425°F and return the gratin to the oven. Cook another 20 minutes or so, until the top is nice and golden brown, as in gratineed.

Brisket on the Egg

Wine:

Quivira 2007 Sauvignon Blanc
Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Shotfire 2005 Barossa Shiraz
Frog’s Leap 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Vin Du Bugey-Cerdon “La Cueille”
Movia Sauvignon 2005


We had Bea, Billy and Kevin over for dinner. We wanted try a Smoked Brisket in our egg. We started cooking it (low and slow 200 degrees) at 10am. I had purchased the brisket, of course, from Harvey Guss. It was a giant slab. 12.8 pounds! When it was finished 10 hours later at 8pm surprisingly it was still a little tough. Oye! Bea reminded me to cut it across the grain and on the smaller end it was fine. We decided that we would then braise the brisket. Two days later we braised it in beef stock with fresh tomatoes and it came out perfect! Moist, tender and retaining the smoky flavor. It was a good recovery! We still have a lot of left over brisket and plan to make a pasta sauce from it,

We started with Hummus and Pita Chips from Joan’s on Third. They are just great.

We then had a wonderful new soup. It is from the Moro East Cookbook. The soup is Tomato and Fig Soup. I would never had thought of putting those two ingrediants together in a summer soup. It was fabulous! It is made with fresh and dried figs and the best summer tomatoes. Delicious!

With the Brisket we served the sinfully good Potato Gratin from the Sunday Supper at Lucques Cookbook. Bacon is my favorite seasoning.

For desert we made a Fig Upside Down Cake. Joy and Brenda gave us the recipe. It is easy to make and perfect! The recipe for the cake was in out July 4th blog.

Did I say lots of wine!




Tomato soup with cumin and figs
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From Moro East by Sam & Sam Clark
This soup is based on a recipe from Fra Juan's restaurant in the monastery of Guadalupe. It is strictly a summer dish, an interesting Spanish twist on a classic tomato soup. While serving this soup at the restaurant, a waiter over¬heard a customer say it was the best tomato soup she had ever had. Of course, it was a moment when the ingredients did shine. It was at the beginning of August, after a heat wave, and British tomatoes tasted as good as they get. The allotment figs were superb, too. It's a thrill to find recipes that have been cooked for hundreds of years, but in the end this means nothing unless the ingredients are at their peak.

Serves 4

6 tablespoons olive oil
1 kg flavorful tomatoes, roughly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
150-300ml water
3 garlic cloves, chopped
a little caster sugar (optional) ^
2 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a pan, then crushed
5 or 6 ripe, plump fresh figs, finely diced
400g tin of chopped plum tomatoes, drained of juice (we used fresh tomatoes)
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, to serve
lOOg dried figs, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion and green pepper with a good pinch of salt and cook gently for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and continue cooking until sweet and golden brown. Add two-thirds of the cumin and cook for 1 minute more. Now add the tinned tomatoes and dried figs and simmer gently, uncovered, for 50-60 minutes, stirring now and then. When the mixture is rich and concen¬trated, put in the fresh tomatoes and increase the heat slightly, then simmer for 15 minutes more. With a handheld blender, whizz until smooth, then pour in enough of the water to achieve a consistency like double cream. Season well with salt, pepper and sugar if necessary.

Stir half the fresh figs through the soup and use the rest to garnish each portion in the bowl, along with the remaining cumin and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Pork Loin in the Egg

Wine:

Coenobium Vendemmia 2006
Mea Culpa Ranina 2005
Rose de Loire NV
Edizione Pennion 2004 Rutherford-Napa Valley Zinfandel

We decided to buy a smoker and do some serious smoking. We purchased a large ceramic egg. The walls are an inch thick and it holds the heat (and smoke) and moisture while the meat slowly cooks. It is very different from a traditional Weber made of metal (and mucho heavier).

For our first attempt at using it, we invited Bea over. We knew should would be forgiving of any problems and we would have plenty of wine to drink if things went badly.

Bottom Line as they like to say. It worked perfectly. We cooked: Herb-Crusted Pork Loin Roast from License to Grill by Chris Schlesinger. It was delicious and moist and smoky and tender!

We started with Grilled Bread (on a Panini maker) topped with Burrata and Pesto.
We knew Bea loved Farro (as we do) and we made a delicious Roasted Beet Farritto from The Babbo Cookbook. The beets at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market are very sweet right now.

Once again for dessert we had those great Ginger Cookies from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.



ROASTED BEET FARROTTO
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Adapted from "The Babbo Cookbook" by Mario Batali (Clarkson Potter, 2002)
Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
1 bunch beets, about a pound, scrubbed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups farro, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses or saba, unfermented boiled-down grape must (sold in specialty food shops)
1/2 cup brown chicken stock or half chicken, half beef stock
Parmigiano-reggiano, for grating.
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim tops off beets, drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in heavy-duty aluminum foil and roast until tender, about 45 minutes. Cool.
2. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add farro and cook until just tender, about 20 minutes.
3. While farro cooks, peel beets, cut in two and slice in half-moons 1/4-inch thick. Place in a bowl and toss with pomegranate molasses or saba.
4. Drain farro, and place in a skillet with stock. Add sliced beets, and toss over high heat until most of the stock is absorbed and farro is tender, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve, topped with grated cheese.
Yield: 4 to 6 first-course servings.





Herb-Crusted Pork Loin Roast
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From License to Grill

1 cup roughly chopped mixed fresh herbs: and combination of parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, and / or marjoram

¼ cup minced garlic

1 to 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes, depending on your taste for heat (we used ½ teaspoons)

¼ cup freshly cracked black pepper

¼ cup olive oil
1 – 3 to 4 pound bone-in center-cut pork loin roast, chine bone removed


Build a fire in the grill and arrange to cook via indirect heat.
In a small bowl mix all ingredients and rub the pork loin generously with the herb mixture.

Cook covered trying to keep the heat in the covered grill at about 225 to 280 degrees. Cook 2 ½ hours to 3 hours until the internal temperature of the meat is about 150 degree.