Italian-Bangladeshi Dinner

Shuman had returned from his extended travels and we had him over for dinner. We made Asparagus with Browned Butter, Hazelnuts and Burrata Cheese.

For the main course we served Lentil Pasta. This is one of our favorite pasta. It is vegetarian but tastes and feels like it is made with meat. It is delicious.

In the summer when tomatoes were at their best we made several batches of Oven Candied Summer Tomatoes from: The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We then froze the tomatoes for use in the winter when delicious tomatoes are hard to come by.

We used the frozen tomatles for our main course: Lentil Pasta. The Italian Lentil Pasta from the restaurant Locanda Veneta in Los Angeles is one of the best. It is so rich, you would swear it was made with meat. You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 22, 2008. Click the date to get the recipes for both the pasta and the tomatoes.


The next night we had the pasta with a salad of Burrata Salad, with Tomatoes, Greek Olives, and Toasted Brioche Bread from Proof Bakery in Atwater Village.

The Mother of All Steaks

Nate in all his glory!

Wow! Crispy Oven Potatoes

We went to McCalls Meat and Fish and asked Nate for a BIG Porterhouse Steak! Boy did he cut one for us. 4 ½ pounds! OMG! It was great and we cooked it in the Egg.

Cathy found a fabulous recipe for Oven-Roasted Potatoes. They turned out extremely crispy. They are delicious. I had forgotten about them. They are from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. This is a fabulous recipe. They are easy to make and we HIGHLY recommend them! You can find the recipe in our blog of: April 10, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

This was a meat eaters heavenly dinner!  

Fava Bean Pasta

We made one of our favorite pastas: Fava Bean Pasta. We really like the taste of fresh spring favas, bacon (my favorite seasoning), the sage and onion. We have published pictures and the recipe for the pasta many times. You can find it at our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Fava beans have to be peeled twice. With your fingers open the pod and then remove the beans. When all of the pods are empty, boil water and put the beans in for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove the beans from the water, drain, cool with cold water then with your fingers peel the beans slipping the skin off. They are then ready for the sauce.

Interestingly we met two of our friends, Scott and Tom at Silverlake Wine on Monday night and Tom brought a bag of fresh beans from his garden. We simply peeled the favas and ate them like candy they were so sweet. They are also good in salads.

We made a simple Lettuce / Tomato Salad to go with the Fava Bean Pasta.

Robert and Darryl and Sardines

Robert and Darryl came by for dinner. We started with a favorite: Asparagus with Brown Butter, Burrata Cheese and Hazelnuts purchased from Mozza2Go. These are absolutely the best Hazelnuts in the city!

At Palate we had Sardines that were spectacular. They were imported from Spain: Matiz Gallego. They are harvested in Galacia. They are amazing. We asked Palate to sell us some and they sold us 13 cans.

We mentioned this to Robert and Darryl and they said they like Sardines. Cathy found a recipe for Sardine Pasta Sauce and we decided to make it and invite them. We mentioned we were making this sauce to our Tai Chi teacher, Michael, and he went wild discussing this sauce. It is a favorite of his. He said we should add fennel tops, raisins, pine nuts and wine to the sauce. We made it, it was strong and not surprisingly very sardine tasting. I doubt if we will make it again.

We did give the remainder of the sauce to Michael, who wound up loving it, and extending it to 3 more dinners. I am glad it found a home.

For dessert we bought a Lemon Meringue Cake from Proof, a new bakery near it us. We really like the bakery.

Pea Pasta

Fresh snap peas are in the market. They are very sweet and they peas don’t have to be extracted from the pods! It is a very easy pasta to make.

We started with a simple salad with some of the first tomatoes of the season.

A wonderful recipe is Orecchiette Carbonara with English Peas and Pea Shoots from the book Sunday Suppers at Lucques. We decided to make it with Sugar Snap Peas from the Hollywood Farmer’s Market instead of English Peas. One advantage is the peas don’t have to be shelled. The tips of the peas are cut off and then the pods with the peas inside are sliced in ½ diagonal slices. It is very easy. The pasta recipe is delicious and can be found in our blog of: April 28, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Cat and Jason

We decided to invite two of favorite chefs, Cat and Jason from Palate over for dinner. It is challenging inviting professional chefs over, but they appreciated it and didn’t put pressure on us.

They said they would make the salad and we watched them to learn techniques. One thing that I learned  is they gradually whisk the oil into the vinegar emulsifying it into a creamy texture. By making it thicker when added to the lettuce the dressing clings much better to the leaves than simply pouring oil and vinegar separately on the lettuce. We have an old salad spinner that apparently you can’t buy anymore. They really appreciated using the classic tool.

We of course had to start with Crab in Creamy Spicy Sauce. We love it as a starter. The recipe can be found in our blog of: September 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

We had purchased a White Salmon at McCalls Meat and Fish. This is a rarer type of salmon and is lighter in color do to being raised in areas that don’t have shrimp. Jason had a clever idea that we would never have come up with. We planned to cook the Salmon in the Egg on a rack. He placed small potatoes in a pan, put the rack on the pan, then covered the rack with asparagus and finally placed the salmon on the asparagus to go into the Egg. The juices from the salmon marinated the asparagus and potatoes as they cooked, it was a very good idea. We will do it again that way.

The dinner was a hit and they left us to go to a concert downtown: full, happy and floating.

Yakisoba

We had some leftover pork and decided to make Yokisoba With Pork and Cabbage. This is another recipe from the New York Times. You can find it in our blog of: March 7, 2010. Simple click the date to get the recipe.

Pasta

We made Zuni’s Café’s version of the much-loved dish from Abruzzo, PASTA ALL 'AMATRICIANA. The exceptional cookbook by Judy Rodgers is called: The Zuni Café Cookbook.

You can find this recipe in our blog of: Nov. 21, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe. One of the joys of the pasta is that it is made from canned tomatoes making it a year around treat!  We prefer the Pecorino cheese, which we always buy at The Cheese Store of Silverlake. The choice of pasta is critical with this dish. Even though the recipe says you can use alternative pastas we would only recommend using: bucatini. It really soaks up the pasta sauce.

We made this with a very unusual bacon. Nathan at McCall's Meat and Fish recommended it, even though he doesn't carry it. You need to order it from Bishop Smoked Bacon. It isn't as smokey as some bacon but it has a texture that is very much like Pork Belly. We order it again.

Salads

We are loving the spring vegetables in the market. Asparagus from the Delta this year is especially good: they are very thick and tasty.

The simplest preparation of all is simply asparagus topped with prosciutto.

Cathy found a recipe for a topping for asparagus that we have never tried before: Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs. It was in the Zuni Cookbook by Judy Rodgers. I really liked this topping for the asparagus. We can apply this on several other salads in the future.

We have been eating a lot of Smoked Salmon. We had left over Potato Gratin and it was a perfect topping for the re-heated potatoes.

We also made one of our favorite salads that we call "The Hungry Cat Salad". We first saw it made at The Hungry Cat Restaurant in Hollywood and asked them for the recipe, which they were nice enough to give us. We don’t use a lot of avocados and that might be the reason I like the salad. You can get the recipe, such as is on from our blog of: Nov. 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

Fried Eggs in Bread Crumbs

Zuni Café Cookbook – Judy Rodgers

I like these crunchy eggs for dinner with a salad of bitter greens. At Zuni, they appear on the Sunday lunch menu accompanied by house-made sausage or bacon and grilled vegetables or roasted mushrooms. This is a very easy dish and fun to eat when you are alone, so I provide proportions for one person. For more people, make it in a larger pan, in batches of four to six eggs.

FOR 1 serving:

3 tablespoons packed, fresh, soft bread crumbs made from slightly stale, crustless, chewy, white peasant-style bread

Salt

About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

A few fresh thyme or marjoram leaves or coarsely chopped fresh rosemary {optional}

2 eggs

About 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or sherry vinegar

Sprinkle the crumbs with salt, then drizzle with enough of the oil to just over saturate them.

Place the crumbs in a 6- to 8-inch French steel omelette pan or nonstick skillet and set pver medium heat. {If you like your fried eggs over easy, reserve some of the oiled raw crumbs, to sprinkle on the top of the eggs just before you flip them over.} Let the crumbs warm through, then swirl the pan as they begin drying out-which will make a quiet staticky sound. Stir once or twice.

The moment you see the crumbs begin to color, quickly add the remaining oil, and the herbs if using, then crack the eggs directly onto the crumbs. Cook the eggs as you like.

Slide onto a warm plate, then add the vinegar to the hot pan. Swirl the pan once, then pour the drops of sizzling vinegar over the eggs.

Note: If you are preparing the eggs for more than a few people, it is a little easier to toast the seasoned, oiled crumbs in advance in a 4250 oven instead of in the skillet. In that case, toast them to the color of weak tea. Then scatter them in the skillet, add the remaining olive oil, and proceed as described above.

Lentils and Pork

We had some leftover pork, and decided to make the very classic French Dish: Petit-Sale aux Lentilles –(salt pork with lentils) from Paris Bistro Cooking by Linda Dannenberg.

This very hearty dish is the perfect cold rainy weather dish. We use the leftover pork rather than salt pork. It was delicious.

Petit-Sale aux Lentilles

[salt pork with lentils]

Paris Bistro Cooking – Linda Dannenberg

In France, salt pork, or petit-sale, is made from pork belly or hock cured in brine; in the United States salt pork is usually made from pork back fat, a less meaty, fattier cut. Ask your butcher to select for you a particularly meaty piece of salt pork, or substitute a piece of cured pork belly, shoulder, or loin, if available.

salt pork

2  Pounds Meaty Salt Pork, Rind Removed

1  Large Onion, Stuck with 2 Whole Cloves

2  Large Carrots

1  Bouquet Garni   (1 Sprig of Parsley, greens  of 1   Leek, Thyme Sprig, and 1Bay Leaf, Tied in a Square of cheese cloth )

lentil garnish

1  Pound Lentils, Cleaned

4  medium Carrots,   Quartered

2  Medium onions,   quartered

1  bouquet Garni   (same as above)

Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

2 Tablespoons  Chopped  Fresh Parsley

To prepare the salt pork:

Place the salt pork, onion, carrots, and bouquet garni in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours, until salt pork is tender.

To make the lentil Garnish:

Place the lentils, carrots, onions, and bouquet garni in a pot and add enough water to cover the lentils by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for about 1 hour.

When the salt pork is ready, drain and discard accompanying vegetables and bouquet garni. Place the salt pork in the lentils pot and simmer for 30 minutes. (Add water if necessary to prevent the lentils from drying out.) Adjust seasoning. Before serving, remove bouquet garni from lentils.

To serve, slice the salt pork, place it on top of the lentils, and sprinkle with the parsley

SERVES     4

A Green Dinner

We LOVE pasta. Unfortunately, the doctor told me this week I have to loose 10 pounds. Oye! Well, we will continue to serve pasta, I will just have to have smaller portions. That should be a good compromise.

A wonderful recipe is Orecchiette Carbonara with English Peas and Pea Shoots from the book Sunday Suppers at Lucques. We decided to make it with Sugar Snap Peas from the Hollywood Farmer’s Market instead of English Peas. One advantage is the peas don’t have to be shelled. The tips of the peas are cut off and then the pods with the peas inside are sliced in ½ diagonal slices. It is very easy. The pasta recipe is delicious and can be found in our blog of: April 28, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a simple salad of fresh blanched Asparagus, covered with Brown Butter, Burrata Cheese and Hazelnuts. This is another spring salad that is delicious an easy to make.

The Pork Roast That Thought It Was Prime Rib

We saw a recipe for a Potato Leek Gratin in the New York Times. It has been cold and rainy here in LA so we decided to make it. What goes better with a Potato Gratin than Pork?

We wanted to make the pork roast on the Egg, but we didn’t know if the weather would cooperate for outdoor grilling. We decided to try and hope the weather would clear. It did! For that one day, the clouds disappeared and I was able to smoke the pork in the Egg. It was the first time we had used it in several months.

The recipe we made was: Herb-Crusted Pork Loin Roast from License to Grill by Chris Schlesinger. We purchased the pork loin at McCall's Meat and Fish. This is a very easy and good recipe. I used maple wood for the smoke flavoring. It only takes about an hour and a half in the egg to have a great smoky taste. You can get the recipe in our blog of: July 2, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

We haven’t returned to McCall’s Meat and Fish since we made this pork, and I want to find out more about the pork that he cut for us. This pork was unbelievably good. It was richly marbled and had the consistency of prime rib, not pork. It was an amazing piece of meat. When we picked up the meat we knew we were getting something special, we had pre-ordered the meat, and Karen grabbed a pork roast for us, Nate told her he had a different cut for us, so she put the one she was going to give us back and gave us the one that Nate suggested. Amazing!

New York Times

March 11, 2011

Potato Leek Gratin

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, more for greasing the pan

2 large leeks, trimmed and halved lengthwise

1 1/2 pounds peeled Yukon Gold potatoes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 thyme sprigs

1 cup heavy cream

1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

3/4 cup Gruyère, grated.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart gratin dish. Wash the leeks to remove any grit and slice thinly crosswise.

2. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, slice the potatoes into rounds, 1/8-inch thick. Toss with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Layer the rounds in the gratin dish.

3. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, remaining salt and pepper, and thyme. Cook, stirring, until leeks are tender and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Discard thyme and scatter the leeks over the potatoes.

4. Add cream, garlic and bay leaf to the skillet, scraping up browned bits of leeks from the bottom of the pan. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Stir in nutmeg.

5. Pour the cream over the leeks and potatoes and top with the Gruyère. Cover with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Bake for 40 minutes, uncover and bake until the cheese is bubbling and golden, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let cool slightly before serving.

Yield: 6 servings.

Spring is Here!

You wouldn’t know it from the rainy weather, but spring has arrived and the Hollywood Farmer’s Market is a sight to behold with all its spring vegetables.

One of our favorite springtime dishes is Fava Bean Pasta. It is best made with young Fava Beans when they first appear in the market. They of course have to be double peeled. First you peel them from their pod (that is good for an hour). Secondly you blanch them in boiling water and then slip their skin off (another 45 minutes). It is best to NOT cut your fingernails before you work with them.

Bacon is my favorite seasoning, and the pasta sauce is made with lots of bacon. The recipe can be found in our blog of: April 30, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Robert and Darryl had dropped some Sumo Oranges. They are all the rage this year. This is the first year they have been available. They are kind of an ugly orange, correct in color but a bit misshaped and pockmarked. But peel away the orange rind and there is a delicious fruit. We made a Salad featuring Dates, and slices of Sumo Oranges.

Yes, Spring is here!

Cooking with Wolfert

We cooked a dinner using two different Paula Wolfert recipes from two of her excellent cookbooks.

We started by making a delicious thick and rich soup: Creamy Farro and Chickpea Soup (Italy) from Mediterranean Grains and Greens by Paula Wolfert. Paula is one of those amazing cookbook writers that has never been a professional chief or owned a restaurant. She is a scholar of recipes, especially from the Mediterranean region. The recipes she collects are an inspiration to us. This soup is a perfect example of a country style soup. You could imagine having a bowl of this soup on a cold winter day and then going out to work in the fields.

We followed the soup course with Expatriate Roast Chicken with Lemon and Olives from The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert. It is absolutely one of our favorite chicken dishes. It is very moist and I love the taste of preserved lemons and olives. You can find the recipe in our blog of Aug 2, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

After eating this delicious chicken, then having it again for leftovers, we kept all of the bones and used them to make a Chicken Stock which we froze for future use.

Creamy Farro and Chickpea Soup (Italy)

Mediterranean Grains and Greens

Paula Wolfert

Farro is Farro," says Ronaldo Bellacamda, an importer of the Tuscan cereal grain, by which he means it's a specific type of polished grain (Triticum dicoccum Schubler) and not, as some people will tell you, a "kind" of spelt or a "kind" of something else.

Here's how Suzanne Hamlin put it in the New Tork Times: "A grain of farro looks and tastes some­what like a lighter brown rice. It has a complex nutty taste with undertones of oats and barley. But lacking the heaviness of many whole wheat grains, farro tastes more elegant than earnest."

Yes if you must, you may substitute hulled barley; but if you do, please remember: don't soak it overnight.

¾      cup dried chickpeas

¾      cup farro or hulled barley

½      teaspoon sea salt        '

2       imported bay leaves

3       tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for garnish

½      cup chopped onion

4       oz. chopped prosciutto

1       tablespoon minced celery

1       quart homemade chicken stock

½      teaspoon dried marjoram

2       whiffs of freshly grated nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

1.   Pick over the chickpeas and soak them in water to cover overnight. Rinse the farro and soak in water to cover overnight.

2.   Drain the chickpeas and place in earthenware, if possible, (beans cook more evenly in clay), cover with plenty of cold water, and bring them to a boil. Add the salt and bay leaves. Reduce heat and cook, covered, until very soft, about 1-1/2 hours.

3.   Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and gently cook the onion, prosciutto, and celery for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft but not brown. Drain the farro and add it along with the stock, marjoram, and nutmeg to the onions and cook, partially covered, for about 1 hour.

4.   Drain the chickpeas, discard the bay leaves, and reserve the cooking liquid. Puree the chickpeas with 1 cup reserved liquid in a food processor. Add pureed chickpeas to the farro and, if necessary, additional chickpea cooking liquid to achieve the consistency of a creamy soup. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Wait 10 minutes before serving and sprinkle each portion with chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

Veal Pasta with Asparagus

Bea came over and joined us for dinner. We started with a home made creation: Asparagus with a Parmesan-Béchamel Gratin.

We followed the Asparagus with the Veal Ragu Pasta that we had made from the leftover veal shanks

Asparagus with Parmesan-Béchamel Gratin

·      Break-off the Asparagus tough ends

·      Place in Boiling water for 2-3 minutes to partially cook, you don’t want them to be mushy

·      Make a Béchamel Sauce, we use Julia Child’s recipe.

·      Add about 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese to the Béchamel Sauce, stirring well.

·      Place the Asparagus on an oven proof pan, cover with the Béchamel Sauce and place under the broiler until golden brown – just a few minutes.

The Gift That Keeps on Giving!

Veal Ragu Sauce

Pasta with the Ragu Sauce

Soufflé after Mozza with Veal Ragu Base

We had a lot of veal left over from the big dinner and didn’t want to let it go to waist.  (Although with everything we made with it, I am sure it did go to our waists.)

We started by making a veal ragu. We removed the bones from the veal shanks, and started with the meat and vegetables and liquid remaining in the pot. We then adapted the recipe for Garganelli with Veal Ragu On Top of Spaghetti by Johanne Killeen and George Germon. This is an excellent ragu recipe.

We used our favorite Pappardelle by Rustichella – we purchased it at The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

We had so much sauce that we couldn’t use all of it up with just the pasta. We remembered a dish that we had at one of Mozza’s Restaurants outrageous Magiare In Fuamiglia Friday night family style dinners. They served Soufflés on top of a base of about 1 ½ inches of ragu sauce. It was fantastic! You dipped thru the light Soufflé and reached the ragu at the bottom. When served the ragu wound up on top of the soufflé. It was an inspired dish. So we decided to do it ourselves. We heated the ragu, poured it into a soufflé dish and following a recipe for the souffle portion that Mozza had provided to us, poured the mixture on top of the ragu. We then baked till a beautiful brown top had formed on the Soufflé. Thus the left over veal continued to serve us, and we loved it!

Garganelli with Veal Ragu

Serves 6 to 8 as a first course or 4 to 6 as a main course

On Top of Spaghetti

Johanne Killeen and George Germon

This versatile sauce works well with many pasta shapes, both dried and homemade. Try it with Garganelli, penne, or rigatoni.

If von have leftover veal from a roast, use it in place of the stewing veal. Cut the veal roast into tiny cubes and fold them into the vegeta­bles in step 2. Toss for a few minutes, add the wine, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

¼        cup extra virgin olive oil

5         tablespoons unsalted butter

1         cup finely chopped onions

½        cup finely chopped carrots

½        cup finely chopped celery

½        teaspoon ground fennel seeds

½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt

1 pound stewing veal or leftover cooked veal roast, cut into 1/4- to 3/8-inch cubes

½        cup dry white wine

½        cup milk

1         cup chopped canned tomatoes in heavy puree

            1         cup homemade chicken

1         pound dried garganelli, penne, or rigatoni (Rustichella d'Abruzzp makes a great garganelli)

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (about 8-inch in diameter and at least 4 inches deep) or flameproof terra-cotta casserole (with a lid). Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Saute the vegetables over low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft and have almost melted into a puree. This can take about 30 minutes and requires patience. The vegetables must be soft before proceeding with the recipe or they will not soften further.

Add the fennel seeds and sauté for 2 min­utes until the fennel is fragrant. Raise the heat and add the veal. Cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the wine, reduce the heat, and cook gently, stirring often, until almost all the wine has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Add the milk, raise the heat, and cook until the milk has evaporated. Stir in the tomatoes and stock, and simmer, covered, until the veal is tender, an additional 30 minutes or more.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Generously salt the water and drop in the pasta. Cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain the garganelli and transfer to a heated serving bowl. Cut up the remaining butter and toss with the pasta. Di­vide among heated bowls and top with a ladle of ragu. Pass extra sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.