Passover: the One Question

Wine:

Chateau Sainte-Marie Entre-Deux-Mers 2005
Saxum Broken Stones 2004 Paso Robles from Bea


We reduced the 4 Passover questions to one: Do you want Red or White Wine?

I went to Jerry’s Deli in the Valley and picked up some Creamed Herring (I love it, no one else in our house does). I also picked up Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls.
They turned out to be quite light and good. I also picked up some Coconut Macaroons at La Brea Bakery.

We exchanged potatoes for the turnips in the recipe. One thing we definitely discovered was that the meat was even better the second day! We had purchased the Brisket from Gus Meats and it was one of the best briskets we have had in a long time.

The previous Friday we had been to one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, Canale. We noticed a side dish on an entrée that we didn’t order: Fava Bean Hash.

We ordered it as a side for our dinner, and it was great.

At the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sunday we had purchased fava beans with the intention of making fava bean puree sometime this week. I decided to stop by Canale to ask Corina for her recipe for the Fava Bean Hash. She graciously gave it to me. It turned out that the leftovers vegetables from the brisket were the beginning of the hash. All we had to do was to separate the carrots out from the Cipollini Onions and Carola Potatoes that we had used for the brisket. We added some olive oil, the mint and the beans. We warmed it in the oven and it was great! Thanks Corina.

For a first course we made a great spring salad from The Zuni Café Cookbook. We never had made it before. The title of the salad tells it all: Mixed Lettuces with Mandrins, Hazelnuts and Hazelnut Vinaigrette. It is made with fresh slices of Pixie Tangerines that are just arriving in the market, we surrounded the salad with Manchego Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. I liked the idea of a salad with fresh fruit in it.

We were basing our Brisket on a recipe from the Los Angeles Times

Braised Beef with Turnips and Onions

March 28, 2007

Total time: About 1 hour, 40 minutes, plus 4 hours roasting time, plus 24 hours marinating time

Servings: 8 to 10

Note: Adapted from "The Cafe Boulud Cookbook" by Daniel Boulud

1 (4- to 5-pound) brisket

2 cups white wine

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

10 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 sprigs thyme

4 bay leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cups beef broth

24 pearl onions

4 medium to large turnips

1 cup apple cider

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1. Place the brisket in a shallow pan or container that will hold it snugly. Mix the wine, brown sugar, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and pour over the meat. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the meat once.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lift the brisket from the pan and scrape off the garlic and herbs, adding them to the marinade. Save the marinade. Pat the meat dry and season it with three-fourths-teaspoon salt and one-half-teaspoon freshly ground black pepper on each side. Warm the olive oil on the stove at medium high in a Dutch oven that fits the meat. Brown the meat evenly and carefully for 7 to 10 minutes. Add the marinade and bring to a boil. Pour in the beef broth to cover. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and cover. Braise in the oven for 3 hours.

3. While the brisket is in the oven, bring a small pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the pearl onions, and blanch for about 1 minute. Remove the onions and shock in cold water. Cut off the ends of the onions, and squeeze off the outer skin. Peel, trim and quarter the turnips lengthwise.

4. Remove the brisket from the oven. Add the onions and turnips to the meat in the pan, spooning liquid from the pan over the brisket. Cover with foil and cook for 1 hour more, or until the turnips are fork tender.

5. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, slice it against the grain in thin slices and place them on a warm platter. You will need a large spatula, as the meat may be starting to fall apart. Spoon vegetables around the meat, removing bay leaves and sprigs of thyme. Cover loosely and keep warm. Put the pan with the liquid (you will have about 6 1/2 cups) over medium to high heat. Add the cider and cider vinegar, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and reduce for about an hour until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (this makes a little more than 1 cup sauce). Taste and season the sauce as needed with salt and pepper.

6. Strain the sauce over the meat and vegetables and serve.

For dessert we had Strawberries macerated in Balsamic and a little Sugar with Coconut Macaroons.



Fava Bean Hash from Corina at Canale

Portions according to taste
====================

Carole Potatoes Quarter then Slice
Cloving Green Garlic – Confit it
Cipollini onions
Salt
Sauté all in ¼ olive oil

Add to Pan
========

Double shucked Fava beans
Chopped mint leaves
Cracked Picholine olives
Warm through and serve

Memorial Day 2008

Wine

Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Blue Top Champagne Brut
Dao Cabriz Portugal White Wine 2007
Whispering Dove 2002 Oakville Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (2 bottles)
Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
Domaine La Bastide Syrah 2005



We started with a great new (to us) Champagne that Bea brought. It was delicious. At The Cheese Store of Silverlake we picked up a Roasted Cashew Pesto that we served as an appetizer. We also had some delicious Almonds.

For a first course we made Asparagus Pasta. We love this pasta in the spring when Asparagus is young. Asparagus, Brown Butter, Parmesan Cheese – what could be simpler?

We decided to grill steaks for Memorial Day. Once again we purchased Dry-Aged Porterhouse Steaks from Harvey Guss. After much discussion of how best to grill them, I proceeded to use the Webber Grill. I started the fire with Mesquite Wood and then added mesquite charcoal and spread them evenly across the bottom of the grill. I singed the steaks on one side and then cooked them with the Webber cover on to smoke them. I then flipped them and returned the cover. The steaks when served, were cooked rare and were not only delicious but extremely tender. Sometimes the grilling Gods are with you! They were this time! Bea had brought two bottles of Whispering Dove that we drank with the steak.

We made a Fava Bean Hash. Corina who has a wonderful neighborhood restaurant, Canele, had shared the recipe with us. It is a delicious recipe.

For dessert we had Lemon Bars from L.A. Bread. We know it is one of Kevin’s favorite.

We drank a lot of great wine with this dinner. Thanks to all!

Fava Bean Hash
=============
From Corina at Canele

Portions according to taste

Potatoes Quarter then Slice
Green Garlic – Confit it
Cipollini onions
Salt
Sauté all in ¼ olive oil

Add to Pan
========

Double shucked Fava beans
Chopped mint leaves
Cracked Picholine olives
Warm through and serve

Smokin' Lamb

Ready to start smoking

Garlic Soup

The Lamb bone is connect to the....

Lamb and Fava Bean Hash

Pat joined us for dinner and we made Leg of Lamb, the Best (Rosemary) from Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton at Home. This is a fun recipe to make. We harvested a whole lot of rosemary from our garden, several cups worth, and completely surrounded the lamb with the rosemary. The lamb is then cooked, covered, in the oven. When it is done the covered dish is taken outdoors and briefly opened. The rosemary is now like dry kindling surrounding the lamb. You light the rosemary and let it all flame up, smoke rising everywhere. As soon as all of the rosemary is on fire you return the lid and let the lamb smoke. It is easy, fabulous, fun and impressive to see. The resulting lamb is smoky and succulent. You can get the recipe in our blog of: Dec. 17, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

With the lamb we served a Fava Bean Hash. This is a creation of Canele in Atwater Village. It is a great combination of flavors and is perfect with the lamb. You can get the recipe in our blog of: April 3, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Roast Chicken and Bread

We saw this recipe for Garlic and Thyme Roasted Chicken With Crispy Drippings Croutons in the New York Times and I couldn’t resist it! It is very simple and clever. Basically you roast a chicken in a hot oven. Under the chicken you place good bread that catches the chicken drippings and becomes a giant crouton that you can break up and use in a salad. We used the salad from the Zuni Café Cookbook that they make with their Roast Chicken. Following Billy’s advice we used the left over chicken to make a great chicken soup!

With the chicken we served Fava Bean Potato Hash from a recipe that Corina gave us from her restaurant Canele. It was a perfect accompaniment. You can get the recipe for the hash from our blog of May 26, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe.

Zuni Bread Salad
===============

Generous 1/2 pound slightly stale open-crumbed, chewy, peasant-style bread (not sourdough)

6 to 8 tablespoons mild-tasting olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon dried currants

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or as needed

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 to 3 garlic cloves, slivered

1/4 cup slivered scallions (about 4 scallions), including a little of the green part

2 tablespoons lightly salted chicken stock or lightly salted water

A few handfuls of arugula, frisée or red mustard greens, carefully washed, dried and torn

Spoonful of pan juices from the roast chicken

Garlic and Thyme Roasted Chicken With Crispy Drippings Croutons
=======================================================
March 11, 2009
New York Times
Recipe

Time: 1 hour 25 minutes, plus 10 minutes’ resting
Country bread, ciabatta or other sturdy bread, preferably stale, sliced at least 1/2-inch thick
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, more as needed
2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more as needed
1 4- to 5-pound chicken, patted dry
1 garlic head, sliced in half horizontally, through the cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 lemon
1/2 bunch thyme sprigs.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange oven rack so that it is in center of oven. Lay bread slices in a thick, heavy-duty metal roasting pan in one layer. (Try not to use a thin or dark colored pan, which may cause bread to burn: see note.) Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Rub 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper inside cavity of chicken. Stuff cavity with garlic, bay leaf, lemon and thyme. Rub outside of chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle all over with remaining salt and pepper. Place it breast side up on bread.

3. Roast chicken until it is deeply browned and juices run clear when thigh is pricked with a knife, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve chicken with bread from pan.

Yield: 4 servings.

Note: If you use a thin or dark roasting pan, you might consider lowering the oven temperature to 375 degrees to prevent the bread from getting too dark. Check the pan periodically during cooking and lower the temperature as necessary (you can open the oven door for a minute to reduce heat quickly.) It may take longer for the chicken to cook through at a lower temperature.

Spring Lamb

Wine: Pago Florentino Tinto 2004

We started with a Baby Artichoke Salad with Lemon Arugula and Pine Nuts based upon a recipe from Zuni Cafe in San Francisco. It is easy and very tasty.

For the main course we made the Rosemary Leg of Lamb recipe from Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton at Home. The lamb is often on the menu at Campanile. We purchased a large leg from Harvey Gus Meats. The recipe calls for a lot of rosemary twigs. Luckly we have several rosemary bushes in our backyard. I picked at least 30 large twigs.

After the meat is browned, you remove the lamb from the roasting pan line then line the pan with rosemary. Replace the lamb on top of the rosemary and completely cover the lamb with additional rosemary. You cook the lamb uncovered in the oven. When the lamb is done you take it outdoors, and light the rosemary surrounding the lamb. It quickly ignites in a blaze. Once the fire is going you put the lid on trapping the smoke in the pan with the lamb, giving it a great taste. Be sure not to burn the house down, or light it indoors!

As a side we once again made the great Fava Bean Potato Hash from Canale Restaurant.

Great dinner! Lots of leftovers.

Shaved Artichoke Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese
Adapted from Zuni Café

10 small artichokes
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons pine nuts
½ radicchio thinly sliced
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black Pepper
¼ cup thin shavings of Parmesan Cheese

1. One artichoke at a time, peel away outer tough leaves
2. Cut off stem and spiny tops of leaves
3. Cut artichoke in half lengthwise a remove fibrous choke
4. Slice artichokes as thinly as possible place in bowl
5. Squeeze some lemon juice over the cut artichokes and toss well
6. Repeat process for all artichokes
7. Add parsley, pine nuts and radicchio to bowl.
8. Pour olive oil over mixture, and sprinkle with salt, pepper.
9. Toss to coat salad
10. Add cheese and gently toss



Click below for a quick movie with sound, of the fire!

1st of 4 Steaks

Wine: Notari Micodemi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – 2004

Cathy is extremely busy with a rush project at work. We wanted to make an easy dinner. Grilling steaks sounded like the best plan. I went on Monday to our favorite butcher: Harvey Gussman. I arrived just as he was closing, but had pre-ordered 4 aged porterhouse steaks. Sorry Brett, know you wanted them, but I ordered them on Friday!

We went to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sunday, for the first time since our return from Japan. It was loaded with early summer vegetables. We bought a wide variety of tomatoes, potatoes, porcini mushrooms, corn, etc. The plan is to serve the steak in four different ways on four different nights. One steak each night.

For this first night we grilled two of the Porterhouse Steaks. We will only eat one, on Tuesday night we will serve the second steak room temperature. We Grilled Corn on the grill, much more than we would eat, because we plan to make a salad with the grilled corn and tomatoes on a subsequent night.

On Sunday night we went to Mozza, and they were jammed as usual. Matt helped us score some food to go. We watched the second to last Sopranos and had Italian food. How great is that? Will Tony get wacked in the finale? We only ate half of the chopped salad.

For a first course we had the other half of Mozza Chopped Salad.

We grilled the corn by smothering the corn in butter, salting then wrapping individually in aluminum foil. When the steak is almost done we throw the corn cobs on the grill. We remove the steak and tent. When you hear the corn begin to sizzle, with tongs we remove the aluminum foil and grill directly to finish.

We also made Corina’s Potato / Fava Bean Hash. It is served at her restaurant: Canele, the best restaurant in the Silverlake area by far! We have previously described the recipe (look at post of April 2, 2007 for recipe). It is great. The recipe calls for fresh mint, the one thing we didn’t have. I went to our local Indian market: India Sweets & Spices to pick up some mint. The United States has never allowed India Mangos to be imported. They just changed the law. The market had fresh Mangos from India. They had just arrived. They are supposed to be the best. I bought one, will report soon!

For desert we had Budino, which is a butterscotch like pudding from Mozza. It was great!