Friday, August 08, 2014

Clams with Pesto





Scott and Tom stopped by for dinner. We started with a simple salad of Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzarella Balls to which we added some chopped fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar. It was a delicious easy summer salad.

For the main course we made Clam Pasta With Basil and Hot Pepper from a recipe in the New York Times  You can find the recipe on our blog of: September 10, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe. When you buy clams make sure all of the clams are closed, when you serve the clams, make sure they are open. The pesto sauce is easy to make. This is a great recipe.

Tom and Scott brought fresh Strawberry Cake from Valerie Confections for dessert. It was wonderful, light cream and fresh strawberries. Yum.

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Tomato Salad


Tom stopped by and we had some left over steak to eat (and a great bone for Chompy). We started with one of my favorite tomato salad recipes from Campanile: Green and Red Tomato Salad with Russian Dressing from New Classic Family Dinners by Mark Peel.  The Russian Dressing is exceptional. We did cheat however and use Best Foods mayo rather than make our own. We crushed garlic into it. This is a fabulous salad when tomatoes are at their peak.

Monday, August 04, 2014

Cliff Turns 70 and Pigs Out

Pre-Dinner Cocktails on our deck 

Our Pig!

Oysters

Cold Cucumber Soup

Pork, Potatoes, Vegetables 
Lobster Pasta

Claudio, Cathy and the Chocolate Carmel Birthday Cake

Cake and Ice Cream

Friends on the Patio



We celebrated my 70th birthday at Barbrix, our favorite neighborhood restaurant. Don is a fantastic chef, especially of Italian Food, which is his greatest love. We couldn't invite everyone we knew to the party, but it was great to spend the time with these special friends. The weather cooperated and we were able to eat outside on their patio. The service was perfect! Claudio chose perfect Wines to accompany the food.

I always have Pig on my birthday and Barbrix cooked a whole one for me. Don made a delicious Porchetta.  Oysters started the dinner, followed by a Cucumber Soup, my favorite Wedge Salad then homemade Lobster Pasta followed by the Pig with tons of side dishes including the absolutely best Cauliflower. The mandatory birthday cake was delicious - Chocolate Carmel from Cake Monkey. What a perfect night!

70 doesn't feel that different than 69!

Saturday, August 02, 2014

The Perfect Steak

Wow! What a Sunset!
Perfection


We will be heading to the land of no steaks. I wanted to have one more perfect steak before we left. We picked up an incredible piece Dry-Aged Rib Eye from McCall’s Meat and Fish. I told them I wanted a large steak for 2 and have leftovers. This sucker was 3 inches thick!

We marinated it in the dry Rub from the Babbo Cookbook my Mario Batali. This imparts an incredible flavor on the meat, although I am sure Nate would say why use a dry rub, if you are buying dry aged. The trick was to figure out when the sucker was done it was so thick. I had a hot fire on the grill, but only had coals on one side. After charring the meat on all sides, I moved it to the side of the grill that had no coals under it. I covered the grill and flipped the meat ever 6 minutes. Even with a meat thermometer it was difficult to get a consistent reading, but we took it off when we felt it was done. We were on the money, it was cooked to perfection! You can get the recipe from our blog of March 20, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

While the meat was cooking we were treated to a spectacular sunset. We drank and watched the sky, which was on fire for probably 20 minutes.

The New York Times had a recipe for a Greek Tomato Salad that I thought would go great with the steak. I liked the salad, and will make it again. We also decided on sides of corn and crispy potatoes. We buttered and salted the cobs, then squeezed lime juice over them. We wrapped them in aluminum foil and placed them on the grill, rotating them every few minutes. The corn was great, very sweet.

Finally Cathy made Crispy Potatoes from another New York Times recipe.

What a great dinner, and I left over steak!

Greek Tomato Salad
================

The Greek approach to a good tomato salad, whether it has cucumbers and lettuce or not (this one doesn’t), is all about keeping it simple. Sweet, ripe summer tomatoes, salt and olive oil are all you need. The flourishes here — green pepper, red onion, chopped mint and pinch of oregano — are optional, but they add brightness. Good Greek feta cheese takes it over the top.
TOTAL TIME
20 minutes

INGREDIENTS
                  3 to 4 pounds ripe tomatoes, preferably heirloom
                  1 small red onion, sliced thinly crosswise
                  1 or 2 small sweet peppers, such as bell or corno di toro, sliced into thin rings
                  Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
                  4 ounces Greek feta cheese
                  2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint
                  1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
                  Fruity extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
PREPARATION
1.
Wash, core and slice tomatoes 1/2-inch thick. Arrange slices on a platter or in a shallow wide bowl.
2.
Scatter onion and pepper slices over tomatoes and season everything with sea salt. Let sit 10 minutes to draw out juices.
3.
Break feta into rough chunks and scatter over salad. Sprinkle mint and oregano over top, drizzle generously with olive oil and serve.
YIELD
4 to 6 servings


Steak Mock Frites
New York TImes
SUMMARY
There is no better, more reliable restaurant dish than steak frites. It is perhaps America's favorite French food, a cheeseburger deluxe recast for date nights, celebrations, feasts. Few make the dish at home, though: The frites are too labor-intensive for all but the most project-oriented cooks. Here, then, is a recipe to fake out the fries, one that will take even a relatively neophyte home cook little more than an hour to make. The aim is great steak, a delicious sauce of maître d'hôtel butter, and potatoes with a terrific quality of French fry-ness, supreme crispness, with soft and creamy flesh within. (Here's a video to get you started on how to cook the perfect steak at home.)
TOTAL TIME
1 hour

FOR THE MOCK FRITES
                  Kosher salt
                  8-12 new, baby or C-grade potatoes
                  3 tablespoons neutral oil, like canola
FOR THE MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL BUTTER
                  6 tablespoons unsalted butter
                  2 teaspoons thyme leaves, minced
                  1 small shallot, peeled and minced
                  1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
                  Splash Champagne or white-wine vinegar
FOR THE STEAK
                  2 pounds beef steak, like boneless rib-eye, approximately 1 inch thick
                  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
                  1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola.
PREPARATION
1.
Preheat oven to 450. Set a large pot filled with salted water on the stove. Add potatoes, turn heat to high and cook, gently boiling, until they are softened, approximately 15 minutes. Drain potatoes, and dry them well.
2.
Grease a sheet pan with half the oil, and put the potatoes on the pan. Using a potato masher or the bottom of a heavy glass, gently smash each potato, pressing it down to a thickness of less than an inch. Drizzle the rest of the oil over the smashed potatoes, place on top rack in the oven and allow to roast until the exteriors are golden and crunchy, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Add salt to taste.
3.
Make the maître d’hôtel butter. Put the butter on a cutting board and, using a fork, cut the other ingredients into it until the butter is creamy and smooth. Scrape the butter together with a chef’s knife, and form it into a rough log. If making it ahead of time, you can roll it tight in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
4.
As the potatoes finish crisping, make the steaks. Set a heavy-bottomed skillet — or 2 if your steaks are large and you are cooking them in 4 pieces — over high heat, and let it sit for a few minutes. Shower the steaks with an aggressive amount of salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan, and shake to distribute. It will almost immediately begin to smoke. Place the steaks in the pan, and allow to sear, unattended, for 4 minutes, until they have developed a serious crust. Turn the steaks over, and cook for an additional 3 to 6 minutes for medium-rare. Remove steaks to a warm platter to rest. Top each steak with a tablespoon of the butter.
5.
Remove the potatoes from the oven, and season them with salt and a grind of pepper. Place 2 or 3 crunchy potatoes on each plate, then nestle a steak up beside them. Top each steak with pats of the remaining butter.
YIELD
4 servings.