Indian Dinner

Shu wanted to cook us a down-home Indian dinner. We of course jumped at the chance and offered our house as the venue. He made a wonderful Bangladeshi Style Chicken Biryani. Along with it he served a Riata that he made to cut the heat. We had two sets of desserts, Robert and Darryl made a Chocolate Cake and we bought dessert from McCall's Meat and Fish. (Maybe they have to add: and Bakery to the name of their store now that Karen is baking fabulous things! The dinner was perfect, transporting us back to India.

Mushroom and Sausage Risotto

One of our favorite winter dishes is Sausage Risotto. We always make this recipe Risotto con Luganegh Risotto with pork sausage from The Cuisine of Venice & Surrounding Northern Regions by Guisti-Lanham Dodi. You can get the recipe from our blog of: April 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. The Pork Sausages were from McCall’s Meat and Fish, of course, the cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

We started with The Hungry Cat Salad. The recipe can be found in our blog of: Nov. 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe and the story of why we call it The Hungry Cat Salad.

Thai Scallops and Water Chestnuts

Pickled Cauliflower

Baked Yams

Thai Style Scallops and Waterchestnuts

Unwanted Visitor

Ice Cream, Japanese Cake and Carmel Sauce

I had wanted to make a favorite dish of ours Scallops and Fresh Water Chestnuts in Thai Pork Sauce from AsianIngredients by Bruce Cost. We used to eat in his restaurant, Monsoon, when we lived in San Francisco. I love the dish because it is made with Fresh Water Chestnuts. Like most things, if you compare the canned water chestnuts with fresh ones there is no comparison. It is a bit of work to A) find them – we went to several Asian markets before heading to a big one in Montery Park. B) clean them, they need to be peeled before using. The joy of the dish is that the water chestnuts in the sauce like identical to the scallops in the sauce. So when you pick one up, you are always surprised by the texture, crispy water chestnut of juicy scallop. It is a great dish!

We decided to invite Tom and Scott over for dinner. The previous week we had been with them to a new restaurant, Little Fork, and with our cocktails they served us a Sweet Pickled Cauliflower. I decided to surprise them (and learn for my self how to make the Cauliflower). I Googled a few recipes and decided on the recipe I wanted to try. I was really pleased with the result. It is very easy and tasty!

We had recently been to a Japanese Market in Gardena and we bought Japanese Sweet Purple Yams. Cathy baked them, then topped them with Crème Fraiche and Chives. They were extremely sweet and delicious.

With the Scallops we made Japanese Rice.

For dessert we had a German Style Layered Cake from the Japanese bakery in the market. Ice Cream and Carmel topping from McCall’s Meat and Fish, made for a decadent dessert.

Scallops and Fresh Water Chestnuts in Thai Pork Sauce

Asian Ingredients

Bruce Cost

Scallops and water chestnuts complement each other in shape and texture. A meal can be made of this rich, spicy dish with the addition of just rice and a simple green salad.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

6 to 8 fresh water chestnuts (or canned if necessary)

1         pound fresh sea scallops

2         teaspoons cornstarch

Few drops sesame oil

1         teaspoon cumin seeds

1         teaspoon fennel seeds

2         teaspoons coriander seeds

1         tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1         teaspoon minced fresh turmeric (if available)

4         garlic cloves, minced

4         small fresh red chilies, minced (including seeds)

1         stalk lemongrass (bottom third only), finely minced

¾         cup unsweetened coconut milk

½         cup water

Juice of 1 large lime

3         tablespoons fish sauce

½         teaspoons sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons peanut oil

½         pound ground pork

¼         cup coriander leaves

Wash the mud from the water chestnuts, peel them, cut them in half, and put them in a bowl of cold water until ready to use.

Rinse the scallops and cut them in half. Toss with the cornstarch and sesame oil, and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Toast the seeds in a small dry skillet until fragrant; then grind them in a mortar or spice grinder and set aside. Combine the ginger, turmeric, garlic, chilies, and lemongrass in a small bowl and set aside. Mix the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and salt together, and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet and add the pork. Cook, stirring to separate the grains. When the meat has changed color—it shouldn't brown—add the ground spices and stir for 30 seconds. Add the ginger mixture and cook, stirring, for blend, then add the water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until it just begins to thicken. Add more water if necessary while you cook. Turn off the heat, cover, and set the sauce aside, (it may be prepared an hour or so ahead.)

Heat the remaining 1 cup oil in a wok, and when it is hot add the scallops, stirring to separate. Cook for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Drain the water chestnuts and cook them in the hot oil for 15 seconds; remove with a slotted spoon.

Reheat the pork sauce. Add the scallops and water chestnuts and stir over high heat just until hot. Turn off the heat, garnish with the coriander, transfer to a serving platter, and serve.

Cheese Soufflé

What is better on a cold rainy night than a Cheese Soufflé? They are easy to make if you follow the directions and delicious. We use the recipe from The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. It is a classic.

Cheese Soufflé

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Julia Child

Souffle

Mold

Preparing the mold for the soufflé

So that the soufflé may slide easily up during its rise, butter the sides and bottom of the mold heavily. Then roll grated cheese or bread crumbs around in it, paying particular attention to the inner circumference, which must be lightly but evenly coated. Turn the mold upside down and knock it on the table to dislodge excess cheese or bread crumbs.

Placement  In The Oven

A soufflé will always perform as it should if it is placed on a rack in the middle level of a preheated 400-degree oven and the temperature is immediately reduced to 375 degrees.

General Proportions

Whether your soufflé is made with cheese, fish, spinach, or anything else, the proportions with few exceptions remain the same.

Amounts for an 8-cup mold

Ingredients

Thick bechamel or veloute sauce

3-1/2 Tb butter

4-1/2Tb flour

1-1/2 cups liquid

Egg yolks, beaten into sauce: 6

Grated Cheese: 1-1/4 Cups

Stiffly beaten egg Whites: 8

When  Is It Done?

After 25 to 30 minutes of baking in a 375-degree oven, the soufflé will have risen 2 or 3 inches over the rim of the mold and will have browned on top. If you like the center creamy, it may be served at this point, but it is fragile and will sink rapidly. It will collapse less readily if you allow it to cook 4 to 5 minutes more, until a trussing needle or thin knife plunged into the center through the side of the puff comes out clean. A well-cooked souffle will stay puffed for about 5 minutes in the turned-off hot oven. As it cools, it begins to sink. Therefore, there should be no lingering when a souffle is to be eaten.

How To Serve a Soufflé

Puncture the top of the soufflé lightly with a serving spoon and fork—held vertically—and spread it apart for each serving.

SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE

[Cheese Soufflé]

The soufflé sauce base

A 6-cup soufflé mold, page

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1         tsp butter        

1         Tb grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Measure out all your ingredients. Butter inside of soufflé mold and sprinkle with cheese.

3 Tb butter

A 2-1/2-quart saucepan

3 Tb flour

A wooden spatula or spoon

1 cup boiling milk

A wire whip

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

A pinch of cayenne pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

Melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the flour with a wooden spatula or spoon and cook over moderate heat until butter and flour foam together for 2 minutes without browning. Remove from heat; when mixture has stopped bubbling, pour in all the boiling milk at once. Beat vigorously with a wire whip until blended. Beat in the seasonings. Return over moderately high heat and boil, stirring with the wire whip, for i minute. Sauce will be very thick.

4         egg yolks

Remove from heat. Immediately start to separate the eggs. Drop

the white into the egg white bowl, and the yolk into the center of the hot sauce. Beat the yolk into the sauce with the wire whip. Continue in the same manner with the rest of the eggs. Correct seasoning.

(*) May be prepared ahead to this point. Dot top of sauce with butter. Heat to tepid before continuing.

The egg whites and cheese

5 egg whites

A pinch of salt

3/4 cup (3 ounces) coarsely grated Swiss, or Swiss and Parmesan, cheese

Add an extra egg white to the ones in the bowl and beat with the salt until stiff. Stir a big spoonful (about one quarter of the egg whites) into the sauce. Stir in all but a tablespoon of the cheese. Delicately fold in the rest of the egg whites. Be careful not to overfold.

Baking

Turn the soufflé mixture into the prepared mold, which should be almost three quarters full. Tap bottom of mold lightly on the table, and smooth the surface of the soufflé with the flat of a knife. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Set on a rack in middle level of preheated 400-degree oven and immediately turn heat down to 375. (Do not open oven door for 20 minutes.) In 25 to 30 minutes the soufflé will have puffed about 2 inches over the rim of the mold, and the top will be nicely browned. Bake 4 to 5 minutes more to firm it up, then serve at once.

Polenta al Forno With Spinach, Ricotta and Fontina

Shu joined us for dinner. We made a recipe from the New York Times: Polenta al Forno with Spinach, Ricotta and Fontina. I was dubious, that I would like it, but it turned out to be an excellent winter dish. We will make it again for sure. We started with a Date and Parmesan Salad.

tta and Fontina

.

Polenta al Forno With Spinach, Ricotta and Fontina

New York Times

TOTAL TIME

About 1 1/2 hours

INGREDIENTS

            1 pound spinach

            2 cups ricotta

            Salt and pepper

            Pinch cayenne

            1 teaspoon lemon zest

            1/4 cup grated Parmesan

            4 ounces fontina or Swiss cheese, grated (about 2 cups)

            2 tablespoons butter

            Basic soft polenta (see recipe), kept warm

PREPARATION

1.

Blanch spinach briefly in a large pot of boiling water, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and cool. Squeeze all excess moisture from spinach and roughly chop.

2.

In a large bowl, combine chopped spinach and ricotta. Season with salt and pepper, then add cayenne, lemon zest, half the Parmesan and all but 2 tablespoons of the fontina and stir well.

3.

Butter a 9- by 12-inch casserole dish. Ladle in half of the warm, soft polenta and spread with a spatula to make a thin layer. Spoon spinach mixture evenly over it. Top with remaining soft polenta and spread to smooth the surface. (May be made ahead up to this point, then covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

4.

Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and fontina. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

YIELD

6 to 8 servings

       

Truffled Eggs

Not much to say except this is a perfect brunch. Scrambled eggs with black truffles. Perfect!

Orange Chicken and Kugel

Not a Noodle Kugel

Shumon spent the day with us playing with his new computer and iPhone. He joined us for dinner. We started with The Hungry Cat Salad as we call it. It is one of our favorite salads. We have made it many times. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Nov. 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

For the main course we made Roasted Chicken with Clementines & Arak from Jerusalem by Ottolenghi & Tamimi. This is a fantastic Chicken dish. You slice down the Clementines and they roast with the chicken. The Clementine skin be comes tender and delicious and is a delight to eat.

We saw a recipe for a Potato Kugel in the Los Angeles Times and made that in addition to the chicken. We felt the Kugel was not as great as we remembered our mother’s to be. I need to see if I can find my mother’s Noodle Kugel recipe.

Roasted chicken with Clementines & Arak

Jerusalem

Ottolenghi & Tamimi

SERVES   4

6-1/2       tbsp arak, ouzo, or Pernod

4       tbsp olive oil

3       tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

3       tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2       tbsp grain mustard

3       tbsp light brown sugar

2       medium fennel bulbs (1 pound total)

1       large organic or free-range chicken, about 2-3/4 lb., divided into 8 pieces, or the same weight in skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

4       Clementines, unpeeled (14 oz total), cut horizontally into 1/4-inch /

1       tbsp thyme leaves

2-1/2       tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed

salt and freshly ground

black pepper chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

All the intense flavors lavished on the poor chicken—arak, mustard, fennel, Clementines with their skins, brown sugar—somehow manage to come together in a sweetly comforting dish you will always want to come back to. Serve it with plainly cooked rice or bulgur.

Put the first six ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add

2-1/2 teaspoons salt and 1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper. Whisk well and set aside.

Trim the fennel and cut each bulb in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Add the fennel to the liquids, along with the chicken pieces, Clementine slices, thyme, and fennel seeds. Stir well with your hands, then leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (skipping the marinating stage is also fine, if you are pressed for time).

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Transfer the chicken and its marinade to a baking sheet large enough to accommodate everything comfortably in a single layer (roughly a 12 by 14‑inch); the chicken skin should be facing up. Once the oven is hot enough, put the pan in the oven and roast for 35 to 45 minutes, until the chicken is colored and cooked through. Remove from the oven.

Lift the chicken, fennel, and Clementines from the pan and arrange on a serving plate; cover and keep warm. Pour the cooking liquid into a small saucepan, place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the sauce is reduced by one-third, so you are left with about 1/3 cup. Pour the hot sauce over the chicken, garnish with some parsley, and serve.

Potato kugel with sour cream and Parmesan

LA Times

Total time: 2 hours

Servings: 6 to 8

Note: Serve the kugel with sour cream or extra virgin olive oil.

2 1/2 pounds baking potatoes (about 8), scrubbed, unpeeled

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 onions, chopped (3 cups chopped)

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped (5 teaspoons)

1 1/3 cups sour cream, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to taste, divided

Cayenne pepper to taste

2 large eggs, beaten

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Paprika for sprinkling

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with water to cover by about 1 inch and a pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 35 minutes. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

2. In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 1 minute, then stir in the garlic.

3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel the potatoes while still fairly hot. Cut them in a few chunks. Mash them thoroughly with a potato masher, not in a food processor. Add the fried onion and garlic mixture and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and mix well.

4. Add one-third cup sour cream and three-eighths teaspoon nutmeg, or as desired, and salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Add beaten eggs and mix well.

5. Thoroughly grease a 2-quart casserole with olive oil. Add the potato mixture and smooth the top thoroughly. Bake the kugel uncovered until it is firm, about 40 minutes. The kugel can be made ahead of time up to this point, then refrigerated up to 2 days before serving; to finish, reheat (covered with foil) in a 300-degree oven before continuing with the recipe.

6. Shortly before serving, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Season the remaining 1 cup sour cream with the remaining one-eighth teaspoon nutmeg, or to taste. Spoon the sour cream mixture over the kugel in dollops, and spread it gently to the edges of the kugel; try not to spread the sour cream to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the sour cream evenly with the grated cheese, then with paprika.

7. Bake the kugel until the topping sets and browns lightly, about 10 minutes.

8. If you would like a browner topping, broil the kugel, checking often, no longer than 1 minute, until the topping is dotted with brown. Serve hot.



Each of 8 servings: 286 calories; 7 grams protein; 32 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 15 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 66 mg cholesterol; 5 grams sugar; 101 mg sodium.

Lobster and Shrimp Fried Rice

We had two great Chinese dinners and we ordered lobster at both. The lobsters were excellent.

Newport Seafood's Special Lobster and a wonderful sauce. We also had a lobster at Lunasia, that was served tempura style. It was also extraordinary. We brought the leftover Lobster home and all of the empty lobster shells. We removed the Lobster meat from the shells and used it as a basis to make a Lobster Fried Rice. In addition, we steamed some shrimp and added it at the end to the fried rice. We had also brought home pea tendrils that were leftover. They went into the rice. It was a delicious and hearty dish. We then took all of the Lobster Shells and added them to a stock pot, making Lobster Broth that we froze. It will be used in a future seafood paella. 

Potatoes and Fish

Shumon stopped by and we invited him to dinner. We had left over potatoes that we heated up and placed upon a salad. We then covered the potatoes with smoked salmon.  It was great.

Veal Pasta and Date Salad

One of the richest pasta that we make is: Le Cameleon's Braised Veal with Fresh Pasta From Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. To make this creamy rich veal based pasta, we picked up beautiful veal shanks at McCall’s Meat and Fish. We love this pasta. The sweetness of the carrots and the richness of veal are perfect together. To make it even richer we added some marrow! It is expensive because the veal that we use is the best. No Parmesan Cheese for this style pasta!

We started with a Fresh Date and Parmesan Salad, the dates are excellent right now.