Smoked Salmon Cauliflower Puree

Tom stopped over to lend us a book. We invited him to dinner. I was Smoking a Salmon that we had purchased from McCall’s Meat and Fish. Salmon smokes so good in the Green Egg. The idea is to cook it at a low temperature, I try to keep the temperature between 175 – 200 degrees. In addition I throw Apple Wood Chips on the fire to flavor the smoke. Actually I don’t throw them directly on the fire. I soak them in water first, then I drain them, then I wrap them in aluminum foil leaving an opening at the top for the smoke to escape. You can get the recipe for the salmon on our blog of: January 15, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started with a Salad made from Apples and Young Greens. It was a very refreshing salad.

We made a Cauliflower Puree that I just loved to go under the salmon. We boiled Cauliflower and Garlic in salted water. When the Cauliflower was soft we drained it and then pureed the mixture adding Truffle Butter, Salt and Pepper. It was better than mashed potatoes. You could serve this anyplace you would normally serve mashed potatoes. Great discovery by Cathy.

Pork Roast

Rotisserie grilling is so forgiving. Place a fire under the meat and let it happily turn on the spit. We always place a pan of Potatoes under the meat, to cook and catch the drippings. All you need to do is make sure the meat is cooked by indirect heat (the pan with the potatoes insures there are no coals directly under the meat). This way the drippings don’t cause the coals to flame up. Occasionally check there are sufficient hot coals, add more wood or charcoal as needed. We use an instant thermometer to check the meats internal temperature, although you can pretty much tell by looking if it is properly done.

The recipe we use is was to apply a dry rub of Fennel Pollen, Diced Garlic, Olive Oil, Sage, Thyme  Salt and Pepper to the meat a few hours before placing the meat on the rotisserie. When the meat revolves most of the rub will stay on the meat and that which falls off will only season the potatoes making them even better.

The Bone-in Pork Roast was from McCall’s Meat and Fish. We had several dinners of leftovers and I had pork sandwiches for lunch. It was a meal that kept on giving.

We had dinner at Pizzeria Mozza. One of the vegetables we ordered with our pizza was a Oven Roasted Sweet Potato. It was roasted then pureed and returned to its skin. It was delicious and huge. We brought the left over sweet potato home. We made Bruschetta  by toasting Bread and topping with the Sweet Potato Puree and Feta Cheese. It was delicious and a great use of the leftovers.

Get Your Meat On!

We returned from India, where you can't eat beef. Our first dinner out was for a Hamburger. The first meal we cooked was a Dry Aged Rib Eye STEAK with Baked Potato. The meat was from McCall's Meat and Fish. It was tender and juicy and perfectly grilled with a great char. Perfection!

Pasta All 'Amatriciana

We made a Salad with Dates, Parmesan Cheese and Hazelnuts as a first course. The combination is a winner. For the main course we made one of my favorite Pastas: PASTA ALL 'AMATRICIANA. We use the recipe from the Zuni Café Cookbook. This is truly a wonderful dish. You can find the recipe on our blog of: November 21, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Pasta Failure

We cooked this Pasta from a recipe in The New York Times. We didn't like it. We won't publish the recipe. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't. It looks good in the picture, eyes can be deceiving. 

Sausage and Polenta

What's better on a cold night than Sausage and Polenta? We purchased the Sausages and McCall's Meat and Fish. The recipe can be found on our blog of: June 9, 2014. The dried Porcini's give this dish a special earthy taste. We also like it because it reheats so easily. One of our favorite dishes.

Cheese Soufle Garlic soup

We had left over Garlic Soup. You can get the recipe for the soup from four blog of: March 18, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe.

With the soup we made a Cheese Soufflé using our favorite Julia Child recipe. You can get the recipe from our blog of: February 15, 2013. Click the date to get the recipe. The soufflé was made all the better because we used Parmesan Cheese that our friend Guillermo had brought us from Italy. It made a difference. I know we always buy Parmesan Cheese that is imported, but where ever Guillermo is getting his, is better than what we can buy in Los Angeles. Glad we have him a supplier!

Mac n Cheese and Barbara Garlic Soup

Barbara, flew down from San Francisco to stay with us. She specifically asked us to make Macaroni and Cheese. It was a pleasure to make it because we love it. In fact, who doesn’t love Mac ‘n Cheese? I love the crispy topping! You can find the recipe on our blog of: February 2, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. To go with the Mac ‘n Cheese we served Garlic Soup. You can get the recipe for the soup from our blog of: March 18, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe. We had Cake for dessert.

Chicken Provencal

This is an absolutely great recipe for Chicken Provencal. The recipe is from The New York Times. You can get the recipe from our blog of: April 6, 2015. Click the date to get the recipe. I love this dish, especially the way the onions cook down and blend with the chicken. With the Chicken we served Garlic Mashed Potatoes from The Balthazar Cookbook. You can get the recipe from our blog of: November 12, 2012. These are absolutely the best mashed potatoes!

Onion Soup

Our friend Guillermo was visiting Los Angeles and he stopped by. We were making Onion Soup so we invited him to join Scott and Tom for dinner.  We love the rich flavour of this soup. We always use the same recipe from TheBalthazar Cookbook by McNally, Nasr, Hanson. You can find the recipe on our blog of: December 15, 2014. Click the date to get the recipe.

Wagyu Beef from Japan

We thought we would indulge as the year was coming to an end. McCall's Meat and Fish was selling Wagyu Beef A5 Grade imported from Japan. This is the real deal. You can't eat a lot it is so fatty. To cook it you heat a skillet very hot with no oil needed because of the fattiness of the meat. Sauté for 2 minutes and flip to sear the other side. It is so rich it looks like Foie Gras. We served the meat over Arugula seasoned with vinegar to cut the richness of the meat.

With the meat we served Garlic Mashed Potatoes. These are extremely rich potatoes - the best ever. You can get the recipe from our blog of: November 12, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe.

Pork and Prunes

Winter calls for stews. This one, Pork Stew with Prunes and Onions  is from the cookbook: The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert. We served it over Polenta. You can get the recipe for this delicious dinner can be found on our blog of: Sep. 26, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Our neighbor, Kazue dropped off some Persimmons. We made a Salad with the Persimmons and Candied Walnuts. Thank you Kazue!

Risotto of the Vigil

One of our Year End traditions is to make Risotto of the Vigil. We love this hearty dish! I had the foresight that when we picked up the various meats at McCall's Meat and Fish to ask Nate to cube the  Pancetta (which we substitute for the salt pork). It is very hard to cut into small pieces and he has a real butchers knife (and a lot more experience). I need to remember this for next year. You can get the recipe for the risotto on our blog of: December 22, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. 

Baked Ziti with Vegetable Sauce

There are some dishes that are so good that I actually think that I could become a vegetarian. Baked Ziti with Vegetable Sauce is one of them. It is wonderful, with a kick. I highly recommend this dish. You can find the recipe on our blog of: Oct. 21, 2014. Click the date to get the recipe.

We started the dinner with a salad of Shredded Radicchio with Anchovy Vinaigrette, Bread crumbs, & Sieved Egg. You can get the recipe for this favorite salad of ours from our blog of: January 31, 2007. Click the date to get the recipe.

Risotto Crab Cakes

We had left over Crab Risotto. I decided to make Risotto Crab Cakes. One always worries if the cakes will fall apart when cooking. We knew we had to fry them in a cast iron skillet, we also used Grape-seed Oil, allowing us to fry at a higher temperature. The real secret however was we coated the risotto cakes in Rice Flour. It is perfect for this use. I simply took the left over risotto formed it into a patty then dragged it through the rice flour. Couldn't have been simpler or better!

Crab Risotto

We decided to make Crab Risotto. We had a frozen Lobster Stock which we used to make the Risotto. When ever we eat at Newport Seafood (our favorite Chinese Restaurant) we bring home the Lobster Shells from our dinner and make a Lobster Stock which we then freeze for future use. The stock intensely flavored the risotto. We used our traditional Risotto recipe and at the very end stirred in the Crab Meat. Yummy! We started with a Date, Parmesan and Hazelnut Salad.

You can get the Risotto recipe from our blog of: April 21, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe. Obviously leave out the Pork and Mushrooms substituting the Crab at the end.

Cheese Spoufle

Guillermo brought us Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese from Italy. One of the many uses we put it to was a Cheese Soufflé. We follow the Julia Childs recipe and the magic usually works. Tom had stopped by and joined us for dinner. You get the recipe from our blog of: Feb 15, 2013. Click the date to get the recipe.

Daniel Boulud’s Chicken Tagine

We love Tagines. This one from Daniel Boulud Chicken Tagine is a winner. Any dish with olives is an added bonus. We served the Tagine over Cous-Cous. We started with a Date and Parmesan Salad. I have switched to using Maldon Salt in salads, I think it adds an intensity that brings out the best flavors.

Daniel Boulud’s Chicken Tagine
New York Times

This recipe for an elegant North African stew comes out of the kitchen of Boulud Sud, Daniel Boulud’s sophisticated Mediterranean French restaurant in New York. It is a dish steeped in the flavors of North Africa, but also of France. Chicken serves as the protein, bathed in a blend of North African spices — cinnamon and coriander, turmeric, ginger powder and cardamom — combined with tomatoes, saffron and a little stock. Preserved lemons and olives added at the end provide bite. Tagines are often cooked with root vegetables and dried fruits. Boulud, who famously grew up on a farm, in Lyon, uses cauliflower. ‘‘It is maybe a little more French approach to the tagine,’’ he said. Blanching the cauliflower and tomatoes before cooking them may cause some cooks to blanch themselves. But the effort is worth it.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SPICE MIX

3 ½         tablespoons sweet paprika

1         teaspoon garlic powder

2         teaspoons cinnamon

3         tablespoons ground coriander

1         tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1         tablespoon ginger powder

½         tablespoon ground cardamom

2 ½         teaspoons ground allspice

FOR THE TAGINE

8         chicken thighs, approximately 3 pounds

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2         tablespoons spice mix

⅓         cup extra-virgin olive oil

3         Roma tomatoes

1         head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets

1         large white onion, diced

3         cloves garlic, diced

1         tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1         pinch saffron

1         tablespoon tomato paste

2         cups chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium

3         tablespoons preserved lemons, approximately 2 lemons, roughly chopped

1         cup green olives, like Castelvetranos

½         bunch cilantro, leaves picked and stems discarded.

PREPARATION

1.   Combine the spices in a dry sauté pan set over low heat, and toast them gently until they release their fragrance, 2 minutes or so. Transfer to a bowl, and allow to cool.

2.   Preheat oven to 350. Season the chicken thighs with the salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the spice mix, along with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.

3.   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, and set a large bowl of ice water to the side. Core the tomatoes, and score an X on their bottoms. Boil the cauliflower florets in the water for 3 minutes, then submerge them in the ice water. Boil the tomatoes for 20 seconds, and chill them in the ice water as well. Remove the cauliflower when it is cold, and pat the florets dry. Peel the skin off the tomatoes, then cut them into quarters lengthwise. Trim away the seeds to make petals.

4.   Heat the remaining olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium heat, and sear the chicken in batches, starting skin-side down, until the thighs are browned. Remove the chicken to a large Dutch oven or tagine pot. Remove all but two tablespoons of the fat in pan, then return it to the heat, and brown the cauliflower and add to the chicken.

5.   Reduce heat below the pan, and add the onion, garlic, ginger and saffron. Cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and chicken stock, and simmer until reduced by 1/3.

6.   Pour sauce over the chicken and cauliflower, cover the pot and transfer to oven for 20 minutes. Remove, stir in the tomatoes, preserved lemon and olives, then cover the pot again and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken in the pot, garnished with the cilantro leaves, with couscous. Reserve remaining spice mix for the next batch or another use. It keeps well in a sealed container.

Crab Dynamite

Crab Dynamite, everyone's favorite

We made Crab Dynamite for Marybeth.  Everyone and I mean everyone loves it! The recipe can be found on our blog of: Sep. 5, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

Tom stopped by on his way home. It wasn't hard to convince him to join us,