Amy's Food Adventures

Cooking for friends

As I was planning my Xmas DInner (Asparagus Soup, Prime Rib, Carrots Julia (Child), Pommes Gratin Dauphinoise (more Julia), String beans, and Apple Crisp), I realized that one of my guests couldn't each much dairy and the Potato dish I was planning was loaded with butter, milk, and cream.

I vaguely remembered that there was an olive-oile based version, but not how it worked, so I decided to create something out of my taste memories rather than go hunting in my 5,000 cookbooks (I haven't even read the six new ones I got for Xmas).

I'm sure I'm reinventing something that already exists, but this is what I made:

Pommes Gratin avec Boef

(So named because I used beef stock as the liquid -- you could use chicken stock, too).  Cut up potatoes and sice thinly, then cook until barely tender in stock with a bit of salt, pepper, and thyme.  In the meantime, saute a chopped onion and some minced garic in a tablespoon of olive oil (amounts depends on how much you want, from one large potato and half an onion for one to vast multiples -- I'm usually making a dish like this for 6-8 and leftrovers are definited welcome.

When the onion is lightly browned, put the drained potatoes into a shallow baking dish, sprinkle with the onions and their olive oil, and add some of the cooking liquid (enough to come half way up the potatoes) and some salt and pepper.  If you like, you can drizzle on a bit more olive oil or a few bits of butter.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 1 hour until the liquid is mainly absorbed and the top is browned.  My non-dairy eating friend loved her personal version of the potatoes and ate the leftover as a snack!  Next time I'm making this version for everyone.

Warmer Food for Cooler Days

Four days of rain and much cooler temperatures means that Sunday dinner isn't going to feature a cold soup (my favorite Gazpacho?), a salad, and something grilled.  Instead I thought about making something more suitable for cooler weather.

I decided on my favorite family meatloaf recipe.  It started out as my mother-in-law's, although I don't think she'd recognize it with all the added garlic.  We never have many leftovers and everyone wants seconds, so I think we've gotten it right. It's really easy.

Slice 3 large onions into thin half-circles and chop 10-12 cloves of garlic.  Saute the onions in 2 Tbs. of vegetable oil until soft and golden.  Add the garlic, continue sauteing until brown with some dark spots.  Add some water or broth if it seems dry.  Mix half the onion mixture into four pounds of ground beef (I use chuck, 80% lean -- it seems too dry if you use a super lean blend) with 2 tsp. Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. ground pepper, and the liquid from a large (28 oz.) can of Italian plum tomatoes.  Form into a meatloaf in a large pan (10x13").  Mix the rest of the onion mixture, the tomatoes (smashed a bit), and one 8 oz. can of tomato sauce.  Pour the sauce over and around the meatloaf.  Cover the pan with foil and bake in a 350 oven for 90 minutes.  Uncover the pan and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes to brown the loaf.

If you want to serve the meatloaf now, you will want to skim the fat from the sauce before serving.  Otherwise, cool everything, wrap the meatloaf in foil, and refrigerate the sauce in a covered container.  Before serving, remove the fat from the sauce and, if you like, blend it in a food processor to make a smoother sauce.  Then heat the meatloaf covered in foil (I slice it first) and heat the sauce separately.

We always serve this with mashed potatoes and a salad.  Leftovers are delicious reheated, cold, or in a sandwich.

From Dinner Parties to Leftovers

I've never been one to purposefully waste food, but I have been careless.  Lots of little dishes that age in the refrigerator and when dead, get tossed.  But I've been promising to do better and this seems like a a good time.

Sunday night I had a kind of vaguely Spanish dinner party:

Gazpacho

    A Mixed Grill of Beef Tenderloin, Rib Lamb Chops, Italian Sausage, Pork Tenderloin, and Butterflied Shrimps

Sauces:  Chimichurri, Romanesco, and Dill
Corn on the Cob
Tomato Basil Salad
French Bread
Mixed Berries and Cream

Gazpacho isn't a leftover -- just lunch with some of the French Bread, and perhaps some cheese.

We had bits of everything but the pork and the corn left behind.  Here's what I plan to do:

• I'll mix the Dill Sauce (just chopped dill mixed into Greek Yogurt) in the blender with a seeded cucumber, a small clove of garlic, a bit (a Tablespoon? of Red Wine Vinegar,a few shakes of Tabasco, and a few walnuts.  Summer soup.  You can add more dill, too, if you like.

• Make some rice and heat the shrimp in some sizzling garlic butter.  Serve it with an Augula salad (a few bits of tomato or avocado mixed in are good).  Berries and sliced nectarines make a nice dessert.

• Make a minestrone of diced onion and garlic, some diced red pepper and carrot, and a can of rinsed cannelini beans.  Add a can of chicken stock for more liquid and season well with salt and pepper.  Stir in a few chiffonaded basil leaves at the end.  That makes a good course for the reheated sausages served with light mashed potatoes.  The Romanesco Sauce could be good with this.  If you're very hungry, a Caesar Salad makes a good addition.

• I'm serving the leftover lamb chop and filet mignon pieces (more than enough for one) with the Chimichurri Sauce, some thin fried potatoes, and the leftover tomato salad.

There, a clean conscience, at least three meals, and not much work.  I feel saintly. 

Julia and Julie: Some Nostalgic Moments

I saw Julia and Julie Tuesday night.  It was amazing watching Meryl Streep transform herself into Julia -- not by the costumes (although they were authentic) -- but rather by voice and posture.  The juxtaposition of Julia's and Julie's experiences are interesting, but frankly as someone who had cooked my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking myself (in 1970), the Julie part was less impressive. 

I confess I didn't feel compelled to cook everything -- or to do it all in one year.  But there was the six weeks when I baked my way through the dessert chapter and then had a dessert party (remember them?) featuring six of Julia's torte's and a bowl of chocolate mousse.

You could hear the entire audience sighing when the Beef Bourguinon appeared -- that used to be standard dinner party fare for all of us, thanks to Julia.

Julia was special to everyone in that audience.  I remember inviting six of our gourmet friends to a special dinner party in honor of Julia's 80th birthday and cooking a dinner entirely out of her cookbooks.  We did fine until we got to the Chocolate Mousse -- it puffed beautifully, but I was serving it out and I didn't manage to get eight portions so I had to be satisfied with a spoonful from my husband's plate.  We made another one the next night!

The movie made me hungry -- not just for the food - which I still cook -- but for all those lunches and dinner parties and the friends we shared them with.  Time to do it again, I would think.

TV Dinner

One of the things that has stumped me entirely since I've been alone (my husband died more than two years ago), is entertaining.  My family comes over all the time, but that doesn't seem like the same thing.

But a few weeks ago, a good friend mentioned that they had missed seeing Frost/Nixon and I had, too.  I was planning on watching it via On-Demand on my Cable network, but they don't have that premium service.  So I realized that I could invite them over for dinner and a movie -- brilliant!

I got a little way out there with the dinner -- not having done this for a while I think I wanted to prove that I hadn't forgotten how.  So I made homemade chopped chicken livers for the hors d'ouerves (and a block of very good sharp cheddar to replace the wrapped Brie that I immolated in the oven), followed by a Straccoto (an Italian beef roast cooked in red wine and seasoned with almonds, pine nuts, and raisins), Julia's Carrots, Pommes Dauphinoise, a Cucumber Dill Salad, and a Fruit Tarte (the bakery's -- I don't do that kind of baking, but my guests like that sort of thing).

The dinner was a great success and we all enjoyed the movie -- it took us right back to a time we passionately remembered.  Now that I know I can entertain friends on my own I think I should be making a habit of it.  Just not every night -- it's a lot of work.

Chopped Liver

Cut a large onion into half rings and saute it in vegetable oil until it is golden brown.  Hard-boil four eggs and peel them.  Spread one pound of rinsed and cleaned chicken livers on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until brown on the outside but still pink inside.  Turn once during the process.

Put all of the ingredients through the food processor, adding salt and pepper as you put them in, to taste.  I also grate in a teaspoon or so of raw onion.  Pulse to a not-too-smooth consistency.  Refrigerate until needed -- take out of refrigerator 30 minutes or so before serving.

Easily made in multiples -- I made three pounds of livers and gave two-thirds of it as gifts.  Big success.

Straccato

I first tasted this in a restaurant in Tuscny and fell in love.  This recipe is the result of putting several recipes I found in my cookbook library and on-line together.

Brown a 4-pound rump roast in olive oil in a large stove-top covered pan (I use an 8-quart chef's pot).  Remove it temporarily to a bowl and add one chopped carrot, one chopped onion, and one-half teaspoon of crushed red pepper (more or less to taste).  Saute until the vegetables are softened.  Add one-half cup sliced almonds, one-half cup pine nuts, one-half cup white raisins, a handful of chopped flat parsley, and two cloves of garlic, minced.  Give it all a good stir and pour in a bottle of robust red wine (ideally a drinkable Chianti) and a quart of beef or chicken stock (boxed, low-salt is fine).  Return the meat to the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook covered, turning the meat from time to time, until very tender (about 2.5 to 3 hours).   Remove the meat and let it rest while you reduce the sauce by cooking it uncovered at high heat to about one-half of its quantity.  Serve the sliced meat with the sauce with potatoes or pasta. 

Julia's Carrots

This is one of our favorite recipes from the original first Julia Child cookbook.  The only one we use more often, I think, is her French Potato Salad.  It's very easy.

Cut up carrots on the diagonal into 1/4" slices.  Put into a heavy saucepan with a half cup of water, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of butter and lots of freshly ground pepper.  (Quantities for one pound of carrots; I never make less than two pounds since everyone loves then and they are great as a leftover.)

Cook covered at a simmer until the carrots are nearly tender.  Then uncover pot and cook at high heat, watching carefully, until all the water is cooked off and the carrots are covered in a syrup (the butter and sugar).  These can be made ahead and reheated in the microwave.

Pommes Dauphinoise

There are dozens of ways to make these and even more variations (with and without garlic, cheese, sauteed onions, etc.).  I have finally found a foolproof method that I always use.  The only tricky part is making sure that the milk doesn't boil over -- it makes a mess if it does.

Cut peeled potatoes into thin (1/8"-1/4") half-slices and keep in cold water while you work (I throw in a few ice cubes).  Drain into a deep pot (I use a stock pot) and half-cover with milk or half-and-half.  Cook until just tender, being careful not to let the milk boil over.  (I do this by leaving the pot open and watching.)

NOTES:  Figure on one Russet potato per potato unless you have big eaters or want leftovers.  I uade one quart of milk for six potatoes.  Whole milk works fine but this will work with 2% milk.  Cream is a little over the top, but luxurious.

Butter or spray a shallow large gratin dish (4-5 potatoes) or a baking dish (8x10-11x13 for 6 or more potatoes) .  If I'm making a really large amount for a buffet -- more than 12 potatoes -- I use two casseroles, stagger when they go into the over -- and serve one at a time.

Drain the potatoes into the casserole (save the milk).  I just dip them out with a big Chinese spider. Arrange them (but you don't have to be too fussy).  Pour in enough of the cooking milk to come half way up in the pan.  Dot the top with butter.  Salt and pepper to taste.

You can hold the casserole at this point (the potatoes are cooked) for up to a day, refrigerated.  You can just leave it out in a not-too-hot kitchen for an hour or two (I just leave the air conditioning on high when I have food out). 

One hour before you're ready to serve, place the potatoes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake until gold brown on top. 

Cucumber Dill Salad

An easy salad that gets served all over Mittel-Europa (Germany, Austria, Hungary, etc.).  Refreshing with heavy food -- so we always serve it with pot roast.  You can also whiz it in the blender, perhaps with a bit of garlic, and make a refreshing soup for a hot night.

Peel, quarter, de-seed, and slice (1/4") two or three cucumbers.  Mix a dressing of 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, 4-5 splashes of Tabasco, 1/4 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet paprika, and a handful of chopped dill.  Whisk together.  You can add more sugar or water if the dressing is too tart for your taste.  Add the cucumbers, mix, and let marinate for an hour or two. 

Super Bowl Food Adventures

Everyone is having a Super Bowl party this weekend and it seems like nearly everyone serves chili.  I hope not too many people are getting served some of the recipes I saw on line, complete with pineapple, too many peppers (there is such a thing) or weird kinds of beans.

Here's our menu (including chili, of course), and my chili recipe, a proven favorite.

Super Bowl 2009

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Guacamole with Salsa and Chips

Vegetable Pancakes with Sour Cream and Caviar

Wings with Blue Cheese Dip and Celery  Sticks

Baked Brie with Crackers

,,,

Chili with

Sour Cream / Shredded Cheddar / Chopped Onions

Guacamole / Pickled Jalapenos

Rice

Hot Dogs with Buns

,,,

Sweet Bites

Fruit

Drinks and Coffee

Amy's Chili

This is one of those lots of things into the pot recipes -- once everything is combined, there's nothing to do but cook it for a while, stirring occasionally, and deciding how many little dishes of garnishes you're going to serve alongside.

As you can see from the menu, we favor offering rice and lots of side dishes so everyone can pick and choose.

Chop a large onion, 2 sticks of celery, 4 cloves of garlic (adjust to your taste), and a green pepper.  Saute in vegetable oil until softened (about five minutes).  If you like, you can add a seeded Jalapeno or two for a spicier finish.

Then add two pounds of lean ground beef (substituting ground turkey is fine) and one pound of Italian sausage (out of the casings), turning it in the pan until it turns brown.  You may choose mild or hot sausage -- of course, we choose hot.

Now mix in a 16 oz. can of Tomato Sauce and a 28 oz. can of tomatoes in their juice (or puree).  Next add the spices -- we use two packages of chili mix -- again you may pick a mild or spicy version.  We also add some additional salt and a few teaspoons of New Mexico Red Chili Pepper (ground).  Again, spicing is a personal issue.  We also add a tablespoon of brown sugar -- the secret ingredient.

Give it a good stir, bring to a simmer, turn down, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes.  If you like to add yellow corn meal to thicken the chili, now is the time to stir a few tablespoons in.  We then check the seasoning, and add a large (40 ounce) can of light red kidney beans, rinsed.  Whether you put beans in your chili is a religious issue, so that will need to be up to you.  Cook for another 15 minutes to heat the beans and give everything a chance to mellow.

Ideally, you will then let the chili cool and refrigerate it overnight (or even for a few days).  Remove the fat that congeals on top before you reheat it and serve it.  However, if it's going right to the table, I'd try to skim off some of the fat before I'd serve it.

It will be delicious in any case.

In case you haven't guessed, we added hot dogs to our menu because someone always said it was too bad he couldn't eat the chili on a hot dog so it became another choice!

Holiday Leftovers

I'm not a big fan of doing "things" with leftovers.  I like to make things that are eitiher eaten on the spot or are good a second time in their unaltered state -- turkey as turkey sandwiches, a roast beef as sandwiches or as cold roast beef with appropriate accompaniments. 

But there are always exceptions -- especially when last minute cancelled guests mean there are lots of leftovers.  Here are a few of my never fail tricks for using things up.

Turkey Tetrazinni

This is so old I'm not sure where it comes from.  I've even made it from scratch, using deli turkey breast, for a buffet.  It's easy. 

Make a batch of white sauce (you need to make enough based on how much turkey you're using, but let's guess that you have enough for a 9x13" casserole).  For that amount, I'd make 3 cups, so 6 tablespoons butter, melted in a large saucepan, then melded with 6 tablespoons of flour and heated, stirring, over medium heat, for a few minutes.  You don't want raw flour.  Stir in 3 cups of milk (2% is fine), gradually, and then season with salt, pepper, and freshly ground nutmeg (1/2 tsp).  Mix in 2 cups of shredded white cheddar cheese. 

While that's going on you can cook one pound of noodles.  Long thin noodles (even angel hair) are traditional, but I often use shorter varieties; cook to just short of fully done and drain, then mix into the white sauce. 

Cut the turkey (3 cups is ideal but 2-4 cups will work) into nice sized chunks and mix it in.  As a variation, you can also add a head of broccoli, cut into pieces, and cooked to nearly done. 

Put it all into the buttered (or sprayed) pan, sprinkle some more cheddar and/or grated Parmesan cheese on top (I like a mixture of both) and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until bubbly and browned.

Kashmiri Curry

This works with many different kinds of protein leftovers -- turkey, chicken, pork, shrimp (does anyone ever have leftover shrimp?), and even beef.  Just cut it into neat 1" chunks.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter (or use vegetable oil) and cook one large onion, chopped, until translucent. Add one peeled green apple and one peeled pear (or two apples), thinly sliced, and cook for a few minutes to soften. Add 2 tablespoons minced garlic and 2 tablespoons minced ginger (from the jars -- use less if this will be too spicy for your family, but it really isn't).  Mix.  Add 1-2 tablespoons curry powder (use your favorite brand and level of spiciness) and 2 tablespoons of flour.  Stir everything well and cook for a minute.  Then mix in 2 cups of chicken broth (a 14-oz can will do), the juice of one lemon, and its grated rind.  Stir everything gently but well and cook on a low flame for ten minutes until the fruit is soft and everything is thoroughly combined.

Now, add the cubed meat and stir in.  Cook until the meat is heated through and serve over rice with chutney or other condiments (a mango salsa works well). 

Cold Platter

My favorite way to eat leftovers is to create a platter of cold (but not ice-cold) protein, served with something hot, a spicy relish, and a salad.  It's easy, it presents the leftover at its best, and it provides a real meal.  For instance:

Cold roast beef, a hot (fresh) baked potato, chutney, and a tossed green salad

Cold turkey breat, a hot baked sweet potato, cranberry sauce, and an argula, tomato, and avocado salad 

Cold roast pork, sliced potatoes baked with cream and gruyere, fig jam, and an orange and fennel salad

You can make up your own.

Tradition

Jewish holidays demand traditional menus.  Every time I see a fancy and non-traditional menu for a holiday in a gourmet magazine, I laugh.  I don't know about their other readers families, but mine would institute a rebellion.

Tonight is the second night of Channukah.  This meal was actually planned for the first night, but the weather outsmarted us.  The menu is super traditional:  Brisket in an onion gravy (okay, the wine in the gravy might be a little untraditional), potato latkes (the whole point of the meal, glazed carrots (known as Julia's carrots in our house because we use a recipe from Julia Child's first cookbook), a salad/relish of chopped cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped red onion, and dill, followed by a dessert.  Normally that would be an apple or pear crisp, but it's someone's birthday tonight, so it will be a birthday cake instead.

In our house where multiple traditions merrily mingle, this will be followed by Christmas Dinner (Christmas Eve will be at my daughter's house and I hear rumors about what will be served, replacing the oyster stew tradition of years past, but it's still in flux.).

Here, I have a bit more leeway.  The main course is pre-ordained.  It must be beef and lots of it.  I usually serve a Delmonico Roast (that's what it's called in Pennsylvania -- if you live elsewhere, it's a boneless rib roast), although I have sometimes served a filet mignon roast with a sauce, usually chasseur (a tomato and wine based sauce with mushrooms).  I am allowed to pick the vegetables.  This year that will be a big pan of roasted root vegetables -- fingerling potatoes, carrots, parsnips, quartered red onions, and whole cloves of garlic, all annointed with olive oil and salt and pepper with sprigs of rosemary and thyme.  We'll also have asparagus.  All this will be preceded by a salad, serving as an appetizer.  I'm still deciding between Caesar and baby greens and herbs with goat cheese and fruit (probably Granny Smith apples and dried cranberries).  Then the pear crisp we didn't have for Channukah for dessert.

I love tradition.   It makes things easy.  And I have lots of time to be creative. 

Planning Thanksgiving

I like most of America am busily planning for Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays just beyond.  I've read the newspaper articles that argue for abundance but being thrifty and the recipes that throw all caution to the winds.  (Who wants stuffing with foie gras and chestnuts, anyway?)

I don't know about your family but mine are definitely stick-in-the-muds.  I can ADD anything I want to the menu, but subtractions are definitely frowned on.

Over the years, this can lead to a very long menu, just as your family size shrinks.  I threaten rebellion, but no one takes me seriously.

So once again we are having roast turkey with herbed bread stuffing and giblet gravy, three kinds of cranberry sauce (we have four one year), mashed and sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon and pine nuts, white corn, yeast rolls, and no doubt something else.  And then at least three kinds of pie.  I still haven't figured out whether to have a first course (why?) and what to have for hors d'ouerves.

I know the solution.  Invite more guests!  We have plenty of dishes and silver and everyone offers to serve and clean up so we're only limited by the size of turkey I can lift and the size of our oven (fortunately, the new stove has a big one).  

Now all I have to do is avert my eyes and not read any wonderful recipes between now and the 28th. 

Traditional Food for Rosh Hashonah

Whenever I propose a gourmet feast for a holiday -- Jewish or other -- my family rebels.  They want the food they associate with the holiday.  So for many Jewish holiday dinners that means gefite fish, chicken soup with matzoh balls, brisket in a sweet and spicy onion gravy, a starch and a vegetable (some variability permitted here), my German-style cucumber salad, and a desert that includes both some fruit salad and a cake. 

It's a lot of work!  So I admit I do someo judicious cheating.  You should consider that, too.   Make the things that you do uniquely well and buy high quality repliques for the rest.

So I buy gefilte fish (from a deli that makes that own), but make my own chicken soup and matzoh bals, make the main course, and buy the cake.  I've discovered a new line of side dishes (starches and veggies) in my super market and after I've had a chance to try them I might consider using them, too.

Make sure you decorate everything as if you cooked it yourself.

Whether you confess your little deception is entirely up to you.