Off to Morocco to visit family/do a little research. Hopefully will have reports of food activity to post from cyber cafes along the way... stay tuned...
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
slow-roasted chicken
After the Cuban feast, it seemed things only got more excessive. Ideally I'd like to avoid eating red meat more than once a week, but the next night, we were invited to a barbecue involving ground beef, beef ribs, and beef kebabs, all done Moroccan-style, marinated in onions, parsley, cumin, and cayenne pepper. This accompanied by apple martinis that were so delicious you couldn't have just one... Too tired to cook, the next day I gave into cheap Chinese takeout-- General Tso's Chicken and beef lo mein. Bad, bad.
I decided to clean up my act by preparing a couple of recipes from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer cookbook, which I'd just checked out from the library. I felt like I needed the type of balanced comfort food menu that reminds me of childhood-- chicken, potatoes, and salad. Again, I had an audience in Nour and Amy-- she was moving away from Central Florida the very next day.
For a fitting goodbye, I made slow-roasted garlic and lemon chicken, paired with a type of roasted potato I had never encountered before-- Swedish hasselback potatoes, also from the Nigella cookbook. Both recipes were incredibly easy but also tasted incredibly good-- comfort achieved. The lemons and garlic cloves almost carmelize after baking for three hours, great for spreading and dipping on a crusty baguette. The potatoes develop an intriguing crust but are still soft on the inside.
For the chicken, you will need one chicken, cut into pieces (or if you determine, as I did, that all parties prefer dark meat, buy a big package of legs). Heat oven to 300. In a roasting pan, place chicken pieces with all the cloves from a head of garlic, separated but with peels left on. Add two lemons, cut into eight pieces, and a handful of fresh rosemary (Nigella uses thyme). Mix with 3 Tblsp. olive oil, sprinkle 10 Tblsp. white wine over top, salt and pepper, and cover with foil. Roast for 2 hours.
After two hours, remove foil and crank up the oven to 400, cooking another 30-45 minutes. I turned the pieces so all sides would brown.
The potatoes can cook roughly at the same time. Take 18 4-ounce (i.e. small-ish) new potatoes about the same size and slice them at 1/2 inch intervals, but don't cut them all the way through. In a dutch oven, melt 3 Tblsp. butter with 5 tblsp. olive oil. When hot, add potatoes, turning on all sides to coat. Place in oven with chicken when you crank up the heat to 400. Cook the potatoes until done, turning occasionally, may take 45 minutes to an hour.
Accompanied with a salad and a light mango sorbet for dessert, I felt like I was eating a little healthier again...
I decided to clean up my act by preparing a couple of recipes from Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer cookbook, which I'd just checked out from the library. I felt like I needed the type of balanced comfort food menu that reminds me of childhood-- chicken, potatoes, and salad. Again, I had an audience in Nour and Amy-- she was moving away from Central Florida the very next day.
For a fitting goodbye, I made slow-roasted garlic and lemon chicken, paired with a type of roasted potato I had never encountered before-- Swedish hasselback potatoes, also from the Nigella cookbook. Both recipes were incredibly easy but also tasted incredibly good-- comfort achieved. The lemons and garlic cloves almost carmelize after baking for three hours, great for spreading and dipping on a crusty baguette. The potatoes develop an intriguing crust but are still soft on the inside.
For the chicken, you will need one chicken, cut into pieces (or if you determine, as I did, that all parties prefer dark meat, buy a big package of legs). Heat oven to 300. In a roasting pan, place chicken pieces with all the cloves from a head of garlic, separated but with peels left on. Add two lemons, cut into eight pieces, and a handful of fresh rosemary (Nigella uses thyme). Mix with 3 Tblsp. olive oil, sprinkle 10 Tblsp. white wine over top, salt and pepper, and cover with foil. Roast for 2 hours.
After two hours, remove foil and crank up the oven to 400, cooking another 30-45 minutes. I turned the pieces so all sides would brown.
The potatoes can cook roughly at the same time. Take 18 4-ounce (i.e. small-ish) new potatoes about the same size and slice them at 1/2 inch intervals, but don't cut them all the way through. In a dutch oven, melt 3 Tblsp. butter with 5 tblsp. olive oil. When hot, add potatoes, turning on all sides to coat. Place in oven with chicken when you crank up the heat to 400. Cook the potatoes until done, turning occasionally, may take 45 minutes to an hour.
Accompanied with a salad and a light mango sorbet for dessert, I felt like I was eating a little healthier again...
Saturday, May 21, 2005
tres leches
I finally succeed in preparing tres leches cake. I decided to make a whole meal around it, inspired by having my first real day of summer vacation to indulge in a marathon cooking session. The menu, all recipes taken from the Three Guys from Miami website: skirt steak marinated in mojo criollo with chimichurri sauce, black beans, fried plantains (tostones), and the piece de resistance: tres leches cake.
I started out by making the mojo marinade for the steak: tons of garlic cloves, salt, black peppercorns, sour orange juice (a good use for our tree that bears sour oranges), minced onion, oregano, and olive oil. I put that aside, with the meat soaking in its tenderizing bath. Then I made the black beans, which were pretty delicious-- I saved three tablespoons of the marinade, sauteed finely chopped onions and green pepper in olive oil, added garlic, the marinade, 3 tsp. of cumin, and once everything was translucent, a cup of canned black beans that I mashed up. I then added the remainder of that can and another can, both drained, and cooked this for 20 minutes. It was very flavorful-- this could have been from the added kick the marinade gave it.
The chimichurri sauce was a nice accompaniment-- a sauce composed of vinegar, fresh cilantro, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, onion, and cayenne pepper, all whirred together in the food processor. I cooked the steak on our tiny Weber grill and it sizzled and browned and came out delicious... The fried plantains didn't turn out to be quite so delicious-- they had a curious preparation, whereby you cut them into 2 inch chunks, deep fry them, take them out and drain them, smash them with the bottom of a coffee mug, and deep fry them again, adding salt and pepper at the end. They were just okay-- not nearly as good as some of the different kinds of tostones I've had at restaurants.
But the tres leches cake lived up to all expectations. I was really pleased with it, no, knocked out would be a better word. I didn't think somehow that it was possible to prepare this delight on my own. I compared two recipes ahead of time and decided on the Three Guys recipe because the other one involved slicing a cake into three layers and coating each with syrup, which I thought I probably didn't have the tools to do. (I could just envision the cake breaking up into a million pieces.)
Making tres leches cake basically involves three steps: first, preparing a delicious golden layer cake, redolent of vanilla. No mix will do-- this cake is terrific, and it puffs up golden brown because the egg whites are whipped up to a froth and folded in at the end. I cooked mine for exactly 35 minutes, as the recipe said, and it was perfect.
Step two involves the syrup-- the three milks that make this so unique-- mixing together a can of condensed milk, a can of evaporated milk, and a cup and a half (!) of heavy cream. I followed the timing of the recipe and waited until the cake had cooled twenty minutes before doing this. Then you poke lots of holes in the cake with a fork, spooning the syrup slowly over the cake and helping it to absorb by poking more holes in it before you add more syrup. It pools around the bottom of the plate and then sits in the refrigerator for three hours, waiting to be iced.
The icing was a meringue of sorts, egg whites, sugar, water and hot corn syrup beaten together. I didn't use the entire recipe of meringue-- it was an acceptable icing, but it wasn't the icing that blew me away (In restaurants, I remember whipped cream on top). It was the final product, which did give the full experience of having the cake in a good Cuban restaurant. Amy, who helped me prepare the icing, and Nour, who helped with grilling and eating, agreed.
The full recipe is here. I definitely would make this recipe again, but maybe sleuth around a little bit to find out a different version of the icing. I would also certainly use the marinade for steaks again, and the black beans were terrific... After these experiments, buying the actual Three Guys cookbook, advertised on the website, looks tempting as well. Pictures of the whole belt-busting extravaganza appear below.
I started out by making the mojo marinade for the steak: tons of garlic cloves, salt, black peppercorns, sour orange juice (a good use for our tree that bears sour oranges), minced onion, oregano, and olive oil. I put that aside, with the meat soaking in its tenderizing bath. Then I made the black beans, which were pretty delicious-- I saved three tablespoons of the marinade, sauteed finely chopped onions and green pepper in olive oil, added garlic, the marinade, 3 tsp. of cumin, and once everything was translucent, a cup of canned black beans that I mashed up. I then added the remainder of that can and another can, both drained, and cooked this for 20 minutes. It was very flavorful-- this could have been from the added kick the marinade gave it.
The chimichurri sauce was a nice accompaniment-- a sauce composed of vinegar, fresh cilantro, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, onion, and cayenne pepper, all whirred together in the food processor. I cooked the steak on our tiny Weber grill and it sizzled and browned and came out delicious... The fried plantains didn't turn out to be quite so delicious-- they had a curious preparation, whereby you cut them into 2 inch chunks, deep fry them, take them out and drain them, smash them with the bottom of a coffee mug, and deep fry them again, adding salt and pepper at the end. They were just okay-- not nearly as good as some of the different kinds of tostones I've had at restaurants.
But the tres leches cake lived up to all expectations. I was really pleased with it, no, knocked out would be a better word. I didn't think somehow that it was possible to prepare this delight on my own. I compared two recipes ahead of time and decided on the Three Guys recipe because the other one involved slicing a cake into three layers and coating each with syrup, which I thought I probably didn't have the tools to do. (I could just envision the cake breaking up into a million pieces.)
Making tres leches cake basically involves three steps: first, preparing a delicious golden layer cake, redolent of vanilla. No mix will do-- this cake is terrific, and it puffs up golden brown because the egg whites are whipped up to a froth and folded in at the end. I cooked mine for exactly 35 minutes, as the recipe said, and it was perfect.
Step two involves the syrup-- the three milks that make this so unique-- mixing together a can of condensed milk, a can of evaporated milk, and a cup and a half (!) of heavy cream. I followed the timing of the recipe and waited until the cake had cooled twenty minutes before doing this. Then you poke lots of holes in the cake with a fork, spooning the syrup slowly over the cake and helping it to absorb by poking more holes in it before you add more syrup. It pools around the bottom of the plate and then sits in the refrigerator for three hours, waiting to be iced.
The icing was a meringue of sorts, egg whites, sugar, water and hot corn syrup beaten together. I didn't use the entire recipe of meringue-- it was an acceptable icing, but it wasn't the icing that blew me away (In restaurants, I remember whipped cream on top). It was the final product, which did give the full experience of having the cake in a good Cuban restaurant. Amy, who helped me prepare the icing, and Nour, who helped with grilling and eating, agreed.
The full recipe is here. I definitely would make this recipe again, but maybe sleuth around a little bit to find out a different version of the icing. I would also certainly use the marinade for steaks again, and the black beans were terrific... After these experiments, buying the actual Three Guys cookbook, advertised on the website, looks tempting as well. Pictures of the whole belt-busting extravaganza appear below.
cuban feast
The menu: skirt steak marinated in mojo criollo with chimichurri sauce on top, tostones (deep fried plantains), black beans...
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
roasted carrot dip
There is a market in Washington, DC, near my friend Delia's house, where we always stop for fresh-baked bread, interesting cheeses, wine, and carrot dip whenever I visit her. Stopping at Marvelous Market has been a tradition of longstanding. The carrot dip is smoky and complex, containing some typical Moroccan spices, but unfortunately during a recent visit I learned that they had discontinued it. I wrote them a letter begging them for the recipe and expressing my deep nostalgia for it but never got a reply. Thus, I'm on a quest to recreate it. Following a recent recommendation, I checked out Crescent Dragonwagon's Passionate Vegetarian, which has two recipes for carrot dip at the beginning. I prepared one today that tastes pretty good but I won't be sure whether it's like the one from Marvelous Market unless it sits for a day or two. Still, I'd make it again, and it's a nice change from most dips. The recipe appears below.
On an unrelated note, after picking me up at the airport today, my friend Amy introduced me to Woodlands Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, a restaurant in south Orlando with a huge lunch buffet representing south Indian food-- masala dosas (slightly crunchy pancakes filled with spicy potatoes), palak paneer (spinach and cheese curry), great chutneys, excellent paratha bread, and gulab jamun (basically fried donut holes in a sweet syrup) were all on offer. (I was excited about the local discovery-- plus it's been a good week for Indian food, since this weekend I got to eat at a favorite DC establishment, Heritage Indian.) Stuffed with vegetarian delights, Amy & I headed to the campus pool at the college to get some relief from the 90 degree temperatures. No students were around, and it finally came over me that The Schoolyear is OVER!!!! The summer is MINE!!!!
Roasted Carrot Dip
1 lb. carrots, peeled
1 large red onion, quartered, skin on
1 head garlic, sliced crosswise
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. tamari or shoyu soy sauce
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. paprika
pinch cayenne
1-4 Tblsp. vegetable stock, water, or olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Blanch carrots in boiling water for 4-6 minutes, then drain. In large baking dish, toss carrots, onion and garlic with 1 Tblsp. olive oil. Add 1 Tblsp soy sauce and toss again, keeping cut side of vegetables down. Roast for 40 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic from papery skins, remove outer layer of onion skin and ends, throw into food processor with spices, pulsing to combine. Add one tablespoon water or olive oil at a time until smooth, seasoning to taste with more soy, salt and pepper... Serve with crackers, pita, etc.
On an unrelated note, after picking me up at the airport today, my friend Amy introduced me to Woodlands Vegetarian Indian Cuisine, a restaurant in south Orlando with a huge lunch buffet representing south Indian food-- masala dosas (slightly crunchy pancakes filled with spicy potatoes), palak paneer (spinach and cheese curry), great chutneys, excellent paratha bread, and gulab jamun (basically fried donut holes in a sweet syrup) were all on offer. (I was excited about the local discovery-- plus it's been a good week for Indian food, since this weekend I got to eat at a favorite DC establishment, Heritage Indian.) Stuffed with vegetarian delights, Amy & I headed to the campus pool at the college to get some relief from the 90 degree temperatures. No students were around, and it finally came over me that The Schoolyear is OVER!!!! The summer is MINE!!!!
Roasted Carrot Dip
1 lb. carrots, peeled
1 large red onion, quartered, skin on
1 head garlic, sliced crosswise
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. tamari or shoyu soy sauce
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. paprika
pinch cayenne
1-4 Tblsp. vegetable stock, water, or olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Blanch carrots in boiling water for 4-6 minutes, then drain. In large baking dish, toss carrots, onion and garlic with 1 Tblsp. olive oil. Add 1 Tblsp soy sauce and toss again, keeping cut side of vegetables down. Roast for 40 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic from papery skins, remove outer layer of onion skin and ends, throw into food processor with spices, pulsing to combine. Add one tablespoon water or olive oil at a time until smooth, seasoning to taste with more soy, salt and pepper... Serve with crackers, pita, etc.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
cheesecake
This past weekend, I went to an end-of-the-school-year dinner at Mimi's house. It was also a goodbye party for Amy, who's going the wrong direction in the typical migratory pattern of New Yorkers to Florida, to take a teaching job in the NYC area. Losing Amy is a major tragedy for the state of Florida, and for me, since she's my best friend here, but hopefully she'll be back, maybe even as a UN monitor for the next set of Florida elections.
After appetizers of queso manchego cheese, olives, and Spanish wine, we retired to the dining room for the best paella I have ever had (see photo below). A summer spent in Madrid and past trips to Sevilla and Barcelona never yielded anything half this good. Each separate ingredient held its distinctive taste and texture, and each ingredient (chicken, shrimp, chorizo, vegetables) was cooked to exact doneness, which is no small feat.
Mimi learned to make the paella from a friend who came from Alicante, Spain. She is promising to bring the recipe and discuss how she makes it. Mimi herself has an interesting summer planned-- a hiking trip along the Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
I've heard a number of stories about the origins of paella, but the most interesting one is that the dish originates with the Muslims conquerors who first brought rice to the region of Valencia. There is a word in Arabic, "baqiya," with the "q" often unpronounced, meaning "the remainder," and the story goes that one would put whatever one had left over together into a dish with the rice to make a hearty meal...
Dessert, however, I do have a recipe for. Amy, who is also a very good cook, made cheesecake with an unusual blueberry sauce, in a springform pan, a kitchen item I covet. The crust was buttery and sweet; the filling delicate, and the sauce brought it all together in a perfect balance of tart and sweetness.
Amy's Cheesecake
Graham Cracker Crust
2 c. of graham cracker crumbs (about 15 big crackers)
½ c. of melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
Lightly coat 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix together just until the crumbs are moist. Pour into bottom of springform pan, and press mixture firmly and evenly across bottom of pan, and about 1 inch up the sides. Refrigerate crust while making the cheesecake batter.
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated (save rest of lemon for blueberry sauce)
1 pint sour cream
To prepare filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute just until smooth and free of any lumps. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to slowly beat until combined. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Blend in the sour cream, but do not overbeat. Pour filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
To prepare water bath: Set the pan on a couple of large pieces of aluminum foil and fold up the sides. This will prevent water from seeping into the seams of the springform pan. Carefully set the cake pan in a larger roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Do not worry if the cake looks undone and do not do the toothpick test. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours to set up.
Blueberry Topping:
2 tablespoons butter
2 pints blueberries (I used frozen)
½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed with a little bit of water to avoid clumps)
1 lemon, juiced
Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring up to a slow boil and stir gently for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and blueberries start to break down (the sauce will remain chunky). Cool to room temperature and serve on top of cheesecake.
After appetizers of queso manchego cheese, olives, and Spanish wine, we retired to the dining room for the best paella I have ever had (see photo below). A summer spent in Madrid and past trips to Sevilla and Barcelona never yielded anything half this good. Each separate ingredient held its distinctive taste and texture, and each ingredient (chicken, shrimp, chorizo, vegetables) was cooked to exact doneness, which is no small feat.
Mimi learned to make the paella from a friend who came from Alicante, Spain. She is promising to bring the recipe and discuss how she makes it. Mimi herself has an interesting summer planned-- a hiking trip along the Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
I've heard a number of stories about the origins of paella, but the most interesting one is that the dish originates with the Muslims conquerors who first brought rice to the region of Valencia. There is a word in Arabic, "baqiya," with the "q" often unpronounced, meaning "the remainder," and the story goes that one would put whatever one had left over together into a dish with the rice to make a hearty meal...
Dessert, however, I do have a recipe for. Amy, who is also a very good cook, made cheesecake with an unusual blueberry sauce, in a springform pan, a kitchen item I covet. The crust was buttery and sweet; the filling delicate, and the sauce brought it all together in a perfect balance of tart and sweetness.
Amy's Cheesecake
Graham Cracker Crust
2 c. of graham cracker crumbs (about 15 big crackers)
½ c. of melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
Lightly coat 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix together just until the crumbs are moist. Pour into bottom of springform pan, and press mixture firmly and evenly across bottom of pan, and about 1 inch up the sides. Refrigerate crust while making the cheesecake batter.
2 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated (save rest of lemon for blueberry sauce)
1 pint sour cream
To prepare filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute just until smooth and free of any lumps. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to slowly beat until combined. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Blend in the sour cream, but do not overbeat. Pour filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
To prepare water bath: Set the pan on a couple of large pieces of aluminum foil and fold up the sides. This will prevent water from seeping into the seams of the springform pan. Carefully set the cake pan in a larger roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.
Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Do not worry if the cake looks undone and do not do the toothpick test. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours to set up.
Blueberry Topping:
2 tablespoons butter
2 pints blueberries (I used frozen)
½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed with a little bit of water to avoid clumps)
1 lemon, juiced
Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring up to a slow boil and stir gently for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and blueberries start to break down (the sauce will remain chunky). Cool to room temperature and serve on top of cheesecake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
