Anoche

Taking advantage of my work furlough week, I have been to the gym twice, started a ton of laundry, worked on my presentation for Spanish class tonight, and even cooked a nice meal for myself last night.


Boneless pork chops pounded even thinner; given a dry rub of ground juniper berries, black peppercorns, thyme, parsley, garlic power, red pepper flakes, and sea salt; sautéed in butter and oil, then sauced with the fond deglazed with brandy and beef broth. Brown rice enhanced with a sauté of leftover onions, sweet peppers, and mushrooms. Broccoli. Some leftover white wine.


More leftovers from Saturday's festivities: navel, blood, and cara cara orange slices.

It was not all virtue. For dessert I grazed. Still, not my usual weeknight fare.

Saturday was dinner for eight to celebrate Bill's natal festivity earlier in the week. Armenian was the theme. I made yalanchi dolma (stuffed grape leaves), muttering on Facebook that I now remember why I only make this once a decade. I was going to make sou boereg (phyllo triangles stuffed with cheese) but decided at the last minute this was too much pressure on myself.

For the main course we had stuffed peppers with lamb and beef, onions, celery, pine nuts, etc. I did cracked wheat (bulghur) pilaf with fresh mint leaves in it. Bruce brought pureed cauliflower with roasted garlic and caramelized onions.

Gail made an Armenian nutmeg cake that was delish, served with a dollop of whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg on top. Ron, whose birthday was on Saturday itself, arrived with half a case of wine. We did ourselves proud on the number of empty bottles at the end of the evening.

Lots of fun. And I even had all the dishes washed and put away by the next evening.

For those wondering about my leg, it continues to improve. I am still on IV antibiotic and see the doc in two days to check the progress.

That's the news from Desert Farne today.

--the BB

Kitchen adventures

Although I cooked a couple of dishes for the Christmas dinner at Bill's, you may have read on Facebook about the dinner I canceled at the last minute because I fell and split my forehead open the morning of the dinner. But that was just over two weeks and twelve stitches ago and my head is healing nicely though I shall bear the mark of Voldemort forever, I fear. Still, I live!

I toyed with doing an early dinner on New Year's Eve and sending everyone home early but my energy was not that high and folks I talked to were leaving town or staying in. So the next meal will be this coming Saturday. With most of the guests from the one that was canceled.

The table is already set since I have today off and could do it, including ironing the tablecloth.


It will be the revival of an old tradition of mine, cooking spaghetti on the Saturday closest to Epiphany. I love making a rich sauce full of Italian sausage, ground beef, mushrooms, onions, garlic, tomatoes, herbs, spices, and red wine. The pasta is a minor excuse for eating the sauce. Simmered for at least four hours. It is not done unless I can set a wooden spoon in it at an angle and the spoon stays there. Dang, I look forward to it.

This will be the farewell to Christmas season as I am leaving the tree up until then.

Now, as to the party that wasn't, I still had all that food that needed cooking so I made the pork stew with prunes, carrots, fennel, brandy, and cream the next day. And the devil's food cake with buttercream frosting. Just had one guest for that meal and ate leftovers all week. Here is the cake.

I doubt I will do that much work often (of course the cake and icing were from scratch, and there's a pound of butter in the icing) but it was a fun adventure. And I will make the cake again.

That's the news from Desert Farne. May you all have a 2012 rich with blessings. I wish health, employment (unless you can afford retirement), love, joy, and adventures to you all.

--the BB

Progress

As I announced in the previous post, I have been getting things done. Yesterday I assembled three racks of shelves for the garage and got boxes, formerly scattered about, onto the shelves. I also tore up lots of boxes for recycling.

The new hot water heater arrived very late yesterday afternoon and was installed. I no longer live in fear of an imminent water-spewing disaster in the garage. I celebrated with a long hot bath last night (re-reading Tales of the City). I have also finished watching Season Three of The Big Bang Theory.

I have assembled a list of every ingredient, except water, for tomorrow's dinner. I marked what I have and what I do not. Sorted and printed out as a shopping list. About to head out and shop. (On a Friday afternoon near Christmas, am I crazy? Better than tomorrow morning.)

I am going to attempt my first devil's food cake (from scratch, natch). I will make it today so if it does not work out (this is high altitude baking after all) I can do something else tomorrow while the stew cooks in the slow cooker.

This is not an Italian meal, for the first time in months. I knew I would eventually go in other directions though I still plan to learn more about Italian cooking. The stew and the cake are new adventures for me. Appetizers, side dishes, and salad are old hat. A balance, though the meal is still meant to impress. lol.

Spanakopita

Pork stew with carrots, fennel, prunes, brandy, and cream
Rice
Haricots verts

Green salad

Devil's food cake

Just remembered I need to count my cake pans before I leave and add flowers to the shopping list.

I am rejoicing in the really big things I have accomplished this week and not dwelling on several other things that also need doing. Oh well.

Happy Beethoven's Birthday, everybody.

--the BB

Sunday Dinner

I've lost track of the number of Italian dinners so we'll just call this Sunday Dinner.


The bread, begun last night and baked late this morning. To the basic recipe I added julienned sundried tomatoes and some tomato paste. It is dusted with cornmeal. Here is the recipe.




The table in wheat and wine colors.


Yes, I have both a Kitchen Aid mixer and a hand-held mixer. Why do you ask?

I still prefer creaming butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. It feels more honest. This was the first step of the walnut-ricotta tart.


Ready to party. Yes, that young couple in the photo may look familiar.


Appetizers: the tomato bread and some Costco pugliese bread with two kinds of cheese and an artichoke spread. This photo was taken before a plate of salami was added.


Primi: Risotto milanese with shrimp.


Secondi: Chicken thighs alla cacciatora with wilted spring greens and apples, garnished with wedges of persimmon.


This is the walnut-ricotta tart, glazed with apricot jam and Grand Marnier, garnished with chocolate curls. There is orange zest in the cake itself.

Lovely company. So nice to see my friends tonight and feed them.

It took me a long while to unwind tonight so here I am posting this well after midnight. Sweet dreams, food lovers.

--the BB

Saturday Dinner

I modified plans for yesterday's dinner so I would not be on my feet so much and did manage to have a couple of lie downs as well as sit with my foot propped up during the happy hour, enjoying the company and conversation of friends.

All hot food but the peas was cooked and in crock pots when the guests arrived; the work was basically all done.

I bought bread instead of baking it. Sergio brought some delicious cheeses. On a whim I added dates stuffed with walnuts and parmigiano reggiano. Since Sergio is from the Mendoza area, Bill brought a couple bottles of Malbec, of which I drank the lion's share. Well, I wasn't driving anywhere afterwards.



Next was a butternut squash soup, at Kathy's request, served with a fresh grating of nutmeg, a dollop of sour cream, and some pomegranate arils.



The main course was pollo con le cipolle, chicken with onions, from a recipe in Marcella's Italian Kitchen, pp 192f. The link was done searching through Mad Priest's Amazon link and if you are thinking of purchasing the book, do try to do it there. Support your friends.

I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Costco, initially held together with toothpicks until they had fricasseed enough to hold their shape. The onions sweat for at least an hour before they are browned. This is not a quick recipe, though I did all the other dishes while the onions were doing their slow cook.

It was served with beets (another shortcut; I did not roast and peel them - bought them boiled and peeled at Trader Joe's) - glazed with honey, balsamic vinegar, and thyme. Also peas, as Kathy wondered why I never served them. Actually, I love peas but usually do more labor-intensive vegetables for company.


Skipped the crostata di mermellata that I had planned. Another day. Simple spicy pumpkin bread from a mix served with cinnamon gelato from Italian Classics from Cook's Illustrated, p 437. It seemed appropriately autumnal.


I then debuted my new demitasse cups (thanks again, Randy and Troy) and risked making espresso. It worked. (I know, I should not be surprised if something works when one follows instructions, but I was anxious nonetheless.) I used Whole Foods Espresso Roast beans, ground in my new Krups coffee grinder and steamed through a Bialetti Moka stovetop espresso maker. Not too difficult a process.


Sergio had a second cup so I guess it's truly drinkable. I, of course, would never taste the stuff because of my intense dislike of coffee flavor. I also heated and frothed milk so Kathy could have a lattè. Chef and barista in one evening.

Everybody chipped in to do dishes afterward and I could go to bed and prop and ice my leg with nothing left to worry about.

I am so blessed to enjoy the company of friends.

--the BB

Le weekend

OK, y'all know I've been on a major cooking and entertaining jag all summer and into the autumn. It is a revival of a long-time interest. As a boy I hung out in my mother's kitchen. During my college years I worked summers as a dishwasher and cook's helper. While in college I also occasionally served as a waiter when we had formal dinners. I used to bake a lot in my junior and senior years. Bill and I both love to cook and we enjoyed entertaining.

When I became single again I retreated from the world, big time. I needed to on many levels; it was more than depression. I needed to find myself again and moving to New Mexico was a way to go into the desert and be alone with myself (and my demons and angels). Each year I feel more myself. And I am cooking again, feeding people, trying to give people an experience similar to going to a nice restaurant.

Yes, I have indulged mightily in retail therapy, buying multiple sets of dishes, linens, new flatware, and some cooking equipment. This is also an investment in my future. I certainly hope to throw dinner parties when I retire somewhere down the road.

Saturday I assembled some shelving and put it in the hall closet, which has been grossly underused. Heavier cooking equipment, the silver chest, the cake and pie tins, spare glassware (extra red wines and champagne flutes) have all moved there. They are accessible but out of the way. This has freed space in the pantries (yes, I have two of them) and I am reorganizing those so things are where I can find them. Counters are more organized and usable. I have been cleaning a lot of stuff that had been hidden away.

I also baked some plain rustic bread and a lemon-ricotta cake, the latter for a potluck. I had the idea last week of making ginger-pear gelato, so I improvised and did that. Sunday I was looking at some red lentils that have languished in a corner of the kitchen for way too long. They joined some orzo, beef broth, a shallot, a carrot, some celery, and spices to become a stew for Sunday dinner. The photos and much of this commentary have already appeared on Facebook, but here they are for my blog friends.



Red lentil and orzo stew with a mountain of parmigiano reggiano and some home-made bread.



Lemon-ricotta cake and the ginger-pear gelato that I have named "Gelato Lindy" for my dear online friend now in China.

Once I get the pantry reorg done, I will set the table for next Saturday's meal. If I remember to take photos, you will see that after it happens.

--the BB

The meal that was and the photos that weren't - updated

Last night's meal was fun to do, a lot of work, and the company was great. Part of my cooking journey is to have dinner guests that I would like to get to know better, making new acquaintances and gaining new friends. This weekend everybody had prior commitments and it appeared we would be only three for this huge meal. My friend Randy pursued it a bit, asking if I knew K and D. Yes, I said, I just met them Thursday night. He had their phone number. I rechecked old messages, and by the time we were through it was a full table of six as originally planned. Yay! Thanks, Randy. Fun lively dinner companions.

In fact, I had such a good time (or was very busy pulling the main course together) that I forgot to take any photos past the soup course.

Here we have the antipasto.


One bread dough made into a large loaf and a smaller one with olives. The olive bread is in the center with the cheeses. The other is on the sides with bruschetta. Two kinds of olives, salted pistachios, toasted almonds. We began with blood orange soda in champagne flutes and pinot grigio/pinot gris.


Here is the table.


And here is the butternut squash soup, wickedly containing whole milk and heavy cream. The fresh bit of thyme from the yard was described as the fly in the soup. "Are we supposed to eat the fly?" was the question.

The next course was stracotto, an Italian pot roast that was browned then braising in the oven for four hours. It was cooked with onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms, a can of diced tomatoes with their juice, chicken broth, beef broth, red wine, and a sprig of fresh thyme. As the meat rested I cooked down the liquid with a sprig of fresh rosemary (also from the yard), furiously reducing it to about one third. Omigod, the sauce on the meat was incredible. Served with a ladle of soft polenta, sautéed haricots verts, and sautéed mushrooms.

Dessert was blueberry gelato. I was going to make a sorbetto but did not have enough blueberry puree so I threw cream in and called it gelato. Served with cantucci.

Every course had some learnings, which is another reason I do this. I want to be a better cook with a wider repertory of dishes and techniques plus consistent results.

Very few leftovers but damn, we ate well.

Planning the next one in a fortnight.

UPDATE:

Leftovers to the rescue. I had one large serving of leftovers from the main course and took it all to work today for lunch. I also took a dinner plate and my camera. So here is what the main course looked like (except on a harsh white formica background (sorry).


I must say, the stracotto recipe is a keeper. Dayumn, them's good eats! I must do this again.


And supper tonight is pure naughtiness, just dessert. Gelato di mirtilli con cantucci.

More came out of that dinner party. To be continued in the next post.

--the BB

I vicini

When my new neighbors moved in I quickly learned that Wendy loves to cook. I "speak" Italian these days and she speaks "Southern." So I will probably learn to make hush puppies and deep fry. LOL. She had never made noodles. So I suggested we cook an Italian meal together for her family and that is what we did yesterday.


Here are the appetizers: squares of fried polenta (why, they're like grits! yep) with a spread of goat cheese and roasted garlic, topped with sliced of kalamata olive, roasted red pepper, and capers. Dry toasted almonds in the upper right.


This is the loaf of bread I worked so hard on. Wendy wanted to dip it in the sauce for the lasagne and just forget everybody else. I threatened her life if anything happened to this loaf before everyone had seen it.

I combined two recipes to make it. Started a "biga" the night before so it could ferment. Added it to the dough Saturday morning and added sundried tomatoes and some sundried tomato paste to the dough. Let it rise for three hours, shaped it and let it rise more than another hour. Baked in a very hot oven on a pizza stone, with steam.


Here is the table set with Primi: prosciutto and melon with the bread cut up for passing and dipping in olive oil and balsamic.


Wendy making egg noodles. This is so much easier since I bought the pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid and no longer crank by hand.


Noodles cooking. Then they are shocked in ice water, patted dry, and put into the lasagne.


Here you can see some of the heavenly sauce. Wendy is right; we could have made a meal of the sauce and bread.


The hazelnut-chocolate cake. It had a little flour in it but mostly hazelnuts toasted and ground with bittersweet chocolate, sugar, and eggs. We did double desserts because it was a birthday dinner for their daughter.


And here is a served dessert: hazelnut-chocolate cake, dark chocolate gelato, whipped cream.

We worked our tails off but it was fun cooking together. Wendy got to check out making polenta and frying it, making noodles, a rich meat and tomato sauce, an Italian cake, and gelato. And I did some serious sleeping in today.

Next Saturday: another adventure with an Italian pot roast. Stay tuned.

--the BB

The next big meal

Bill and I have a joke.
Q. What's is the most important meal of the day?
A. The next one.

You have to know my inner ursine nature to appreciate the humor fully. Once I've enjoyed a meal I tend to focus on the next one.

So new neighbor Wendy and I are planning to cook together this Saturday. Four courses, traditional Italian. Lasagne with noodles from scratch. Gelato. All kinds of good stuff. Then her family can walk across the street and join us in consuming it. It's their daughter's eighteenth birthday too, so a nice celebration.

Wendy is a total foodie, like me. This should be fun.

--the BB

The ongoing pizza festival of 2011

Saturday night I made a couple more pizzas that a friend and I enjoyed with some old vine zinfandel.

Here is one of them before baking.



I went for a "Greek" theme: wilted spinach, sauteed mushrooms, grape tomatoes, feta cheese (along with the usual tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, a sprinkling of basil, and a drizzle of olive oil). Here are the remnants of the second pizza.


So far my favorites are (1) sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions and (2) pepperoni.

I came home from work tonight thinking I might bake bread. I had picked up some items at the store. Watered the garden. Sat in my rocking chair (actually it is a "glider") with some cookbooks, reading about ciabatta and other Italian breads. I fell asleep in the chair for a bit of a nap and decided I did not have the energy for bread tonight. I did, however cook some chicken and herb tortellini (from the store) and sent them swimming in vodka sauce that my neighbor had made. Yum.

I cannot stop thinking about food these days.

--the BB

Cena italiana #6

Facebook friends have put up with me rhapsodizing about ironing and the joys of starched linens. Well, one set of new linens have been inaugurated tonight. Here is the table with places for six though it was just Bill and I for dinner.


Sauteed mushrooms and onions for pizza topping.


Who said pizza has to be perfectly round? These ain't.


First round: pizza with mushrooms and onions, green salad, and a lovely 1994 Fetzer reserve cabernet.


Round two: pizza with pepperoni.


Dang, this was fun, and easy. (Though on Facebook I confessed that when I did a dry run of a pizza just for myself on Saturday I discovered that I really should have had a pizza pan. Now I have two. There were no photos of Saturday's pizza. "Before" photos would have been lovely; "after" photos could have been blackmail.

The cooking adventure continues.

--the BB

Cene italiane # 4 e 5

Sorry, folks, I don't have photos on the latest two, but I will report on food.

#4 was a last-minute birthday dinner for my friend Kathy. When I realized I would be out of town on her birthday, a party seemed necessary. I think we conferred on Wednesday and Friday night we dined. I got out the highly starched lemon yellow jacquard tablecloth and napkins, put red roses on the table and we partied. Well, I had a lot of wine that night, anyway. I made mushroom risotto, Bill brought fresh tomatoes from his yard for a stunning insalata caprese. I did a re-run on lemon chicken with wilted spinach. And incredible chocolate gelato.

#5 was last night. My friends Jon and Jack got married in DC earlier this year and my wedding present to them was some home cooking. Very upscale home cooking. LOL. Crostini spread with goat cheese and olive oil with green chiles and roasted garlic. Another mushroom risotto, this one including both dried wild mushrooms and fresh baby bella mushrooms (when did they stop calling them crimini?). This was very rich and wonderful. Sauteed chicken breasts in Marsala with wilted spring greens & minced orange pepper. Then lemon gelato that is light and tart and very lemony. Heaven.

This is the recipe I used last night. Killer result if you are a lover of tart lemon desserts, as I am. From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, p 614.

(To be prepared and frozen at least two hours in advance.)

The peel [zest] of 4 lemons with none of the white pith beneath, about 1/2 tightly packed cup.

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Put 1-1/2 cups water, the lemon peel, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. After 2 minutes, take off heat, remove the lemon peel, and pour the syrup into a bowl. Let it become completely cold.

2. Add the heavy cream, stirring to incorporate it evenly into the lemon syrup, then pour the mixture into your ice-cream maker and freeze it following the manufacturer's instructions. Store in the freezer in a tightly sealed container until you are ready to use it.

One thing to know about the lemon gelato recipe. It came out like a cross between soft-serve and very stiff whipped cream. So the texture is as light as the flavor is tart.

I am happy to report that the dishes from last night are all done and put away, including pots and pans, table silver, and wine glasses. Got two loads of shirts washed, dried, and hung up too. I feel at least somewhat ready for the work week.

--the BB

Cena italiana # 3

The "experiments in Italian cooking" series continued yesterday.

La tavola

For Antipasto we had bruschetta. (I am not sure I have ever heard a server in any restaurant pronounce this correctly. The "sch" before "e" or "i" has the sound of "sk," just as it does in the English word "school." English-speakers will come close if they pronounce it as Bruce+Kate+Ta, with that "ta" as in "tata for now," accent on KATE. Of course, it you order it that way you may get an uncomprehending stare.

Anyway, last night's was done the old-fashioned way, brushing slices of bread with olive oil and sticking them briefly under the boiler. The tomatoes used were freshly picked from Bill's garden. And cheers to Bill, the sous-chef, who did lots of chopping and stirring for the meal.



Primi consisted of risotto al radicchio, a dish we had in Florence. It turned out really well and I am eager to have risotto more often. This is the fourth time I have made it and it is so very good, well worth the half hour one spends stirring it constantly. It's not fast food by any means but it certainly has moved into my personal category of comfort food.


For Secondi we had Marcella Hazan's drunken pork roast. The pork is "larded" with carrot sticks and cooks in wine for three hours. I added some baby bella mushrooms, sauteed zucchini, and a few slices of Bill's tomatoes.


I picked these grapes from my vine just before the meal. They are small but very sweet and we polished them off by the end of the meal.


The ricotta cake with lemon zest and juice in it. A thin cake with a lovely crumb. We had slices of it with mixed fresh berries.

There were many empty wine bottles in the trash at the end of the evening and I was very gratified to have pulled this off, especially given that I had a tooth ache all day. What a fun way to learn new recipes and techniques!

--the BB

Cena italiana #2

One of the current learnings is that I love to feed people. Now, this is not news. It is something that goes way back to my college years. I worked in kitchens in the summer, cooked now and again while in college, asked cooks lots of questions.

Bill and I entertained a lot and enjoyed doing it together. I loved ironing linens while he was working on sauces.

Doing it on one's own is another story. Since I work full time and I'm a lousy housekeeper, tidying up for company, planning, shopping, organizing, and cooking is much harder now. I really needed the several years I lived as a "hermit" but it is a huge shift to start entertaining. Nonetheless, I was determined this would be the year and I do want to learn the techniques of Italian cuisine.

So tonight was Italian Dinner Number Two. I only decided late Wednesday night to do it.

There is psychological significance to my entertaining with dishes and table linens that I did not use when I was part of a couple. Branching out on my own in a fresh way.

Here is the table with lots of black and gold.


Antipasto included goat cheese mixed with roasted garlic, green chiles, olive oil, salt and pepper. This could be spread on thin hard slices of French bread. Some guests also brought a corn salsa that was very tasty, full of fire and tang, and that was yummy on the bread also. There were kalamata olives, all washed down with pinot grigio and/or blood orange soda.

Primi, for which I have no photo, consisted of whole wheat fusilli (made in Italy) in a sauce of olive oil, butter, chile flakes, roasted red pepper, and parmigiano reggiano. I was going to make homemade egg noodles but, once again, punted. Today I went to church, shopped, and went to brunch instead of staying in the kitchen all day.

Segondi included veal scallopine in a Marsala and cream sauce, wilted spinach with roasted garlic, and grape tomatoes halved and sauteed in butter and balsamic vinegar. I got to practice the technique of pounding meat (clean up your minds, you naughty chipmunks!) as described by Marcella Hazan.


Dolci: egg custard gelato with fresh blueberries. The gelato was flavored with orange zest simmered in the milk and with Grand Marnier.


And that was Sunday Dinner. Hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, we toasted those who wished they were here with us. Y'all may not have been fed but you were not forgotten.

Ci vediamo!

--the BB

Una cena italiana

After our visit to Italy in April I have been wanting to try my hand at more Italian cooking. Well, my first big feast was an Armenian meal, but tonight was Italian Meal #1.

La tavola

Antipasto consisted of squares of fried polenta topped with a mixture of goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and a bit of roasted red pepper. There were also three varieties of olives.

Primi consisted of a pasta with peas, ham, eggs, and parmigiano reggiano. I was going to make home-made egg noodles but with everything else going on I just used packaged farfalle. They were lovely nonetheless. I've made egg noodles and they fall in the category of something I know I can do, so it was not a problem to give that up on this round.

Segondi had thin-sliced chicken breasts briefly sauteed in butter with lemon juice and parsley, accompanied by sauteed haricots verts and grape tomatoes that were halved, sauteed in butter and some balsamic vinegar. The tomatoes were heavenly and the rest was pretty damn good.

I forgot to take a photo of the Insalata. Mixed spring greens with minced green onion, gorgonzola, oil, white balsamic, salt, and pepper.


And Dolci! Fresh raspberry gelato with Meyer Lemon cookies.

Every course was a success and I am very pleased. Kathy kept commenting that it was such a light meal and she expected something heavy. I told her Italian cooking takes many forms and this was intended to be a light summer meal, in spite of having five courses. I don't feel stuffed at all. Can y'all see the smile stretched from ear to ear.

God bless Kathy; the dishes are all done.

I look forward to more adventures in Italian cooking and will try to take you along with me (well, in photos at least).

--the BB