Deus Ex Culina

Family Meals

Boy it is tough preparing weeknight family meals that are easy, quick and actually taste good. Well if you stay with the same old standbyes then it can be easy. However it is sometimes nice to prepare a new twist on old favorites, if only for a change of pace. So, here are 3 meals that I prepared during this past week that fit all of the above criteria ! Rosemary Pork Loin; Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts; Cheesy Burgers.

Rosemary Pork Loin

1 x 2-2.5lb pork loin, trimmed of fat and muscle
8-10 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 lg yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 med sized lemons
1 Tbls chopped garlic
1 Tbls olive oil
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
1 Tbls assorted dried spices (I used pinch of Marjoram, Thyme, Basil, Sage for total of 1 Tbls)
2 sheets of tinfoil, large enough to contain and seal the loins, with "airspace"
-this will be used as a double layer

Preheat oven to 500. Combine olive oil, garlic and spices.

Put loin in center of tin foil layer, and on top of a few sprigs of Rosemary. Pierce the loin in several places with a fork and rub all over with oil/spice mixture.

Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons over the loin and scatter the squeezed wedges around the loin.

Scatter the chopped onion around the loin.

Put the remaining sprigs of Rosemary around and on top of the loin.

Seal the tinfoil, leaving an air space at the top.

Roast for 10min @500 then turn down oven to 300 and roast for 20 min more. After 30 min total, check the loin. If it is closer to 2lb, it should be done or very close. If loin is closer to 2.5lb then another 10-15min may be needed.

Anyway, when done, slice and serve warm with onions. Loin will have made a wonderfully flavorfull juice to accompany.

I served with mashed potatoes and a mixed green salad. Even the kids liked it !!

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2 very large and plump boneless breast halfs (semi-frozen, not fully thawed or raw)
3 oz goat cheese
2 oz prosciutto, finely chopped
1 Tbls milk or cream
1 ts garlic
1 ts italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbls olive oil
1/4c white wine (remember, if you wont drink it, don't cook with it !)

Insert a sharp knife 1/2 way into the thickest part of the breast. DO not go all they way through. Twist the knife carefully to enlarge the hole. Slowly make the hole larger until you have a pocket.

Combine the goat cheese, prosciutto, milk, garlic and italian seasonings until smooth and spreadable.

With a small spoon, put 1/2 of the cheese mixture into the pocket of each breast. Seal if needed with toothpicks.

Liberally (one of the few times I will ever use that word !) salt and pepper both sides of the breasts.

Heat olive oil in skillet large enough for both breasts to sit in and NOT touch each other or the sides. Heat till very hot, but not smoking.

Add breasts, count to 30 then flip. Cover and cook breasts for 5 min then uncover and flip agian. Recover and cook for another 5 min. Uncover and check for "doneness". At most, the breast should need another 2-3min, otherwise they will be dry.

Take breasts from the skillet and hold on a warm plate and cover.

Turn up heat and add the wine. Scrape up all of the bits in the bottom of the pan and deglaze until liquid is reduced by 1/2, has darkened and is like a thin syrup. Serve breasts and pour pan gravy over.

I served this with buttered baby asparagus only. No starch. This one just for mom and dad.

Cheesy Burgers

12-14oz LEAN ground beef.
2 oz goat cheese
Wostershire sauce
Granulated Garlic
Cracked Black Pepper

2 x 1/2 in thick slices of Velveta

Rolls of your choice (I used Capt Durst Potatoe Rolls)
Condements of your choice

Divide beef into 4 equal portions.
Using a burger press (or your hands), create 4 flat patties
Put 1oz goat cheese into the center of 1 patty, cover with another pattty and press edges firmly to seal.

Sprinkle wostershire sauce, garlic and pepper over the top of each patty then chill for 30min.

Grill to your desired internal temp. ~3-5min before removing from the grill, top each burger with 1 slice of Velveta.

YUMMMMM !! Goat cheese has a nice sharp tang as it oozes out from the middle and the melted Velveta is pure comfort on the top !

There you have it; quick, easy, good *and* off the beaten path for weeknight food !

Beef Barley Soup

And you thought soup was for sissies?

You too can prepare this hearty cold-weather dish!

I've always liked beef barley soup, but am not a fan of tomato-based recipes. I am not fond of tomato sauces of any kind- there are very few places where I will gladly eat the tomato sauce- La Buona Vita in Arlington, MA being one of them. Tomato sauce in general reminds me of chipped dishes, stained stove tops, boxes of no-name pasta and the poverty- both financial and creative (culinarily)- of those college years. I hate the taste; unless it's in salad, I don't want any tomatoes lurking in my recipes.

So here's to nice Beef Barley Soup that celebrates the flavor of beef and seasonings.

Pantry Raid

Slightly more than half a pound of boneless round steak cut into little cubes

1/2 cup of pearl barley

1/4 cup of lima beans (not canned: dried)

1 carrot chopped up

1 celery stalk chopped up

1 onion chopped up

1 tsp of minced garlic

5 cups of beef or vegetable broth (low sodium, if possible)

1 tbs or more of black pepper

1 cup sliced mushrooms

My Baby's Got Sauce-

Optional: After cutting the beef, marinate in a light mixture of your choice: I like a very shallow, drizzled mix of garlic, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, but use whatever you think gives beef a little oomph. Remember that the longer you marinate, the more flavor gets into the beef.

Get a pot and combine the beef, the barley, lima beans, and five cups of broth. Bring to a boil, skim the foam off the surface, and add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic. Let the mix reach a boil again. Lower the flame and allow to simmer gently for about 1 1/2 hours (cover the pot).

After 1 1/2 hours, mix in the mushrooms and let cook for another 15 minutes. The meat should be pretty tender by now.

Serve with some good bread- unsalted Tuscan bread is what I recommend (not necessarily what I have access to...Yes, I'm pretentious like that).

This makes approximately 4 servings. If you decide to refrigerate any of this soup, remember to add some water to it while reheating because it thickens after standing. I originally found this recipe in the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, but made some minor modifications to bring out some more flavor.

Enjoy in good company!

Gnocchi di Patate in Red Sauce

Is there a better comfort food that gnocchi? I don't really think so. I've always loved gnocchi, and was surprised to find that it was relatively easy to make in the kitchen. With potatoes sitting in my refrigerator that I didn't know what to do with, I figured gnocchi would warm my heart far more than baked or mashed potatoes ever would.

But did you know that potato gnocchi is only one kind of gnocchi? That there's ricotta gnocchi as well? Well, I'll try that one next. In the meantime, I should tell you that my gnocchi came out as authentic as any I've had elsewhere, and that given how easy it was to make, I'll definitely make this again.

On to the recipe!

This gnocchi recipe is adapted from Italian Family Cooking by Edward Giobbi (though all gnocchi recipes are very similar), the sauce recipe is mine. I should mention that I've seen other recipes for gnocchi, and the amount of potatoes varies widely. I wouldn't worry about being precise with the potatoes. I used 6 meduim sized potatoes in mine.

Ingredients:

• 4 large Idaho potatos, or the equivalent in smaller sized potatos. Dryness is key
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• grated Parmesan Cheese

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, and the skin is peeling off. Remove from the water, and place on the countertop. I found that the best way to remove the peel was to place a paper towel in your hand, and then grasp the potato and squeeze gently. The potato should emerge from your hand and drop back onto the countertop, leaving the hot peel in the towel in your hand. Discard towel and repeat with all potatoes.

Roughly chop the potatoes and place in food processor or food mill. work the potatoes until they are thoroughly mashed. This is difficult to achieve with a processor alone. I don't have a food mill, and so I used a fork to mash the chunks that the food processor missed. Spread the mashed potatoes out over the countertop and wait for them to cool.

Once cool, add one beaten egg and salt to the mixture, and begin adding flour a little at a time, until the dough begins to take shape. For me, it took a little more flour than the 2 1/2 cups, but you'll know when you've added enough flour. When the dough looks like dough, cut off a hunk, and roll out to 1/2" thickness, like a long tube. Cut into 1" pieces and set aside. Repeat until the dough is all used up.

Now you can boil in salted water as you would normally do. I should warn you that this is a LOT of gnocchi. So I boiled what I wanted to eat for dinner that night, and froze the rest. When it's done boiling, strain and top with red sauce with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. And speaking of red sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• leaves from 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1/4 bottle of Cabernet (why yes, it is decadent, but what did you expect on Deus ex Culina?)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

This is pretty simple. Chop garlic and onion, and saute in olive oil until the onions soften and become translucent. Then add can of tomatoes and the salt and pepper and allow to simmer a bit. Then add the 1/4 bottle of Cabernet, and allow to simmer until the alcohol has boiled away, and the sauce has thickened again. Take off heat, and use.

Eat up!

Chick peas with tomato, curry flavors

This was something I put together on this past sunday morning for a family reunion sunday afternoon. I used all canned materials, due to time constraints (all told, it took me a little over an hour for all the prep-work and cooking). The manner of preparation here is vegan, as I was meeting a number of people who are fairly strict in their diet. If I was making this for myself, I'd probably replace some of the olive oil w/ butter, for the slightly richer flavor.

note: All spice quantities are approximate and should be modified based on personal taste as well as potency of your spices. (Throughout this entire process I was dipping a spoon in every few minutes to taste it, and making adjustments up until the time I turned the heat off on the stove, the liquid smoke was a last minute addition, as I thought it might enhance the flavors a bit, it did seem to work well.)

1 can crushed tomatoes (not sure of exact size, but it’s the pretty standard tomato can size from the supermarket.
1 can chopped tomatoes. (14oz?)
1 small can tomato paste
1 med size onion, coarsely chopped
2 - 3 tbsp chopped garlic
1.5 - 2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp black mustard seed (not yellow, *very* different flavor)
1 tbsp cumin seed
2-3 tbsp curry powder (I use a lot of the Caribbean-style curry powders, a bit different flavor from traditional Indian curry)
1-2 tsp garam masala
crushed red pepper flakes
salt
black pepper
liquid smoke
olive oil

Dry-pan
Pour the black mustard and cumin seeds into a dry frying pan and set the heat to med-high. As the pan heats up, keep the seeds moving around so they don’t burn. You will hear the mustard seeds start to snap and pop (like mini-popcorn) and you will smell the change in flavor. When the seeds start to snap at a good rate, then take the pan off the heat, swirl it around a few more times, and dump the seeds out into a mortar and pestle.
Next, into the hot pan from the seeds, add the curry powder and garam masala. This will toast up very quickly, keep the powder moving so it doesn’t burn. When you start to smell the flavor changing, and see a slight browning of the mixture, pour it out into the mortar and pestle as well.
Add some salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to the bowl of your mortar and grind. The toasted seeds should crush and grind fairly easily.

Fry
Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a large-ish pot, set the heat for med-high. As the oil heats, add the chopped onion and let it cook for a couple of minutes w/ some salt. Add the chopped ginger, and little later, the minced garlic. When you add the garlic, start adding the toasted spices, stir frequently. Here we’re not looking to caramelize the onions, just cook them to transparency, you also don’t want to overcook the garlic. From the aroma at this point, you can start to get a real feel for how this dish is going to taste.

Once the onions are cooked to transparency, add in the cans of crushed and chopped tomatoes, let them come up to a boil. While waiting for the main mixture to boil, open the tomato paste and put it in a small pan w/ some olive oil. Heat this over med-high heat w/ frequent stirring for about 5 minutes (to start to slightly brown the tomato paste) and add to the main pot. Once the main pot boils, add in the 2 cans of chickpeas and bring it back to a boil. Lower the heat to med-low and simmer for a while, ‘till you think it’s done (45mins to an hour or so). You’ll want to put a cover or screen over the pot, or you’ll get spatters everywhere (think of making tomato sauce). As it’s nearing completion, add 3-4 drops of liquid smoke.

Remember to keep tasting this as it goes, it’s pretty simple, and really cheap to make.
The black mustard may be a little harder to find, but you really cannot substitute yellow in this, the flavors are very different. It’s a good thing to keep on hand as anyways, toasted in this manner it is a great mild flavor for rice as well as being a good flavor in most soups.

Introduction

The ranks of Deus ex Culina keep growing, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it!

Allow me to introduce you to an old friend of mine, who will go by the name of Green Cheese. Green Cheese has been a lifelong vegetarian, specializing in Indian cuisine. But occasionally he likes to cook in the Eastern European style of his ancestry. Green Cheese cooks primarily for himself and his girlfriend, though he hosts the occasional cookout.

Please join me in welcoming Green Cheese to Deus ex Culina.

Pizza

Having moved to the Bay Area, and experienced some of the best casual and fine dining of my life, more often than not simply by walking into an unfamiliar establishment wherever I happened to be, or by just driving around aimlessly, looking to uncover a new favorite location in one of the many San Francisco neighborhoods, I simply expected that finding a great pizza place would be, well, easy as pie.

Boy was I wrong. California pizza, by and large, stinks. And don't try arguing about all the funky places that try to pass off exotic California-fusion-on-flatbread-with-cheese as pizza. Pizza must meet some bare minimum requirements and then needs to embellish very little on that. The best pizza is a minimalist experience.

To that end, I offer this humble recipe that you can serve to your friends; they will love it and rank it among the best pizzas they've ever had.

What You Need
Some wares you need that you may not have:

• Large pizza stone
• Large pizza peel

Ingredients

• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 1/4 cup fresh water, heated to about 110 degrees (warmer than your hand, but not hot)
• 2 tsp quality honey
• 3 c unbleached white flour (+ more for dusting)
• 1.5 tbsp wheat gluten
• 2 tsp sea salt, fine
• Semolina flour for dusting
• 2 1/2 c tomato base recipe
• toppings (see below)
• olive oil to drizzle

Topping Suggestions
Cheese, NY style	Margherita
1/4 lb Mozarella, shredded 1/4 lb Fontal, shredded 1/4 lb Soft asiago, shredded 1/4 c Grated romano 1/4 c Grated hard asiago	1/2 lb Fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced into medallions 12 large basil leaves, chiffonade 2 large or 3 small vine ripened tomatoes slice tomatoes into small bowl to marinate in oilve oil, fresh cracked pepper, a pinch of the above basil, and lightly salted while you prepare the pizza; sprinkle most of the basil on top, add the tomatoes, and finish off with a little more basil.

If you want to make a meat-based pizza, cook the meat first and add to the cheese pizza above, after the cheese has melted. If you want to add fresh vegetables, wait until two minutes before you want to take out the pizza and add then.

1) Make the dough
Start this at least 2-3 hours prior to serve time and up to a full day

Create a sponge: start by sifting together one cup of flour and the yeast into a medium bowl. Dissolve the honey into the warm water and mix well with the flour and yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes until it is foamy and doubles or triples in size.

In a small bowl, sift together the remaining 2 cups of flour, gluten and salt. Whisk. Pour half of this mixture into the sponge when it is ready. Stir together. Put the remaining flour onto a clean counter-top and add the contents of the medium bowl on top.

Incorporate everything together by hand, and begin kneading the dough until you have a uniform, smooth ball of malleable dough. Add more flour by dusting as needed. You want a dough that is stiff enough to not stick to your hands or the counter and that maintains its shape, yet not so stiff that it is impossible to knead. This should take about 10 minutes, more or less, depending on your kneading ability and depending on how much extra flour you end up adding as you will have to knead for a while to completely incorporate every time you dust more.

Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil into a clean bowl. Gently pull the dough edges down and push the center up to form a tight skinned ball and pinch the bottom together. Put this ball into the bowl and roll it around to coat the ball and the entire surface of the bowl evenly with a thin coat of the oil (if there is too much oil, make sure to drain the excess). Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let stand, undisturbed, in the warmest corner of your kitchen for 45 minutes to an hour.

2) Make the sauce
Strain the tomato base fluid into a small saucepan and place the the solids into a food processor. Boil the tomato juice over heat that is high enough to produce a rolling boil, but not so high as to cause the tomato juice to foam up or burn. Allow it to boil until it is reduced to a thickness comparable to heavy cream (20-45 minutes). Process the solids until there are no more clumps. Mix the processed solids with the reduced juice. The final sauce should be smooth and loose. If it is too thick, add a little more unreduced tomato base juice. When you have the right consistency, taste for salt. The sauce should not have too much salt; the cheeses will contribute plenty of salt while the sauce should not be so salty as to cover it's freshness or sweetness. That said, sauce with too little salt could make the pizza taste too sweet. Set the sauce aside to cool off.

3) Preheat the oven
Now, if you are making your pizza today, then preheat your oven to 500 degrees (hotter if it can -- go as hot as your oven will go, and, for professional ovens, as hot as your floor can stand), with the pizza stone inside. If you are saving the dough for tomorrow, obviously, then you will finish today with this step and pick up on the next step tomorrow. Take the ball of dough, risen to double volume or more, and "punch it down" into a disk shape. If you want one large pizza, set this disk aside on your counter for another 45 minutes, covered with a cloth. For two medium pizzas, divide the dough in half, knead each half a few strokes, and push the edges down to shape into balls, flatten into disks, and set aside on your counter for 45 minutes, covered with a cloth.

If you are preparing the pizza tomorrow, place your dough inside a ziploc bag, seal tightly, and place in your refrigerator over night.

4) Stretch, toss, & assemble
At this point, do not knead the dough anymore under any circumstances; doing so will only make the dough unmanageable!

Dust your pizza peel with semolina flour. Don't worry about to much semolina as long as you have the peel evenly coated and you can still see the peel through the semolina.

Take the rested dough, which has also risen again and will likely have small bubbles here and there, and place on your counter, dusted with flour. Dust the top of your dough lightly with flour and begin to flatten the disk(s) by hand and stretch. Holding the dough disk by the edge, allow it to drop and let gravity stretch it as you move your fingers around the perimeter. When it becomes about the size of a dinner plate, you can start to hold it with two tightly balled fists, stretching the dough by pulling your fists in opposite directions. Don't stretch it too fast or it might rip; and don't uncurl your fists because your fingers will rip the dough. Keep rotating the dough over your fists as you stretch. Your aim is to maintain a circular shape and even in thickness. If you're up to it, you can use your balled fists to toss the dough with a quick spin. This doesn't do much for your pizza, but makes for good show, and does help you out somewhat due to centrifugal force.

Stretch the dough until it is mostly translucent across the middle. Since you need to ensure your pizza will fit on the stone, always stretch the edges last so you can allow any excess dough to form the crust.

Carefully lay the pizza dough onto your dusted peel. If you have the patience, allow to rest for 15 minutes before proceeding. Using a large ladle, pour on a thin coat of tomato sauce. Too much sauce will make the pizza soggy and overwhelm the flavor. "Too little" sauce is a matter of taste. I like enough sauce to taste it under the toppings; I want to taste sweet tomato with a garlicky hue and a swath of mild saltiness cutting through. I use enough sauce that the entire surface is well coated, yet it is thin enough that I can see streaks of dough coming through.

Add you preferred toppings. With pizza, often less is more. If you are adding fresh veggies, keep in mind they sweat in the oven and will make your pizza juicy, and possible soggy. Better to either add fresh vegetables (the pizza pictured is a fresh bell peppers pizza) during the last 3-5 minutes of cooking and serve immediately, or to saute them first and spoon them on top, drained. This is also true of fresh meats like hamburger, sausage, or chicken; be sure to cook them before topping your pizza with them. Overall, I have come to find that my favorite pizza is simply cheese or at most pepperoni (never liked it before making it myself). Margherita (see at top) is to die for. It's simplicity belies it's perfection; always use fresh mozzarella, and you can skip the sauce if you like).

Always put the sauce on the bottom, and you can put the cheese on top of the other toppings if you like to keep them from browning, or under, which I prefer.

5) Bake & Serve
After you oven has preheated for an hour, the stone should be ready to cook pizza. Slide the pizza onto the stone from the peel. Do this gently, with quick, small jerks. You've surely seen professionals do it quickly in one maneuver, but they 1) are professionals and 2) have large stone ovens where you don't need careful aim to make sure the pizza doesn't droop over the edges of the stone.

Typically, expect your pizza to cook in 10 minutes. The longer it cooks, the browner the cheese and the crispier the crust. At exactly 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven, you will have a fairly soft, golden crust with a limp middle that may even fall apart easily when you cut and serve. The ideal is somewhat after that (12-15). You probably will not want to cook it for longer than 17 minutes unless your oven is over-reporting it's temperature. Also, if you didn't preheat your stone long enough, the pizza will also take longer to cook.

I judge by the cheese and crust color through my oven's window. A crinkly-looking crust with dark brown spots and highlights and bubbly cheese is a good sign. HOWEVER, when you use fresh mozzarella medallions on your pizza, you will get better flavor if you don't let the cheese brown.

Use your pizza peel to slide the pizza out from your oven and onto a large cutting board or cooling rack. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes and slice and serve.

mangia

Dinner Party for 8

Well, we had a nice dinner party Sunday night for 8 people. In the past, I had prepared elaborate meals that were labor intensive with the result that I spent as much time in the kitchen as I did with our guests. This time I prepared a simple meal that needed minimal prep before sitting down. Menu of Hors D’oeurves, London Broil, Spinach Salad, roasted herb new potatoes followed by NY Cheesecake. The Cheesecake was prepared using the recipe published on this site last week.

Overall, the dinner party went well. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the company and the food. Went through 4 bottles of red wine- and 2 guests do not drink! 2 bottles of Huia Pinot Noir, 1 bottle ea of Lehman-Barrossa Shiraz and Penfolds Shitraz. Favorite was definitely the Huia. Huia is from the Marlboro region of New Zealand. The Lehman and Penfolds are Australian.

Hors D’oeurves

NY State Sharp Cheddar
Cream Havarti
-Bremner Crackers

Tortilla Rolls (Simple recipe that I have prepared for many years BEFORE the current “wrap” trend. My inspiration was the “Hovan” Roll).

5 burrito-sized tortillas
1 can Rotel Tomatoes (diced tomatoes and green chile peppers in a can)
8oz fat free cream cheese
1 bunch scallions- green part only- chopped
1 bunch cilantro- stemmed and finely chopped
3-4 Tbs cumin-more or less to taste
10 slices thin backed deli ham (not smoked or maple glazed)
4 oz sour cream
4 oz salsa

Soften cream cheese in the microwave; combine with drained Rotel tomatoes, scallions, cilantro and cumin. Mix thoroughly.

Spread 2-3 heaping Tbs of cream cheese mixture on a tortilla. Spread all over the surface, leaving ½ in on each side and ~1in at the top.

Place 2 slices of ham on top of cream cheese/tortilla, short sides at the bottom of the tortilla and long sides touching, but not overlapping.

Roll up like a jelly roll- roll tightly. Repeat 4 more times. You should have just enough cream cheese spread for all 5. Chill rolls for several hours.

To serve: with a sharp knife, slice off ~1in from end of tortilla roll and discard. Slice remainder of roll into 1in slices and arrange on a platter. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

London Broil

Marinade from Gourmet Magazine/Epicurious.com

http://food.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=11835

As I was feeding 8 people, I doubled the recipe and used 2x 2.5lb London Broils.

For 1 London Broil, grill over hot coals for 8min then flip and grill for 7-8min more. After 16min total, the meat should be done or very close for “rare”. Med should be ~22-24min total.

Spinach Salad (recipe for 4 people- I doubled for 8)

10oz pkg triple washed baby spinach leaves- well chilled
5oz bacon
3 Tbs pine nuts
2-3oz crumbled gorgonzola
Simple Vinaigrette Dressing

Cook bacon until very crispy. I used a ridged grill pan and a cast iron skillet cover as a press. You want most of the fat to cook off of the bacon. Drain well, then finely crumble and set aside.

Simple Vinaigrette Dressing (for 4 people, I basically doubled for 8- but used 1/3c olive oil)

2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbs Italian Seasoning
1 Tbs Minced Garlic
1/4c olive oil

Combine all in a jar and shake vigorously, the set aside. Dressing will separate but you can reshake before serving. I have a salad cruet with stopper for this.

Put Spinach in a bowl large enough to hold it all. Toss with dressing, ½ of pine nuts, bacon and gorgonzola. Sprinkle remainder of pine nuts, bacon and gorgonzola on top.

Potatoes (recipe for 4 people, doubled for 8, but with 1/3c olive oil)

2lbs New Potatoes
1/4c olive oil
2 Tbs minced garlic
2 Tbs herbs de provance
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.

Quarter the potatoes if small; cut into bite-sized pieces if large. Microwave on high for 5min. Put into a Pyrex baking dish large enough to hold all. Toss with olive oil, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Cover and roast for 30 min. Check after 30min, olive oil should be bubbling in the bottom of the dish and potatoes should be very soft. If not, roast for another 15min are more as needed. Serve hot.

Cheesecake recipe as published last week.

Heritage Turkeys

Ever heard of a Heritage Turkey? I hadn't until I read this article in the print edition of Food & Wine Magazine. See, the turkeys that we eat at Thanksgiving became prominent in the early 1960's, and are horribly disfigured birds that taste nothing like the birds our parents grew up with. A few of the problems with modern turkeys:

• The breast is so overgrown that the birds cannot mate naturally anymore. They reproduce solely by means of artificial insemination. They cannot naturally lay their own eggs either.
• Modern white turkeys are so horribly inbred that they are in serious jeopardy of being wiped out by a disease, due to a lack of genetic diversity.
• As much as the large white breasts have been overselected by breeders, the legs have been neglected. Modern turkeys can hardly walk, let alone run. And they can no longer fly, unlike their wild cousins.
• The flavor of modern turkeys is bland, as breeders have all but bred the flavor out of it in seeking out more of the white meat. From accounts I've read, you can hardly taste the turkey in modern birds, compared to the older breeds.
• Modern turkeys are slaughtered at 3 months of age. At that age, the bird has not yet developed a layer of fat on its body, meaning that the bird comes out overly dry.

I never particularly liked turkey personally, and reading these accounts, it would seem as if the reason is that turkeys aren't really turkeys. And don't be fooled, free range turkeys are the same disfigured breeds that the factory farms use. Thankfully, there's a movement to restore the turkey to what it used to be. Those revived turkeys are called Heritage Turkeys.

Before the factory farming methods in use today, there were many regional varieties of turkeys that Americans would eat. Those turkeys are still grown, but some of the breeds that were commonplace as recently as 50 years ago are nearly extinct. Below are pictures of two different breeds of Heritage Turkeys. Click on them to enlarge.

Bourbon Red..................................Narragansett

The Slow Food guys have been promoting the farms that still grow and sell the old varieties, and they have collected a good set of farms that are selling them. Haritage turkeys are fattier, with more dark meat and a firmer texture than what's sold at supermarkets today. I would LOVE to try using a Heritage Turkey this Thanksgiving, but unfortunately that's a decision my mother, who hosts the holiday, will likely not agree to. If any of you decide to buy one, let me know how it comes out.

Slow Food Heritage Turkeys
Slow Food Description
Heritage Turkey project
Willie Bird Turkeys
New York Times on Heritage Turkeys
Cabbage Hill Farm
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
Oklahoma State Turkey Breeds Page (has nice photos)

Nana's Waldorf Salad

Years ago I ordered Waldorf Salad at a restaurant. Decided something was lacking in that salad, so, I went home and designed my own. I have only found one person that didn't like this salad and that was because they didn't like cabbage.

Keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week. Enjoy.

Love,
Nana

Nana's Waldorf Salad

1 lb. shredded Cabbage
1 Apple (your choice) (core & chop)
2 Tblsps. Lemon Juice (on the chopped apple)
1 can Pineapple Tidbits (drained)
1 cup Chopped Walnuts (or Pecans)
1/4 cup Sugar (or artificale sweetener)
1/2 tsp. Salt
3 Heaping Tblsps. Mayonnaise

You will need a large bowl, about 6 quart size.

Core & chop your apple, add the lemon juice and stir. Now add pineapple, sugar, salt and mayonnaise, stir; add walnuts, apples mix again.

Now get a big wooden spoon -- add your shredded cabbage on top.
Blend from the bottom up. Work your way around the bowl 2 or 3 times.

I usually store this in several plastic bowls with air tight lids.

Introduction

I'm happy to be able to introduce to you all a new member of the Deus ex Culina family. Every family has a Nana, and now we have ours. Nana is a grandmother who's been cooking since she was a child, even winning ribbons at the local county fairs for her pies. With her kids grown, Nana mostly keeps her cooking simple these days, but does cook for the occasional dinner party.

Please join me in wishing Nana a warm welcome.

Risotto Cakes

So this past weekend, my girlfriend goes shopping, and announces that she's going to make this three cheese risotto. So naturally, I end up making it. Overall, the recipe isn't so bad, and not far off my own four cheese version (and she has these ingredients) so I make it, the only change being you need to add the stock slowly while making a risotto, and Emeril tries to cheat here.

Anyway, we have mounds of leftover risotto, so later this week, I made these risotto cakes which everyone said were great, and could be used on any left over risotto (although the cheese helped keep them together).

Again, I apologize, this camera really sucks; I have a better one but I need to find it.

Use cold risotto. Mix the risotto with about 1 egg per 8-12 tbs of risotto. This will help keep the cake together while cooking it, and help it brown more evenly. With the cheese in this recipe, I used a little less. You need lots of butter in a non-stick pan to make sure nothing sticks. Take about 2 tbs of risotto, roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a pancake. Fry both sides for about 5 minutes each. You can make them larger, if you know they won't stick or break, but start smaller.

Enjoy!

Really Homemade Tomato Sauce Base

Italian is hands-down my favorite cuisine. Ever since I was 13 or so, when I was taught a basic a'matriciana sauce, I've been obsessed with finding the perfect tomato sauces for different dishes and styles.

It never ceases to amaze me how often I come across mediocre to truly bad Italian food, when it is so absurdly easy to make at least decent Italian. Assuming you agree with that premise, then I'd like to up the ante a little and share the basis for world-class excellent sauces you can truly call homemade--look ma, no cans!

Also, as I plan to post, with no particular schedule, many Italian recipes over time, then before I get around to posting even a single one I should share this recipe, from which most sauces can subsequently be derived.

If there are no longer fresh vine-ripened tomatoes available in your area, you'll have to wait until next year. But print this out, or bookmark it for future reference!

What You Need

Some wares you need that you may not have:

• a quality food mill (if you don't know what this is, find out; it's not electric)
  
• a very large stock pot
  
• a pasta ladle
  

Ingredients
Feel free to scale this recipe down, but it's more worth your time and money to do as much as possible.

• One crate (~25 lb) fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes (ask for a case of blemished/overripe tomatoes at your farmers' market; around here, I can get about 25 lb of those for $5)
  
• Four heads of fresh domestic garlic (I've found a variety with a purple-tinged peel that is amazing and really pungent), peeled
  
• Large bunch of fresh basil, washed & dried, leaved
  
• Sea salt & fresh ground peppercorns
  
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
  

Make it
Bring a few gallons of water to boil in a large stockpot (half-3/4 full).

While water comes to a boil, fill a large bowl with cold water and set aside.

Pierce an X into the bottom of each tomato using a pairing knife.

When the water comes to a boil, add enough tomatoes to the pot to take up the entire surface area. Allow the water to return to a boil, or wait about 3 minutes. Using your pasta ladle, pull out each tomato directly into the bowl of cold water until all the tomatoes are out of the pot. Place the bowl of cold water and tomatoes under a running faucet of cold water. Add more tomatoes to the pot of boiling water and begin fishing tomatoes out of the cold water and hand peeling over another, very large bowl. Allow the juices to drip into the bowl, discard each peel, and then put the tomato itself into the bowl. Work as fast as possible. It doesn't matter if a little peel here and there makes its way in; don't worry about the hard stem base either.

(Normally when you blanch tomatoes, timing is critical, as are the temperatures of the hot and cold water; in this case, it doesn't matter because we are going to stew the tomatoes afterward anyway.)

Repeat this process until you have peeled all your tomatoes into your bowl.

When all your tomatoes have been peeled, place them all inside the large stockpot (empty out the water of course) and add all the peeled garlic as well as the leaves of basil (about two-three loose cups worth of leaves for an entire crate of tomatoes). Set the stockpot on medium heat. After the tomatoes come to a boil, allow to cook for another 30 minutes.

Using a soup ladle or large serving spoon, place batches of stewed tomatoes with garlic and basil leaves into the food mill (fitted with the largest blade) and process, turning the handle in both directions until only husky pulp and seeds remain. Repeat until all the tomatoes have been milled, discarding fibrous pulp periodically.

Return the milled tomatoes to the stove and bring to a boil and then boil for another 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Go easy on the salt and pepper because this is only a base and you will often reduce it later, so you don't want it to end up too salty and you don't want to infuse it with pepper-i-ness.

Ladle into plastic bowls or ziploc freezer bags and freeze until ready for use.

You can use this base in place of any recipe calling for canned crushed tomatoes or for sauces where you start with whole stewed tomatoes and crush them later.

bread...yeast and fruit

since i've cooked or baked a good 53 years of my life, i tend not to use cookbooks often anymore. this is a bread i've been playing with for the last few months. any fruit juice seems to work. and welch's 100% juices are fabulous for it. but you can pick fresh and pulverize those in a food processor and they'll work just as well. pineapple is great in it. i really love white grape juice for this, but purple works well (doesn't change the color of the end result much).

you need a very large mixing bowl with steep side as you're going to do everything in it including kneading. (keeps the mess localized).

2 pkgs of dried yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 juice concentrate or pulverized fresh fruit
about 1/2 cup of water

mix and place in warm location to proof. if it's open to the air cover with a paper towel. when i can smell this in the other end of the house (as i've usually forgotten i've started it if i'm busy), i return to add:

4 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil (which ever variety you prefer is fine or a light vegetable oil)
3 tablespoons of poppy seeds (or use sesame seeds)
about a tsp or 2 of freshly ground nutmeg
2 tsps freshly ground cinnamon (whatever volumes you choose, keep the ratio between these two spices)

sometimes i add another 1/2 cup of water, depending how much i want to make.

at this point i add about 2 cups of flour and about 1 tablespoon of salt. don't add the salt before adding the flour because salt tends to kill yeast off and you want the yeast healthy. mix this up. and then slowly add more flour until you get an elastic dough. it sometimes will take 2 pounds of flour (about half a 4 pound bag) or a little less. when the dough is elastic, it's time to get personal with it.

put olive or vegetable oil on your hands or flour them (both does the same thing) and knead the dough to mix in any remaining flour or any more you need to add. it can handle alot of kneading if you're into it. put it into a warm place to rise until at least double in bulk. go off and do something else for a while. this can take a while. when it's ready to punch down, it'll be fragrant throughout your home. punch it down. knead it again and let it double in bulk one more time.

at this point, it's time to make dinner rolls or loaves of it. and i personally like the dinner rolls as each one has a nice crust and you can make lovely sandwiches with it. it'll make enough modest sized rolls to cover a large greased cookie sheet. (you can use parchment paper or waxed paper if you'd rather).

place in warm oven and let rise one last time for about 30 minutes. turn oven on to 300 deg F and bake till golden. about 15 to 20 minutes for rolls. probably 30 minutes for loaves (i haven't made loaves with it yet).

cool. you could use an egg white wash on this before baking and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds too. that's also nice.

because it rises so many times, the texture inside each roll is even without large air pockets. to freeze them (they freeze quite well), i place aluminum foil down first, then waxed paper or plastic wrap (i don't put any food in contact with aluminum because aluminum migrates to foods quite rapidly; it has one of the highest/quickest solution rates). i wrap the rolls in the waxed paper or plastic wrap and then seal the foil around that. prevents freezer burn; aluminum is reusable.

delicious by themselves, fabulous with extra crunchy peanut butter or cheese slices, even better with thinly sliced tomatoes and onions!

enjoy.

Introduction

I'd like to introduce everybody to out newest poster, Cris. Cris is a widow and a former Ford engineer who has spent a lifetime exchanging recipes with other engineers from around the world. She cooks Kosher, and she also makes her own wine, which I can't wait to hear about. Please joining me in giving her a warm welcome.

French Onion Style Soup In A Pumpkin

So after making my chicken stock, I had a hankering to make French Onion Soup. But it's October, and all the farm stands around here are selling pumpkins. And if there's one thing that's fun to cook, it's soup in a pumpkin. I've seen other soup in a pumpkin recipes before, but this one I made up on the fly, so it's sort of like French onion soup but in a pumpkin, and sort of like something completely different. But I'll tell you, it came out hearty and delicious, and even though I've never had anything quite like it before, it was really like comfort food, just made you feel all good inside.

So take a look at the pumpkin here, and then let's get to the recipe!

click to enlarge

Ingredients:

• One Leek
• 2 Vidalia Onions
• 1/2 Stick Butter
• Chardonnay Wine
• Chicken Stock
• One Pumpkin, about the size of a human head
• Rustic or Country Bread, like from a bakery, NOT a factory
• Fontina Cheese, shredded
• Leaves of 3 Sprigs of Majoram

Begin by cutting the leek, lengthwise. Wash it out thoroughly, as it will be dirty inside. Then cut it crosswise into 1/2 inch strips, both the white and green parts. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat and add the leek. Let the leek get soft in the butter.

Then, julienne the two vidalias and add them. Again, let teh onions get translucent and soft, and allow most all of the liquid to dissipate as steam before proceeding. Then, add wine to cover all the vegetables. Again, let the liquid steam off. Just before the liquid is completely steamed away, add Majoram. This will be quite aromatic. Remove from heat when liquid is dissipated.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut top off of pumpkin. Do this crosswise, not lengthwise as if you were making a jack-o-lantern. Remove insides and discard stringy bits, reserving seeds for roasting later. Put the onion and leek mixture into the pumpkin, and add stock until the pumpkin is filled. Then add bread to the top, soaking it in the liquid, and covering the hole at the top of the pumpkin. Add fontina cheese to the top, covering the hole and the pumpkin itself. Place in the oven for an hour on a baking sheet, and you're done.

When you remove it from the oven, the cheese should be melted and nicely browned. Serve by taking your ladle and just dunking the cheese bread misture into the soup and mixing around. Scrape the sides of the pumpkin when serving with the ladle to get pumpkin bits when you serve.

I found this soup to be extremely hearty, creamy and delicious. It should serve four good sizes portions. Just look at the picture below, and tell me you're not hungry already. Buon Appetito!

click to enlarge

Basic Chicken Stock

If you're like me, every time you cook comething involving chicken or rabbit (yes, I cook quite a bit of rabbit), I wind up with scraps of meat and innards and expecially bone. Backbones in particular. If you're like me you freeze these things, in a giant gallon freezer bag, and then once a year or so, you pull out all the scraps and get to making stock. Stock is actually remarkably easy to make, and when you're done, well, there's not much to look at aside from some liquid. Nevertheless, what you're left with will be the basis for some great winter comfort food.

Ingredients:

• Chicken bones (bones, bones bones). I'd guess I used 1 gallon of bones and assorted chicken innards plus 1/2 gallon of the same from rabbit. (you can buy packs of chicken wings if you have no scraps (tip from AB))
• 4 Stalks of Celery, Roughly Cut
• 4 Carrotts, Roughly Cut
• 1 Large Yellow Onion, Quartered
• A Few Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Bay Leaves
• A Few Sprigs of Fresh Fresh Oregano
• Water

Ok, so this is like, really complicated. Basically, put everything in a pot, bring to a simmer, and wait like an hour or two. Skim any scum off the top periodically. Then, cover a strainer with cheesecloth, and pour stock through, into a new pot or other container. I used my Pyrex.

If you're not sure if it's sone, Alton Brown suggests taking a bone out and breaking it, if it snaps easily, you're done. I'd only seen that trick after I'd made my stock, so I didn't do that.

Cover and freeze, unless you're going to use immediately. I wound up with about a gallon of stock all told. Next up, let's see what I did with the stock, shall we?

Black Bean and Rice Salad

We recently participated in a covered dish supper for the parents of my daughter's school class. We brought a favorite salad that I would like to share- What I call: "Black Bean and Rice" Salad.

The genesis for this recipe goes back a few years. At a party, a friend served a basic corn/black bean salsa which I liked. I asked for the recipe and then prepared it with a few changes to suit needs/taste. I later found nearly the same recipe in the Junior League of Denver Cookbook (aside- for those that don't know, most med-large cities have a ladies Junior League, and most publish cookbooks. These books are great resources for everthing from good basic food, to what is currently trendy, to regional specialties and recipes that have been handed down. Most of the larger chain bookstores sell several different editions- proceeds benefit charity BTW). After serving the salsa as-is for several years- and having it always be a hit- I decided to add rice in order to create a salad.

Here is the recipe:

6 lg -8 sm Roma Tomatoes- seeded and finely chopped
1ea Red and Green Pepper- seeded and finely chopped
1 lg Red Onion- finely chopped
2 bunches scallions- finely chopped (green only, discard white)
2 cans Black Beans- drained and rinsed
8-10oz frozen corn- cooked, drained, rinsed in cold water
1/2 bunch Cilantro- finely chopped
Juice from 2 lge Limes
1-3 ts chili powder (to taste, I don't like much)
2-5 TBs Cumin (to taste- I like a lot)
2c cooked white rice- I cook to just before "done"; I like the rice to be firm for this.

Combine ingredients 1-7 in a large bowl. Add lime juice, chili powder, cumin, mix thoroughly. Taste ! You should taste the lime juice and the cumin, with just a hint of heat. Adjust seasonings as needed and to your taste.

Add cooked rice, mix completely, chill and serve. I garnish with sprigs of Cilantro (you still have 1/2 bunch left !) and wedges of Lime.

Enjoy !

When we served it last week, it was very well received. One of the other mothers took some of the little that was left and added red wine vinegar. Hadn't thought of that and will try next time !

The recipe as described, makes ALOT and can be halved or doubled as needed.

Going forward, we are hosting a dinner party this Sunday. Since I would rather spend time with my guests than stay in the kitchen, the menu will have an emphasis on easy preparation. Menu looks like hors d'houevres, London Broil, Roasted Potatoes, Spinich Salad. I'll report back after with recipes etc.

Best,

Ross from SC.

Introduction

We have a new blogger joining us on Deus ex Culina. He is Ross from South Carolina, and for the past 11 years, he has done all the cooking for his family of four. He first started cooking when his wife complained that he wasn't contributing enough to the housework, and in turn, he volunteered to do all of the house's cooking henceforth. And now, he's going to share his secrets with us here on Deus.

Ross is the first person to join us having seen our mention in Forbes. In fact, he brought it to my attention! I know there's more of you out there who are itching to join, so don't be shy. Send an email to autobot@robsama.com, and you'll get all the terms automatically emailed to you and we'll contact you about joining. It's that easy. Just ask Ross!

Negroni

As a long time Red Sox fan (Nomar should appreciate this), I have the perfect drink for Red Sox Nation. It's a little bitter. It's a little sweet. And it has a kick. Unlike Yankee fans world-wide, Red Sox fans are used to, and deep down, I think they appreciate a little excitement. So far this post-season has been nothing less. The negroni's recipe speaks to these fans, even if most other fans I know think the drink tastes like cough syrup.

But what do they know???

This drink's recipe is similar to most (and can be made exactly that way, which is actually, how I prefer it...) but classically:

1 part gin
1 part Campari
1 part Italian vermouth

I know I haven't been posting drinks on Fridays for a long time now like I said I will, but this is coming after a big day, so I think it's fitting.

The origin of this drink is almost as disputed as the martini, and even the Campari company doesn't give credit to anyone for its creation. It seems logical that Count Camillo Negroni would be responsible, and stories about him ordering it in the 20s across Europe seem believable, if completely unverifiable.

Personally, I had a long series of failed introductions to Campari, and this one finally stuck. Parents of a childhood friend introduced me to these on the rocks when I was too young to appreciate them. Sama, at a friend's wedding many years ago, introduced me to Campari and tonics... which I liked (ask me about Americanos, not the coffee drink). Shortly thereafter I tried a negroni straight up, after acquiring the Campari and tonic taste... and the rest was history.

Some photos, and I'm trying to capture the color, more than anything else here, yet it's difficult with a cheapo camera:

This one might be a little better:

...point being it is not a cosmo (although that's not a bad drink variety, which I've been meaning to get to).

Given the recipe, there's not much else but basic mixology, which I can go into here: cold drink, and ratio options.

The glass needs to be chilled. This is true for most drinks. Don't stick your crystal in the freezer, but a few cheapo glasses in the freezer is a nice touch if you have the space. Lacking that opportunity, fill your glasses with ice, and some cold water before mixing your drink, and dump it out when the drinks are ready.

Above, I quote the original recipe, which is good. I think even better is the classic drink ratio: 2 parts gin, 1 part campari, 1 part sweet vermouth. If you order this out at a bar, you may get either, or even the "martini" version, which is a very dry martini, and a splash of each: campari and vermouth. This is ok, but unless you have a taste for pink gins (I'll blog about this one someday) it is an acquired taste.

Speaking of acquired tastes: as I mentioned, most people think this tastes like cough syrup. Consider yourself warned. If you've been waiting for something since 1918, there isn't much you can enjoy that doesn't leave at least a slightly bitter taste in your mouth. This year, the excitement is going down just right.

UPDATE: bleah.

More on Forbes

Not sure how I missed this. Forbes gave us an individual review, in which they said we're tied with another blog for 2nd best food blog on the net (thanks to you, the voting continues to show us as #1 in their poll). Check the review:

This blog, which in Latin means "God from the kitchen," is the result when two 30-something buddies from high school with a shared love of food--Rob Sama and Chris Kausel--wound up on opposite coasts. The two decidedly unprofessional chefs kept in contact first through e-mail and then blogs, where they continued to enthuse about what they were cooking and eating. Unlike some sites where too much time is devoted to navel-gazing, this blog is not only well-written and presented, but also a good source of some serious stick-to-your-ribs recipes for such dishes as stuffed pork chops, chicken with riesling, and "artery clogging meat casserole with walnut pesto sauce." Even better, the blog attracts other cooking aficionados with equally hearty appetites to share recipes and post the results. There is even a hierarchy, beginning with "dishwasher" and ending with "master chef," that reflects the number and quality of contributions made to the blog.

I really hope this makes it to the print edition. You can see the review here.

Proserpina

A velvety drink made from one of the most ancient fruits...

Indigenous to Persia, pomegranates are considered one of the most ancient fruits known to humanity. They are often used in Middle Eastern cooking in sauces and soups. Its seeds are used to make grenadine syrup.

They are also pivotal to the plot of one of my favorite Greek myths: that of Hades, god of the afterlife, and Persephone, goddess of spring and youth. The myth is about how Hades falls in love with Persephone and whisks her off to the underworld. Because he never consulted with her beforehand on whether this suited her or not, she rightfully sulked, and refused any food or luxuries he offered her. Meanwhile, back on earth, Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and mother of Persephone, decided to halt all crops on the planet- fields grew barren and the world was launched into famine, pestilence, and chaos.

Zeus ended up getting involved, and after some shouting and prying, it was discovered that he knew that Hades had been hankering for a wife, and no one but Persephone would do. However, the fact mortals were dying left and right and not paying homage to the gods was persuasive enough to have the god of gods issue a mandate: Persephone was to return to her mother immediately.

Hades was very upset, and was about to say goodbye to his fair queen when it was discovered that Persephone had savored one small seed from a pomegranate- the fruit of Hades' realm. Because she broke that taboo, she was required to spend 1/3 of the year in the underworld, although she could spend the rest with her mother on earth. During the months Persephone is with Hades, fields are barren as her mother grieves for her absent daughter.

Apparently they managed to have a good marriage: of all the Greek gods, Hades was the only one who did not cheat on his wife.

Because pomegranates have a sour, but at the same time, sweet flavor, I find it's a gorgeous metaphor for the marriage of Death and Life.

But I digress.

Pantry Raid

4-6 ripe pomegranates

Option 1: fresh whipped cream

Option 2: champagne

Excellent blender

Strainer

Gorgeous crystal glasses

Once Upon a Time:

Slice your pomegranates so that you end up with a few wedges you can easily break apart with your hands. The seeds should be plump, surrounded by a crystalline gem-like ruby pulp. Don't bother to use a spoon to dislodge them. Use your fingers- this is a delicate fruit. Take the seeds from their chambers and put in the blender. 2 pomegranates yield approximately a cup of juice, so be prepared to do this for a while.

Once you have a good amount of seeds in the blender, liquefy them. The mixture should be grainy and very pink. Take a pitcher and strain the mixture until you have a clear deep pink-colored juice.

Depending on how you feel, you can have the juice three different ways:

You can have it plain- it's fantastic just the way it is;

You can have it with a tablespoon of fresh whipped cream as a dessert (very decadent);

You can have it with some bubbly champagne- but if you do, make sure you've strained the juice a couple times at least so the juice is very pure and clear;

I think it might also taste good with seltzer, ice and a spring of mint...but that's too summery...

Whichever concoction you opt for, raise your glass to Proserpina, the Roman name for Persephone, and enjoy in good company!

Duck in berry sauce

With fall coming in, it was time for something earthier than the chicken I've been cooking lately. The obvious solution? Venison. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any venison, but had already picked up a stack of berries, and so got some duck instead. The sauce was made in a mushroom base, which gave it a nice mix of savory and sweet that offset both the duck and the rice wonderfully. The best part? It's all really, really easy, and impressive to boot.

If I didn't live in a bible-belt state that prohibited wine sales on Sunday, I'd have made this in a Chateauneuf-de-pape or maybe even a Cahor, thinking that the earthiness of those wines would set off the berries. But that didn't work, and so I ended up trying the "Better than Bullion" Mushroom base, which I think worked really well. I did, however, make way, way too much sauce for my one duck breast. I think the recipie would work great for two. Oh yeah, and I made some wild rice on the side, of which no more needs be said.

Ingredients
2 duck breasts
Berries: Blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, or whatever berries you have on hand.
1 cup stock or base

Start the sauce: Cut the white bits out of four or five strawberries, and chop them up. Boil a cup of base, or stock or wine, as suits you. I started with a cup of water, added a teaspoon of the btb goop, and stirred. Add three or so of the strawberries, some blackberries and blueberries, to about the same volume. Simmer, stirring now and then, until the berries have burst and it's all a mush, and has reduced a little. Pour it all into a blender and blend. Strain it into a cup, and set aside.

Remove the fat from the duck. Use it to cook the duck in, by chopping it up a little and throwing it in your pan to melt. Remove and discard, or tell me what to use several ounces of duck fat for. Salt and pepper your duck, then sear on both sides. Reduce the heat to cook until it's just slightly firm (or less, if you like it rare.) Remove from heat, and let rest on plates. Now pour in the fruit sauce, throw in some more strawberry and blueberry, and deglaze. (That is, boil it until it reduces, scraping the bottom of the pan regularly so that the sauce doesn't stick. You also want to ensure that the nice tasty little brown bits are part of your sauce, not left in the pan.) When it's thick, pour onto the duck and rice, and enjoy! You can garnish with some extra berries, if you haven't eaten them all.

Like a fool, I had butter at hand, but there's so much duck fat that you don't need it. And since you bought all those berries, why not put them on a fine, fine cheesecake?

New York Cheesecake

Well well well... I have been on sabbatical, testing all sorts of recipes and experiments, and am now ready to begin posting some stuff here.

I imagine some of you have no clue who I am or what I do, and I suppose an introduction of sorts would be in order. But I think I want to save that for some other time, or perhaps for my bio.

SO... what we all really want is not to hear about calzone, but rather about that king of deserts: CHEESECAKE! Indeed, there are many deserts that may be considered 'great', 'fine', or even 'noble', but they all seem to me to attain other types of ranks: tira mi su is a fine maiden, creme brulee an honorable knight, and chocolate mousse is the perfect diplomat... Only cheesecake seems 'kingly.'

So, role up you sleeves, go out and buy yourself a cinder-block of cream cheese at Costco, and get ready to treat yourself right.

So, understand that this is a rich pie. Plese leave the sour cream or yogurt add-ins to your odd friend, the part-time vegan and full-time food nazi, because we're not looking to "lighten" this plodding 'delicacy' one bit.

That said, as rich and heavy as a good New York Cheesecake is, it's amazingly easy to eat and you'll find yourself eating more than you planned to.

Ingredients/shopping list

• 40 oz Cream Cheese
  
• 1 1/2 c sugar
  
• 3 tbsp white flour
  
• 1 large orange
  
• 1 large lemon
  
• 7 eggs
  
• some vanilla extract
  
• 1 package of graham crakers + 4 crackers (like, there are 3 packages to a box)
  
• 4-5 tbsp unsalted butter
  
• 1/2 c sugar for crumbs
  
• 2 tbsp butter for pan
  
• springform pan
  
• parchment or wax paper
  
• extra-large aluminum foil
  
• a pan at least 1" deep that can hold the springform pan within
  
• 25-35 large strawberries (or assorted berries, or no berries at all if you prefer)
  

Hints:
Your oven should be decent or this may not work out so well for you.
Before anything else, take the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature in a Large mixing bowl.

1) Prepare the Pan

Take a sheet of wax/parchment. It should be a square big enough to cover the whole bottom of the pan. Fold it in half, and half again. Then, point the corner that represents the center of your unfolded sheet so it faces you. Fold the square along the diagonal between you and the far corner. Now, fold the triangle in half lengthwise. Take this new, skinny triangle, and hover it over the springform so the point is above the dead center and the end is floating past the edge of the pan. Using scissors, cut the end of the triangle so that it the whole triangle is now short enough to fit radially when you set it inside, with the point exactly on the center. Make your cut perpendicular to the axis of the triangle, and maybe even with the gentelest arc. You can see where this is going, right?

Unfold your triangle and you should have a quasi-circle that will fit neatly on the inside bottom of your pan.

Liberally butter the bottom and edges of your pan, and place the circle of parchment/wax paper onto the bottom of the buttered pan. Now take some more parchment paper, and cut a rectangular strip that is long enough to circle around the outside of your pan, and about as wide (or wider) as your pan is tall. Place this strip on the inside of the pan hoop, and circle it around, pressing it into the butter so it sticks. Cut it short so it its ends just meet.

Finally, take some more butter, and spread it all over the inside of the pan again, on top of the paper.

Preheat your oven to 350

2) Make the Crust!
So the first thing you want to make is the crust. Alton Brown had a show on cheesecake in which he suggested coarsely crumbling the crackers, with some rather large pieces remaining later. I tried this out of curiosity and was not thrilled. I prefer the fine, purely milled meal that only thorough mashing and grinding can accomplish. This is a personal choice of course, but keep in mind, the coarser the crumble, the greater the fumble; mealy ground crackers will stick together with butter better than large chunks will.

Crush the crackers by hand and finish off in a food processor until they're like bread crumbs. Mix in 1/2 c sugar—maybe less if you're feeling sophisticated (a less-sweet crust allows more graham-butter flavor to come through; also, less butter will make a less cohesive, but more crumb-like crust which I also tend to prefer). Melt the butter, and mix it into the crumbs thoroughly.

Take your crumbs and pour most of them into the prepared pan. Using a soup spoon, or whatever tool you like, press the crumbs down and pack them so they form a dense, even layer along the bottom of the pan. You want to go for a crust that's no more than 1/4" thick. Using the spoon, spread any extra crumbs out toward the edges of the pan, and up the side. If you made a thin crust you may have plenty enough in there already for the side; you want to go up the side about 1/2" -1" --otherwise, add more crumbs around the perimeter of your bottom crust and press those up the sides. It's more desirable to get your edge level--all the same height-- than it is to worry about uniform thickness.

When all your crumbs are packed in tight, carefully place the pan into the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes. You don't really want to over-toast this crust. You could even skip this step if you so choose, but I find par-baking this crust makes it better.

While the crust is baking, crack 5 of your 7 eggs into a bowl, and then separate the remaining 2 yolks into this bowl --discard, or save the whites for some other use.

Also, while the crust is baking, zest your lemon and orange into a small bowl.

Now, at this point, the crust is proabably ready to remove from the oven. Do so, and place on a cooling rack, in the fridge.

3) Mmmm Filling!
This is the tastiest part, other than eating the final product itself. Turn the temp up on your oven to 500 degrees. And put on a kettle of water to boil.

In your mixing bowl, break up and mash the cream cheese until it is nice and soft. Beat in the 1 1/2 c sugar, then add the zests, and finally the 3 tbsp flour until nice and smooth. Use low speed to do this. A powerful mixer makes life easier here. Before I had my mixer, I used a wooden spoon and got great results then, but it's a small workout.

Now, beat in each egg --one at a time (just tilt the bowl full of eggs slightly so that one yolk with a little white plops in while you're mixing). Use a spatula to push down the batter from the sides after each egg addition. This is where you will make or break your cheesecake. Be patient and make sure you mix on low speed and mix in well --but DO NOT OVERMIX! After you've added 2-3 eggs, you may find the mixture is loose enough to stop using an electric mixer and switch to the afore-mentioned wooden spoon. I recommend making this switch. Too much air in your cheesecake will make it crack. Once all the eggs have been incorporated, add in about a half to full teaspoon (I always err on the high side) of vanilla extract. No harm if you add two teaspoons. Probably not even 3. I think you might want to limit yourself to 3 as a maximum, though.

When everything is thoroughly mixed in, thump the bowl on your counter to help loosen air bubbles.

4) Put it Together!
Grab your cooled crust, and line the outside of the springform with foil. You will be placing this pan into a hot water bath, so the idea is to use foil to prevent water from seeping in through the seams. Your foil should therefore be free of holes, and fairly thick. Most standard-sized foil is not wide enough to go up the sides of a 9-10" pan, so I use extra-wide foil. If you cannot find extra-wide foil, I have had success by seaming two large pieces of foil together.

Pour the cheesecake mixture into the crust.

Grab a roasting pan, or some other large pan, and place the foil-covered springform in it, slide the pan into yor oven, and pour the boiling water from your kettle into the roasting pan until it comes up the sides of the cheesecake pan, at least an inch.

Close the oven door. Repeat after me: "I will not open this oven door again until instructed to do so!" Ok. Good.

Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn your oven down to 200 degrees and leave it alone for 1 hour.

After an hour, you may open the door, give the springform a light tap to see if the cheesecake is ready. It is ready when it is fairly firm, but still a bit wobbly in the middle if you shake it a little. If it is too wobbly, close the oven door, turn the oven off, and leave it for anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes depending on how wobbly it was. For me, the cheesecake is always done after an hour, but I also have a cooking stone in my oven which helps to retain and even out heat. your mileage may vary. After the initial hour, it should be safe to check every 15 minutes if you can't feel it out instinctively.

When you remove the cheesecake from the oven, run a butter knife along the insde edge of the pan, and loosen the ring, but don't remove it. Let sit on a cooling rack at room temp for 1-1.5 hours.

Now, here comes the hardest part:

Place your beloved cheesecake into the fridge, losely covered (I use a giant inverted mixing bowl) for at least 6-9 more hours. Generally, this means overnight. (I didn't tell you this earlier because you never would have decided to go through with making it; but now that you have, you will be VERY happy tomorrow when you dig in:)

5) Is it Tomorrow Yet?
Ok, finally we get to enjoy our cheesecake! Remove it from the fridge, and take the ring off, and the ring of wax/parchment paper. Place the cheesecake, springform bottom and all, onto a cake stand/dish, if you have one, or just a large platter. Adorn with fresh berries, and leave out for 1-2 hours to enjoy at room temperature as is typical, or serve immediately, chilled (I like chilled, myself).

One word: watch out with berries because if you leave your masterpiece out too long, they may get moldy. So if you can't finish the cheesecake in three days, and you use fresh fruit topping, keep it refrigerated & covered constantly.

Some other time, I may post a compote topping recipe that I like to use in addition to fresh berries. Mmmmm.

mangia! de calzone

Baked Brie

Baked brie is always a fun and easy thing to make. It's a great appetizer, people like it, and it's answers the question of what you should do with an entire wheel of brie cheese. So without further ado...

click to enlarge

Ingredients:

One wheel of brie cheese
Fillo dough
Butter
Jam or chutney

It's pretty basic. Preheat oven to 450. Take a baking sheet, rub with butter. Then take about 2 tbs of butter and melt in a saucepan. Take out fillo dough, and place a few layers down on the baking sheet. Basically, take the diameter of teh brie, and add two inches to the diameter of the dough. Then spread your jam or chutney in the middle of the dough. Take your brie, scraping off the rind. Place brie on top of the jam, and cover the remainder of the brie with more jam or chutney. Fold up the edges of the dough, and then cover the top of the brie with additional strips of fillo dough, so as to envelop all the brie. Pour melted butter over it, so dough will stick together and brown in the oven. Then place the whole thing in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the dough browns.

When you take it out, let it set for 5 minutes before you cut it. It's great on its own, or spread on a pita bread.

Now what was experimental for me this time was the chutney I used. I used that spicy chtney that they always give you with Indian delivery food, but that you never know what to do with. I tasted it before making the brie, and it was sweet and spicy. So I figured, what the hey. And you know what? It came out great! I will definitely be making baked brie with the Indian chutney again.

Lamb Curry

Here's my curry recipe, mainly derived from my mother's recipe. Yeah, a Chinese woman from the West Indies knows Indian cooking much better than chinese food. I never really learned how to make anything chinese actually. The main issue here is quality curry powder. There really isn't any good stuff generally available in the grocery store... as far as I have seen, the best stuff available in a generic grocery store is the Far East brand curry rice powder packet, believe it or not - but you need two or three of them (this gets expensive). If you're really serious though, go to an Indian grocer or even a china town if you happen to have either nearby and sample the various kinds. In china town, you'll find a brand with a logo consisting of a guy with a turban on, which comes in a pretty large plastic bag; I forget the name. This is the kind my mom always used, and the kind I like to get. I also like to use some vindaloo sauce/powder to add some kick.

When my mom first gave me some vindaloo power, I thought it was curry powder... so I made this "curry" with my usual double dose... I'm still working with 20% less taste buds, I think. You should be able to find this in the same places as the curry powder.

Anyway, I like to use chunks of lamb, but you can obviously substitute any meat. My mom always used butter, but I've always used evoo. Most americanized recipes will call for pears or apples which are also optional if you like that sort of thing. Do they make lamb stock? Substituting veal stock is something I do sometimes. I've worked this recipe down to the simplest, but you can add mushrooms tomatoes, potatoes (aloo), chickpeas (channa) or spinach or whatever depending on how you like your curry. Potatoes add a nice starchiness, and this is a necessary component in my mom's curry. Also, this is an Indian style curry, and using coconut milk, or other types of curry pastes are simple variations if you prefer thai curry. The cans of curry pastes are actually pretty good.

half an onion, chopped
2 lbs cubed lamb
2 tbs olive oil
3 tbs curry powder
2 tsp vindaloo powder (by taste, most of these are hot)
3 tbs flour
1.5 cups beef broth
0.25 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper up the meat. Heat the oil in the pan on high heat. Brown the meat, then lower the heat and add the onion. (You can do this in one go, but the first time, I'd recomend cooking the meat, and taking it out of the pan since overcooking is bad and it's easier to judge medium rare this way since you see the color of juices flowing - and remember, the meat will continue to cook if you do pull it out - this is when you'd also add all of the other stuff you want in your curry, depending on how long those things take to cook). Add the curry and vindaloo powder to the pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the flour, and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the stock and cream and, stirring constantly, cook for 2 minutes more, or until the sauce has thickened. Throw it all together to make sure the meat is warmed back up.

Serve with pilaf and various chutneys, which I just buy, but you can make if you like.

[NOTE: I haven't made this lately, so it's from my head; apologies if I forget anything, but it's so simplified, I'm sure I have it right. I'll be making it this weekend, and I'll add a photo and any updates then.]

UPDATE:
here's the image. I think the only thing this shows is I need to dust off the real digital camera, and retire this webcam. The recipe is right, but it makes a lot of sauce, because that's what I like... more traditional would be to use 2 tbs of curry/flour, and a cup of broth.

Rick Bayless, Advertising for Burger King?????

UNACCEPTABLE!!! At least in MY book...

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