What's cooking?

Did a quick (5 hrs) cassoulet today. The main shortcut, of course, was buying Great Northerns already cooked in the can (thank you, Goya). Did a quick simmer with a bouquet garni.

The meats were a 1 lb chunk of pork ventreche (which spent 1 hr in a ragout with shallot, carrots, a head of garlic, broth, and a spoon of tomato paste), 4 duck legs confit and 4 links of some rather un-garlicky garlic sausage. Assemble the beans, ragout, and duck, then bake, break, add sausage, bake again.

Not my best work but not bad for On Demand Cassoulet. Served with a barolo just coming off its youth so still tannic but with some flavor interest.

Time to start a new batch of home made vanilla extract. It's easy, a great product and thrifty.

[Robin Garr]

Time to start a new batch of home made vanilla extract. It's easy, a great product and thrifty.

Details! I gather it's along the lines of "soak vanilla bean in cheap vodka," but tell us more!

Details! I gather it's along the lines of "soak vanilla bean in cheap vodka," but tell us more!

That's basically it, Robin with a few embellishments.

Start with ~500 ml of inexpensive 100 proof vodka (The higher proof seems to more fully extract the flavor from the beans)

Cut/split the 3 high quality vanilla beans lengthwise with a scissors or sharp knife. (Don't remove the innards from the seeds). I prefer the robust flavor profile of Madagascar beans.

Add the vanilla beans to the vodka and be sure the entire bean is immersed.

Seal tightly and shake. Store in a dark cool place and give the bottle an occasional shake. The vanilla extract should be ready to use in 2 or 3 months or so, but it will continue to gain strength if left longer.

The stuff last for years, but as you consume some of it, just add back in some vodka.

I figure that the beans and vodka cost less than $20 for 750 ml compared to multiples of that price for high quality extract. Very cost effective, if you go through vanilla extract as fast as we do here.

We have not tried making vanilla using bourbon as the base, but will do that soon.m

BP

[Robin Garr]

Details! I gather it's along the lines of "soak vanilla bean in cheap vodka," but tell us more!

That's basically it, Robin with a few embellishments.

Thanks! I've got to try this!

Would you say the finished product is better than commercial, or about the same? (I don't see how it could be any worse - it's too simple a process.)

Would you say the finished product is better than commercial, or about the same? (I don't see how it could be any worse - it's too simple a process.)

We feel it is equal to, or better than. "premium" pure vanilla extract available commercially.

I didn't mention it earlier, but when the vanilla is "ready" we simply decant off a small amount for immediate use and let the remainder continue to develop and darken.

[Jenise]

Having a small dinner party tonight with friends. One couple is supplying filet mignons. I'm taking individual potato gratins (one large savoyarde baked, cooled, divided into stand-alone portions then burnished with my propane torch) and a shaved beet and fennel carpaccio. The gratin is in the oven now.

Yesterday I bought a tray of maybe 10 chicken thighs. When I got home I realized that I had about 20 minutes to cook if I wanted to put something into the crock pot before I left for the office. So I fried 2 strips of bacon, chopped a large onion and softened it in the bacon fat, then 2 carrots, ditto, and a clove of garlic. Threw all that into the crock pot. Took six of the thighs (intact thighs with skin and bones) and browned the skin in the fat, and threw them in the crock pot as well, more or less filling it (we have an old small crock pot). Two cans of chicken broth, set to high, out the door.

Of course when I got back the house smelled great and the chicken was all cooked. I wanted to "fancy it up" -- extra juice had come from the thighs and it was like a good chicken soup or stew. We had had a great Thai curry last weekend, and I remembered that I had bought this:



You can get S&B (Japanese) Golden Curry at any Asian grocer. I doubt that I would have bought it but one day when I was walking down the aisle at our Super H-Mart, someone handed me a little cup with a bite of curry, and I thought it was delicious. So I bought a package and had it right at hand. I decided to use it with my chicken.

I separated out the solids from the liquid, and removed the bones (just one bone per thigh, the chicken basically falling apart) and the chicken skin, leaving the meat as intact as I could. I transferred much of the broth to a sauce-pan and heated it as I whisked while the solid curry squares dissolved. You get 2 separately packaged big squares. I used half of one big square, or two small squares. The curry has its own thickening agent, I added some flour to get it a bit thicker.

Then recombined everything. Of course like most people here I have constructed curries from a dozen individual ingredients. But this commercial curry has a rich and intriguing flavor and on top of a broth that was already delicious, it tasted kind of special.

This blog tells a different story -- you can use this stuff for a good quick meal (and omit the slow cooker)

http://thefoodaddicts.com/spicy-golden- ... h-chicken/

Dinner last night was Chinese red-cooked chicken. I threw in a some star anise as an additional seasoning.

-Paul W.

Yesterday we had green chile cheddar potato skins ('cause I just needed them!), and Stuart made his Squash Croquettes.

Squash croquette mixture before forming.

Cynthia, I can't remember. Is it just Stuart who is vegetarian or both of you?

Made the Caramelized Onion Tart from Once Upon a Tart today. I added a few tablespoons of black olive and truffle tapenade just to make it interetsing. Yum.

Jo Ann, that is gorgeous. I'm filing that one for an upcoming wine group. That would be a nice addition to the appetizer table.

Oh, and Bob asked for an apple pie. Thinking about how to make that Italian, another wild idea I'm considering is putting all those flavors into a parfait in which layers of sauteed apples, crumbled polenta (maybe with rosemary) shortbread, and vanilla ice cream get topped with a drizzle of 100 year old balsamic vinegar.

I love challenges like that.
What did you end up doing? Reminded me that over the summer, I made an Italian-inspired pork dish (can't remember it exactly) but I made an apple, onion, rosemary compote to serve on the side. It was a hit.

Does anyone have a Prime Rib seasoning recipe to share? Au jus recipe, too?


Tanx!

Hi Tim, just seeing this now. Here's what I do after much experimentation--I make a Prime Rib roast every Christmas and the crust is my favorite part.
Roast several heads of garlic with olive oil until soft. Let cool and squeeze them into a food processor. Add about 1/4 cup Dijon mustard and 1/4 olive oil and mix until pureed together.
Spread this mixture all over the roast (top and bottom). I used a silicone brush. Then sprinkle the whole roast generously with Montreal Steak Salt.
Cook it in a low oven (about 225) until the internal temp reaches 130 (for Rare to Medium Rare) Go to 135 for true Medium Rare. At the same time you put the roast in, put a pan filled with hot water in the oven on a lower rack (this was Jenise's truly brilliant idea and works great). It mimics the type of oven that Prime Rib restaurants have which apparently use steam, giving you that tender all-the-way-through mouth feel. Since you are cooking the roast so low and slow the temp will not rise much after you take it out. Tent with foil and let rest for a good 20-25 minutes before carving.

For au jus, while the roast is cooking, make the sauce recipe below on the stove top. When you transfer the roast onto a platter, pour the mixture into the roasting pan and simmer so you get all the pan juices incorporated. Run through a sieve and serve. Of course I also serve with a horseradish sour cream sauce for dipping. Heavy on the horseradish.

Modified from an Epicurious Recipe

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup minced shallots (about 4 ounces)
1 cup dry red wine
3/4 cup Port
1 cup canned beef broth
1 sprig fresh rosemary

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in wine and Port. Boil 5 minutes. Add broth and rosemary sprig and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Cynthia, I can't remember. Is it just Stuart who is vegetarian or both of you?

Carrie, while I am not a vegetarian, when we got together I made a bargain: we would maintain a vegetarian household, if we also maintained a cilantro-free zone!

Seriously, he's been a vegetarian since age 8, so clearly it is something he feels very strongly about. He's of the "if an animal had to die for this product, I'm not eating it" variety of vegetarian, so he's not a vegan. (Which would have been a deal breaker as it would have meant no pizza!) And he never asked me to be vegetarian, never even hinted at it, and he simply doesn't care what other people do - he figures that's their business. But I believe a home should be one's refuge and he shouldn't have to deal with this in his sanctuary from the world. Coming from a very large and close family, I also believe in family dinners, which just don't feel the same if everyone is making and eating something different.

I will order meat if we go out someplace and I feel like it, or if I am lunching with a client. I eat it just often enough that I retain the ability to do so. After a few months in Montana being entirely vegetarian, I ended up sooooooo sick after opting for a beef dish at a restaurant in Bozeman. Spent the next 24 hours wishing it would kill me already!

[Robin Garr]

More summer in February: Spaghetti with a pesto of winter garden spinach with walnuts, garlic and Pecorino Romano cheese.

More summer in February: Spaghetti with a pesto of winter garden spinach with walnuts, garlic and Pecorino Romano cheese.

I could soooooo eat that. In fact, I might make it for dinner since I just got loads of gorgeous spinach today from our CSA.

Neither my wife nor I was particularly hungry this evening and the thirteen year old was inaugurating her career as a babysitter, so we ended up having a stand-up meal in the kitchen. I had picked up some broccoli rabe a couple of days ago and we ended up blanching it and serving it with "courchamps sauce". The sauce is a simple mix of fresh tarragon, soy sauce, shallot, parsley, mustard, pastis, and olive oil all whizzed up in the blender. We stood at the counter and dipped the broccoli in the sauce. I also blanched the leaves from the rabe and we ate them with salt and a little balsamic vinegar. Of the two, I liked the leaves better. The courchamps sauce was a little much for me - I'm not a big fan of raw allium and I think we may have overdone the shallots. If I make this again, I'll start with about half as much shallot and add more if needed. Still, a pretty tasty minimal meal.

Neither my wife nor I was particularly hungry this evening and the thirteen year old was inaugurating her career as a babysitter, so we ended up having a stand-up meal in the kitchen. I had picked up some broccoli rabe a couple of days ago and we ended up blanching it and serving it with "courchamps sauce". The sauce is a simple mix of fresh tarragon, soy sauce, shallot, parsley, mustard, pastis, and olive oil all whizzed up in the blender. We stood at the counter and dipped the broccoli in the sauce. I also blanched the leaves from the rabe and we ate them with salt and a little balsamic vinegar. Of the two, I liked the leaves better. The courchamps sauce was a little much for me - I'm not a big fan of raw allium and I think we may have overdone the shallots. If I make this again, I'll start with about half as much shallot and add more if needed. Still, a pretty tasty minimal meal.

And healthy! Wow! Did it satisfy for long?

Neither my wife nor I was particularly hungry this evening and the thirteen year old was inaugurating her career as a babysitter, so we ended up having a stand-up meal in the kitchen. I had picked up some broccoli rabe a couple of days ago and we ended up blanching it and serving it with "courchamps sauce". The sauce is a simple mix of fresh tarragon, soy sauce, shallot, parsley, mustard, pastis, and olive oil all whizzed up in the blender. We stood at the counter and dipped the broccoli in the sauce. I also blanched the leaves from the rabe and we ate them with salt and a little balsamic vinegar. Of the two, I liked the leaves better. The courchamps sauce was a little much for me - I'm not a big fan of raw allium and I think we may have overdone the shallots. If I make this again, I'll start with about half as much shallot and add more if needed. Still, a pretty tasty minimal meal.

And healthy! Wow! Did it satisfy for long?

I had a couple of pieces of baguette later in the evening, but otherwise it was fine. I am a little hungrier than usual this morning, though.

Last night's dinner was Beijing meat sauce noodles, accompanied by blanched bean sprouts and shredded cucumber.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Did a quick (5 hrs) cassoulet today. The main shortcut, of course, was buying Great Northerns already cooked in the can (thank you, Goya). Did a quick simmer with a bouquet garni.

The meats were a 1 lb chunk of pork ventreche (which spent 1 hr in a ragout with shallot, carrots, a head of garlic, broth, and a spoon of tomato paste), 4 duck legs confit and 4 links of some rather un-garlicky garlic sausage. Assemble the beans, ragout, and duck, then bake, break, add sausage, bake again.

Not my best work but not bad for On Demand Cassoulet. Served with a barolo just coming off its youth so still tannic but with some flavor interest.

Sounds good. Curious about the canned beans, sounds like you got a naturally forming crust from them and I wouldn't have expected that.

[Jenise]

Oh, and Bob asked for an apple pie. Thinking about how to make that Italian, another wild idea I'm considering is putting all those flavors into a parfait in which layers of sauteed apples, crumbled polenta (maybe with rosemary) shortbread, and vanilla ice cream get topped with a drizzle of 100 year old balsamic vinegar.

I love challenges like that.
What did you end up doing? Reminded me that over the summer, I made an Italian-inspired pork dish (can't remember it exactly) but I made an apple, onion, rosemary compote to serve on the side. It was a hit.

Well, I made the pie afterall. But instead of loafing into old habits and making the pie I can make in my sleep, I used a Mario Batali recipe recipe involving a sweet lemon zested crust, made it in a long, rectangular tart pan, then for plating used homemade apple butter and a spoon to make a swoosh of extra flavor on the plate and then dotted it with the old balsamic. It was pretty great.

[Jenise]

I also believe in family dinners, which just don't feel the same if everyone is making and eating something different.

Bravo, I'd have made the same choice you did.

Cynthia, I can't remember. Is it just Stuart who is vegetarian or both of you?

Carrie, while I am not a vegetarian, when we got together I made a bargain: we would maintain a vegetarian household, if we also maintained a cilantro-free zone!

Seriously, he's been a vegetarian since age 8, so clearly it is something he feels very strongly about. He's of the "if an animal had to die for this product, I'm not eating it" variety of vegetarian, so he's not a vegan. (Which would have been a deal breaker as it would have meant no pizza!) And he never asked me to be vegetarian, never even hinted at it, and he simply doesn't care what other people do - he figures that's their business. But I believe a home should be one's refuge and he shouldn't have to deal with this in his sanctuary from the world. Coming from a very large and close family, I also believe in family dinners, which just don't feel the same if everyone is making and eating something different.

I will order meat if we go out someplace and I feel like it, or if I am lunching with a client. I eat it just often enough that I retain the ability to do so. After a few months in Montana being entirely vegetarian, I ended up sooooooo sick after opting for a beef dish at a restaurant in Bozeman. Spent the next 24 hours wishing it would kill me already!

Thanks for the insight. I often wondered how it is for relationships in which one is a vegetarian or vegan and one is not. I often think I could be a pescetarian, but then I'll see a slab of baby backs, or smell a steak on the grill and it's all over-- and I know for a fact Len could never give up his red meat. Sounds like you and Stuart have struck a really nice balance and I'm sure you are both healthier for it. Even with the whole milk mozarella.