Oh Happy Day

Our daughter, Samantha (Sam), arrived last night and will be staying with us for a few days!  She and her husband live in Chicago and we don’t get to see them as often as we would like.  So for the next few days, while George is at work,  we will spend our time catching up and doing all those mother-daughter things we used to do.  That includes grocery shopping.

Sam is a vegetarian so, while we don’t necessarily eliminate meat when she is here, we try to plan meals that are either vegetarian or include some kind of seafood.  Tonight we are having a shrimp and veggie paella.  It will be loaded up with red and green pepper, asparagus, mushrooms, green onion and paprika shrimp.  Tomorrow night she has requested potato pancakes and fresh applesauce.  Also on the menu, Stir fried rice, stir fried veggies and crab wontons, and a smoked salmon and cream cheese frittata. 

With meals like this who misses meat?

Short Ribs for Two

Last week I went to a bonus class at the Santa Fe School of Cooking.  The menu they were trying out included Braised Short Ribs, creamed corn, a tomatillo and poblano conserva and a lemon curd/filo dessert.  I decided I would try my hand at the short ribs.  This is the first time I can recall making short ribs, and it was an experience.  First, I checked out each package of short ribs available at the grocery store looking for the ones that had a fairly consistent bone size.  If you’ve never made short ribs I can tell you that bone thickness can vary. I wanted the ribs with the skinny bones – more meat less bone.  I was in luck; I found a package of four ribs with equal size bones! 

Short ribs are a tougher cut and need to be braised.  I carefully seared the dried and seasoned ribs on all sides, added the liquid and put them in a 125 degree oven to braise slowly overnight.  The next morning I checked the ribs and found they were still stubbornly clinging to the bone.  In fact, a knife would even penetrate the meat.  So the dutch oven came out of the oven and onto the stove top.  I turned the heat on low and left them on top of the stove for the rest fo the day.  They were perfectly cooked by dinner time.  I will use the oven method again but will raise the temperature to at least 225 degrees farenheit.  So here is my version of the recipe ( of course I tweaked it – did you expect anything different?)

Braised Short Ribs – serves two

• 4 beef short ribs
• 3 tbs grapeseed oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 7 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 New Mexico Chile pods – these can be omitted
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tbl dried thyme
• 1 bottle of beer, pale ale works well.  I found a microbrew that was an IPA with coriander from Belguim Brewery out of Colorado Springs, CO.
• 2 qts chicken stock

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant.  Set aside. Dry the short ribs and season with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a dutch oven and sear the ribs on all sides.  Do not crowd the meat.  When the ribs are browned, remove them from the pan and add the onions and garlic.  Saute until the onions are soft.  Add the spices, chiles and thyme and saute until fragrant.  Add the beer and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits.  Put the ribs back into the pan and cover with the chicken broth.  Bring the liquid to a boil, cover and place the dutch oven in the oven for at least 5 hours. 

The ribs are finally done – this is where I really deviated from the recipe.  Short Ribs are a pretty midwestern dish.  That means they are served with a starch and usually gravy.  So I decided to make a batch of noodles and turn the braising liquid into a really good gravy.  I removed the ribs to a covered plate.  I strained the braising liquid and discarded the solids.  I mix together some flour and water in a shaker and stirred it into the how braising liquid.  It turned into a perfect flavorful brown gravy.  I served it with some fresh carrots.  It was a hit.  George liked it so much he asked it I would make it again next month.  Will do.

Super Bowl Sunday

George and I don’t watch much football; we follow the Chicago Bears who were abysmal this year.  But the Super Bowl is must see viewing in our house – partly for the commercials.  Normally Sunday night dinner is pretty involved as Sunday is the only day I can devote entirely to cooking if I so desire.  Not tonight.  Tonight we are grazing on appetizer type food.  Yesterday I made beer pimento cheese – the subject of a previous blog.  I just finished hard boiling the eggs for deviled eggs.  I mix the yolk with a little mayonnaise and some type of flavoring, today half will be mixed with dry mustard the other half with fresh homemade horseradish. Also on the menu; chicken bites with dipping sauce, stuffed baby bella mushrooms ( the veggie component of the meal), and parmesan bruschetta .  Here’s the recipe for the stuffed baby bellas.

Stuffed Baby Bella Mushrooms Serves 2

• 8 small or 4 medium baby bella mushrooms
• 2 – 3 tsp vegetable or grapeseed oil
• 1 cup grated swiss cheese
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• mayonnaise to moisten
• sat and pepper to taste
• Wipe the mushrooms clean and remove the stem.  Chop the stem into small pieces and place in a medium bowl.  Using the edge of a spoon, carefully remove and discard the gills from the mushroom cap.   Oil the mushroom cap and place on a baking sheet.  Add the grated cheese, chopped onion and minced garlic to the chopped mushroom stems.  Mix in enough mayonnaise to make hold all the ingredients together.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Fill the mushroom caps with the cheese mixture and place under a broiler.  Broil until the cheese is melted and browned in spots.  Serve immediately.

This same cheese mixture can be placed in 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto Triscuit Rye crackers and placed under the broiler.  A great appetizer when you are serving only finger food.

And for those of us who are neither Giants nor Patriots fans; Wait until next year!

New Mexican Omelette

This morning I made omelettes with a new filling combination.  Usually I make Denver omelettes; ham, cheese, tomato and green pepper.  Today’s omelette had the same basic ingredients but with an added twist.  I marinated the ham for a few minutes in adobo sauce.  The sauce lends a level of complexity to the filling that is not there in a traditional Denver omelette.  My guest approved.  Here’s the recipe:

New Mexican Omelette – 1 Omelette

• 2 large eggs
• 3 tbl diced roma tomato plus additional for garnish
• 3 tbl diced green pepper plus additional for garnish
• 3 tbl grated sharp cheddar, Colby jack cheese, or Mexican Cheese
• 1/4 cup diced ham steak
• 2 tbl adobo sauce
• 2 tbl butter
• Mix the diced ham and adobo sauce in a  small bowl and set aside for 5 – 10 minutes.  You want the adobo sauce to penetrate the ham.  When it is time to prepare the omelette, melt  the butter in an eight inch omelette pan until the butter stops foaming . Do not let brown.  Put the adobo flavored diced ham and diced green pepper in the omelette pan and cook until the pepper is softened.  Remove pepper and ham from pan into a small bowl.  Beat the eggs.  Add more butter to the omelette pan if it looks too dry.  Allow the better to melt.  Pur the eggs into the omelette pan and swirl.  Cook the eggs lifting the cooked sides of the omelette and allowing the raw egg to move to the sides of the pan until almost completely set.  Sprinkle the cheese directly over the entire omelette.   Put the green pepper, adobo ham and tomato on the right half of the omelette and cover the pan.  Turn off the heat, leaving the pan on the unlit burner while you garnish the plate.  To plate the omelette; loosen the edges of the omelette with a spatula.  Tilt the pan and slide the omelette unto the plate; flipping the left side of the omelette over the right (filled) side of the omelette.  Finish the omelette by garnishing with the diced tomato and green pepper. 

I usually serve omelettes with country potatoes with appropriate seasoning – today it was a blend of chile powders.  The plate is garnished with a chiffonade of mixed greens (depending on what’s in season) sliced tomatoes and, depending on the omelette fillings, a bit of cheese or other vegetable.   My guests loved it.  Come visit us at the Sandhill Crane Bed and Breakfast and this could be your breakfast!

 

Time to Learn

Yesterday was a fun day – at least most of it was.  Two of my girlfriends and I drove up to Santa Fe to attended a bonus class at the Santa Fe School Of Cooking.  Going to bonus classes is an annual treat I do just for me ( and George who benefits from the new recipes I bring home!)

First, let me explain about bonus classes.  The Santa Fe School of cooking offers cooking classes covering the cuisines of New Mexico and Mexico with occasional rare forays into French.  They have a fairly extensive repertoire of different classes that are offered on a rotating basis.  Located right off the Plaza in Santa Fe, the classes are a great introduction to New Mexican food and a must for any visiting foodie.  I attended my first class at the school the very first trip we made to Santa Fe.  I was hooked. 

Over the last several years I have been going to the ‘Bonus” classes.  The bonus classes are only offered in January and February.  These demonstration classes are designed to allow the school to test recipes being designed for classes that may be added to the rotation.  The classes start at 10 am and conclude about noon; at which point you get to eat the food that was prepared by the chef/instructor.  So class and a lunch – not a bad way to spend a morning.  Not all of the Bonus classes yield “keeper” recipes.  Yesterday’s class certainly did.  Our instructor, Deena Chafetz, demonstrated the following recipes; Braised Beef Short Ribs, Tomatillo and Poblano Conserva, Toasted Cumin Cream Corn, Red Chile-Pistachio Filo Crisps with Lemon Curd, and, as a special bonus, red chile onion rings.

The beef short ribs were seared and then braised with garlic, onion, cumin, red chile pods, coriander, Mexican Beer, chicken stock, canela  and thyme.  Obviously, there is not enough time between 10am and noon to adequately braise the short ribs so she made a demo batch and then showed us the one she had made the day before.  This is comfort food for a midwestern girl like me.  The cream corn was made with fresh corn that had been roasted.  Onion, cumin (notice a theme here) garlic, and red chile powder were added to the corn in a pot with heavy cream.  Yummy goodness.  The Tomatillo and Poblano Conserva combines tomatillo and poblano with honey and lime.  It is cooked slowly until it starts to thicken.  Fantastic with the short ribs.  Our dessert was the Red Chile-Pistachio Filo Crisps with lemon curd.  She started the lemon curd at the beginning of the class and it had reached the proper consistency by the time we were ready to eat, around noon.  And for those of you keeping track, there was no cumin in the lemon curd!  The filo dough used for our dessert had been prepared ahead of time but she demoed the recipe and technique as we ate the entrée.  She had a lot of competition from the plates in front of us!

Sunday I will be preparing my version of the Braised Beef Short Ribs for dinner on Monday night.  I have already determined how I will modify the recipe to suit our tastes.   They will braise overnight in a slow oven.  I hope they make it to dinner!  I also plan on making a version of the cream corn. 

For those of you who think attending one of the classes offered by the Santa Fe School of Cooking  would be a great way to spend a day in New Mexico, you’re right.  We’re only about 50 minutes from Santa Fe, an easy drive.  You can have one of my great breakfasts and be on your way in plenty of time for a 10am class!  Oh, and next week I will be attending another bonus class.  This one feature quail in pomegranate sauce.  Can’t wait!

Better Late Than Never – Entree

Ok, we’re down to the New Years Eve entrée.  I’ve already published the recipe for the dessert course so probably won’t repeat it tomorrow.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, I intended to do a salmon in puff pastry.  Then I found one of the New Years Eve menus from a recent year – with the same guests – and knew I had to find something different.  I decided on Tournedos with Tarragon butter.  Everyone likes steak and  with tarragon as an ingredient in the appetizer as well as the entrée, we seemed to have “wrapped” the meal up nicely.  So off I go to do my grocery shopping.  Now any other time I go to the store they have an explosion of filets cut into individual tournedos.  Not this time.  I went to at least 5 stores and couldn’t find one.  I really didn’t want to spend close to $100 on a whole tenderloin for four small pieces.  So I improvised.  I bought 4 thick strip steaks and, using a very sharp knife and a biscuit cutter, cut 4 perfectly round 6 oz tournedos out of the strip steaks.  Not being one to let things go to waste, I cut the leftover steak into one inch pieces and saved it four Beef Bourguignon a week later.  With the Tournedos I served turned white potatoes and green beans wrapped in a carrot strip.  And by the way, turned potatoes are not easy to do!  If you are interested I suggest you check out the book – The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine from the French Culinary Institute.  Plan on going through ALOT of potatoes as you learn!  Sorry about the plating, it isn’t as careful as I would have liked; I got distracted.  And, while it doesn’t look like alot of food for an entrée; by that time in the meal it was just the right amount.

Tournedos with Tarragon Butter – serves 4

• Leaves from one small bunch of tarragon
• 4 Filet Mignon steaks – 4 to 6 oz each
• 1 – 2 tbl white wine
• 1 stick unsalted butter cut into eight pieces
• salt and pepper
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Heat up a large frying pan or griddle until sizzling.  While the pan is heating up, pat the steaks dry and season with salt and pepper.  Place the steaks in the hot pan,  Do not crowd.  Work in two batches if necessary.  Sear the steaks on both sides and place on a jelly roll pan.  Top each steak with some tarragon leaves.  Put into the oven to finish cooking  ( 5 to 6 minutes for medium rare at this altitude) while you make the sauce.  Deglaze the frying pan with the white wine.  Scrape up the bits and immediately add the butter.  Stir until the butter is melted.  Add the  remaining tarragon to the butter wine mixture.  Cook gently over low heat. Do not let the butter boil or turn brown.  Remove the steaks from the oven and let rest while you plate the vegetables.  Strain the butter into a gravy boat.  Plate the steaks and drizzle with the tarragon butter.  Pass additional butter sauce at tthe table.

That’s it folks. New Years Eve 2011.  I’ve got eleven months to plan for the next one!

Better Late Than Never – Salad Course

Our New Years Eve Salad Course was Beet Salad with Tangerines.  At a formal dinner such as  this, I usually serve the salad after the entrée.  But this salad made more sense coming between the fish course and the entrée.  I used regular red beets in this salad.  You could use any beet you can find; yellow, red, baby or regular beets.  The beets can be made 24 hours in advance but should be at room temperature for serving.

Beet Salad with Tangerines  4 – Servings

• 12 baby beets or 4 regular beets
• 1 tbl pine nuts
• 1/8 cup plus 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
• 4  – 5 tangerines
• 4 small shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 tbl raspberry vinegar
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, place beets in a roasting pan, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or until they are tender.  Remove from the oven, cool and peel.  Cut into wedges.
• Mix the pine nuts with 1/2 tsp vegetable oil and toast until golden brown.
• Peel 2 of the tangerines and separate into sections.  Carefully remove as much of the membrane as possible from the tangerine sections.  Set aside.  Working with one of the remaining tangerines at a time; slice in half and juice.   Juice as many of the tangerines as necessary to achieve 1/4 cup of juice.  Place juice in small bowl.
• In a separate small bowl, toss the pine nuts, shallots and raspberry vinegar with a pinch of salt and let stand for 5 minutes.  Stir in the tangerine juice and the remaining 1/8 cup vegetable oil.  Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Arrange the beet and tangerine sections on a plate.  Drizzle with the dressing and top with the toasted pine nuts. 

You could probably substitute canned mandarin orange sections if fresh tangerines are out of season, but I would substitute orange juice for the syrup the mandarin oranges come in.  This salad would also be great as part of a pork chop dinner.  Tomorrow, the New Years Eve entrée.