I've mentioned before the awesomeness of Marcella Hazan's book Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.  On the day that my copy was delivered to my office, a co-worker friend of Italian descent grabbed it before I'd even cracked the cover.  It seemed like only minutes later that she returned to my office to return my copy and inform me that she'd just ordered a copy for herself.  On Sunday evening I reaped the benefits of that fateful day, when she and her man cooked for me and my woman.  She threw down this minestrone from Hazan's book, along with several other delicious dishes.  She also sent me home with some soup, so I photographed it before I ate it.  So here I am, thanking our gracious hosts and plugging Hazan's book once again.  Cheers.

        

This recipe was inspired by and modeled on Ice Cream Ireland's margarita sorbet recipe.  Actually, it was inspired by the fact that I wanted to bring a dessert to a dinner party at a friend's last night, combined with the fact that I had some lemons on hand.  The weather in DC this weekend was unseasonably warm, so sorbet sprang to mind.  Off I went to Ice Cream Ireland looking for a lemon sorbet recipe.  Instead I found their margarita sorbet recipe and thought immediately of the popular bar shot known as the "lemon drop."  Thinking it'd be tough to go wrong with vodka, lemon juice and sugar, I adapted the margarita sorbet recipe as follows.  It made about a quart of boozy sorbet deliciousness.  

• 340g sugar + a bit for garnishing the rim of some serving glasses 
• 500ml drinking water (filtered or bottled if you live in a city with nasty water, like me)
• 250ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 100ml vodka
• lemon zest for garnish

1. Boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it.
2. Remove it from the heat, cover it and cool it to room temperature.  Then add the lemon juice and vodka and cool the mixture in the refrigerator until it is cold (about 38°F) about 6 hours or over night.  (I generally refrain from putting hot items directly into my refrigerator, because doing so can increase the temperature within your refrigerator into the danger zone for bacterial growth—approx. 40°F to 140°F.) 
3. Freeze in an ice cream maker, then place in the freezer to harden more for a few hours before serving.
4. Moisten the rim of a serving glass with a lemon wedge, then dip the rim in sugar.  Spoon the sorbet into the glass and garnish with lemon zest.

 

        

This dish was last night's dinner . . . quick and easy and made entirely of ingredients from the Chesapeake Bay region.  Yeah, the plate probably could have used some carbs; instead, I got them from some Newman's Own counterfeit Oreos that I ate for dessert.  I prefer the chemically-chocolate delight of original Oreos, but the hippies at Whole Foods don't sell much original junk food . . . just the more expensive counterfeits.  I digress.  Back to the main attraction.  EcoFriendly Foods had a 2-for-1 sale on all of its link sausage at the Dupont farmers market a few weeks ago, so I loaded up.  Last night I threw some chorizo on my stove top grill pan and, while the chorizo was grilling, I braised some mixed hearty greens (mostly kale and Swiss chard) that I picked up at the farmers market Sunday in some apple cider that I'd also picked up at the market.  This meal took about 20 minutes to prepare and was delicious . . . perfect for a weeknight when you arrive home at 9PM extremely hungry.  The following recipe would serve two as an entrée or four as a small course or side dish.  Enjoy the weekend, folks.

• 1 lb. hearty greens* (e.g., kale or chard)
• 1 cup apple cider*
• 4 links chorizo* or other sausage to your liking

1. Wash the greens thoroughly.  Remove and discard any thick, woody stalks and then chop the greens into bite sized pieces.
2. Bring the cider to a boil in a large pot over high heat, then add the greens and reduce the heat to medium.  Put the lid on the pot but leave it cracked slightly, so the evaporating water can escape.  (This allows the water from the cider and the water released from the greens to reduce down into a slightly-thickened sauce.)  Cook the greens in the cider (i.e., "braise" the greens) until soft throughout, about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, on a stove top grill pan or a skillet or a real outdoors grill for those of you fortunate enough to have outdoor space, grill the sausage over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove the greens from the pot and, if there's a lot of braising liquid left in the pot, turn the heat up to high and reduce the liquid for a few minutes to thicken it a bit.  The braising liquid on the plate in the photo above could have been reduced/thickened some more, but I was hungry and impatient.  It tasted great, anyway, but if you're patient, then boil some more of the water out of the sauce.
5. Plate and eat.

 

        

Well, work has gotten the better of me over the past two weeks.  I've been cooking, but I haven't been photographing and writing about it.  But last night I had some breathing room on the work front, so I recreated this dish that I'd made with my cooking class on Monday night . . . pears poached in red wine, then served with the reduced poaching liquid, some whipped cream and lemon zest.  This is a remarkably simple dish with a fairly high "wow" factor.  Everyone in my class loved it and I shared last night's recreation with my girlfriend, who also loved it.  Last night we ate them with some Humboldt Fog cheese and champagne . . . a very decadent treat for a Tuesday night, or any night for that matter.  As we ate them last night it occurred to me that the dish could be taken to another level by stuffing the hollow cavity of the pear, where the core used to be, with soft, stuffable cheese of some sort.  Any suggestions? 

Pears and apples are about the only locally grown fruit available at DC farmers markets this time of the year.  Both store very well, staying crisp and fresh, if stored properly—just above freezing temperature in a low-oxygen environment.  Farmers can harvest them in the fall, store them, and sell them through the winter.  This region's farmers market offerings are getting pretty monotonous . . . I'm really looking forward to Spring . . . but trying to make the most of the local food around in March.  This is a spin on pears that I'd enjoy anytime, anywhere.  The following recipe serves 8.

• 8 pears* (I used Bosc and haven't experimented with poaching any other varieties)
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• 1 bottle (750ml) red wine (any type, no need for an expensive one, but it should be good enough that you'd drink it)
• 1 cup sugar
• water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar

1. Peel the pears, leaving the stem intact.  Remove the core from the bottom using a melon baller or a small spoon.  Immediately coat the peeled pears with some lemon juice to prevent browning by rubbing the entire surface of the pear with the halved lemon, squeezing the lemon gently as you do to release some juice.
2. Bring the wine and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat in a medium sized saucepan (just large enough to hold the 8 pears in a single layer), stirring occasionally, until sugar is fully dissolved.
3. Add the pears to the saucepan, then add enough water, if necessary, to nearly / barely cover the pears.  Beware that the pears will float, so it's seemingly impossible for them to be completely covered . . . and you don't want any more liquid than absolutely necessary, because the addition of water will reduce the intensity of the wine flavor absorbed by the pears.  Return the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer.  Cover the pot.  Now you're poaching pears.  Cook the pears in the simmering liquid for about 30 minutes, checking every 5 minutes or so and gently turning the pears to make sure all sides have a chance to cook in the liquid.  (See comment above about the impossibility of completely covering the floating pears.)  Be careful when you turn the pears because, as they cook, they'll get soft and you don't want to damage the appearance of the pear with gouges from a spoon!
4. After poaching the pears for about 30 minutes, gently remove them from the liquid with a slotted spoon and place them in the refrigerator.
5. Turn the heat under the saucepan to high and boil the poaching liquid to reduce it to about 1 cup, which will take 15 minutes or so.  You'll know you're getting close to done when the action of the liquid changes from a boil to a bubbling foam.  Keep an eye on the saucepan at this stage, to make sure it doesn't foam over the sides of the saucepan.  Occasionally remove the foaming saucepan from the heat to let the foam bubbles settle (about 20 seconds), in order to judge how much liquid is remaining.
6. While the poaching liquid is reducing into a sauce, whip the heavy cream and, when it reaches soft peaks, beat in the sugar.
7. Serve the poached pears with the red wine reduction sauce and whipped cream, with some lemon zest grated over the top, as pictured.

 

        

I was out of town last weekend visiting family and friends in Pennsylvania and, though I did some cooking, I didn't photograph any food.  Now I find myself mid-week, buried with work, with none of my own food to blog about.  Oh well.  What I do have is a great article about small, obsessive food producers in Brooklyn from yesterday's NY Times, written by the son of a friend of mine.  It's called Brooklyn's New Culinary Movement.  Enjoy.  I'll be back this weekend with some original material.

        

As I mentioned earlier this week, my Valentine requested apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert Saturday.  And though I like creative food that's new to me, I also really enjoy returning to the basics once in awhile.  It doesn't get more basic . . . nor more classic . . . than apple pie and vanilla ice cream.  I've put many, many hours into learning how to make pies and ice cream.  The fundamentals necessarily serve as the foundation of great creative cooking . . . the type of cooking I aspire to when I'm not making the classics.  So here's my recipe for a basic apple pie and straightforward vanilla ice cream.  I think both turned out damn well last weekend.  Speaking of weekend, it's nearly here.  Enjoy.

For the ice cream:

• 1 whole vanilla bean
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. Then beat the milk into the eggs and sugar.
2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and, using a knife, scrape out the vanilla particles (note the tiny black vanilla specks in the ice cream in the photo above) and add them to the milk/egg/sugar mixture. 
3. Put the sugar / egg / milk mixture into a small saucepan and place over low heat.  Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 160°F) and just coats the back of a spoon. Beware, the eggs will scramble at around 168°F!
4. Immediately remove the custard from the heat when it reaches 160 and transfer it to a bowl, then cover it and refrigerate until cool (40°F).
5. Once the custard is chilled (2-3 hours in the refrigerator), whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold the cream into the chilled custard.
6. Follow the instructions for your ice cream machine from this point forward, freezing the custard / cream mixture in the machine, then giving it some time in your freezer to harden a bit more.

For the crust:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 tablespoons ice water
• 1 large egg white*, beaten

1. An hour or so before beginning to make the dough, place the butter and shortening in your freezer.
2. Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine.
3. Add the shortening and process for about 10 seconds.
4. Distribute the butter on the flour mixture and pulse about 10 times, until the mixture has the texture of coarse crumbs with butter pieces the size of small peas.
5. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl, sprinkle with 6 tablespoons of ice water and mix gently with a spatula until the dough comes together.  If the dough doesn't come together, add another tablespoon of water, mix, and then another if necessary.
6. Separate the dough into to balls, one slightly larger than the other.  Flatten the balls into two 4-inch discs, wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to two days.
7. Roll the larger dough disc into a circle 3-4 inches wider than the pie plate on a lightly-floured surface or between two pieces of parchment paper, then line the pie plate, allowing the edges of the crust to hang over the plate.  Refrigerate the crust while making the filling. .
8. Place an oven rack in the lower-middle position and preheat oven to 500°F.
9. Make the filling and then add it to the pie.
10. Roll the second, smaller disc into a circle 1-2 inches wider than the pie plate on a lightly-floured surface or between two pieces of parchment paper, then cover the pie with it.  Press the edges of the bottom crust and top crust together and fold the edge under itself.  Crimp to make a fluted edge.
11. Cut 4 vents in the top crust, then brush the crust with the beaten egg white.
12. Reduce the oven temperature to 425°F and bake the pie for 25 minutes, then rotate the pie 180°, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking for another 30-35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. 

For the filling:

• 6 apples (I used 3 Granny Smiths and 3 Pink Ladies), peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Combine the apples, lemon juice and lemon zest and mix thoroughly.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flour, spices and salt and mix thoroughly.
3. Toss the apple mixture with the dry ingredients.
4. Pour the apple filling with its juices into the chilled pie crust and bake according to instructions above.

 

        

I had the great pleasure on Saturday of cooking for a smokin' hot Valentines date, which was a lot more fun that last year's romantic dinner for one.  I was cooking for a very picky eater, however, which eliminated as options my own favorite romance foods (the only meat she eats is chicken and the only seafood is well-done tuna).  But this meal was about her, so I solicited food requests and that's what I made . . . meatless lasagna, apple pie and vanilla ice cream.  I also threw in a salad and a mediocre squash soup.  I don't really have a lasagna recipe per se.  Instead, I make my standard pasta recipe (3 large eggs, 2 cups all purpose flour, a bit of olive oil or water), roll it and then cut it into wide strips and layer it with whatever I'm in the mood for.  I then bake it on 375°F, covered with foil, for 30 minutes or so.

Saturday's lasagna was comprised of marinara sauce, spinach, broccoli, mozzarella, ricotta, Parmesan, Romano and some fresh basil thrown on top after baking.  Though I don't have a lasagna recipe beyond these general instructions, I do have a recipe for my super-simple marinara.  I use this not only with pasta dishes, but also as a pizza sauce.  This recipe makes enough for a 9"x13" lasagna.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 28oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes
• splash of red wine
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• salt & pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet or pot.
2. Sauté the onion and the dried oregano until the onion is begins to brown.
3. Add the minced garlic, cook for 30 seconds.
4. Add a splash of red wine and then the tomatoes with the juice from the can, crushing the tomatoes by hand as you add them, then add the sugar.
5. Cook for about 15 minutes, then remove from heat and blend.  Finally, season with salt and pepper.

 

        

In case you weren't aware, I like to play with chocolate.  A friend in San Francisco sent me this article, TCHO, San Francisco's high-tech chocolate, from Saturday's edition of the San Francisco Chronicle and I like it, so I'm sharing it.  (Thanks, Joe.) (Photo by Lea Suzuki of the Chronicle)  The article's about some new techie chocolate makers in San Francisco named Louis Rossetto (left) and Timothy Childs.  They're overseeing the process of true chocolate "making" from cacao tree to finished confection and seem to have great intentions.  I like their obsessive approach to food and want to taste their product!  Here's a link to the TCHO Web site, where you can order some and learn more about the company.

        

This is a not-particularly-great looking recreation of a great dish that I taught at my weekly cooking class last Monday.  In the class, we made a Swiss chard, onion and cheese crustless quiche and it was delicious.  I didn't bring my camera to the class, but I wanted to post the recipe because it's so easy to make and so easy to modify with additional ingredients and flavors.  So last night I made a dish similar to the one we made Monday . . . in order to photograph it . . . but I didn't have any chard or other cooking greens.  The dish looked a lot better on Monday with some additional color.  At any rate, yeah, this is a great foundational recipe.

I should mention at this point that a "crustless" quiche is, perhaps, an oxymoron.  A quiche is a pie and pies have crusts.  Julia Child, in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, has a section on quiche and the moves on to gratins, which she describes as a quiche without a crust . . . but then goes on to provide a bunch of gratin recipes with a much lower ratio of eggs to other ingredients . . . suggesting that gratins aren't simply the same quiche recipes minus the crust but, instead, substantially different concoctions.  Muddling the matter even further is the fact that in this recipe I made a pseudo crust out of breadcrumbs, so the food could more easily be removed from the pie plate after baking . . . which worked really, really well, I should say.  At the end of the day, I don't really know what to call this . . . and I think labels are less important than the foods behind them.  So I'll call this a crustless quiche, knowing full well that someone with nothing better to do might protest such a label.

Back to the adaptability of this recipe.  The foundation of this recipe consists of the eggs, milk and cream.  I encourage you to make it as described here, if you feel like it . . . or throw some Swiss chard or other cooking greens in with the onions and add that to the recipe . . . or sauté the onions with some bacon . . . or add some ham . . . throw in some mushrooms . . . add your favorite spices . . . whatever floats your boat.  Consider this a master recipe.  If you know how to make a quiche out of 4 eggs, a cup of milk and a cup of heavy cream, then you can throw in whatever else you're in the mood for . . . or whatever else is in your fridge that needs to be eaten.

• ½ medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 eggs*
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1.5 cups cheese, grated (we used Keswick Creamery's Vermeer cheese*)
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
• Salt & pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Sauté onions until soft, about 5 minutes.  (Also sauté any other ingredients you'd like to add that would benefit from a sauté before baking.) 
3. Beat eggs lightly.  Add milk, cream, cheese, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.  Fold in onion (and whatever else you're adding).
4. Butter the inside surface of a deep dish 9” pie plate and then coat with breadcrumbs.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the pie plate, then bake for 30-40 minutes, until no liquid seeps from the quiche when you poke it with a fork.  The eggs will puff the dish up while it's baking, so if you're entertaining and want to impress the people you're feeding, carry the quiche directly from the oven to the table before it deflates!

 

        

Over the course of the last week I've been blogging every couple of days about the five course spread I made for some friends on January 31.  I've previously blogged courses one through three.  I neglected to photograph the fourth course, which was lamb rib chops on two purees—acorn squash and red potato—with sautéed Brussels sprout leaves and beet and horseradish "confetti," which I made by grating fresh horseradish and beets and then dehydrating it in the oven at 170°F.  The course both tasted and looked great, so I sort-of wished I'd photographed it . . . but whatever.

The fifth and final course of the meal was this blackberry ice cream on coffee-cocoa "soil" with Chambord cream.  I borrowed the coffee-cocoa "soil" recipe from David Barzelay over at Eat Foo who, in turn, adapted it from a Sam Mason recipe.  I made the Chambord cream by adding some Chambord black raspberry liquor to some heavy cream as I whipped it.  And I made the blackberry ice cream by adapting a recipe I made last summer to accommodate the fact that I only had two cups of blackberries.  I bought the blackberries at the Dupont farmers market from an ingenious farmer/vendor who froze some of last summer's harvest to provide a taste of summer in the dead of winter.  I thought this course worked really well.  The saltiness of the soil is a pleasant surprise and the black raspberry liquor in the paired nicely with the ice cream.  Here's the ice cream recipe:

• 2 cups blackberries*
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. Then beat the milk into the eggs and sugar.
2. Put the sugar / egg / milk mixture into a small saucepan and place over low heat.  Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 160°F) and just coats the back of a spoon. Beware, the eggs will scramble at around 168°F!
3. Immediately remove the custard from the heat when it reaches 160 and transfer it to a bowl, then cover it and refrigerate until cool (40°F).
4. While the custard is chilling, puree the blackberries in a food processor, then strain to remove the seeds and other solid matter.  I use a wire mesh strainer like this one, stirring and pushing the puree through with a rubber spatula.  Chill until ready to use. 
5. Once the custard is chilled (2-3 hours in the refrigerator), whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold the cream into the chilled custard and, finally, fold the blackberry puree into the mixture.
6. Follow the instructions for your ice cream machine from this point forward, freezing the custard / cream / berry mixture in the machine, then giving it some time in your freezer to harden a bit more.