Pate Cake, Pate Cake, Baker’s Man
Posted: May 4, 2012 Filed under: Around the Table – guest posts, Mike the Gay Beer Guy | Tags: charcuterie, cheese, epicurious, homebrewed beer, pate, pork Leave a comment »Howdy folks. As I said in my last entry, I’m making preparations to leave Kansas City. While I am saddened to leave a place I’ve called home for the past four years, I am extremely excited to pursue bigger and better artistic opportunities in the Northeast.
To go out with a bang, I’m drawing inspiration from the Aixois Restaurant here in the Brookside neighborhood of town. This French-Casual restaurant features all sorts of novel and innovative French cuisine. When I went there for dinner a few weeks ago, I was very impressed by the charcuterie plate, the central item being the house-made pâté.
What better way to integrate fine cuisine and the Midwest than to make a pâté, not of liver but of pork! When you review (and hopefully make) the recipe based on something I found on Epicurious, you will notice a lot of unhealthy stuff in there. Between the pork, cream, butter — and of course bacon — it sounds like a heart attack just waiting to happen. But it tastes so good. Just eat in moderation and all should be fine. This is definitely going on the menu for my first beer tasting party on the East Coast!
Pasta: Two Ways, No Sauce
Posted: February 26, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bon Appetit, cauliflower, epicurious, escarole, meatballs, orzo, pasta, soup Leave a comment »
Rachel here: For this post, we decided to explore alternatives to the traditional pasta with tomato sauce. Now, this isn’t because either one of us can’t get down with some good old spaghetti. No, that’s not it at all. It’s just that it’s nice to utilize staple ingredients in less common ways from time to time and pasta is nothing if not a staple. I vividly recall the dish my mom has posted below from growing up. It’s quite tasty and this is coming from somebody who basically avoids cauliflower and broccoli like the plague. My soup recipe was the byproduct of epicurious (via the November 2004 issue of Bon Appetit) perusing and, though this was the first time I made it, it will definitely be making further appearances on the dinner table in my house. Plus, I’m thinking that this may generally be the way I make meatballs from now on since I have never had them hold up so well (and to stirring, even!) and this is a healthier approach than just cooking them in oil. Anyway, check out our recipes below and then let us know how you like your pasta. Happy eating!
Escarole Soup with Pasta and Meatballs
feeds 4 as a main course, 6 as a starter
Ingredients
3/4 lb. lean ground beef (according to reviews of this recipe turkey works just fine, too, for an even healthier alternative)
1 1/3 c. fresh grated parmesan (divide into 1/3 c. and 1 c. units)
1/2 c. fresh breadcrumbs from crustless french bread
1 large egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tspn. salt
1/2 tspn. fresh ground pepper
7 1/2 c. low sodium chicken broth
2 T. olive oil
2 large celery stalks (including tops), chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. orzo
1 small head of escarole, coarsely torn
Method
In a medium bowl, mix together the first seven ingredients (beef through pepper). Form this mixture into 3/4 inch balls (moisten your hands to prevent sticking to the meat). Heat 1 1/2 c. of the chicken broth with the 2 T. of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and simmer until they are firm and hold their shape (roughly 5 minutes). When the meatballs are firm, remove them back to their bowl. Boil remaining liquid until reduced to a glaze. Add onion and celery and stir until they start to soften. Add the remaining 6 c. of chicken broth, the meatballs (along with any juices) and the orzo to the pot. Simmer until pasta is soft (roughly ten minutes) and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add the escarole and simmer until it wilts (roughly 5 minutes). Ladle into bowls, top with remaining parmesan cheese and enjoy.
Cauliflower Pasta
serves 6
Ingredients
one head of cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
one medium onion, choppped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can of your favorite diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
about 3/4 teaspoon oregano
about 3/4 teaspoon basil
about 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound spaghetti (I prefer thin but that’s just me)
grated Parmesan
Method
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and add the chopped onions. Saute until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute. Add the cauliflower and saute for about 5 minutes until it’s just start to get tender. Add the tomatoes and seasonings. Let simmer for about 15 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked the way you like (I like my vegetables crunchy).
While the cauliflower mixture is simmering, fill a pot with about 4 quarts of water and salt it. When boiling, add the pasta and cook until it’s the way you like it (I prefer al dente), about 10 minutes or so.
Drain the pasta, place portions on the plate, add the cauliflower mixture, top with Parmesan and you are ready to go.
Crazy for Cookies
Posted: February 24, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bon Appetit, chocolate chip, cookies, desserts, dried cranberries, epicurious, ginger, molasses, oatmeal, raisins, recipes, walnuts Leave a comment »
Janet here: A few weeks ago, I made — or more accurately, tried to make my mother-in-law’s molasses sugar cookies. We were coming up to the anniversary of her death and my husband asked me to make them. I thought it would be a nice way to remember her.
But then I looked at the recipe and it called for Crisco instead of butter and I just couldn’t wrap my baking head around using Crisco for anything other than part of pie crust (and my father would roll in his grave if he knew I used anything but pure butter for all of it) so I substituted butter and they were good but not quite the real thing. (Not that I’m sure anything would have really been the real thing anyway because my mother-in-law wasn’t making them, and I mean that in all the best ways.)
So when we decided to make cookies this week, I decided to try to redeem myself and make another molasses recipe, this one the Barefoot Contessa‘s ultimate ginger cookie from her At Home cookbook. It included the all-important molasses ingredient of my mother-in-law’s tasty cookies but also included bits of crystallized ginger (a particular favorite of my husband). Although I was nervous while working with the dough — it was much drier than most cookie batter — I’m happy to report it was a success. While not a substitute for his mother’s cookies — nor should they be — Peter proclaimed them tasty.
makes about 16 cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sguar, lightly packed (I only had light brown and it was fine)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg at room temperature
1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces)
granulated sugar for rolling the cookies
Method
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or if you’re like me, just in a bowl where you’re going to mix everything with a trusty old fork), beat the brown sugar, oil and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg and beat for 1 minutes. Scrape the bowl and beat for one more minuted.
With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.
Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookier into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten slightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place on the cookie sheets.
Bake exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft on the inside. Let cool on the sheets for a minute or two. Then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Try not to eat a half dozen.
Squash This
Posted: February 22, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bon Appetit, bread crumbs, butternut squash, Cheddar, currants, dried cranberries, epicurious, goat cheese, onion, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, pizza, sage, shiitake mushrooms 1 Comment »
Rachel here: We decided to feature squash for this post because it’s a vegetable (ok, actually it’s technically a fruit) that neither one of us is particularly used to working with. In my cooking, before this meal, I had only used it cubed in stir-fries and soups. Anyway, I was delighted to discover the recipe that I am sharing below. It is completely delicious, absurdly easy and really rather quick, in addition to being a phenomenally cheap meal to prepare. An added bonus was that it gives a nod to Thanksgiving dinner in its flavors, one of my all-time favorite meals. I found the recipe while trolling through epicurious (a wonderful way to spend a morning, in my opinion) and modified it ever so slightly from its original posting in Bon Appétit in October 1995.
Janet here: The other point Rachel left out in our decision to make a squash dish is that neither of us is that fond of it so it doesn’t make it to the menu that often in either of our households. There was a time, though, BK (that would be Before Kids) when I would make stuffed squash from my then-favorite vegetarian cookbook, The Moosewood Cookbook, and it was, as Rachel noted, an easy, tasty, cheap dinner. But then whining children came along and it became a harder sell (in fact I don’t even think I tried).
I had been thinking about making a stuffed squash too but then found this recipe for a squash flatbread in Real Simple and thought it looked so beautiful, that I made this instead. I’m here to tell you that with the exception of it being a little squash-heavy (I personally think 1/2 a pound or maybe 3/4 of a pound tops would have improved this), it was delicious. The thyme added a lovely subtlety and the cheddar just the right bit of sharpness.
Butternut Squash Flatbread with Cheddar and Pine Nuts
serves 3
Ingredients
1 pound store-bought pizza dough (if you make your own, go for it; this recipe was filed under easy weeknight meals so the assumption was you didn’t have time)
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, sliced 1/4 inch thick (see above comment re. amount)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (I used dried and saw no difference)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 ounces)
Method
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Shape the dough into a large oval and place on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. (I used a pizza stone and that worked fine as well.)
In a large bowl, toss the swuash, onion, pine nuts, thyme, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Scatter over the dough and sprinkle with the cheese.
Bake until golden brown and crisp, 25-30 minutes
