Scala Paradisi.
Confessions of an epicurious intellectual
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As some of you may have been aware, I recently passed my level II certified Sommelier examination from the Court of Master Sommeliers. This, of course, involved quite a bit of drinking of wine. For some reason, I have kept all of the bottles that I have brought home from work for the last year. It is now time to stop procrastinating, so now I have to catalogue and annotate all of them before I can throw them away!!! Arg.
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Beouf Bourguignon.
You will have to forgive the steam in the photo. The photo may be for you, but the food most certainly is for me, and I loved eating my food hot.
The secret to a truly great beef burgundy (to use the anglicanized name) is to be patient and to use fantastic bacon. I was lucky enough to find farmhouse smoked bacon at a local farm in the country north of the city. It came in the form of 1 inch cubes and had the most luxuriously smokey flavor I have had. Recipe as follows. As a good friend of mine knows, serves very well will a bottle of grand cru Eschezeaux.
4 oz bacon cubes, or, if unavailable, chopped slices
2 lbs beef, cubed
8 oz shallots, roughly chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped
1 bottle Burgundy wine
4 bay leaves
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp rosemary
25 white pearl onions, peeled
10 oz crimini mushrooms
4 oz butter
2 Tbs flour
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Saute bacon until fat has been rendered. Remove and reserve bacon, then sear beef. Remove and reserve, then saute shallots and carrots for 5 minutes, then deglaze with 1 whole bottle of Burgundy wine. Add the bacon cubes, beef, and herbs, then bring to temperature and simmer for at least 4 hours, until meat is tender. Meanwhile, saute pearl onions and mushrooms in butter and flour until tender, then reserve. When beef is tender, remove it from the broth and reserve. Strain the broth into a sauce pan, leave behind the bacon and aromatics, then bring to a boil and reduce by half. Add back in the beef and the mushrooms and onions, salt and pepper to taste, then serve over egg noodles with a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
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No recipes for this photo. Just simplicity. Steamed crab, potatoes, corn, and green beans sauteed with caramelized shallots and a champagne shallot mustard.
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Every single time my wife and I drive to Detroit, we have to stop at a local Lebanese restaurant. They have the single greatest hummus I have ever tasted in my life. My wife and I are addicts. The hummus’ sensually creamy texture always leaves us begging for more. But how do they do it? How can they make a hummus so ridiculously smooth, it’s like the tongue’s equivalent to running your fingers through flour? The question has been taunting me for almost a year. No more. I am happy to report, I now know the secret to perfect hummus. What follows is a basic recipe for it, but please don’t think the recipe binding. The exact amounts are simply a guideline. Feel free to play around with using more or less garlic, lemon, etc.
The Perfect Hummus
- 1/4 cup tahini
- Juice of 1 large lemon, about 1/4 cup
- Olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 16 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzos beans), drained
- Salt to taste
- Water
- Parsley, finely chopped
There are two secrets to making truly great hummus. The first is how to handle your chickpeas. Unless you are lucky enough to have a market that carries canned hulled chickpeas, you are going to have to do it yourself. Grab a chickpea and pinch it with your forefinger, middle finger, and thumb; the chickpea flesh should pop out while the skin remains in your fingertips. Do this for the entire can. Trust me, the extra effort makes all the difference, and it really only takes about 5-10 minutes.
The second secret is tahini cream. In a food processor, pour in your tahini and lemon and blend to emulsify into a cream (if you opt to use less lemon, replace with water). Then blend in 2 tablespoons olive oil and the garlic. Turn off the food processor and scape down the sides to make sure it is all in the bottom. Turn it back on and add the chickpeas, a little at a time, blending thoroughly each time before adding more. If the mixture is too think to incorporate all the chickpeas, add a little water until the mixture comes together and desired consistency is reached. Salt to taste and serve in a shallow bowl, garnished with olive oil and chopped parsley.
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As I posted last time, I’ve been trying to clean out my freezer, and I happen to have found some pumpkin puree left over from Halloween. What follows is my first attempt at making pumpkin soup. I think it needs a bit of tweaking, but it’s close. I think what it really needs is cardamom, but I don’t have any, and these recipes are about making due with what you have.
Pumpkin Soup
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1 medium large onion chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 8 cups fresh pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chile powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 Tbs curry powder
- 1 Tbs cumin
- 2 Tbs brown sugar
- 1 cup half and half
Over medium heat, sauté the onion in olive oil until beautifully golden, about 7 minutes. Add chicken broth, pumpkin puree, spices, and brown sugar. Puree with an emulsion blender (if you do not have one, use a food processor or blender - just be careful!) and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then fold in half and half and serve with a glass of pinot gris. Cheers!
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Looking at my freezer yesterday, I realized that there were just far too many odds and ends in it preventing me from easily accessing my tub of ice cream. So I decided it was time to start making up recipes to help me use up the proliferation of random ingredients. One of the largest annoyances were two frozen pie crusts, left over from when my wife decided to make pumpkin pie on Halloween. Now, I could have certainly made more pumpkin pies, since I also have 4 cups of pumpkin puree still in my freezer that I need to get rid of. But I didn’t want a dessert pie. So I decided to make chicken potpie. Mind you, I have never made any such thing before, so I had no idea how it would turn out using these store bought pie crusts. Truth be told, the potpies were delicious, though I definitely would make my own crust next time. Of course, two whole potpies is a lot of food, but fortunately my family was generous enough to come over and help me with them. Hopefully you will enjoy as much as we have.
Chicken Potpie
- 2 tablespoons bacon fat
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 2 sticks celery, cut lengthwise, then sliced
- 1/2 large white onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon base
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Fresh grated nutmeg to taste
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 2 frozen pie crusts
- Biscuit dough
- 1 egg, beaten
In a large pot, melt bacon fat over medium heat, then sauté carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and chicken until chicken is cooked. Add wine, water, and bouillon base and bring to simmer. Simmer for 2 hours, or until carrots are soft. Take off heat. When cool enough to handle, strain remaining cooking liquid and reserve.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium pot over medium low heat, melt butter, then add flour, whisking constantly. Cook for 1 minute, then add 2 cups of reserved chicken broth. If there is not enough for 2 cups, add water to bring up to 2 cups. Cook for another minute, whisking until smooth, then slowly whisk in the half and half. Continue whisking to make sure there are no lumps, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the lemon juice. Carefully pour this mixture into the pot with the cooked chicken mixture, bring back to a simmer, then add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Stir in parsley.
Pour mixture into frozen pie crusts, then lay rolled out dough over top and trim the edges. Brush egg over the dough and bake for 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then serve with a glass of your favorite chardonnay. Cheers!
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I’ve been thinking a lot about what I actually want to do with this blog. After much thought and a few glasses of wine, I have decided to use it to help me write a cookbook. I previously wrote about how I was thinking of writing a cookbook called “Hold the Phone: Epicurean Adventures of Long-Distance Lovers.” I’ve decided that I want to write it.
I’m presented with a dilemma, however, in writing it. While I do in fact have a number of recipes to use for it, none of those recipes have any amounts. The problem is that I never ever measure anything. My cooking has always been “a dash of this, a handful of that.” So now I have to go back through and try to recreate my old recipes while trying to actually measure and record what I am actually doing.
This, then, will be the new focus for this blog. I’m going to recreate my favorite dishes while forcing myself to write down exactly what I am doing, and you, dear reader, will get to join in with me as a attempt to write my book.
Cheers!
