Enjoy the Delicious

I had the best dinner last night.  Steak with sauteed mushrooms and a glass of Bordeaux to die for!  At this moment I can't write up the preparation but I still want to show you the pictures.  It was so delicious, I just couldn't get enough and so simple you won't believe.  Pictures now, recipe to follow.

UPDATE

This is how it's done:

Sautee one package of wild mushrooms in some olive oil and 1/4 stick of butter.  I also like to take a spoonful of the steak sauce and stir it in.  Make sure to salt towards the end of cooking.

For the steak, season well with salt and pepper and sear in a very hot pan with very little fat for 3 minutes on each side.  Add about 1/2 cup of red wine, 1/4 cup beef stock, pat of butter.  Continue cooking on low heat for 5-7 minutes each side.  If sauce becomes low, just add a little more wine or beef stock.  When you take your beef out of the pan to rest, stir in a small dollop of creme fraiche for richness and make assure that the sauce is condensed down into a thick creamy sauce.

This has got to be one of my favorite culinary delights.  I love cooked down onions and use them quite a lot.  When I read recipes with caramelized onions I see that they usually tell you to cook them for 20 minutes.  This is a complete underestimation of time where cooking is concerned.  You need an hour, minimum, to do it well.  Don't try to cook 5 onions on high for 15 minutes in hopes of sweet, soft flavorful onions.  Where this is concerned, slow and steady wins the race.  I am going to show you the progression of how it's done.

This is 2 sweet vidalia onions of medium size. A coating of olive oil in the pan and 2 pinches of salt.  Add a pat of unsalted butter in the homestretch.  Just add the onions to moderate heat, sprinkle with some salt and leave them to cook.  Stir occasionaly and what you will end up with is delicious.  Here goes...

To start:

Half an hour in:

Just over an hour in:

I had the most divine sandwich the other day.  Egg salad on wheat bread but this was like no egg salad I've ever had before.  The bread was moist and chewy, the egg was sliced not mashed with tons of mayo and there were some surprise ingredients that wowed me.  I gathered my goodies and went to work creating this gorgeous sandwich.

Egg Salad on 12 Grain Bread

Ingredients:

2 slices of 12 grain bread

2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

2 slices of fresh, ripe tomato

1/4 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

1 teaspoon mayonnaise*

1/2 shallot or equal measure red onion - finely chopped

Parmesan Cheese sliced with a potato peeler

1 handful of fresh arugula

Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

Mix together the mustard, mayo and a pinch of salt and pepper and very gently fold the eggs into this mixture.

Create your sandwich as follows:

On one slice of bread place the arugula, top with the egg salad, a sprinkle of finely chopped onions, grating of cheese and the tomato.  Add a grind of freshly cracked black pepper top with the other slice of bread, cut your sandwich and enjoy!

So utterly simple yet so delicious.

PS: Sorry for the horrid lighting on the picture.  The flash washed the egg out so I decided against it all together and photographed it by candle light.

* I ran out of mayo and used Caesar dressing instead.  It was good!

Translation: Don't bullshit me.  I have a friend, she's from Australia and whenever we hang out I pick up some kind of cool Aussie slang.  Her accent and voice are so recognizable that my friend Jake singled her out in a crowded bar one night - never having met her - solely based on a description from me.

One day, a couple of years ago before we actually became friends, we were sitting in the park while our kids played and I said that I was starving.  She immediately told me to run across the street to Tuck Shop and pick up a sausage roll to snack on.  I ran, I bought, I ate and I was hooked.  This wonderful Australian snack shop is perfect for a quick bite or a full blown meal.  I started with being hooked on the rolls and then recently discovered the meat pie.  Oh My G...!  This meat pie is heaven.  Crispy, succulent crust with creamy, delicious meat filling. Utter, divine gastronomic delight.  It is unbelievable alone but add a couple of dashes of hot sauce and you will be addicted!

For dinner stop into Tuck Shop, grab a few meat pies and prepare a side salad.  Tuck in.  This is the real deal where food is concerned.  No bullshit.

I am of the mind that the best things in life are simple and very easy to attain.  That's always been my philosophy with food too; for an amazing meal I say, the simpler the better.  Dinner tonight was the leftover bean soup, but looking for additional sustenance, I decided I needed a side dish.  Looking around my kitchen I found all the makings for Molletes Bolillo. This traditional and exceedingly simple Latin breakfast of bread smothered with black beans and creamy cheese partnered with the earthy soup was a perfectly delicious pairing.

Ingredients:

2 open faced pieces of crusty bread

1 can of black beans

Shredded monterey jack cheese

Sprinkle of queso fresco

Preparation:

Heat up the beans.

Lightly toast the bread place, buttered, on a bake sheet and cover with a spoonful of black beans and top with a generous dose of the jack cheese.  Sprinkle the queso fresco over it and place in a 375F oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese is gooey and melted.  Pair with your soup and enjoy.

As much as I love food, people are always shocked to hear that I don't like sweets.  I am probably the only person around who can actually resist chocolate.  It's probably a blessing in disguise; if I consumed sweets the way I consume savory foods, things would not be good for my waistline.  That being said, every so often I do get a hankering for a chocolate chip and walnut cookie from Balthazar Bakery or a cream filled eclair from Beard Papa.  Either one of these quick treats is something of an occasion and not something I do very often.

It may be the cold air enveloping New York City or the fact that I had such a light dinner, but tonight I needed the sweet, a comforting treat to sate me.  I'm in luck, even though I don't own a sweet tooth, I have a 9 year old son who does.  What's a home with children without brownies in the house?  I always have a couple of boxes of Trader Joe's Ready to Bake Brownies in the freezer.  It's ingenious, premade brownie mix in a bakepan that you just stick in the oven for 25 minutes and presto! No eggs to crack, no bowls to wash, it's ridiculously simple.  Enjoy your brownie with a cup of coffee and trashy reality TV.  Heaven.

When it comes to food, I never like to be caught out.  There are certain things I like to keep stocked in the pantry just in case I need to whip up a simple, no-thought meal.  This week is very busy and I feel a cold coming on so I needed to throw some comfort food together that will yield a couple of days worth of leftovers.

In my kitchen you will usually find a few things that I stock all the time: bags of beans, boxes of stock and liquid concentrate stock, tubs of prepared mirepoix...on days like today I can just rummage around and usually I will find some inspiration for a one pot meal.

Bean and Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1 lb of navy or cannellini beans

4 oz. of chopped pancetta

I tub of sliced baby bello mushrooms

1 cup of mirepoix

6 cloves of smashed garlic

2 shallots, chopped

8 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary, chopped

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Red Devil hot sauce

1 lemon, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar only if you have it

Preparation:

Start by preparing the beans. Add the beans to a large pot of water and bring it to a rolling boil.  Cook on low for 10 minutes and then take off the heat, cover and let sit for an hour.  Drain and rinse.

Coat the bottom of a large soup pot generously with olive oil. Once the pan is heated add the pancetta and cook for a couple of minutes and then add the mirepoix, shallots and garlic.  Cook together for about 15 minutes.  Add the stock, herbs, salt and pepper and lemon zest and juice.  I also add the lemon rind to the pot for flavor.

When it comes to adding extras to soup I say it's all about your taste.  I love spicy food and I adore hot sauce.  I specifically like the Red Devil brand hot sauce but Tobasco or any other brand is fine.  I add several shakes of hot sauce and about 3 tablespoons of the vinegar.  Add your beans and cook, covered on low heat for 45 minutes.

Taste the soup and add any extra flavor then add the sliced mushrooms.  Cover again and cook for an additional half hour.

Presentation:

Spoon out into a soup bowl and serve with a huge piece of buttered crusty bread.