Enjoy the Delicious

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I am tired and lazy and watching Fred Claus...here are some pictures I won't be posting recipes; they are not necessary.  I cooked my dinner and you cooked yours.  Both are delicious and the best our respective family members have ever had!

As I wrote in September, I am in a little bit of trouble.  The autumn has ushered in heavier meals, I am cooking and eating to sustain my blog and I am exceedingly happy.  All of these things combined have led to my pants becoming even tighter.  I know I was going to write about salads but at this time of year it doesn't seem so appropriate and I think I want to save that for a summer series next year.

I think what I am going to do is cook clean and keep portions small.  Anyone who knows me knows that I could never, ever entertain or sustain a diet and I refuse to ever cut out fats (we need them people).  When it comes to food I cannot compromise and I will not deny myself.  Simple foods, excellent flavors, European portions.  If you use fresh, organic, clean foods and moderate your portions you really can eat anything you want.  Yes, that 's what we're going to do, use a little bit of culinary common sense, starting tonight.

Salmon over Beans

Ingredients:

2 Salmon filets

1 handful each of flat leaf parsley and cilantro

A sprinkle of chili flakes

2 tbspn Dijon Mustard

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp stock

Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1 Can of cannellini beans

1 Rosemary sprig

2 cloves of garlic

Preparation:

Season the fish with salt and pepper, mix all the wet ingredients with the herbs and smother your beautiful, coral salmon filets.

Wrap in a foil package and place into a 375F oven for about 25 minutes.

Heat the beans and add the garlic and rosemary along with some salt and let it all infuse together over low heat while your fish cooks.

Presentation:

Place beans on your plate and top with the steamed salmon.  Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a generous squirt of lemon.  Delicious!

Nothing fills a home with more anticipation to eat than a stew cooking on the stove.  I love stew and when cooking them the variations are endless.  They are perfect one pot wonders and nothing beats getting your fill of all the food groups in one heaping spoonful.  I can cook up a pot of this and feast on it for days.  This is a wonderful, hearty stew and it is guaranteed to please everyone at your table.  It is so delicious that my son has been known to finish three bowls at one sitting!  The best advice I can give you is to make this stew the day before you want to actually eat it.  It will become thick and rich and overnight a layer of fat will rise to the top and you can remove it before heating it up to eat.  The recipe I'm providing is just an outline.  Feel free to use your own creative license.  Add whatever you want and the result will probably be delicious!

Bordeaux Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 1/2lb beef for stew.  You can find this packaged at any grocer
1 bottle of good quality Bordeaux red wine*
1 box of beef stock
4 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary
2 Bay leaves
6-8 cloves of garlic - smashed
1 1/2 cups of mirepoix (equal parts carrots, celery and onions) finely chopped
1 bag each of frozen onions and peas
2 packages of assorted wild mushrooms sliced
1 bag of small new potatoes, quartered
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Freshly cracked pepper
Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup of Flour
1/3 stick of butter

Marinade for beef:

Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup of wine

Preparation:

Season your beef with salt and pepper and leave it to marinade, in the fridge, for as long as you can.  Overnight is premium but a couple of hours is fine.

Coat the bottom of a large pot or dutch oven with olive oil, remove the beef from the marinade with a slotted spoon and place into the pot in a single layer.  You might have to do this in 2 different pots because it's important not to overcrowd the meat.  Let your meat brown then add your mirepoix and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.  Once the meat is sufficiently caramelized pour in the whole bottle of wine, add the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper and let it cook for about 20 minutes making sure to deglaze your pot and scrape up all the good bits from the bottom.  Add the beef stock, 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce and the remainder of your ingredients and let the soup simmer, partially covered on very low heat for up to an hour and a half.  Taste test to see how much additional salt and pepper is needed.

To add thickness to the stew, prepare a roux by melting butter in a pan and adding flour.  Cook it down for a few minutes and then add it to the stew and stir in.

I like to add the juice of half a lemon and then drop the rind into the pot for flavor.  This is completely optional and depends upon your taste.

Presentation:

Serve your stew with a dollop of sour cream on top.  Butter a large piece of messy, crusty bread and it's as simple as that.

This is a huge pot of food.  Feel free to halve the ingredients if your family is not big, or it's just you.  You can also pack it up and take it to work for a comforting midday meal. It will keep in your fridge for a few days.

* If you don't wish to use wine, you can certainly use a non-alcoholic bottle or just swap it out altogether with beef stock pumped up with Worcestershire sauce.

Whiskey and a Pig

I love this meal.  It's so easy whether you're cooking for one or for 10, it's good every time.  It is the most simple meal and in theory this should be a very healthy meal, the lean protein, the green vegetable and the star player - the sweet potato.  Not on my clock baby, with me it's pure indulgence.  We're going to marinade the protein in a deep and velvety whiskey sauce, the green beans are going to be sprinkled with a little cheese and the sweet potatoes are going to be slathered, and I mean slathered in butter and served to perfection.  Just a couple of extra little touches - the nutmeg in the sweet potatoes, the shallots in the sauce - make this a meal that people will keep talking about.

Pork loin with whiskey glaze, green beans and mashed sweet potatoes.

1 Porkloin seasoned with salt and pepper.  You can also get a prepared loin at Fresh Direct which can make everything infinitely easier for you!

For the sauce:

1 Shallot minced

A small amount of grated ginger

1/2 cup of whiskey

1/4 cup of stock

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

A splash of sesame oil

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

A few shakes of Worcestershire Sauce

Preparation:

In a baking dish, mix all the ingredients together for your whiskey glaze and marinade the loin for about 1/2 an hour.   Place the loin in a 425F oven for 10 minutes.  If you need to, add some additional water or stock to the pan.  Lower the heat to 365F, cover with a foil tent and cook for about an additional 40 minutes.  Remove the meat from the oven, let it rest and slice into medallions.  At this point your sauce should be thick and velvety.

Quarter 4 large sweet potatoes and drop into boiling water.  Cook until tender, drain and mash.  Add the butter, 4 pinches of salt, a splash of cream and a few grating of fresh nutmeg.

Par boil a few handfuls of greenbeans, place on a baking sheet and pop into 375F oven for 5-7 minutes.  Once cooked, remove from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Plate your chop, sweet potato cream and beans and spoon out the glaze over the dish.  This is comfort food at it's best.

I had every intention of cooking tonight.  I shopped over the weekend for my goodies and spent Sunday afternoon planning my dishes for the week.  Tonight, I was anxiously anticipating a spoonful of beef stew and was shuffling home at a quickened pace when we came across the New York equivelant of The Holy Grail.  No line at Shake Shack!  Not one person.  My son went nuts. Shake Shack is famous for their amazing burgers and infamous for their very long line.  On a summer afternoon it is not uncommon for people to wait for close to an hour to indulge in this amazing treat.

All thoughts of a home cooked meal went out the window as we ran to the counter.  5 minutes from ordering to grabbing the bag and hopping into a cab straight home in time to devour a still warm burger and cheesy fries.

Another crazy weekend filled with kids, walking the dog and seeing friends.  It was a very emotional night here at the house.  Our tortoise, Jay Z, passed on to the tortoise haven in the sky and we were both a little emotional here.  He had integrated himself nicely into the household and I'm not quite sure what happened.  After spending hours consoling my little sensitive thug (had to use the reference in respect!) I was exhausted and not prepared to cook.  I raided the fridge and put together a feast of Sunday night nibbles.  Olives, cheese, pepperoni slices and a couple of chicken sausages seasoned with fontina cheese and garlic.

Perfect Sunday evening dinner and easy as pie.  Just plate up and cook the sausages and you're good to go.

As you know, I cook a lot with my son.  He has a curiosity with cooking that pleases me no end.  I am proud to say it's nothing I have ever forced but something that he comes to me wanting to learn about.  He's getting older and after his triumphant foray into breakfast foods, he approached me wanting to learn a new dish.  I am half Asian so I thought that could be a perfect genre to jump into.  No.  "But, I'm Italian, too!"  Yes, indeed, but not on my side; I don't have a grandmother's secret recipe or a big Italian food repertoire other than the most basic of pasta dishes.  A look of pure joy washed over my boy's face and suddenly a scream, "PIZZA!!!"  That sounded good to me and probably the dish with the least chance of disaster.  The criteria for this experiment was that all the ingredients were to be chosen by the boy and he was to prepare it himself.

Tonight my son has a friend over so the 3 of us headed to Trader Joe's in the rain.  They chose their ingredients and put everything in the cart.  They also picked up supplies to make chocolate covered strawberries.  It's quite amazing what these little ones can do given a few instructions and cooking supplies!

The kids went for pepperoni, sausage, mozzarella cheese and black olives.  I had caramelized onions, sausage, mozzarella, goat and English cheddar cheeses along with a sprinkle of black olives.  Utterly delicious!

Quick tip:  I would advise cooking your pizza dough for a few minutes before topping it and cooking on your pizza stone.

Or, as my son calls it, catch me pepe.  Literal translation: cheese and pepper.  This Roman pasta dish's roots are peasant food and it is very, very easy and very, very cheap.  Anyone will tell you that this dish is not reinventing the wheel, it's just plain good.

Cacio e Pepe is a perfect weeknight dinner, so quick and simple, the only time it takes is the time for the pasta to cook!  When I am utterly exhausted and can't wait for delivery or fathom processed foods this is what I make.  If you have kids, get them in on it too.  My son loves cooking this dish but he loves eating it more!

Cacio e Pepe

Ingredients:

1 lb of long pasta.  Please use the best quality pasta that you can find.  Fresh is best!

1 cup of freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/4 cup of freshly cracked black pepper.  You can do this in a coffee grinder or put kernels in a sandwich bag and smash them with something!

1 cup of reserved pasta water

1 large nob of butter

Preperation:

Boil the pasta in salted water to al dente.  Once cooked, drain but keep it as wet as possible.  Return the pasta to the empty hot pot and add the butter, half the reserved pasta water, the cheese and pepper.  Stir together adding more water if necessary.

Serve this creamy concoction immediately with a sprinkle of finely chopped flat leaf parsley.  I like to also add a squirt of lemon to mine but I don't know how the purists would react to that!

I know I have said that I will not discuss my political beliefs here and well, I'm not.  I'm just saying that if you feel you have something to celebrate today here's a little cocktail for you to sip on.  This is a standard at my dinners or girl's cocktail nights and it goes down a treat.

I'm not discussing anything...I'm just saying, you know, if you want to celebrate and all...

In a pitcher:

8oz. Grey Goose vodka

16oz blood orange juice

Top with either seltzer or Trader Joe's blood orange fizzy soda

OR you can celebrate with a good old glass of chilled Chardonnay!