Pizza

I think I love making pizza because it's so versatile and I can pretty easily make two or more different pizzas at a go- an adventurous and exotic one for myself and something more classic for Kara. Meanwhile, even the simplest pizza—like a margherita—can be a delicious work of art that makes both of our palettes happy. Leftovers warm up well and any extra toppings can easily be repurposed in salads or omelets, etc. I'm still experimenting to find my favorite dough recipe and cooking method, and tossing and stretching out the dough is an elusive art unto itself I'll probably never master.

Anyway, here are a couple pizzas I made this weekend (grilled this time). The duck pizza is a bit on the exotic side, but I strongly urge anyone interested to try the apple bacon one, even if you just throw the ingredients on a store bought dough or crust. Easy, and such a great balance.

Apple, Bacon, and Gouda (right)

Thin layer of honey and olive oil on the crust, topped with caramelized red onions, thinly sliced Honeycrisp apple, crispy thick cut bacon, Gouda, a little Parmesan, and a sprinkling of fresh sage. Amazing.

Duck, Hoisin, Gouda, Mushrooms, Pineapple, and Scallions (left)

The title says it all. I absolutely love duck, enjoy cooking it, and this Chinese five spice seared duck breast came out perfectly- crispy skin and medium-rare meat. I gave the hoisin sauce a bit of a kick to make it Asian barbecue style.

Hungry Games

Hey, foodie email list- for once, I'm not bragging about my cooking! I just watched a new show on Food Network called Hungry Games. It was a sneak preview and it officially premiers tomorrow (Monday). The sneak preview reminded me of the kind of cool quirky reports you catch on NPR and want to recommend to friends. It seems to be based on social and psychological experiments and scientific insight into why we like the foods we like and how we respond to them, along with interesting facts about food history. It remains to be seen how great the season is, but the preview I saw totally hooked me.

Just thought I'd give you a heads up in case it sounds like the kind of thing you might want to set your DVR to record, or in case you're just vegging and it happens to be on. It's worth checking out.

(As a fun bonus to my mom's family or New Yorkers on this list, half of the episode I saw (about ice cream) was shot right in front of Kit and Jack's old apartment on Washington St.)

Jerusalem

I did Jeremy a small favor last week and as (unnecessary) thanks, he sent me a cookbook- one I'd never have thought to pick for myself: Jerusalem. Almost as much a history book as a cookbook, it focuses on the diverse cuisine of one of the most fought over cities in history, one that has constantly been controlled by different nations, religions, and races. The dishes are based on everything from some of the earliest culinary concepts to the next proud invader's signature meal to peasant's pure desperation of being forced to use what's available in the war torn countryside (like many cuisines, only with a lot more fighting and power shifts). It features lots of mint, lamb, cucumber, eggplant, tahini, and several spices and berries I'm pretty unfamiliar with.

I went mostly with classics for my first foray into this cuisine:

Roasted Chicken with Jerusalem Artichoke and Lemon- Chicken, lemon, shallots, Jerusalem artichokes, and tarragon... LOTS of tarragon. I'd eaten, but never cooked with, Jerusalem artichokes before, and I only knew their name was some sort of misnomer, but I read up on it more: they have nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. Also called sunchokes, they are a ginger-looking tuber native to North America with flowers resembling sunflowers, and it is believed that Italian settlers called them girasole- Italian for sunflower- and they were described as tasting similar to artichokes. The name was butchered over time and now we have... Jerusalem artichokes, which are like potato flavored jicama roots of sunflowers that are native to the US.

Latke- Kara's request from the book and who can blame her? Shredded potato, parsnip, and chive patties pan fried into pancake-like hash browns? Can't go wrong for a Kara there.

Baba Ghanoush- I mainly just like saying the name of this side dish/dip. It's basically a dip made of smoky, roasted eggplant with some lemon and, in this case, especially since it's in season, pomegranate. It often includes tahini paste, but that's yet another point of contention among the citizens of Jerusalem.

Hummus & Pita Chips- I made the pita chips from fresh-baked pita bread and this was pretty much a classic hummus recipe (chick peas, tahini, lemon). Apparently, they're so passionate about their hummus there, folks frequently get into heated arguments about whose is best, what ingredients should or shouldn't be included, who made it first, etc.

 

 

Beef Involtini with Artichokes

I don't eat out enough to become familiar with terms like involtini, so I tend to learn them when I cook them. Involtini is an Italian word describing small bites of food consisting of some sort of wrapper like prosciutto or eggplant, containing a filling like cheese or veggies. Here's the involtini I made tonight:

Beef Involtini with Artichokes

Essentially, this is beef, sliced and pounded thin, wrapped around cherry tomato, mozzarella, Parmesan, and parsley. It's then seared and served on a bed of artichoke quarters braised in white wine with sun-dried tomatoes, garnished with toasted pine nuts. It tastes like what it sounds like. GOOD. A delicious recipe I'd been looking forward to all week and finally got to make. I served it with toasted ciabatta slathered with roasted garlic and herb butter. 

* Not my photo- it's that time of year again where the sun sets before dinner time and I'd rather enjoy a tasty dinner with Kara than set up lights and play photographer or share crappy pictures that misrepresent gourmet food. But this is EXACTLY what mine looked like (only not on a non-descript white background).

 

 

Asian Fusion

For my birthday, we went to Chinois, one of Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurants. When making reservations, I noticed that he has some of his recipes posted on the website. So we got to keep eating Chinois through the weekend.

I'm realizing more and more how much I love a blend of Asian and European cuisine, particularly Japanese and French. For me, traditional French can be too heavy and time-consuming, while traditional Japanese manages to be complicated even in simple dishes and ingredients are often hard to find at best. Asian fusion, especially when influenced by French and Japanese specifically, is just the perfect blend for me in both challenge and flavor.

At Chinois, we had Seared Ahi Tuna, Scallops Pad Thai, and Szechuan Beef. I loved watching Kara taste pad Thai for the first time after trying to stick to what she knows and loves by ordering scallops. Everything was amazing.

So here's what I made the next two nights:

Miso-Glazed Black Cod

Black cod is also known as sablefish and butterfish and it is completely different from the more common cod found in most grocery stores. We're really learning a lot about our fishes lately. Here, this rich fish is marinated in a sweet miso sauce (for up to 3 days!) and served over a miso-vinaigrette and topped with micro pea shoots and carrots tossed in yet another dressing. Lots of emulsifying going on here! I've often tried to replicate Cheesecake Factory's Miso Salmon and never got it right. This is far superior, so the mission is finally accomplished. I served it with Basmati and Wild Rice Pilaf.

Chinois Chicken Salad

This one's a pretty classic Chinese chicken salad, but the Asian dressing is really good and I roasted a whole chicken stuffed with aromatics, so it wasn't the dry strips of white meat you usually get in a Chinese chicken salad. Chicken, Napa cabbage, cilantro, romaine, and snow peas, garnished with peanuts, sesame seeds, and chow mien noodles (should have been fried wonton strips, but I was getting tired of cooking at this point).

 

 

Culinary Adventures

Bear with me; this email's long, so I apologize, but it's fun and you probably won't get another foodie one for a while. 

Kara had a few days of training in San Diego this week and I wasn't able to go with her, so I went wild in the kitchen in my last days of bachelor summer cooking. I dug up some crazy recipes and got to work. Here's what I made...

Surf & Turf 1: Lamb-Stuffed Calamari with Almond Butter, Cilantro Vinaigrette, and Crispy Fried Shallots + Herbed Tomato Salad

Seasoned ground lamb stuffed inside squid, served over miso-almond butter, drizzled with cilantro vinaigrette, and sprinkled with crispy fried shallots. Served with soy-marinated golden tomatoes with basil, mint, tarragon, and cilantro. This one came out like a solid dish you'd find at a high-end restaurant and I enjoyed it, but the lamb was a bit dark and heavy for me in an otherwise bright and light dish. I particularly enjoyed the tomatoes (which was my pairing, not part of the calamari recipe), especially with the fresh tarragon and mint.

Surf & Turf 2: Green Curry of Rabbit, Butternut Squash and Dill + Thai Catfish Salad

The curry is rabbit and butternut squash braised in a broth with tons of fresh lime, dill, basil, lemongrass, and chiles. And the catfish salad is flaked grilled catfish tossed with mint, dill, cilantro, crisp veggies, and a spicy lime dressing. They went perfectly together and tasted incredible. I've not cooked much Thai food, but this was like eating at my favorite Thai restaurant! I think I'll be doing Thai more often. On a side note, I learned that the spice, curry, is essentially a Western invention and does not really have anything to do with the Asian and Indian dishes of the same name. This makes sense since I don't taste "curry" in many curries I've eaten, but I hadn't ever put that together.

Meatballs: Turducken Balls and Bunny Balls over Mushroom Gravy + Honey-Roasted Carrots with Prunes, Walnuts, and Mint

Pretty self explanatory from the title. When I made turducken a month ago, I was almost immediately struck with question, "Why doesn't The Meatball Shop do this already?!" Very comfortable with making meatballs by now, I set to work creating my own recipe for Turducken Balls, and it worked out great. Much easier and cheaper than the roulade Jonathan and I made, but close to the same flavor, and shouldn't something as ridiculous as turducken be casual and not fancy anyway? So these balls include ground turkey, duck, and chicken, but I also threw in cornbread and a little Andouille sausage. While I was at it, I made the Bunny Balls from their cookbook because I just butchered a rabbit and needed something to do with the rest of it. It's a very pure way to taste rabbit- just a little rosemary and fennel added to round them out. Loved it. The carrots were tasty but unless you always have walnuts, mint, and prunes laying around anyway, you pay through the nose for the tiny amount of garnish that makes it unique.

 

Japanese Pizza + Octopus Salad + Green Tea Mille-Crêpes Cake

Not traditional Italian OR Japanese cuisine, but made with several iconic Japanese ingredients. Fried sushi rice becomes the pizza "crust" and it is topped with unagi sauce (eel barbecue sauce), Manchego cheese, edamame, soy bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, tofu, sesame seeds, bonito flakes, cilantro, and shiso leaf. The only non-Japanese ingredient is the cheese which, as the author of the recipe points out, has a flavor profile very similar to another Japanese staple, miso. Delicious and unique. I served a simple and clean Octopus, Cucumber, and Seaweed Salad as an appetizer (Tako Sunomono) and a Green Tea Mille-Crêpes Cake for dessert (20 crêpes stacked up with orange-pastry cream between each layer). Perfect sweetness for my tastebuds. Tev and Manny joined me for this meal and brought Sapporo beer to go with the pizza and Japanese plum wine to pair with the dessert. It was a great evening.

Almost-Instant Soft Serve + Cool Pottery

This email is mainly to share a very quick, easy, and tasty recipe for a fruit soft serve-style dessert that you should make...

But I happened to make it the night that I also made this delicious citrus-ginger grilled scallop over rice noodles dish with a side of Asian salad on the latest edition to our Mississippi pottery. If you've eaten with us, you've probably been educated on our collection of this famous handmade pottery. The blue plates are new and it's easily my favorite piece, and goes so well with the bowl and tumbler in the pic below. Had to show off the lovely plating of that luxury meal.

Anyway, back to the soft serve! I halved it and made peach and blueberry (separately, not mixed). They were both great. It's a tad sweet for me and I haven't played with how to back off the condensed milk and maintain the consistency, but then most people prefer sweet desserts, so it's probably perfect for you. Anyway, it takes just a few minutes, a few ingredients, and I can attest to the fact that it's just as great a couple days later as the recipe suggests (you do have to let it stand, as it says).

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ALMOST-INSTANT SOFT-SERVE

15 mins, makes 3 1/2 cups

1 1/2 pounds frozen fruit, such as strawberries, mangoes, blueberries, etc

3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Kosher salt

In a food processor, pulse the fruit with the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and a generous pinch of salt until the fruit is finely chopped. Puree until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; scrape down the side of the bowl as needed. Serve soft or transfer to a metal baking pan, cover and freeze until just firm.

* The soft-serve can be frozen for up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.