Turducken, Pshhhh

I didn’t bother sending Thanksgiving foodie pics because I know you all pretty much had the same awesome stuff. I know everyone cooked or was cooked for yesterday. YUM! If I repurpose leftovers in a fun way I’ll probably yammer about that. In the meantime, I was impressed with this bit from NPR and thought I’d share. Ridiculous!

In 1807, Grimod de la Reynière put out a recipe for rôti sans pareil, the roast without equal.The daredevil-ish recipe calls for a tiny warbler stuffed in a bunting, inserted in a lark, squeezed in a thrush, thrown in a quail, inserted in a lapwing, introduced to a plover, piled into a partridge, wormed into a woodcock, shoehorned into a teal, kicked into a guinea fowl, rammed inside a duck, shoved into a chicken, jammed up in a pheasant, wedged deep inside a goose, logged into a turkey. And just when you think a 16-bird roast is probably enough, it's not. This meat sphere is finally crammed up into a Great Bustard, an Old World turkey-turned-wrapping paper, for this most epic of poultry meals.

French

Last weekend I intended to cook French, but I got caught up with the French-Asian fusion thing which is great, but not really French. So I made up for it this weekend.

Soupe à l'oignon- Our favorite recipe for French Onion Soup. Sloooowly cooked onions, broth allowed to meld with them for a few days, and topped with toasted slices of a homemade French boule and melted Gruyère.

Boeuf en croute- This version is Dijon-rubbed filets mignons, topped with Cognac-caramelized red onions, all wrapped in homemade puff pastry. Served sliced, with braised haricots verts (green beans).

Tartlets aux framboises et almondes- More puff pastry lining a tart with almond cream filling topped with raspberries.

Tasted like Paris. Now enough of this Frenchie stuff- on to turkey and countless sides! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Jean-Georges Marathon

You probably know by now that my favorite style of cooking is a blend of Asian and French. In looking for recipes that reflect that lately, I've become very interested in Jean-Georges Vongerichten. You guys in NYC may be familiar because he has TEN restaurants there (plus more that have come and gone over the years). With no Jean-Georges in LA, and considering how hard it would be to spring for the $150+ per person price tag anyway, I did the next best thing and made a bunch of his recipes over the weekend.

It sounds like more than it is and this menu totals two lunches and two dinners. Also, these dishes are more about the perfect combination of a few quality ingredients and a little technique than everything and the kitchen sink with long cooking times. It was all very, very good.

(left to right, top to bottom)

Beet and Ginger Salad

Mushroom Spring Rolls with Creamy Ginger Sauce

Ginger-Marinated Tuna Ribbons with Spicy Avocado and Radish Salad

Molten Chocolate Cake

Jicama, Cucumber, and Carrot Salad with Grilled Lamb

Scallop and Mushroom Soup with Ginger and Leeks

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Pecans and Avocado

Grilled Beef Tenderloin Skewers with Red Miso Glaze

 

 

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).