Chef On Call

Quick Tip #1-Cheese Rinds

I'm starting a feature of tips that can help your cooking. It might be a time saving technique or a unique way to use an ingredient.

Today's tip involves the leftover rinds from hard cheese such as Parmesan and Pecorino Romano. When I get down to the end, I stash the piece in a ziploc in the freezer. I use the pieces of rind to flavor soups and stews. It adds a nice depth of flavor and a salty note. Give it a try!

Bolognese Sauce

It really wasn't the weather for Bolognese Sauce yesterday. Sunny and about 85º. A dish that is better suited for December 15, I made on July 15. I usually dream about what to have for dinner or spend my time in the shower coming up with something I really crave and this is what I came up with yesterday morning. I couldn't think about anything else the rest of the day. I rushed over to one of my favorite places, Forrest Pork Store and picked up freshly ground pork and beef. I had the rest of the ingredients on hand.

I like this recipe because it doesn't take all day to prepare. A relatively short hour and fifteen minutes simmer time is all it takes and the flavors are great. It tastes like it has simmered all day. Because of this, I can make Bolognese Sauce any day of the week. Let me know if you have a favorite Bolognese Sauce recipe; I would love to try a different one. A friend suggested a version by Marcella Hazan so I might try that next time.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Serves 4.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped (3 cups)
• 3 carrots, finely chopped (1 cup)
• 6 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
• 1 cup milk
• 12 ounces spaghetti
• Finely grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

1. Make sauce: In a Dutch oven (or 5-quart saucepan), heat oil over high heat. Add onions, carrots, and garlic; cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add beef and pork; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute. Season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Add wine and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a simmer; cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 1 hour. Add milk; simmer until completely absorbed, about 15 minutes more. Season again with salt and pepper.
3. When sauce is almost done, cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente, according to package instructions; drain. Toss pasta with half the meat sauce; save remaining sauce for next day. Serve sprinkled with cheese.

A New Look

It was time for some housekeeping around here. While this is still a work in progress, please excuse any kinks.
I would also like to refocus my blog. I know many people are looking for good quality recipes to make for dinner that are also straight forward. I get many questions on what to make for dinner or comments like "I have a pork tenderloin, what should I do with it?". I will answer questions and provide meal suggestions as well as give advise to the food challenged. For those of you looking to upgrade your skills, I will also add suggestions to recipes to give them a different spin.

Black & White Cookies

Black & White cookies are absolutely my kids favorite cookies. They are a New York institution but I am unsure how popular they are outside of the Northeast. A few weeks ago, I found a recipe for Black & White cookies in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, I knew I had to make them. I thought it would be complicated but aside from having to ice them with a steady hand, making them was pretty straight forward, especially for a novice baker like myself. My son commented they were the best black and white cookies he had ever had. Pretty high praise! These cookies get better the next day.

This recipe has shortening in it. I have seen a couple of other recipes for these cookies without the shortening; just using butter. I think I will try one of those next.

BLACK AND WHITE COOKIES
from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 sticks (10 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large whole eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Black and White Icings (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes,scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add whole eggs and egg yolk, one at a time; beat until combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the cream. Beat until just combined (do not overmix).

Use a 1/4 cup measure ( I used an ice cream scoop) to scoop dough 3 inches apart onto prepared sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until the edges just begin to turn golden and the centers are cakey and tender, 10 to 12 minutes (mine took 15- 17 minutes). Transfer parchment and cookies to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from parchment and let cool completely.

On the flat side (bottom) of each cookie, use a small offset spatula to spread cholocalte icing over oe half of the cookie, creating a line straight down the center. Spread white frosting on the other half. Set cookies aside until icing is set, about 30 minutes.

Black and White Icing

• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder

Whisk sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl until smooth. Add more water, if needed, until mixture is slightly thicker than honey. Set aside half of sugar mixture (for white icing). Stir cocoa into remaining sugar mixture to combine (for black icing); thin with water if needed. Use immediately.

Sunday Dinner

I love Sunday dinner.

It is my favorite meal of the week.  I thoroughly enjoy having a leisurely (although with two children it isn't that leisurely) afternoon to make a meal that requires more preparation than time allows during the week.  Growing up, my mother who is British, used to make our Sunday dinner at 2:00pm and then we were on our own for a light supper.  So, I am used to roast beef with Yorkshire pudding as a typical Sunday meal.
Around Thursday or Friday, my thoughts turn to what to make for Sunday dinner.  I have to take into account what activities are planned for the day but nothing makes me happier than to realize we don't have anything planned and the weather is suited to a nice heavy dinner.  Yesterday was this day.  My kids were going to the movies with their Grandmother and I really didn't have anything to do except make dinner.  How perfect.  I started dreaming about roast chicken and settled on a recipe from the new The Bon Appetit Cookbook (purchase includes subscription to Bon Appetit magazine) .  I made this recipe once before and really liked it.  It seems like an easier version of the infamous The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant Roast Chicken so I could cook and watch football (Go Cowboys!).  I was all set to go and then....our cesspool backed up!  With our cesspool company unavailable yesterday, the instructions were to use as little water as possible until today.  No cooking because we couldn't clean up.  We were reduced to pizza and salad take out.  I was so disappointed. 

But today is another day and the cesspool has been pumped and we are back in business.  Roast Chicken with Arugula and Bread Salad are on the menu tonight.  I will try and remember to take some photos for you.

Roast Chicken with Arugula and Bread Salad

8 cups 1 inch cubes country style white bread

1 7lb whole roasting chicken (I'm using 2 4lb birds)

1/2 cup low salt chicken broth

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

3/4 cup sliced green onions

1/2 cup dried currants

3 bunches fresh arugula leaves (about 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place bread on large rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until bread is lightly toasted, about 6 minutes.  Set aside; maintain oven temperature.

Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper.  Place breast side up on rack in heavy roasting pan.  Roast chicken 1 hour.  Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.  Roast chicken until juices run clear about 45 minutes longer (with smaller birds, mine usually takes about one hour in total).  Tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Pour pan juices into 4-cup measuring cup (do not clean pan).  Spoon off fat from top of pan juices, returning 2 tablespoons fat to pan.  Add pan juices, broth, and vinegar to pan.  Set pan over 2 burners and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.  Add green onions and currants.  Simmer 3 minutes to reduce liquid slightly.  Remove from heat.  Add bread to pan and tosswith juices.  Mix in arugula.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with chicken.

Roasts

I don't hear of many people preparing roasts anymore.  Sure they come out around the holidays or special occasions, but not on a regular basis and certainly not during the week.  But I find them to be immensely satisfying and delicious and also easy to prepare.  Once you prep the roast which usually only takes 10-15 minutes, you are free to tend to other things (like blogging).  Right now, I am enjoying the smells of a 4 pound pork roast (did I mention that I dream about pork but I digress) that is happily cooking away in my oven.  I placed it in a small roasting pan along with a bag of sauerkraut (that would be the contents of the bag, not the bag).  I seasoned the roast by cutting slits into it and filling them with slivers of garlic along with salt, pepper, ground caraway seeds, and ground coriander.  I popped it into the oven (400 degrees) and in 1 - 1 1/2 hours, we will be feasting.  To round the dinner out, we are having buttermilk mashed potatoes and sauteed chard.
I especially like making roasts on Sundays and I like to have different types of meat.  Roast beef, pork and lamb cooked to medium rare are my favorites.  So next time you are looking for something delicious to eat, think about a roast; you won't be disappointed.

Here's The Story

I haven't been posting very much lately but I have been cooking.  My schedule has lightened up a bit so I have had more time to cook and more time to come up with ideas for cooking.  My only problem has been that I am craving fall foods (soups, stews and hearty comfort fare) but the weather keeps switching back and forth.  As a result, I have subjected my recipe testers, i.e. my family, to hot dishes on equally hot days.  A few weeks back after serving my chicken and dumplings, I started thinking about stuffed pork chops.  A family favorite, I usually make them with a bread stuffing seasoned with herbs and cheese.  So this time, I came up with an idea to make them lighter but very intensely flavored.  I figured sauteed wild mushrooms, pancetta, garlic, arugula and romano cheese would create a great filling for these beautiful pork chops.  I was going to make roasted acorn squash and potatoes on the side with a light mustard cream sauce.  But then I got a cold and I couldn't be bothered to cook.   A couple of days went by before I finally made the pork chops.  The filling smelled fantastic and everything was going well until I cut up one of the chops for my daughter and took a taste.  YUCK!  The pork chops had gone bad!  Very gross.  I was so disappointed because everything looked so good.  The smell was still in the air from the stuffing (I guess my cold covered up the bad smell of the pork!).  Now what do I feed everyone for dinner?  It was 4:45pm and my son had football practice.  I resorted to chicken nuggets for the kids but what should the hubby and I eat?

I sent him on his way to football practice while I came up with plan B.  I quickly defrosted some frozen shrimp and tossed them with some Cajun seasoning.  A quick saute over high heat and they looked good.  I tossed in the roasted acorn squash and potatoes with some of the mustard sauce and dinner was served.  I served the extra mustard sauce on the side.  My husband pronounced it to be delicious and even my son enjoyed the shrimp.  Success out of disaster!

I remade the chops a week later and they were great.  Juicy, moist and very flavorful.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Wild Mushrooms, Pancetta and Arugula

• 8 oz. pancetta, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 4 oz. wild mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups arugula
• 2 tbs white wine or vermouth
• 1/4 cup grated romano cheese
• 4 bone in pork chops large enough to stuff
• salt and pepper to taste
• Mustard Cream Sauce (recipes follows)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat.  Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.  Add olive oil and butter to pan until butter melts.  Add mushrooms and cook until reduced and slightly brown.  add garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add white wine and cook until almost evaporated.  Toss in the arugula.  Add back the pancetta.  Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine and wilt.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Add romano.
Cut a slit into each pork chop and loosely stuff.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place in a small roasting pan on a rack.  Add a small amount of water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cook for about 30-40 minutes.  Check the temperature of the chops, it should be 145- 150 degrees.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Serve with Mustard Cream sauce underneath the chop.

Mustard Cream Sauce

• 1 cup light cream
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth or stock
• 1/4 cup coarse grain mustard
• 2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
• salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a gentle simmer.  Cook until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.  Serve.

The Kitchen is Done!

I can cook again!  The kitchen project is finally over and I am so happy with the way it came out.  It is a cooks dream; 2 ovens, a bigger refrigerator and lots of storage.  The GE cooktop is much more responsive than my old stove, gets hotter and with 5 burners is much easier to use.  The Bosch ovens are fantastic with even heating and convection.  It just seems easier to prepare meals.  Judge for yourself-here are the photos:

www.flickr.com

I am loving life.

My Kitchen is Almost Done!

By Friday, I hope my kitchen will be complete enough to actually cook something.  The granite is coming tomorrow, followed by the plumber Thursday afternoon.  I am begging my contractor to have the cooktop installed by Friday otherwise I swear I will install it myself!  The backsplash will be installed next Monday or Tuesday and then it will be done.  I am planning on cooking a special dinner Friday night but I have so many ideas, I don't know what to do first.  I'm thinking of sauteing some fresh fish.  In my old kitchen, I didn't have an exhaust fan so sauteing fish stunk out the house.  Now I have a commercial hood that I swear could suck my daughter out of the house! 
It's funny that now I can cook, I don't know what to make.  Nothing seems special enough but yet I know on Friday night I am not going to have too much time to create a special meal.  One recipe that I will definitely make this weekend is from Lidia Bastianich-Breast of Chicken in a Light Lemon-Herb Sauce.  It is from her cookbook, Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen  (I will post this at a later date ).

If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. 

UPDATE: It is Thursday morning and the granite and cooktop are installed!  Today, the plumber and electrician are coming and next week the backsplash will be installed.  Finally, 8 weeks after we started, we will be finished.

The Fattening of America

Over the past few weeks, I have been forced to eat out for almost every meal.  While I normally love to eat out, the fact that I have no choice makes me crave a home cooked meal.  Since going out is normally a treat, I usually choose decadent meals since I tend to eat healthier at home.  But now since we are eating out all the time, I struggle to find healthy choices on menus.   I always tell my clients the key to losing weight is portion control. The advantage of having a Personal Chef prepare your meals is that I can control the portion size and eliminate any leftovers.  You don't have the opportunity to overeat.  Many times though, my clients tell me they want small portions but then complain that the dinners look skimpy.  I don't think people realize that the recommended portion size for meat is 4 ounces (about the size of a deck of cards).  I know that would not be enough to satisfy me.  I am spoiled by restaurant size portions.   I tend to overeat as much as the next person and I really don't focus on portion sizes too much.  I also admit to always cooking too much food even if it is dinner for just the four of us.  As we are eating out, I find myself trying to "clean my plate" (I can hear my mother and father bitching at me).  As a result, I am gaining weight and feeling somewhat sluggish.  Restaurants need to refocus on quality and not quantity; we would all be healthier because of it.
If you are looking to cook healthier at home and focus on portion control, you should check out The New American Plate.  It is an excellent cookbook that I reviewed last July, (click here) that focuses on eating for a healthier life.  The recipes are delicious with the main difference being more vegetables and less meat.  Check it out.