Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tian for Two

A tian is a layered baked vegetable dish that is versatile, light and delicious.  It is best when made with seasonally fresh vegetables and white wine. 

After returning home from a long day at the office, followed by a tennis match, I improvised dinner with what I could find in the kitchen:  Yukon Gold potatoes, Italian zucchini and grape tomatoes.  I sliced the potatoes and zucchini into even rounds, coated them with olive oil, fleur de sel, white pepper and herbes de provence, then tossed it all together with grape tomatoes and layered it in a baking dish. 

For an ideal tian:

Use fresh leeks, a little garlic, zucchini, fresh plum tomatoes with the seeds removed, and small eggplants.  Chop leeks and garlic and quickly sautee in a little olive oil.  Layer bottom of baking dish with sauteed leeks and garlic.  Slice the vegetables into even rounds and decoratively layer in a baking dish.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of your favorite white wine and add bits of cold butter and fresh thyme sprigs.  Season with sea salt and white pepper.  Bake at 375 degree for about 35-40 minutes.  Yummy!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Working with Silk






With the weather getting warmer, I am venturing from wool to lighter blends with cotton, linen and silk.  Loving Malabrigo Yarn as I do, I tried their Silky Merino, a 50/50 blend of delicate lustrous silk and their famously ultra-soft baby merino.  The result is light, shimmery, and ethereal.

Malabrigo makes this yarn in sublime colors like Narciso, Wisteria, Rupestre, Azul Azul, Loro Barranquero, & Evening Violet.   All yarn is kettle-dyed in small batches.

If you love Malabrigo as much as I do, you too can stare for hours at the new colors of Silky Merino online at this address:

http://www.malabrigoyarn.com/sub_yarn.php?id_sub_yarn=15

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Real Men Eat Quiche--just ask Enzo!


Bacon & Cream Open-faced Tart [Quiche Lorraine]
Serves 4-6 people.

Quiche Lorraine is probably the best known French Tart.  It is a simple recipe that can be made relatively quickly, and can be served as a first or second course for a dinner party or as the main course for a casual lunch or dinner.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Use a false-bottomed springform pan for this recipe and a food processor to make the pastry dough. 

Pastry Dough [Pate Brisee]       

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
6 ounces cold butter, cut into small cubes
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2-4 tablespoons iced water   

Put the flour and salt in the food processor, add the butter cubes and shortening, and pulse 5 or 6 times until the mixture forms pea-sized pearls.  Slowly add the iced water and pulse again until the dough is just fully incorporated.  Do not over mix. 

Scrape the dough out onto a marble slab or counter top sprinkled with a little flour.  With the heel of your hand do the final blending, or fraisage, by pushing the dough away from you into 6 inch smears.  Collect the dough and quickly knead it, forming it into a ball, then tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 1 hour or overnight.

Once the dough is chilled, roll it out on a floured surface by placing the rolling pin in the center of the dough and rolling away from you, turning the dough 1/4 turn after each roll.  Make sure there is enough flour under the dough to keep it moving on your work surface.  Roll dough into 1/8 inch thick circle that is about 2 inches larger in circumference than your baking pan. 

Place your rolling pin in the center of the dough circle and fold the dough in half over the rolling pin to make it easier to lift into your spring from pan.  Gently unfold the dough into your pan, lightly forming it into the pan without stretching it.  Roll the top edge over and lightly score with the back of a knife for a decorative top.  If there are any holes in the dough, be sure to fill them in with extra dough pieces so that the egg custard will not seep through the crust when cooking.

Put a buttered sheet of foil into the pan and weigh down with another pan or dry beans so that the crust will form properly.  Blind bake for 9 minutes at 400 degrees.

Egg Custard

Whip four extra-large eggs in a mixing bowl with 2 cups of half cream and half milk.  Season with kosher or sea salt, freshly ground white pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg. 

Cut 6 slices of bacon into lardons and cook until browned.  Once cooked, place on a towel to absorb the fat and then add to the custard mixture. 

Once the crust has finished blind baking, remove the foil and beans and fill the mold with the custard.  Cook in the middle rack of the oven for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees, until the custard puffs up and browns. 

Let the quiche cool for about 20 minutes, then open up springform ring and slide quiche from the false bottom onto your serving dish. 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sun & Sea







Little Bee Classic Scarves in Cadmium and Blue Surf merino wool.  Available for purchase fall 2011. 

Friday, April 1, 2011

Blues & Bourguignonne










A couple of weeks ago, I was at a blues show at the Rhythm Room and my friends Ken and Dave talked about how they have been meaning to get together to play music but just haven’t made it happen, so I suggested they come to my place the following weekend to play music and that I would make them a big pot of something. 

A few other friends joined us and we had a night of simmering bourguignonne and scintillating blues . . . . 

Dave is a legendary blues artist and it was a lot of fun having him and Ken playing in my living room.  Dave has a new CD forthcoming, which will be released by the esteemed Blue Witch Records.  You can buy his music on iTunes or through the Blue Witch Records website: www.bluewitchrecords.com                    

Beef Fricassee [Boeuf a la Bourguignonne]
       

Serves 6 people.

This recipe is very similar to Coq au Vin, with a few subtle differences.   Like with Coq au Vin, it is dressed with braised pearl onions and sauteed mushrooms.  It is traditionally served with steamed parsley potatoes, buttered egg noodles, or rice, but I prefer thick slices of artisan bread as an accompaniment.   

It is best to use a chuck roast for this recipe.  The better the quality of the meat you use, the more delicious the dish will be.  Other cuts of meat that work: rump roast, sirloin tip, top round, or bottom round.  I always buy one pound more than I need as I like to cut the meat into cubes myself and trim off as much fat as possible.  While fat does make the dish more flavorful, remember that you are already using bacon fat and olive oil, and the meat itself, even trimmed, still has a lot of fat in it. 

Use a five-quart Dutch oven with a lid for this dish.  I prefer to cook it stove top, allowing it to simmer all day; however, you can also cook it in the oven at 325 degrees for 3 to 4 hours. 

1/4 pound bacon   
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 pound chuck roast cut into large cubes, with the fat trimmed off
4 large peeled carrots thickly sliced at an angle
1 medium onion chopped
kosher salt or sea salt and fresh ground white pepper to taste
3 cups young full-bodied red wine (Burgundy, Cote du Rhone, Beaujolais, or Pinot Noir)
3 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, peeled from stems and slightly chopped to release flavor

1 cup braised pearl onions
1 pound sauteed cremini mushrooms

beurre manie made from 2 tablespoons unsalted butter mashed together with 3 tablespoons of flour       

fresh flat leaf parsley for garnish

____________________

Cut bacon into lardons (1 inch wide) and sautee in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until lightly browned.  Remove bacon to a plate. 

Season beef cubes with sea salt and fresh ground white pepper, then brown in the bacon fat in small batches so the meat browns but does not steam.  Remove to a bowl as each batch is browned.  

Sautee onion and carrots in remaining fat.  Once onions are translucent, add meat, bacon, wine, tomato paste, garlic and thyme.  Add just enough beef broth to cover the meat.  Bring to a simmer. 

At this point, you can allow the fricasse to simmer on the stove top all day, or you can put it in the lower third of the oven and cook at 325 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.   

Once flavors have melded and meat is tender, add the beurre manie to thicken the sauce before serving.  Blend butter and flour with a fork on a small plate until fully incorporated.  Add to liquid and stir in with the fork.  The sauce will slightly thicken.

Prior to serving, add braised onions and sauteed mushrooms, and garnish with fresh parsley. 

Braised Pearl Onions
Melt 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small sauce pan.  Once butter and oil start to bubble, add 1 cup peeled pearl onions and saute over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Gently roll onions to brown all sides but be careful not to break the skins. 

Once browned, add ½ c of beef stock and salt and pepper to taste.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1 hour.  Onions should be tender but fully shaped and liquid should be evaporated. 

Sauteed Cremini Mushrooms
                                   
Melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small sautee pan on high heat.  Once butter and oil have bubbled, add mushrooms and sautee for 5 minutes, moving mushrooms with a wooden spoon.  Once browned, remove from heat.