Delightful (and not frequent enough) family gathering today - including food-stuff !

Wife made some Roast Beast (chuck) which cooked for about 11 hours in the crock-pot using a Paula Deen recipe - very tasty. Mashed potatoes on the side with some corn and roasted peppers completed the meal (oh, and the ubiquitous french baguette). I WILL make my own loaf one of these days (day number 720, possibly, of saying that to myself).

GrandMother brought a really good Key Lime Pie with that good graham cracker crust.

I whipped out the Valrhona "Coeur de Guanaja" finally. WARNING - BORING TECHNICAL DETAILS _ ON ---Valrhona calls this a "revolutionary chocolate concentrate" with a high chocolate content and lower cocoa butter. They say in the literature that, in "...some recipes the fat content restricts the amount of chocolate that can be added. The addition of most chocolate couvertures would add too much fat, resulting in ice creams and mousses that freeze too hard or are too stiff or crunchy. Cocoa powder is therefore used as a substitute with unsatisfactory results such as a pale chocolate color or disappointing flavor. Coeur de Guanaja is now the premium technical solution designed to strengthen the chocolate intensity of your recipes with no compromise in texture.

Possibly some other boring stuff follows, but no more technical and boring stuff.

Maybe one day I will understand what that blurb actually meant, but, for now, I know that the chocolate made a really rich dessert.

This is Shirley O. Corriher's recipe ("Simple Chocolate Mousse") from her BakeWise book (p. 96), copyright 2008, Confident Cooking, Inc. I may ask Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department for permission to reproduce her recipe, but, since Shirley lives in Atlanta, she would probably allow it without official permission.

So, hoping that's true, here it is - - -

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1-1/3 cups semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. heat the cream until you see steam. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar (I used vanilla sugar that I made). Stirring slowly, dump in the chocolate all at once. Stir slowly until everything's dissolved. (I talked with a pastry chef at Whole Foods about this simple method just yesterday, and he said that this would not work. Take the time to read Shirley's scientific background on the situation and you will realize that she knows what's going on at the molecular level, and, also, the results reflect that he may need to rethink that position.)

2. allow chocolate cream to cool for 30 minutes, then pour into a medium bowl, cover tightly, and put in the fridge for at least four hours. The cream must be thoroughly chilled.

3. whip with hand mixer or stand mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Carefully, continue whipping until you get a moderately firm peak consistency - perfect for a mousse.

4. ...Keep in fridge until serving. You can garnish with a swirl of whipped cream.



It's all about the ratio of those three ingredients, I believe, so if you have less than 1-1/3 cups of chocolate, adjust accordingly.


-Lessons Learned - she said "finely chopped". It is important not to try and short-cut this, like I did with the little chocolate lozenges the first time (unless you like the little flecks of chocolate dispersed throughout).

It is also important to ensure that the cream is starting to steam, not just the one wisp that I stopped at. I believe the cream was not hot enough that first time to melt the entire mass of chocolate adequately. The second time I did it I took it to 200 degress (using my digital thermometer that I enjoy so much), and the finely-chopped chocolate melted adequately.

I also didn't whip it enough, but, again, it was good and rich.

So rich, in fact, that everyone complained about "too much of a good thing" with the portions (from 1/2 cup to 1/3 of a cup). A shot glass full, Sister suggested, would have been just right. And, even for a chocolaholic like myself, she was right.

post-Grilling session

'Twas fun making dinner as usual !

The teriyaki salmon has been better. It was cooked well, but Wife said that she used the Publix version of the marinade, and she likes the McCormack's version better. Also, she said that she should've turned the filets over one more time for more caramelization.

The fresh corn, brined in the husks for a couple of hours, probably should have been cooked longer. Home-made garlic butter brushed on helped, but we've made better versions of that, too. (The garlic bread turned out fine.)

My favorite dish was clearly my labor of love - - -

The Tomates à la Japonaise (Tomatoes Stuffed with Panko, Herbs, and Garlic) Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, from the previous post, recipe included.

There were three good-looking beefsteak tomatoes to serve us three. It turns out that, upon slicing them open, they were not as beautiful on the inside. I made cups out of the resulting 6 halves. It was probably intended by the recipe author that the little section walls be retained, after seeding and juicing, but I removed them. I seasoned the cups first with a bit of salt and pepper, and put in the mixture I'd assembled.

The mixture got SLIGHTLY off-course when I realized that the Panko crumbs were "Italian seasoned" instead of plain. Already awry, I decided to make up my own version. I added some herbs - 6 leaves of out-of-the-yard basil, some fresh oregano, and some fresh flat-leaf parsley. I used the dunk in boiling water method (microwaved in a plastic measuring cup this time, instead of boiling water on the stovetop), and then shocked them in an ice bath. They kept that nice green color - that's certainly worth the extra couple of minutes effort.

I minced three cloves of garlic, diced one-half roasted red pepper, and chopped up six Kalamata olives. A half of a tablespoon of chive cream cheese was dolloped into the bottom of each cup. Then I seasoned with salt & pepper, and spooned the bread crumb mixture into the tomato halves and topped with a splash of EVOO (you prob. know that Rachel Ray coined that acronym and got a certificate from the editor of some big dictionary when they added it). I want my own entry in a dictionary !

I oiled the grill grates and put the cups on for about 15 minutes. The tomato skin had blackened, and, once plated, it was easy to cut down into the tomato and just fork up the good stuff. Outstanding flavor, and a good combination of ingredients, if I do say so myself. This summer tomato recipe is a "keeper".

p.s. - R. asked that a raw version be produced alongside, next time...

Grilling out

The Wife mentioned that she has some components for tonight's envisioned grilled dinner - fresh corn, salmon, green bell pepper, and portabello mushrooms.

Hmmmmm. 3:00 on a Saturday with such good stuff to work with !

I may brine the corn, as Wife suggested, then grill in its husk, and grill the other veggies too. She makes a great teriyaki glaze that is just one of those things that shouldn't be adjusted, which has my vote for the entree treatment.

I just happened on this recipe which I may venture into tonight, even though it might tip the scales to too many vegetables. (Recipe now "borrowed" from that site with my modifications. I couldn't find it in MTAOFC's index, which is strange.) http://www.lafujimama.com/

Tomates à la Japonaise (Tomatoes Stuffed with Panko, Herbs, and Garlic)
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child
6 servings
6 firm, ripe, red medium tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
3 cloves minced garlic
3 Tbsp. minced green onions
4 Tbsp. minced fresh basil (recipe adaptor used a mixture of basil and shisho, which I had never heard of. It is apparently a related herb to basil and mint, used in Japanese fare)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (mafujimama's far eastern twist on MTAOFC's use of bread crumbs)
Olive oil, to sprinkle on top of stuffed tomatoes

1. Preheat GRILL to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Remove the stems and wash the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise. Gently squeeze out the juice and seeds. Sprinkle the halves lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Blend remaining ingredients (from garlic on, except for olive oil for topping) in a mixing bowl.

Fill each tomato half with a spoonful or two of the mixture.

Sprinkle with a few drops of olive oil.

Arrange the tomatoes in a shallow, oiled roasting pan (just large enough to hold the tomatoes easily in one layer)--do not crowd them.

4. Shortly before you are ready to serve, place them in the grill and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender but hold their shape, and the panko bread crumb filling has browned lightly.

I believe that this should work with the oven-to-grill substitution I'm planning on, and it seems like this summer recipe will be another "keeper". We'll see...

Fig-session

"It's everything figs", Wife said. Yes. I picked 15 more from my 20' fig tree (still wondering how I can get those at the top).

After several out-of-hand, I thought, again, about making something. MTAOFC didn't have any reference to figs in either volume's index (!?).

I found a neat web site with about 5 years of food-related blogging with a recipe for "honeyed fig mascarpone creme brulee", which almost had me going. http://www.lexculinaria.com/

Then, I picked up the just-added-to-the-foodie-library copy of "The Silver Palate Cookbook, Delicious recipes, menus, tips, lore from Manhattan's celebrated gourmet food shop". With ideas from their first chapter, "Fancy Finger Food", I was buzzin' around the kitchen within minutes.


So, just one step up from eating off the fig tree, I had a Kadota fig sampler platter composed of (clock-face format) -

Clock -Description -My Taste score (0-100)
6:00 - Peppadews - 40
9:00 - Honey-Maple Ham, Lime Juice, freshly-cracked pepper - 90
10:00 - Fig Jam - 85
12:00 - Modena Balsamic Vinegar from Sister P. - 20
2:00 - Homemade Bananas Foster Sauce - 100
4:00 -Whole-Milk Ricotta with Crushed Roasted Hazelnuts -3

LESSONS LEARNED -

Bananas Foster Sauce is probably not even bad tasting when slathered on a fence post.

I'll possibly try the balsamic vinegar again after making a glaze with it.

The Ham combo was from the Silver Palate book (I forgot to add the fresh mint that they listed, which I had about two feet from my setup). I'll definitely use that combination again.

The Ricotta and nuts (I did season it) needs serious work.

Requisite viewing for foodie completed

My Wife took me to the movie Julie & Julia, which, of course, made me want to come home and dust off the MTAOFC, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and cook something. Meryl Streep OWNED that part !

Kadota Fig Farmer, continued harvest !

Right after work, I again braved the wilds of the backyard for more of those delicious - home-grown - Kadota Figs. The mosquitoes weren't watching closely, so, for no bites, I boasted a harvest of nine (one dropped in my mouth as I was walking back).

Obviously having missed my calling as a food stylist ...

Now, if I can get to those figs higher up in the tree and then - perhaps - not eat them all within minutes and make something with them. The gorgonzola, cream cheese, rosemary and proscuitto combination that I read about this a.m. on the train sounded promising !

Chocolate Lava Cake

My Sister P. called today and wanted the Chocolate Lava Cake recipe that I used successfullyh for R.'s birthday celebration this summer. This is so easy and good ! It's from "Mystery Behind Chocolate Lava Cake Revealed", posted February 12, 2008, by Sabah Karimi at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/586813/mystery_behind_perfect_chocolate_lava.html?cat=22

The first time I made the recipe it turned out wonderful. The second time, wonderful, but different. The second time I did not let the "lava" cool first, like what occurred the first time. (That was only because I was doing other things and it cooled while I was elsewhere.) Cooling that lava mixture makes a good difference. When you put it on the batter, prior to cooking, it seemed to stay in a better mass than when it wasn't cooled. As I said, though, either way it's really tasty ! One variation from the recipe is that I just used 4 oz. ramekins, buttered, and ate the delicacy right out of the dish. Powdered sugar dusted over the top will be a quick addition next time.

LESSONS LEARNED -

Followup comments about two recent chocolate lava cake recipe making sessions reinforce that the "lava" needs to be cooled before adding to the chocolate cake batter. This should ensure that it doesn't "bleed" down into the lower batter section, as it did in my second effort.

Kadota fig farmer

So, the Fig Tree in the back yard was indeed bearing fruit !

It's definitely hard to get to, what with the poison ivy, deep Boston ivy, and the #*#*# mosquitos back there, but I knew - tonight - I had to go look. About 7' up were some figs ! I picked about 5, trudged out of the morass, and made my way back to the kitchen (only 4 mosquito bites).

I ate four, and shared one with intrepid R. Wonderful !

At http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/pdfs/fig_information.pdf, it mentioned our version -

KADOTA FIG: Large, light greenish-yellow 'white' skin, amber flesh. Longlived,
vigorous. Prune to any shape. Very sweet fruit needs hot weather to
ripen. Fresh/dry/can. 100 hours. Self-fruitful.

I can't wait to harvest more and make something (although just out-of-hand is going to be hard to beat).

It's nice to have a blog ! Something as mundane as peeling a peach makes the cut !

This a.m., as I struggled through the morning routine, I noticed some good Ga. (presumably) peaches on the counter. For a change to the usual Raisin Bran and HoneyNut Cheerios combination bowl, I decided to cut up a peach. Over the sink, I peeled it fairly quickly, and then sliced to the pit in quarters. With the pit still in it, I sliced it into about six slices crossways per quarter and scraped 'em into the cereal. With some 2% milk, it was the best eye-opener I've had since I discovered left-over filet mignon and scrambled eggs.

In addition to enjoying the routine - and price per ounce of enjoyment -of journaling here, I will make a Foodie comment - I recall that Wolfgang Puck said that he, after all this years in kitchens, still enjoys the process of peeling a potato (if that's not exactly what he said, it's something like that). I can relate. I look forward to the process of peeling my next Ga. peach (and that eatin' part too !).

START LESSONS LEARNED -

If a peach can brighten my day that much, maybe I need to get out more !

END LESSONS LEARNED.

Post Script - I went out and Googled "how to peel a peach" resulting in "about 965,000 results", the second of which was http://www.ehow.com/how_2096906_peel-peach.html. I was reminded that peeling a peach could be just like that tomato trick - cut an X in the bottom of the object of your desire(d peeled thing), blanch, shock and peel the skin off easily. This ehow site process "talks", though, about washing the fuzz off of the peach first which seems superfulous (sp?) if you're going to peel it. (!?)

Looking at just one more of the 965,000 results - ISN'T this relaxing I thought ! - at http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/407300 I picked up this tidbit that I will try if I remember next opportunity - - - "I learned the perfect tomato peeling method from the NY Times many years ago. dunk the tomato in rapidly boiling water for 10 seconds and rinse under cold water. The steam that forms under the skin loosens it, and it peels right off."

Another poster mentioned that, "...if you have only one peach to peel, fill a 1-cup Pyrex measuring cup about halfway with water and microwave until boiling. ...[P]ut in the peach until the skin loosens, then stop the cooking with cold water. No need to bring a whole pot of water to a boil. I hate peach skins and I always remove them."

The Valrhona chocolate sitting on the shelf has been calling me ! At the recent demo put on by the Valrhona executive pastry chef, they not only provided samples from six recipes, but they also distributed 20g bars of several different chocolates, as well as a 200g pack of guanaja chocolate. The recipe for using that chocolate in a souffle will eventually either wake me up in the middle of the night, or get made during daylight hours in the next week, I predict.



Tonight, the wife made a great beef stew in the crock pot. It had standard items - potatoes, onions, English peas, carrots and, of course, beef chunks. Wonderful ! Out-of-the-sleeve French baguette, sliced up, along with a salad rounded out the meal.



I made the salad, and it took about an hour. I practiced on dicing carrots (maybe even down to brunoise level on some of these) and cucumbers, and sliced up grape tomatoes - always yummy ! - and romaine lettuce. A good HowCast video on the julienne cut - http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1654748/how_to_julienne/.

I used the salad spinner on the lettuce so that the dressing would adhere better than if it was still wet from washing. I added some cracked black pepper. I got 6 leaves off of that beautiful big basil bush and threw them into a pot of boiling water for about 10 seconds, fishing them out with the spider from my 1972 wok set. They got dumped into ice water, and it did, indeed, freeze their nice color just like the guy on the Food Network said it would. Into the bowl they went, and a damp paper towel was placed over the bowl thinking that would keep it crisp. Bowls were placed in the fridge to chill - COLD FOOD ON COLD PLATES ! I saw the admonition again today as I was cruising the chef certification sites (http://www.chefcertification.com/ , http://www.tapseries.com/4u/acf/, and http://www.personalchef.com/). So, like I said, about an hour to make that salad (most of which was due to the dicing and practicing the "claw grip" on my Henckel 7" Santoku that Sister gave me). At service, I sprinkled with sea salt. It was good.

With a good, cold, 59-cent-per-liter glass of ginger ale, this was a very satisfying meal for me.

START LESSONS LEARNED -My back isn't what it used to be ! Even with sitting down to dice the veggies, it's still aching. Yes, only in my dreams would I be able to stand on the line for hours.

For the six cups or so of salad, six basil leaves was insufficient. I suspect a dozen would have still gone unnoticed,. As it was, the leaves - chiffonaded (sp?) - were but enhancing the interest level of the salad, and fresh and nutritional.

My knife skills are right on the underside, speed-wise, of the fastest tortoise.

END LESSONS LEARNED

PLENTY of left-over stew, bread, and one serving of salad for some lucky forager. :-)

8/7/09 - I had a 4 lb. roasting chicken ready to go when I got home from work. I just dove right in, removing that interesting and scary pack of stuff first. Since my wife MIGHT want to cook and eat some of that mysterious material later, I zip-locked it and refrigerated it. SO, since I'd just learned about spatchcocking chickens, I figured that had looked simple enough. A chef's knife was enough to saw through either side of the back bone and remove it. I then flipped the chicken upside down, and pressed it until it snapped. I salted and peppered it, and then decided to use the garlic-under-the-skin trick that I had seen recently. So, I smushed four cloves of garlic and then sprinkled it with sea salt, spreading it across with the side of the knife several times until it was a paste. This was pushed up under the skin on both sides as far as I could get it and keep the skin relatively intact. I recalled the legs and wings getting tucked, so I "winged" it, slicing a slit to tuck the legs into, and wrapping the wings into another slit. I look forward to replaying the video and seeing how the pros actually do that.

The grill had gotten to 650 in the 15 minutes of so of prep. The chicken was put with the breasts up on the side of the grill without flames to allow indirect heat. This, for about 20 minutes, allowed a nice browning on the bottom. I added some lemon and lime slices, along with some fresh sage, thyme, rosemary along the way. The citrus worked well. The herbs pretty much vaporized.

I got the digital probe thermometer and it registered 109 degrees. I had read 165 was the right temp. Quite a ways to go. Several back and forths, up one way and the other, over fire and not, it finally registered 159, and it felt done. I put it on a cutting board, with a baking sheet under it to catch the juices, and let it rest for about 5 minutes. When I started breaking down the bird, it fell apart nicely.

The meat was very juicy, tender and extremely flavorful. Another blind-pig-finds-a-turnip instance ! (Plus, it took so long, everyone was hungry !)

Sides were:

1. buttered baguette, put on the grill (off-flame) for about 2 minutes, imparting a noticeable (sp?) smokiness which, to me, added something. (the bread rack is currently having "issues")

2. full lb. of bowtie pasta (maybe 15 minutes of simmering salted water). That grill's side burner doesn't seem to be able to sustain a boil (!?). The pasta was dumped into a bowl, along with a ladle-ful of pasta water (like Mssr. Mario Batali demonstrates so often) to produce a modicum of sauce. Said bowl also contained one shallot, diced; about 4 roasted red peppers from a jar, diced; about a 1/4 cup of powdered stravecchio (sp?) - is THAT what you call it when you run a micro-planer through the cheese ??; a Tbsp. of unsalted butter; fresh-from-the-bush chiffonaded (sp?) basil; and, some salt & pepper. I topped with more cheese, then split grape tomatoes on the top and sides for some color. 'Twas well received at dinner, and I've got a bag of left-overs for my Saturday lunch.

3. I split 4 just-ripe peaches into quarters and put them on the grill, intending to put them on ice cream for dessert. At about 4 minutes, I adjusted all of them to the second cut side. Some of them got blackened because I didn't watch them on the fire closely enough. Once in a bowl, I added a bit of salt, about a tsp. of vanilla, a nob of unsalted butter, and a sprinking of some of the dried brown sugar that I made for bruleeing. It turns out the dish made it to the dinner table, and was just eaten straight up after dinner. I'm glad. They were really good, and didn't need ice cream.

With a good, cold, 59-cent-per-liter glass of ginger ale, this was a very satisfying meal for me.

START LESSONS LEARNED -

I should have probably dressed the chicken this way - cut out the backbone, rinsed it, added the garlic paste under the skin, dried it, and then patted salt and pepper onto the skin.

I will use the citrus slices again. I'm not sure what to do about the "vaporizing" herbs, but they did lend some flavor, I believe, before heading off to herb heaven.

I watched a spatchcocking UTube video afterwards. The guy removed the wishbone, and well as all of the extra skin and fat. I am not sure what the wishbone-ectomy accomplishes, but hopefully someone will enlighten me. Because I didn't do a good job of skin/fat trimming, I had some unnecesary flare-ups on the grill.

The peaches that looked burned were actually my favorites. (!?) They tasted almost carmelized. I'm aiming for close to that for ALL participants next time.

As I emptied the pasta into a bag for storage, I noticed that the ingredients which had on the bottom prior to dumping the pasta in had not been stirred up adequately. NEXT time, I'll use a bigger bowl, so as to not have to be so constrained in my stirring attemps, possibly my racing car spatula would do it !

END LESSONS LEARNED
PLENTY of left-over chicken, too, for some salad tomorrow night ? :-)