Oui, Chef

Brussel Sprouts with Fennel and Cider Cream

I can't think of a vegetable that I disliked more as a kid than brussel sprouts.  I mean, what was mother nature thinking when she dreamed up those nasty little things, huh?  Thankfully, my mom didn't cook them often, so it was rare that I had to feign having contracted the ebola virus, and excuse myself from the table to avoid eating the dreaded buggers. 

Sadly, my kids feel the same way about brussel sprouts as I did as a youngster, and now that I have come to love them, I've found myself working overtime to come up with a recipe that would make the little cabbages more appealing to the kids.  After a few false starts, I think I've done it.  In fact, not that he would ever admit it, but I saw Grid head back to the kitchen for seconds of these the other night....Eureka!

Farmer's Market Cheddar Melt

This open faced sandwich was inspired by a trip to our local farmer's market the other day. While there we bought a loaf of delicious whole grain bread, some locally cured ham, organic apples, some sharp cheddar cheese, late season arugula, and a nice little acorn squash (although a sweet potato would have worked equally as well, I think). In keeping with these local New England flavors, we added some maple syrup and a tangy cranberry chutney to the dish. I love the contrasting flavors and textures of the sandwich, the peppery arugula along side the sweet squash and smokey ham, the gooey cheese juxtaposed with the crisp apple, and all of it popped by the tangy cranberry chutney. 

Tell me, what kid wouldn't like a sandwich with sweet fruit in the middle, and gooey cheese melted all over the top of it.  This sandwich would be delicious with a bowl of Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Cider Cream!

Enjoy - Steve

Recipe:

(Print Friendly Version)

Ingredients:

Whole Grain, artisan baked bread

Smoked ham, locally cured, thickly sliced

Roasted acorn squash, smashed

Organic honey-crisp apples, cored and sliced (or any other local apple you have handy)

Vermont, sharp cheddar cheese


Arugula

Whole grain mustard

Cranberry chutney

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400℉
• Split acorn squash in half, top to bottom, and scoop out the seeds.  Please 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup in the cavity of each half, and place in a baking dish .  Sprinkle the squash with kosher salt, and pour a little water into the dish to keep the skins from burning and sticking to the bottom.  Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour (or longer if you have a big squash)
• Remove the squash from the oven and let cool.  When cool enough to handle, scoop the insides into a bowl and mash with a fork, making sure the butter and maple syrup is evenly distributed, check for seasoning and set aside.
• Set your oven to broil.
• Cut a thick slice of the bread and toast it.  Build your open faced sandwich starting with the mustard, then the sliced apples, the smashed squash, the arugula, the ham and finally the cheese.  Place the sandwich on a sheet tray and pop under the broiler, cook until the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.
• Remove from the oven and serve with a big spoonful of cranberry chutney (I have a great recipe I'll share in a future post), some squash soup, or a simple green salad.

 

The Chef's Table - Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro

I had the pleasure of making Chef Richard Garcia's acquaintance through a friend of mine at the Chef's Collaborative, and I am so glad that she recommend I give him a call.  Not only is Richard a terrific chef, but he is very engaged in the food world outside of his restaurant, with a particular interest in making sure our kids have access to high quality, healthy food at school, and that they all learn about cooking and making good food choices from an early age.  He's my kind of guy.

We met a couple of Fridays ago on a snowy (can you believe it?) morning at Patriot Place in Foxboro, where his restaurant is located.  It was early and he was working alone, putting time into the dish that he would be serving at the Chef's Collaborative fund raiser that we attended that Sunday.  He is a very approachable guy, and immediately made me feel at home as we sat at a table nestled among his restaurant's outstanding wine collection.

Rich and Spicy Applesauce

When the boys returned from a visit to their grandparent's house in VT. last weekend with a 1/2 bushel bag of fresh from the tree, organically grown apples, it could only mean one thing....time for some homemade applesauce!  Making your own applesauce is so easy to do, and the quality of the end product so far better than ANYTHING you can buy in a store, that we haven't bought a jar of applesauce in many years.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Cider Cream

This is a favorite recipe from Epicurious.com that I have cooked for years.  Each Fall when butternut squash are abundant, I make a huge batch of this soup and freeze about a half-dozen gallon sized ziploks of the stuff to get us through the Winter.  The recipe calls for a little cream which can certainly be eliminated if you are trying to watch such things.  When I make this, I do not add the cream prior to freezing, but will swirl a bit into the soup after it has thawed and been reheated.  This allows me to serve some without if someone requests it that way.  The drizzle of cider cream on top at service is a delicious touch, one I recommend you NOT skip unless you really must.

This year I got my squash from my guitar teacher, who, much to his surprise, found a bevy of the beauties growing out of his compost pile behind his garage!  How cool is that?

Fig and Anise Clafoutis

 

I've been visiting a new website over the past few weeks, it is called Food 52.  It is the brain-child of Amanda Hesser (NY Times food writer) and her partner, Merrill Stubbs.  The purpose of the site is to hold recipe competitions among member "home cooks" every week for a year, with each winning recipe being featured in a cookbook that will be published by Harper Studio sometime in 2010.

My recipe for a Fig and Almond Clafoutis has been chosen as a weekly finalist....kinda cool, huh?  Users of the site have a week to vote on which recipe will win, AND THE VOTING DEADLINE IS TONIGHT, TUESDAY OCTOBER 20TH AT MIDNIGHT!

I suspect that the Fig showdown will be a close race, so I would REALLY appreciate your VOTE should you deem my recipe worthy.  CLICK HERE to register on the site and place your VOTE for my "FIG AND ANISE CLAFOUTIS".  Below, you can watch a video of Amanda and Merrill making the two finalist fig dishes, which is way fun.

Your Best Fig Recipe from Food52 on Vimeo.

I am so pleased with the way this recipe turned out, and am thrilled just to have been chosen as a finalist in the competition.  I encourage all of you fig lovers to try this recipe while fresh figs are still in season, it really is special!

Cheers and Thanks - Steve

Recipe:

Fig and Anise Clafoutis       

(Print Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients:

20 Black Mission Figs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1 plump vanilla bean pod
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon Calvados
3 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons of AP flour, sifted
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
Zest of one lemon, finely minced, about 1 packed teaspoon
Kosher salt


Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400 F
• Butter and sugar a 10 1/2 inch round baking dish
• Cut the stems off the figs, and quarter them lengthwise
• Spread the almond pieces of a sheet tray and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until nicely golden, remove from the oven and set aside.
• Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out of the pod and onto a small plate.
• Place the anise seeds in a small, dry saute pan over low heat and toast gently till fragrant.  Remove from heat and let cool.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat, and when ready, add the butter, honey, 1/2 of the vanilla seeds, and the vanilla pod, stir well.  Add the figs, a pinch of salt, the anise seeds, and cook, tossing occasionally, 2-3 minutes, until the figs are starting to soften, and are well coated with the honey butter.
• Pour the figs into the prepared baking dish, and spread evenly across the bottom.  Remove the vanilla pod, and sprinkle with the toasted almond pieces.
• Zest the lemon with a fine toothed micro-plane, reserve.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, blend the eggs until frothy, add the balance of the vanilla seeds, the lemon zest, the sugar, cream, and milk, and Calvados, and mix well.  Add the flour and a pinch of salt, and mix until well incorporated, 1-2 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes.
• Pour the batter over the figs, and place the dish in the center of the preheated oven.  Bake until the center puffs and turns a deep golden color, and the clafoutis feels firm and set, about 30-40 minutes.  
• Transfer to a cooling rack.  Serve slightly warm, or at room temperature, dusting with confectioner’s sugar, and with a dollop of freshly whipped cream if desired.

Chefs Collaborative Celebrates!

My wife and I had a blast Sunday night at the Chefs Collaborative's "Seasonal Celebration" held at The Regatta Bar in Cambridge.  I have been a member of the Collaborative for a couple of years now, and never miss an opportunity to join with member chefs and farmers as they work together to create magical food from our local, sustainable bounty.

Chefs Collaborative works with chefs, farmers and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply.  Through their actions, they encourage their members to embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies.  By providing member chefs with the tools necessary to make sustainable purchasing decisions, and then connecting these chefs with local, sustainable food producers, the Collaborative does a great deal to advance the health of local food economies nationwide.

Sunday's event was special in that it celebrated our region's RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) Grow-out, in which twenty-eight farmers and thirty-five chefs in Boston, MA; Portsmouth, NH and Providence, RI, participated this year.  Each farmer grew some of the sixteen varieties of regionally significant, heirloom vegetables chosen for the project.  Seeds were donated to the project by Seed Savers Exchange, Fedco Seeds, and Old Sturbridge Village.  Farmers “grew out” these seeds and participating chefs bought the produce, and featured them on their menus.

Friends and supporters of the Collaborative packed the room on Sunday, and were treated to dozens of creative dishes, all featuring local "heirloom" RAFT produce.  There was a delicious Boston Marrow Squash Flan from Chef Richard Garcia and his team at Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro, and a fabulous Smoked Taylor Bay Scallop with Caramelized Onion Risotto, all topped with a fresh Pickled Pumpkin Salad from Peter McCarthy and the gang at EVOO.

This year's event allowed the chefs to set up their cooking stations along the perimeter of the main room so that they could meet and greet the guests, and answer questions we all had about the treats they had produced, a definite improvement over last year's event, where the poor fellas (and ladies) were all locked in the kitchen, well out of reach of their fans.  Quel dommage!

For all of you committed to eating locally grown, sustainably produced food, and would like to help facilitate the bringing together of like minded chefs and farmers, I encourage you to check-out and support my friends at Chefs Collaborative.  It is a terrific organization doing great work for local food communities across the country.

Cheers - Steve

Shrimp Fried Rice

This is a recipe that was inspired by a Pineapple Rice dish that I recently found featured on the fabulous 101 Cookbooks blog.  I took Heidi's recipe and adapted it to what I had on-hand at the time when I first made this a few weeks ago.  It came out so well, that I thought I'd reproduce (and document) it for all of you.

Fried rice is absolutely one of those everything but the kitchen sink dishes, that lends itself well to any leftovers you have laying about.  You will find some combinations you like better than others, but as long as you start with a few cups of cold, cooked rice, and the makings of a tasty dressing, almost anything else you throw into the mix is sure to yield a satisfying meal.

Arthas put in some time working on his knife skills to pull this meal together, tailing and cutting the shrimp, mincing the garlic, and prepping the clementines.  This is one of those meals that is really all about prep, so if you have the space in your kitchen, pull a few of the kids into duty to speed along the slicing, dicing, and mincing process.  Once your "mise" is ready, only about five minutes of high heat stand between you and a healthy, delicious meal.

Enjoy!

Recipe:

Shrimp Fried Rice

Inspired by:  Heidi Swanson of "101 Cookbooks"

(Print Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mild olive oil, or sunflower oil

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1/8 cup orange juice

1/8 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

pinch of kosher salt

2 cups cooked brown long grain rice, cold from the fridge

24 large, cooked, peeled and de-veined shrimp, cut into thirds

4 cups baby spinach leaves

2 ears of corn, kernels stripped from the cob

3 clementines, each segment cut in half cross-wise

1 shallot, finely minced

2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and light green parts only

1 cup roasted, salted cashews, roughly chopped

1 small chile, seeded and finely minced

3 eggs, scrambled, cooked into a thin omelette, and cubed.

Fresh Cilantro

Method:

• Make the dressing by whisking the first nine ingredients together in a bowl, set aside.
• Whisk the eggs with a little salt and pepper, and pour into a pre-heated small non-stick skillet.  Cook on low-medium heat, undisturbed, until totally set.  Flip briefly if you wish before slipping the omelette onto a cutting board to cool.  Cut into cubes and reserve.
• In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon high-heat canola oil to almost smoking. 
• Add the corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. 
• Add the shallot, chile, rice, scallions, shrimp, and half the dressing, and cook till heated through. 
• Add the spinach, cooked egg, clementines, and cashews, and cook until the spinach wilts. 
• Taste for seasoning, adding more dressing if required.  
• Serve immediately, topped with freshly minced cilantro.

Serves 4-6

Bran Muffins Even Your Kids Will Like

A bold claim, I know. 

Just the mention of the word "bran" will have most kids turning tail and heading for the hills, but if you can get them to try these, I betcha they'll be hooked.....hey, have I ever lied to you?  This is a muffin that I make in double batches to freeze for a quick, healthy re-heatable breakfast or snack.  They get their  moist texture from pureed raisins, which along with a little brown sugar, make them perfectly sweet, but not overly so.  They are dense, rich, packed with flavor, and because they don't finish with a crown, but rather a flat-top, they are oh-so-fun to stack!

The recipe is Nancy Silverton's, perhaps you've heard of her?  She is thought by many to be the preeminent pastry chef in the States, and her famed La Bea Bakery in L.A. enjoys world-wide acclaim.  I bought her cookbook "Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery" some time ago, but it wasn't until I read a recent blog post by David Lebovitz raving about these muffins, did I decide to give them a try.  I am so glad I did.

Chorizo and Spinach Frittata

Making a frittata, much like a fried rice, is a great way to use up all the left-overs in your fridge.  Pick a few main ingredients that will define your flavor profile, and then feel free to toss in little remnants of past meals that are hanging on, begging not to become a science experiment in the back of your refrigerator.

The dish is endlessly versatile, can be tossed together in minutes, is great hot or cold, travels well, can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  As long as you like eggs, it is a nearly perfect food.  I've even thought of making a large one each Sunday, strictly for use throughout the coming week.  A slice is great re-heated for a quick breakfast, can be a healthy addition to a school lunch, and a satisfying meal on the fly with a quick salad as you race between appointments on your evening schedule.