merry foodie x-mas

Let's just talk about my family's christmas eve party this year.

Menu:

• Cocktails - apple cider, ginger beer, and gin with muddled cranberries and lemon juice

• Appetizer - Assorted bruschetta, provided by my lovely cousin Margaret, which included this bacon-butternut squash concoction...

(She also prepared a classic tomato-basil-balsamic topping and a white bean puree, none of which lasted very long)

• First Course - Mixed green salad with gorgonzola, candied pecans, and balsamic vinaigrette with poached pear prepared by Uncle Terry and Aunt Judy in tandem with their daughter, my cousin Annie

• Main Course - 'Surf n Turf'; warm salad with polenta cake; cousin Dena's famous green beans with mushroom and roasted slivered almonds

For the surf n turf, my mother made filet mignon and baked sea scallops marinated in a roasted tomato pesto over sliced coppa. Baking sea scallops is an ingenious way to prepare them for a large group, and the marinade! and the ham! My mom made her mixed-mushroom gravy to top the filet, which is super low-fat and delicious and is such a christmas institution in our family that Annie remarked, "Mushroom gravy just tastes like christmas to me."

I guess the story is that Linda J felt pressured to provide gravy when first hosting christmas eve for the Conways, but ever health-conscious, she invented a mushroom gravy with reduced beef stock, garlic, chopped portobello and cremini mushrooms, plenty of black pepper, and thickened with a touch of corn starch that was still full-flavor but low in fat. Vegans--use veggie stock instead!

I prepared the warm salad with polenta cake; the warm salad consisted of swiss chard sauteed with crispy pancetta and chopped walnuts, I then arranged it over individual grilled polenta cakes and topped those with grated gruyere and heated them in the oven to melt the cheese. It was way festive in terms of color scheme...here's an action shot: polenta cakes about to go in the oven, cousin Annie slicing her poached pears...

• Dessert - by this time I guess I was too drunk to get a photo, but my sister Kate made mini molten chocolate cakes with mascarpone cream and brandied cherries. O...M...F...G...

Here's a shot of the "bad manners table" aka the younger generation's table...you can see that we've moved on from bad table manners to an inappropriate volume of wine consumption. In the words of Tiny Tim, and what has become a family joke, "I want some more!" [in cockney accent]

grilled whole baby octopus

I am currently living the high (culinary) life at my parents' house...my mom loves to cook and excels at it (my dad, who may enjoy good food, has no idea how to cook--god bless 'im--and is more of the order-italian-food-when-my-wife's-outta-town-type). Linda J, as my mom is more commonly known, has a kitchen complete with fancy stainless steel appliances, marble countertops, and every cooking gadget known to man (except a stand mixer, which she just bought me for christmas! i'm gonna make so much sausage...)

I went grocery shopping today and to my delight whole foods had whole baby octopus for $10/lb, so I bought one on a whim and it cost about $4. I freaked my sister Judy out by holding it up and making it dance because I am a very mature and composed adult and I take cooking very seriously. Honestly it did look a little creepy raw--

After trimming off the thin tentacle-ends, I marinated the octopus in a puree of 1/4 cup sage (so into sage right now) with the juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.

While it was marinating I brushed a grill pan with oil and heated it on the stove until it was really, really hot. Then I grilled the octopus and it kinda looked like it was coming back to life because it puffed up and the legs curled! It looked a little scary but it smelled SO good.

The octopus is done when it is firm. Octopus anatomy is, strangely enough, perfect for grilling whole without overcooking, and here's why: the thickest part of the octopus is where the tentacles join together, and as the head firms and the tentacles curl up as they cook through, you can just plop the octopus down as though it is sitting on your (grill) pan to finish.

I had prepared some quinoa in advance and tossed it with arugula, crumbled ricotta salata, and a white wine vinaigrette for a simple salad. I deconstructed the octopus and plated it in bite-sized pieces next to the arugula salad.

My little sister was too weirded out by the octopus to try it, and I was super pissed because it was so delicious and I had no one to share it with! I'll have to cook this for a dinner party in Brooklyn some time. I couldn't believe how easy it was, and how inexpensive!

'tis the season...for soup

I am not a religious person. However, the parmiggiano broth I recently had for lunch at Marlow and Sons could very well be the nectar of the gods. I felt compelled to re-create it and finally put those saved parmiggiano rinds in my fridge to good use. I ended up with parmiggiano broth with pasta shells and roasted cherry tomatoes.

Making a good broth takes time but it's truly laissez-faire if you are like me and cheat. I started with store-bought low-sodium stock, which saves a lot of time and effort (who wants to have a shitload of animal bones boiling away for hours in their home kitchen? I'll let you handle that one, restaurants) and allows you to have control over how much sodium ends up in your broth. Kitchen Basics makes a good stock.

Anyway, I put one large carton of chicken stock into a big pot and added almost as much water, 4 parmiggiano rinds, a few smashed garlic cloves, and a few sage leaves. After bringing it to a boil I simmered it for about an hour, occasionally tasting it and adding salt and finely ground pepper as I felt necessary. In the meanwhile, I walked my dog and did a bunch of dishes that had been piling up and cramping my style. The broth reduced by a little over 1/3, and after a final seasoning adjustment, I strained it to remove the solids.

The parmiggiano rinds give this incredibly rich nutty cheese flavor to the broth, without heaviness. As for the garlic, my mom always told me "you can never have enough" (debatable, but delicious in this instance, where "enough" was 3 small cloves), and I'm just really into sage right now.

The great thing about making big batches of stock is that you can save it and make soup in minutes whenever you feel like it with whatever you have lying around the house. I happened to have cherry tomatoes and pasta shells, and figured the tartness of the tomatoes would be a nice contrast to the richness of the broth (I was right). I garnished it with a sprig of rosemary to add aroma and color. Let me tell you, this was tasty.

For vegans out there, use low-sodium vegetable stock, add water and crushed garlic, and make a bouquet garni with fresh herbs to simmer in your broth and add depth. Add whatever you want to finish it off. There are no rules!

More soup recipes will follow...

totally vegan #1

I was invited by my friend Madison to cook dinner for a group of 6 friends who have a tradition of vegan dinner parties followed by watching "gossip girl." Though I've only seen one episode-- ever -- and we didn't even end up watching it, I think it went pretty well. I made a very healthy and delicious vegan meal that hits pretty much every major food group...

let's call it bean and quinoa salad with sage, green onion, roasted cherry tomato and arugula. It's just slightly more involved than that, but seriously SO simple. I love cooking vegan; I think more people should (a couple nights a week maybe, just think about it. and it will save you $$$).

I told my friend Jacob that, as an omnivore, when I come up with vegan recipes i think "what would I cook shrimp with, except instead of shrimp I'll use beans?" This recipe is something I came up with when cooking for my family over thanksgiving weekend, and vegans totally dig it, if this photo is any indication:

I boiled a mixture of red and white quinoa (2 cups) in a saucepan with salted water. In a saute pan, I heated some olive oil and cooked some minced garlic until soft, then added sliced scallion (I was cooking for 7, and used 6 scallions-- white + green parts) and roughly-chopped sage (8 large leaves). Then I added cannellini beans, a few dashes of crushed red pepper flakes, and some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes I had prepared in advance (olive oil, salt, pepper, 300 degree oven for 30 minutes=done).

As the quinoa finished absorbing the salted water and the bean mixture heated through, I put some arugula in a bowl and made a simple dressing (my favorite dressing) of the juice of one lemon with olive oil, salt and pepper.

I tossed the quinoa with the bean mixture and set aside to cool. We might have indulged in a few bottles of bubbles and some cab sauv, but who's counting? When ready to serve, I tossed the arugula with the lemon vinaigrette and portioned that out in the bottom of each bowl, topped with the quinoa-bean mixture. I also provided some feta cheese for the non-vegans in attendance to add an extra salty bite.

So healthy, so hearty, so simple, so cheap! And I felt happy to leave our lovely host Caroline with some totally rad leftovers. Oh by the way, she has the cutest dogs, who had a great time too I think:

great make-ahead lunch for you working-types

Cannelloni beans with parmiggiano, bacon and sage

What did I do with the bacon I had left over from the bread pudding? Well, some of it is still in the fridge, and will be put to use tomorrow when I make a soup based on this great warm bean dish.

I brought this as a side dish to my good friend Natalie Thrall's birthday dinner party, hosted by her wonderful boyfriend Andy (they are both wonderful cooks) at his place in greenpoint. Which reminds me, I have to pick up my pyrex and those champagne flutes...

This is one of the easiest things to make that I can think of. Fry 2 strips of bacon in a saute pan, and in the meanwhile drain a can of cannelloni beans, roughly chop 6 or so good-sized sage leaves, and grate around 1/2 cup of parmiggiano. When the bacon is done, let it cool before chopping, and drain most of the fat from the saute pan. Keep the pan on medium-low heat and add sage, cook until aromatic, then add the beans, chopped bacon and parmiggiano. Stir together as the mixture heats up, being careful not to mash up the beans too badly.

This goes nicely over mixed greens, or just paired with a couple slices of good crusty bread, and is delicious hot or room-temperature. Throw that shit in a tupperware, wrap up a slice of bread and brown-bag it with style for lunch tomorrow.

Oh, and have I told you how into Sicilian Nero D'Avola/Syrah blends I am? This one is worth a try:

NOT HEALTHY: savory bread pudding

I've really been wanting to make savory bread pudding recently. I thought, what would taste great all mashed up in a baking dish with bread, milk and eggs? Why not bacon, caramelized onion, rosemary, and gruyere? Duh...

So I made it in both muffin

and loaf form.

and may I say, it is delicious. I brought a few muffins to the Silent Barn last Thursday night where my friends Coasting were playing, and both the band and the muffins were praised highly that night.

This is a little time-intensive, and a lot unhealthy. I like the idea of bread pudding muffins, because it is a pretty heavy food item and the standard muffin size is a perfect portion.

So here's how you make it--and note that the proportions will vary, based on the size of your baking dish/dinner party/appetite:

If you don't already have stale bread, just leave some good crusty bread, cut (or torn) into approximately 1/2 inch cubes, out in a large bowl overnight to stale. When you're ready to cook, slice an onion and caramelize in a saute pan with a little oil, salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, roughly chop some rosemary and set aside. I really mean roughly, because presentation-wise larger flecks of green are more attractive than tiny, and you want the herb, onion and bacon to equally compete with each other in each bite. When the onions are done, set these aside as well, and mix the rosemary in using the heat from the cooked onion to release the fragrance of the herb. Fry bacon and drain on paper towels before chopping into small pieces.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and combine with whole milk, seasoning well with salt and pepper. I used 2 1/2 cups whole milk and 4 eggs, but honestly this is really flexible, so adjust depending on how much you're making. The idea is to be able to soak your bread into a wet dough/batter consistency. Toss onion, rosemary, and bacon with the dried-out bread, then add the egg-milk mixture and mix well.

Allow the mixture to sit for around ten minutes so that the liquid is absorbed by the bread. Toss the mixture a few times as the liquid will tend to settle toward the bottom of the bowl. Transfer either to muffin tins lined with baking cups, or a buttered casserole dish (you don't want it to stick!). Top with grated gruyere. Muffins will bake at 375 for about 30-35 minutes (do check on them); loaf needs around 45-50 minutes.

For serving, may I recommend a small amount of this extraordinarily rich main dish with arugula salad, lightly dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, and parmiggiano?

Simple, quick dinner on the cheap

You ever have one of those days where you wake up late, have a bunch of shit to do, and get home around 5, wanting to have 5 o'clock ginsies (your ritual 5 o'clock gin and tonic) but are afraid to, as you haven't eaten all day? Actually you probably haven't, but that's exactly what happened to me today!

I returned home from a day of errands wanting to eat something simple, quick, and nutritious. Of course, I knew exactly what to make, a dish consisting almost entirely of pantry items that I regularly keep on hand (and you should, too). In fact, this entire meal involves only 6 ingredients:

Those are of course, canned tomatoes, tuna, capers, orzo, parmiggiano, and garlic. And in just a little more than the time it takes to cook the orzo, the entire thing is finished.

First boil water (don't forget to salt it!) for the orzo. In the meantime, chop two cloves of garlic and saute in a saucepan with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. After the garlic has softened, add canned tomatoes, capers, and tuna, and simmer on low heat to thicken. Salt and black pepper to taste, of course.

Add orzo to the boiling salted water, and cook the sauce and orzo simultaneously. Grate some parmiggiano, set it aside and wait for the orzo to finish cooking.

When the orzo is almost done, drain it and add it to the sauce. Stir in some of your grated parmiggiano, save some to sprinkle over top before serving. Turn off the heat, and let it cool.

Serve in a bowl and top with your reserved parmiggiano. Yum!

This dish is deceptively simple-- in 30 minutes or so you will have created a harmonious combination of flavors: the fresh sweetness of canned tomatoes, the salty-acidic bite of jarred capers, the nuttiness of parmiggiano. It's healthy, substantial, inexpensive, and delicious. And you'll totally have leftovers for tomorrow.

if you can't stand the cold, get into the kitchen

Today the apartment was cold. The weather is, how do you say...not great, and the heat apparently is not on. Josie suggested tea, which was an excellent idea, but I had bigger plans. You see, I have just become the recipient of a beautiful, refurbished vintage copper gratin pan from the brooklyn kitchen (thanks, mom).

I purchased zucchini, half and half, and gruyere yesterday, there was parmiggiano in the fridge, and luckily Josie had some nutmeg. And what would warm the apartment better than a hot oven?

After sauteeing the zucchini (3 small zucchini) in olive oil with salt and pepper, allowing them to caramelize slightly, I let them cool and then arranged them in the gratin dish. I sprinkled grated gruyere and parmiggiano reggiano between the layers of zucchini slices, and poured over top a mixture of half and half whisked with one egg and seasoned with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then i sprinkled a bit more cheese on top and threw it in a 375-degree oven until the liquid was firm, at which point I raised the temp to 500 until the top was nicely browned (only a few minutes).

It turned out quite well, I think. Perfect for a cold late-autumn day!