Tuscan White Bean Soup
When the weather gets cold outside, and it has been quite chilly in the Bay Area this week, I like to serve hearty soups such as Tuscan White Bean with Pancetta, Italian Sausage, Cavolo Nero and Parmesan Gremolata. This soup has beautiful colors with the red tomato broth, white beans and dark green leafy kale and it tastes really great too!
To start, soak white cannellini beans overnight in lots of water along with bay leaf, thyme sprigs and a couple cloves of garlic. To cook the beans, drain the soaking water and add beans to a large pot and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring the beans to a boil and then turn down to a low simmer and cook until al dente. Drain beans and set aside.
Meanwhile, roast a bunch of roma tomatoes (slice in half and toss in olive oil, salt and pepper) in a 400-degree oven until slightly charred. Cool tomatoes and then remove the skins and seeds. Divide the tomatoes in half—blend half of the tomatoes and rough chop the other half. Combine tomatoes together in a bowl and set aside for the soup.
In a large pot, sauté diced pancetta (or you can use apple wood smoked bacon) in olive oil until fat has been rendered. Add crumbled Italian sausage (either hot or mild) and cook until no longer pink. Next add medium diced carrots, onion and celery, along with chopped herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano and minced garlic. Cook the mixture for about five minutes to soften the vegetables and then add the chopped roasted tomatoes, chicken stock to almost cover, bay leaf and salt and pepper. Bring soup to a slight boil and then turn down and simmer for about 40 minutes to let the flavors combine.
To finish the soup add the white cannellini beans and chopped cavolo nero. Cavolo Nero is Tuscan kale and referred to as black cabbage because of the dark forest green/black leaves. The kale is very tender and almost lacy in texture and retains its color when cooked. If you can’t find cavolo nero then you can use regular kale, swiss chard, collard greens or spinach. Cook the soup for another five minutes to soften the kale and then taste again and re-season if necessary.
To garnish the soup, I made a parmesan gremolata, as it adds a fresh, tangy flavor and bright finish to the soup. Gremolata is normally made with minced parsley, lemon zest and minced garlic. To make my version, shred or grate really good parmesan and place in a bowl, along with finely minced garlic, chopped parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. To serve, sprinkle the soup with lots of the parmesan gremolata and enjoy!
Spinach and Cheese Filo Pastry with Honey
Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to blog for the past week, but what can I say…it’s the most wonderful time of the year:-).
I wanted to create a different chef special this week so I decided to make spanakopita a Greek meze, which consists of spinach and cheese wrapped in filo dough pastry and then baked until puffy and golden brown. In my version, I like to drizzle the pastry with warm honey (to balance out the pungent flavor of the cheeses) and then serve it with a salad of baby mixed greens, arugula, toy-box tomatoes, shaved red onion, crumbled feta cheese, tossed in a lemon-oregano vinaigrette—it’s awesome!!
Filo dough is really versatile. You can stuff it, fold it, wrap it and fill it with almost anything including meat, fish, cheese and yes fruit or chocolate. However, when working with filo dough, it’s really important that once you open the box and remove the dough from the plastic lining that you cover it immediately with towels or it will dry out in minutes and become unusable.
It’s hard for me to describe in writing how to make the filo triangles even though they are really easy to make. So if you’re interested, I’ll be more than happy to respond to any emails with specifics in more detail. But first, you need to make the filling. Sauté finely minced onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Place in a bowl and cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, blanch spinach and wrap in a towel to remove any excess moisture, finely chop the spinach and add to the onion mixture. For the cheese, I like to use three different Greek cheeses such as feta, kasseri, and kefalotyri (if you can’t find kefalotyri cheese, then you can substitute shredded parmesan.) Next add chopped fresh mint, salt and pepper to taste and a raw whole egg. Mix all the ingredients together—you should end up with a thick, somewhat dry consistency. To fill the filo, use a small ice cream scoop or pipe the mixture onto the filo.
Once the triangles are assembled, chill completely until firm and then bake in a 400 degree oven until puffy, crisp and golden. When finished, drizzle with warmed honey and serve!
My Big Fat Greek Burger
I know it’s the day after Thanksgiving and you are probably not thinking about food, but there is nothing like a big, fat, juicy, flavorful burger and this one has it all. Melted feta cheese, caramelized red onions, juicy heirloom tomatoes, crisp arugula and a tangy cucumber-mint yogurt sauce. It was a big hit at the restaurant last week when I served it as a chef special. This burger has big, bold flavors and is not for the faint of heart, but I guarantee that once you make my version, you’ll never look at burgers the same way! I start with freshly ground chuck, but you can use a combination of chuck and lamb. If using a combination, I prefer a ratio of ¾-pound chuck to ¼-pound lamb, but half and half is fine.
In a pan with olive oil, sauté finely diced onion and garlic until soft. Add lots of chopped fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, mint, dill and parsley, as well as fresh ground cumin and salt and pepper to taste. If you want a more North African/Moroccan flavor then add a small amount of freshly ground cinnamon. Cook the mixture for a few more minutes on low heat until the flavors combine and then set aside to cool. Once cooled, add the mixture to the ground meat and form into uniformed eight-ounce patties. Chill until ready to use.
To make the cucumber-mint yogurt sauce, combine authentic Greek yogurt found at most gourmet grocery stores. The consistency of the yogurt is incredibly thick and smooth and the flavor is sweet and mellow. (My husband and I traveled to the Greek Island of Crete in May and we fell in love with Cretan yogurt and the cuisine, but I’ll save this discussion for another blog post in the near future.) If you can’t find Greek yogurt, then line a sieve with moistened cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the cheesecloth and refrigerate for several hours. Make sure that the bottom of the sieve does not come into contact with the liquid that is drained from the yogurt. The end result will be a thick creamy Greek-style yogurt.
In a food processor or blender, combine the yogurt, diced cucumber (skins and seeds removed) chopped garlic, mint, lemon juice, a few dashes of red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and chill until ready to use.
To finish, cook the burgers to the desired doneness with melted feta cheese and pile on all the other ingredients, and lots of the cucumber-mint yogurt sauce!
For the Greek fries, finely mince garlic and oregano and sauté in olive oil over low heat to mellow the flavors. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will become bitter. Deep fry or oven roast the fries and then toss immediately with the garlic/oregano mixture, salt and a large squeeze of fresh lemon juice to finish.
Opa!
Cranberry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
I had wanted to make something light and refreshing for dessert this Thanksgiving so I came up with a Cranberry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It started out as a cranberry crème anglaise sauce to serve with an apple tart, but I wanted something lighter, but still festive.
I asked our Pastry Chef for a standard ice cream base recipe and we discussed the proper technique to swirl in the cranberry puree. I really wanted to preserve the cranberry texture and to see distinct colors without turning the ice cream pink. Normally, I don’t provide quantities in detail but I thought it would be helpful.
Steep four cups of milk and four cups of cream together with one vanilla bean and one teaspoon of grated orange zest. In another bowl whisk together 15 egg yolks and 12 ounces of sugar. Temper the cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture and return to the stove and cook over low heat (stirring constantly) until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture immediately through a chinois into a container and immerse immediately into an ice bath to cool. You can then place the mixture in the refrigerator until it is really cold.
Meanwhile, make simple syrup by combining two cups of sugar and two cups of water in a saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, add one cinnamon stick, one teaspoon of orange zest, the juice of one orange and one 16-ounce bag of cranberries. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until thick. Strain the mixture to separate the solids from the cranberry syrup, but save the syrup in another container. Add the solids to a blender; add a 1/4 cup of light corn syrup and enough cranberry syrup to obtain a smooth, but thickened puree. Place the cranberry puree in a container and chill until thick and cold. If you don’t want any texture to your ice cream, you could strain again to remove any skins and seeds, but I like the texture of the cranberries.
Next, add the chilled vanilla bean mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Once the ice cream is a smooth, thick consistency, spoon out into another container and swirl in some of the cranberry puree using the handle of a long spoon. You could also place the ice cream into a bowl and fold in the puree using a spatula. To keep the ice cream base from turning pink, I did this in several stages, placing the container back in the freezer for about 10 minutes and then swirling in more puree. When finished, freeze the ice cream for at least four hours before using.
This cranberry vanilla bean ice cream would also be great with chopped pistachios but that’s another holiday! Now it’s time to check on my Moroccan spiced turkey in the oven
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate this American tradition!
Charred Sweet Bell Pepper and Tomato Soup
I’ve been really busy at the restaurant lately with start of the holiday season and as a result I haven’t been able to create any new specials. However, I did make a soup today that I’d like to share with you, Charred Sweet Bell Pepper and Tomato Soup. The color of this soup is really vivid, the flavor is sweet and smoky and the texture is creamy and smooth. What more could you ask for?
To start, I char the peppers (red and yellow) on the grill over high heat (turning often), but you can also roast in a 400 degree oven until charred and soft. Once the peppers are evenly charred, set aside in a bowl until they are cool enough to handle. Once the peppers are cool, remove the stem and seeds (but keep the skins on) and set aside.
While the peppers are roasting, rough chop the mirepoix and caramelize in a large pan until golden. Add chopped garlic and sauté for a few more minutes and deglaze with white wine and brandy (I like using brandy because it goes well with the sweetness of the pepper). Once the wine/brandy is reduced, stir in tomato paste, chopped thyme and bayleaf. Next, add your charred peppers and tomatoes and chicken stock to almost cover. You can make this soup without tomatoes, but I prefer an acidic balance to the sweet peppers and I also like the color that the tomatoes provide. Normally, I would roast fresh roma tomatoes, but today I decided to use good quality canned tomatoes and they work just as well. Just remember, if you want the soup to taste like bell peppers then you need to add less tomatoes.
Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook for about an hour until the vegetables are soft. Prior to the last 15 minutes of cooking, add a small amount of heavy cream and butter (both optional) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
At work, we use an industrialized hand-held blender called an immersion blender (or a Bermixer) and it works really well for blending soups to a smooth consistency. The longer you blend the smoother it gets. If you don’t have a heavy-duty, hand-held blender you could use a regular blender or a food processor. However, if you use a food processor, you may want to strain the soup through a large strainer to capture any large skins/fibers from the peppers. And if you use a blender, then the soup will be thicker and you’ll need to adjust the consistency with stock, water or cream. To finish the soup, taste again; add some lemon juice and salt to bring it all together.
I chose to garnish this soup with a contrasting color so that the garnish would really pop against the color of the soup. The fried flat-leaf parsley against the burnt sienna color looks beautiful. You need to be careful when frying parsley and using it as a garnish because the flavor becomes bitter. But against the sweetness of the bell peppers, it works perfectly and has a nice balance.
Enjoy!!
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
We hosted a small lunch party at the restaurant today and they requested an assortment of sandwiches and salads and so I whipped up my signature Mediterranean Penne Pasta Salad. This pasta salad is really colorful and has wonderful flavors and textures and is very easy to make.
To start, cook your penne pasta (you can use whatever short length pasta you like). I prefer using penne because it holds up well and since the noodle is hollow, the pasta is flavored both inside and out which adds to the flavor of the finished dish. To enhance the flavor you need to make sure you salt the water, this is especially true when serving cold pasta dishes because the coldness dulls the flavor of the pasta (or any dish for that matter). This is not a pasta dish that you want to serve al dente, so make sure to cook the pasta until soft to the tooth. The pasta will firm up as it chills. Drain the pasta noodles and immerse in an ice bath. Drain again really well and chill.
Once the pasta is chilled, add small diced sweet red and yellow peppers, sliced kalamata olives, capers, chopped basil, oregano and mint (the mint really adds a fresh flavor) diced feta cheese, shredded fresh parmesan cheese, and sliced heirloom toy-box tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. You can also use any combination of ingredients you like such as braised artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, or mozzarella cheese, etc. Toss the pasta with extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek) add red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Then let the pasta salad chill for at least an hour to let the flavors combine and then toss and taste again. Add fresh arugula (if you add the arugula sooner it will wilt from the moisture), salt, pepper, and the olive oil. To finish add fresh squeezed lemon juice and toss!
This Mediterranean pasta salad is great with so many dishes (burgers, sandwiches, or grilled meat and fish kabobs) and it’s fun to experiment with many different flavor combinations. I hope enjoy!
Wild Alaskan Salmon with Roasted Mushroom and Wild Rice
I mentioned yesterday that my special for today would be a Caramelized Sweet Onion and Pancetta Tart. Well, the dough is made, and the tarts are in the freezer ready to be baked off, but I need to make the filling. So it looks as if Monday afternoon, I’ll be able to finish the tarts and serve them as a “special appetizer” for dinner service.
Instead today I made Pan-Seared Wild Alaskan Salmon with Roasted Mushrooms, Wild Rice, Leeks and Snap Peas in a Madeira Mushroom Broth with Fried Leeks. Wow! what a mouthful! When I write out specials for the wait staff, I try to communicate as much as I can so that they have a clear understanding of what ingredients are in the dish so that they can explain it to the customer. Sometimes, we prepare a “line-up” of specials before service starts. This means that we actually prepare the special and discuss it with the wait staff so that they can taste the flavors and see how the dish is presented. But usually for lunch service (unless it’s a really difficult special), I just discuss the dish with the servers and answer any questions that they may have. However, for dinner service there is always a line-up prepared for the front of the house employees prior to the restaurant opening for service.
To start, it’s helpful if you have mushroom stock on hand. If not, it’s really easy to make. Wash and rough chop mushrooms (cremini and button) and set aside. Rough chop celery, onions and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the chopped mushrooms, some porcini powder, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for a couple of hours until the stock has a good mushroom flavor. Stain stock and set aside. This mushroom stock can be used for numerous dishes such as, mushroom risotto or mushroom soup and you can freeze any leftover stock for later use.
Cook the wild rice according to instructions. I like use chicken stock (but you can use water) add a bouquet garni of fresh thyme, parsley, and bay leaf, as well as olive oil, salt and pepper. When grains are tender, remove herbs, drain any excess liquid, and set aside and keep warm until needed.
Next, roast your mushrooms with oil, salt and pepper until golden brown. You can use whatever mushrooms you like—just make sure that they have great flavor. Meanwhile, trim and remove any strings from the snap peas (you can also use snow peas, petite green beans, asparagus, etc.) and blanch in salted boiling water and immerse in ice water to stop the cooking.
For the fried leeks, trim leeks using only the white and light green parts and julienne into fine strands. Blanch in boiling water and wrap in a towel to remove moisture. Drop leeks into a deep fryer and stir with tongs to make sure that they separate and cook for about a minute until they start to turn a light golden color. Remove, drain on a towel, sprinkle with salt and set aside. Be careful when frying because they can go from a beautiful golden-green to burned trash in seconds.
To finish, you’ll need several pans going at the same time. Heat a small amount of olive oil and butter in a sauté pan, add chopped leeks and garlic and sauté until soft. Deglaze with Madeira and cook until reduced. Add mushrooms, wild rice and snap peas to the pan and a small amount of mushroom broth, salt and pepper and cook on medium heat (tossing) until all the flavors are combined. Reduce heat to low and keep warm. Meanwhile, start another pan and add a small amount of mushroom stock, Madeira, butter, salt and pepper and reduce to a rich flavorful mushroom sauce. Finally, pan-sear the salmon, finish in the oven and you’re ready to plate. Don’t forget to top with your fried leeks and a drizzle of mushroom broth.
This dish is very flavorful and the colors are really beautiful. I hope you enjoy!
Roasted Cauliflower Puree
During lunch service today, I said just five words to the restaurant General Manager, “It’s starting again isn’t it?” and he got this big grin on his face but didn’t say anything. He knew exactly what I was talking about. Ahhh, yes, the holiday season is upon us!
I swore that I’d never work another November, December or January in this industry, but here I am again, coming into my third season—kill me now! The first year was incredibly challenging because the pastry cook quit December 3rd (on a Friday night) and the day I returned from Thanksgiving vacation. The executive chef asked me if I would take over pastry production for a couple of weeks until they found a replacement. I agreed because I had minimal pastry experience and I knew that this would be a great opportunity to learn. Little did I know that I would be working 70 hours a week in December and most of January. However, it was a wonderful learning experience and I am thankful that I had the opportunity and looking back it wasn’t all that bad…haha. I tease our current pastry cook about what lies ahead, but she’s very talented and knows what she’s doing and so it will probably be a piece of cake for her—no pun intended. I remained the pastry cook until April the following year, until I finally threatened the executive chef that I was going to quit :-) unless he found someone to replace me; which he did. And so here I am, a line cook, and still dreading the upcoming (now holiday season.) What’s that saying…”what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Today we had a 22 top, a 14 top, a 10 top and an 8 top, all at the same time. Plus, there was a conference in town and the walk-in reservations filled the restaurant to capacity. And this is two weeks before Thanksgiving! Needless to say, I have been very busy and as such my specials have been on the back burner. But I did make a delicious soup today that I’d like to share with you, Roasted Cauliflower Puree. And I know what you’re thinking “cauliflower?”, but this is really delicious and it’s so easy to make.
Remove the core from the cauliflower and chop into large pieces. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast on a sheet pan until golden brown and somewhat charred. Meanwhile, rough chop onions, celery and garlic and caramelize until golden and deglaze with white wine. Add the roasted cauliflower, chopped thyme, bay leaf and chicken stock to almost cover. Cook until all vegetables are really soft and then add cream, salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf before blending and blend until really smooth, adding more cream and butter for consistency (should be like thick cream) and salt and pepper for flavor. Finish with a small amount of lemon juice to bring all the flavors together.
I had wanted to garnish this soup with chive oil and minced chives, but we didn’t have any chives and so I used oregano oil and microgreens. I thought that it would be really nice to combine contrasting textures such as a smooth chive oil and chopped chives together. Either way, the soup is delicious and looks beautiful. It was a sellout today(!) and tomorrow I’m working on Caramelized Onion and Pancetta Tarts…until then…
Pan-Seared Scallops with Creamy Corn Cakes
I’ve been really busy at the restaurant for the past couple of days because we changed our menu on Monday. We change our menu seasonally (every three months or less) so that we can offer the freshest ingredients to our customers as well as save on food costs. This is a very exciting time for me because I get to work with new ingredients and learn new “set combinations” (how the new menu items are cooked and plated). But it can also be very hectic, especially when the restaurant is busy because it takes a couple of days to get your timing down with the new dishes. All of this has resulted in me not having the opportunity to create new specials; but I have a few specials in the works so stay tuned…
So, even though I created this special in early September when the corn was still sweet and tender, you can achieve the same results with this dish by substituting the corn with autumn vegetables such as butternut or pumpkin squash. And instead of using a Chipotle Glaze you could make a Pear or Fig Glaze and use a Pancetta Vinaigrette and Chive Oil. Anyway, the dish that I created was Pan-Seared Scallops with Creamy Corn Cakes, Chipotle Honey Glaze, Pea Sprout Salad dressed with Kaffir Lime Vinaigrette and Cilantro Oil.
To make the corn cakes, remove the kernels from the cob and pulse in a robot coup or food processor until the consistency of oatmeal. Add the fresh corn, finely diced onion and garlic to a pan and sauté until vegetables are tender. Add chopped thyme, tarragon and deglaze with a small amount of white wine. Reduce and then add heavy cream and a small amount of goat cheese. Reduce mixture until thick and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, cool, add egg yolks and chill. Once chilled (should be a thick consistency) scoop mixture with a small ice-cream scoop into a ball and dip in egg wash, then seasoned panko crumbs and then form into a round disk with small cookie cutter. Place on parchment paper and chill until ready to fry.
For the Chipotle glaze, take several cups of orange juice and a couple tablespoons of Chipotle Adobo sauce and reduce slowly until it coats the back of a spoon. Add a small amount of honey and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set sauce aside. To make the cilantro oil, add a small bunch of cilantro (cut off thick stems), to a blender and add canola oil until emulsified. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste and pour into a squeeze bottle and set aside for plating.
Deep-fry the corn cakes until crisp and golden for approximately two minutes. You can also pan-sear the cakes and finish in the oven, but deep frying them gives them a more even appearance and texture (crisp and golden on the outside and creamy on the inside).
Enjoy!
Pan-Seared Mahi-Mahi with Wild Mushroom Orzo
Mahi-Mahi is my all-time favorite white fish—I like it even more than Halibut, which is a really close second. Mahi is a flavorful, firm fish and it is great for sautéing or grilling because it remains really moist and holds its shape while cooking. If you pan-sear Mahi, the only recommendation that I have is that you add a small amount of butter after you add your fish to the pan to achieve a nice caramelization.
My special for today was, Pan-Seared Mahi-Mahi with Wild Mushroom Orzo, Sautéed Rapini and Lemon-Thyme Beurre Blanc.
For the orzo, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add lots of salt—it should taste like the ocean. Add your orzo and stir continuously for the first two minutes until the starch releases from the pasta or it will stick together for the remainder of the cooking. Cook the orzo until al dente, drain and immediately immerse into ice water to stop the cooking. Then drain the orzo really well and toss with olive oil and set aside. Next, sauté your wild mushrooms in oil over medium-high heat (you can use whatever mushrooms you like—just make sure that they are free of any grit.) Once the mushrooms start to brown, add finely chopped shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and deglaze with some Madeira. Cook until the Madeira is reduced and the mushrooms are soft, and then add chicken stock and either goat cheese or marscarpone for a creamy texture (the cheese is optional however—you can leave it out it you like). Next, add your cooked orzo, season with salt and pepper and lemon juice to taste. Keep warm and set aside.
Rapini is an Italian name for Broccoli Raab—they are both the same and a member of the cabbage family. I like using Rapini because it has a pungent slight bitter flavor and it holds up well to sautéing. To cook Rapini, blanch in salted boiling water for a couple of minutes and then immerse in ice water to stop the cooking. Drain well, and then set aside until you’re ready to sauté. When ready to serve, sauté in a small amount of oil and butter and deglaze with white wine, salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, start your Beurre Blanc. This is another favorite sauce of mine and is so easy to make. Take some chopped shallots and garlic, bay leaf, black peppercorns, a couple cups of white wine and any flavors you’d like to impart in the sauce such as (thyme, tarragon, capers, basil, tomato paste, etc.— the list is endless) and add it to the sauce pan. Reduce the liquid to a tablespoon, remove from heat, and then whisk in a small amount of diced butter until emulsified. Whisk in the remaining butter until you reach the right consistency (the sauce should be smooth and glossy) and then add salt and pepper to taste and a small amount of lemon juice. Strain the sauce through a chinois or fine strainer and then add fresh herbs if you want to highlight the flavor of your sauce. Keep the sauce from any direct heat source, but keep warm. Because a beurre blanc sauce is so rich and flavorful, a little goes a long way and so you only need to add a small amount to finish your dish.
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