Days 1 and 2 of the Great Week of Eating In

I was a bit too tired to post anything about my lack of exciting cooking yesterday (but really... who can say that they make all out meals every day?), but yesterday was grocery shopping day and it was exhausting as it usually is. On top of that, we live in a third floor walkup, and had already brought up a gratuitous number of non-perishables from Sam's Club the previous day (Relay style. It took an hour!)

Since I did the shopping, uncomplicated was on the menu for the day. I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch with this awesome roasted tomato and olive DaVinci Gouda on a fresh French boule. OK... Honestly? I just can't get enough of that cheese. It's creamy, it's delicious, it's versatile. I think it would make a great fondue, but I have yet to experiment with that.

Dinner found a corned beef and cabbage in the pot. This can't be an easier dish to make, and you only see the corned beef seasonally in the store so I snatched one up while I was there. Into the pot with the water and seasonings, then the cabbage goes in for the last 30 minutes. Can it get any easier?

Today for  lunch I made myself Smoked Salmon Pinwheels. I created this recipe as a variation on a favorite from my teenage years, again, from Yura's. They make them with different ingredients, and I came up with these one year for a cocktail party. They are so easy and so delicious - there are so many layers of flavor here. Recipe after the picture.

To make them, you will want to start with some pre-made flour tortillas. The larger the better, as they will yield more servings. You'll want one package of smoked salmon/lox (I prefer lox as it is a little saltier than smoked salmon), one 8 oz package of cream cheese, fresh dill, half of a large onion or shallots, finely chopped (I used shallots as I prefer their taste), and half of a lemon, juiced and zested.

Mix half (4oz) of your cream cheese, your lemon ingredients, your shallots or onions, and 4-5 stalks of fresh dill in a mini-prep or by hand until well combined. If you plan on making this by hand, do make sure that your onions or shallots are very finely diced unless you like larger bites of the flavor.  

Once it is combined well, spread your mixture onto one tortilla, making sure to leave a 1/2" border from the edge. Put one layer of salmon on top of your spread, and then roll your tortilla up like a jelly roll. Cut your edges off since they will not have anything in them, but then slice 1-1.5" rolls (as big as you like), serve, and enjoy. 

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Tonight for dinner is a roasted chicken over onions, carrots, and potatoes. I plan on toasting some croutons to serve the chicken over. I am also defrosting a loaf of bread dough with which to make cinnamon rolls with Mascarpone frosting. Yummm!! 

My kitchen favorites

This week is The Week of Eating In influenced by Cathy Erway of "Not Eating Out in New York" who did not eat out for 2 years, and blogged about her experience. The idea is that by not eating out, or at least by eating out less, you are creating less waste, and ultimately spending less money. We're participating, so I'll be blogging about everything we are eating. Honestly, we're pretty broke right now, so eating at home is our only option... so it's a very good thing that I love to cook, and am good at it. I think this week will be largely about making the most of everything we have. Normally there are leftovers that never get eaten in the fridge which eventually go bad because we don't feel like having it again or whatever. It's food that is wasted and I would like to reduce our waste and consume everything (or at least most of) what we purchase.

I thought I would kick off the week by writing about my favorite kitchen tools. These are things that are invaluable to me. They aren't the only things in my kitchen, but I do use them more than any other items.

First off, my knives. I use Global Knives. They were a gift from my husband one Christmas and I adore them. I have one Chef's Knife, one Sanroku, one vegetable knife, and one paring knife. Honestly, I don't think you need any other knives than these. They are sharp as hell, are super light, and have a comfortable handle for a person with small hands.  

I use an Anolon 5 qt sautee skillet and an 8 inch fry pan. I use the sautee pans (I have 2) almost exclusively, so much so that I have almost killed them. I am looking to replace all of my cookware with All Clad, but it's expensive and I don't have that kind of money right now. However, I know that when I do they will last forever.

I use a Le Creuset 5.5 qt enameled Dutch Oven. I LOVE THIS. I plan on buying another. It's such an even cooking surface and you can use it for so many different things.

I use a 16 qt stock pot. Not necessary for everyone, but I make a lot of soup and sauce to freeze and I make it in large batches.

My OXO cooking tongs and whisk.

My spider. 

A set of glass nesting mixing bowls. 

My microplane.

A half-sheet pan.

My kitchenaide stand mixer. (I really want a Cuisinart food processor too!)

And then an assortment of wooden spoons and a cutting board.

It's nice to have other things - I have other pots that I use less frequently (or as needed) and other cooking utensils. I think that without anything else I would be set.

What are your favorite kitchen utensils?

Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce

 

 This is like Gourmet Mac & Cheese. Definitely comfort food for a cold winter's day. Also this sauce is a great sauce to know how to make - great for using in other combinations. Best part? It couldn't be much easier. This recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis.

• 1 stick unsalted butter (4 ounces)
• 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 quart whole milk, at room temperature
• Pinch fresh nutmeg
• Sea salt and white pepper
• 1 cup grated fontina cheese
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned (roll it up as a cigar, and then cut it into slivers)
• 1 pound dry rigatoni
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Always stirring, gradually add the milk and continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg, 1/2 cup fontina, prosciutto and season with salt and white pepper. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add the rigatoni and cook for about 5 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander. Return pasta to the pot and pour in bechamel sauce. Using a wooden spoon, mix well until all the pasta is coated with the sauce.

Into a greased 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pour the pasta with cream sauce. Smooth out top and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup fontina. Dot the top with diced butter and bake in oven for 25 minutes or until bubbling and the top is golden brown.

Irish Soda Bread

 

Traditionally for St. Patrick's Day my mother would make Corned Beef with Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread. So what if St. Patrick's Day is still a month away and I'm not Irish? I was in the mood so I whipped up some Irish Soda Bread. It's easy and delicious. This recipe is adapted from the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten). Oh... mom used to put in Carroway Seeds which I left out because I don't like the flavor of them. (Sorry! But not really!) Feel free to add a handful to your dough if you like a little anise flavoring.

nocoupons

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup dried currants
• 1 handful of Carroway Seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (in my case I used a non-stick sheet pan that I had lightly sprayed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour (your butter should be about pea sized).

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk and egg. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough (this helps the currants to not fall to the bottom of your dough. If you are adding Carroway Seeds, now is the time to do so. Your dough will be very wet.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Memories of Food/Food of Memories

On Saturday I was watching Lidia Bastianich's show on PBS. Her show this week was on a particular town in Umbria (in Italy) that has an abundance of truffles. This made me think of something my chef friend said to me once, about how there are several factors creating an experience when you use truffles. They are expensive, so they aren't used en masse usually. Sometimes the chef will sprinkle just a little black truffle oil on top of your dish before it gets to you, and the first thing you do when you get that dish is inhale that earthy aroma and you are instantly thrown back to every experience you have ever had with truffles.

My personal experience with truffles is nil since I am egregiously allergic to anything in the fungi family. Although there were the experiences of going "Truffle Hunting" during our weekends at the YWJA camp in the Catskills as a kid, the leaders never told us what we were looking for, and they never acted as if they were playing a joke on us. But I digress...

My point is that food creates memories. The process of making it and eating it creates memories. For example, the other day my husband requested a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich because that is something his dad always made for him. Interestingly enough my dad used to make me grilled cheese sandwiches too. I wonder if this is something most dads do...

As I thought of food that held a memory for me, I realized that there really wasn't anything that I eat now that I cannot connect with a memory for me. And you know what? All of those memories involved other people. They were never singular events. I will forever connect Salt and Pepper chips to the first few months I knew my husband, and I will forever connect salami and provolone to picnic lunches under the dining room table and Christmas Antipasto with the family.

For this reason I am convinced that when you invite people to dinner, keep it simple. Enjoy food with friends and family. Build your memories. Food is not only about nourishing your body, but also about nourishing your soul by sharing it with others.

And now for something completely personal.

For those of you who read this, you might look around and say "well there isn't much here". Honestly I've had other blogs before that were cathartic for their purpose, but I feel ran their course so I deleted them and started over. I've also recently been reluctant to share much of anything personal for fear that it will backfire on me once again.

But now I am going to share something personal. It's something I just feel like I need to get "out there" for no one in particular but really just to get off my chest.

For those who don't know me all that well, I used to be a  ballet dancer. It was my life. I gave all of myself emotionally and physically towards this art, to the point that I nearly killed myself (literally) with eating disorders one year (I know it sounds strange since I love cooking and food so much now, but it took quite a while to get here. I love cooking because I get to exert control [YES!] on what I eat) and subsequently had major reconstructive surgery on major joints after the fact.

I never "made it", and frankly by the time I wound up in the hospital dying I was so burned out emotionally that I was ready to stop - I think I had finally relegated myself to " not making it" status anyway. I went through a lot of shit as a dancer. I thought I'd gotten past the emotional trauma, but I just realized last night that I still have a lot of pent up anger and frustration about my experience. I didn't think it was there, but recent economic circumstances made me realize that I share alot of the same emotions and feelings about past and present experiences.

So there. I am still angry.

I'm going to go make cupcakes now. 

Garlic Roast Chicken

Another great way to make chicken. We eat a lot of it in our house since it is locally slaughtered and it isn't expensive. I love this particular recipe because everything is done at once and in one dish. It had a delicate roasted garlic taste to it which was delightful. This recipe is courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa.

Preheat your oven to 425. 
Halve two whole heads of garlic, and quarter one whole lemon. Stuff these into the cavity of your 4-5 lb bird. Place into a roasting pan or on a half sheet as I do, slather with softened or melted butter, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut 2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes each into 8ths, 2-3 large carrots into 2-3 inch pieces, and one small to medium yellow onion into thick slices. Scatter these all around your bird. (See "before" picture, below)

Place the whole thing into the oven when it reaches temperature, and then roast for an hour and fifteen or so until the juices run clear when pricked. You'll know it is done when, if you listen to the cracklings in the oven, you will all of a sudden hear what sounds like a rain storm of splatterings.

When it is done, remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. If your veggies are not done, feel free to put just the veggies back in the oven while the bird rests. Carve and serve. (See "after" picture, below)

Although the veggies have no seasonings directly on them, they do cook in the drippings and butter from the bird. It was delicious! And, of course, it left me with another carcass for a pot of soup or stock. :-)

Step by Step Basic Risotto

I  love Risotto. I really do. There is something so magical about the way simple ingredients transform the way they do. There is also a meditative aspect from the rhythm of stirring the rice as you do. The best part is that you can make it as a side dish, or you can make it as a main dish as I do when I am too lazy to do anything else! Once you know how to make a basic Risotto, you are set. You can add anything else or make any other recipe once you know the technique.

* For this, you will want to bring to a boil 8 cups of chicken broth or stock (and then reduce to a simmer)
* Also, dice one medium onion or two smallish shallots (I love the flavor and aroma of shallots, especially when you use lemon as I did)
* 1.5 cups of Arborio rice

 
In a 12 inch sautée pan (you want one with at least an inch and a half in depth), bring a bit of extra virgin olive oil to a shimmer between medium and medium high. Add your shallot or onion to the pan, and cook until they become less opaque.

One you have cooked your shallot or onion, add your Arborio rice to the pan, and sautée that until the rice also becomes less opaque. With these two steps you want to work fairly quickly because you don't want anything to burn. You will also want to make sure you are dedicated to this dish, attention-wise, because it needs to be constantly stirred until it is done from here on out.

As soon as you have the first two ingredients to the pan, you will start to add your broth to the mix, and you will want to probably bring your temperature up to a full medium-high. Add one ladle (about a 1/2 cup) at a time, letting it become absorbed by the rice. As soon as the liquid is more or less absorbed, add another one, stirring constantly (otherwise it will stick and burn). Proceed this way until you reach the end of your broth (or near it - I use nearly all 8 cups, but not all). You'll know you are nearing completion when it becomes creamier and thicker. Your half-way point looks about like this, although the steam was keeping it from a really clear picture:

When I neared the end, I added in the juice of 2-3 lemons, and 3/4 cup of fresh Parmiggiano Reggiano. When I served it, it looked like this:

 

Enjoy!

Easy and Delicious Pork Loin

I made this as a challenge for my husband. Generally, for one reason or another, my husband has not really been a fan of Pork Loin. I said "I bet that I can make you a fan of this, and if, at the end of dinner, you still don't like it, I will never make it again".

I win.

Since it was just the two of us for dinner, I purchased one package of Pork Loin, containing two loins (appx 2 lbs), which gave us leftovers when all was said and done.

What you will need is the juice of 4-6 lemons to constitute 3/4 - 1 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 of good extra virgin olive oil, 6 cloves of garlic, chopped, a few fresh sprigs of Rosemary and Thyme. (NOTE: in all instances here, make sure your ingredients are fresh. It makes a huge difference, since anything in a shelf container generally tastes nothing like the fresh version. The herbs should be stripped from their stems, and minced as much as possible, but don't kill yourself over it.)

Combine all ingredients into a large, sealable Ziplok bag, and then add your pork loins. Seal the bag, and then mush the bag to evenly coat. Refrigerate and turn every so often for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours. I marinated for about 8 hours, and it turned out great.

When you are ready to cook, remove the meat from your bag, but do not wipe it down. Leave whatever clings to the meat. Set your meat into a dish, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Generously salt and pepper all sides of your pork loins while heating an oven-proof pan with a few drags of olive oil in it on medium high heat.

I know you are all confused and like, "are we cooking it on the stove or in the oven?".

Both.

When your pan heats up (generally when the Olive oil starts to shimmer), brown your loins on all sides. When that is done, and your oven has reached temperature, put your pan (with the loins) straight into the oven. This sears the outside of your meat, ensuring a nice juicy and tender interior (as long as you don't overcook it). You will want to leave your meat in the oven until a meat thermometer registers a temperature of around 137. Because it is pork it cooks fairly quickly, and you will find that if you leave it in the oven for any period of time beyond this, it will overcook.

Once it has reached temperature, remove it from the oven, tent with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes while you finish your other meal preparations. Like I've said previously, this is really important because it lets the juices settle back into the meat.

Enjoy!