This is the best recipe to beat the summer heat. Gazpacho is good and good for you plus it is cool and refreshing. I like to make my Gazpacho a day or two ahead to let the flavors meld together. It is a lot of chopping but if you want you can use your food processor to speed up the prep. Just don’t process to much because you will end up with mush. Personally, I prefer to do it all be hand so all of the vegetables are evenly chopped.
Enjoy!
This Savory Four Cheese Tart with Asparagus and Pancetta is a wonderful dish to serve for a brunch, luncheon, dinner first course or as a snack mid-afternoon. I love the bread crumb crust as it is light and doesn’t interfere with the complexity of the cheesy tart. Using the bread crumb crust makes this a very easy to make tart since there is no pastry to prepare.
The four cheeses I used are all cow’s milk but you can easily substitute goat cheese for any of the cheeses. Or you can use just goat cheese and cream cheese. Be sure to adjust the amounts you use. Always use a total 16 ounces of cheese combos and always use cream cheese in the combo.
I like this best served with salad greens tossed in Orange Marmalade Infused White Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Enjoy!
Company’s coming and what better dessert to serve than Key Lime Tart. It’s a great spring and summertime dessert and a perfect way to end a meal. The tartness of the key lime custard is offset with the sweetness of the meringue making it luscious and delectable. The crust is complex and has a lot going on with the graham crackers, macadamia nuts and coconut. This is one of the oldest recipes on the books and always a favorite when I was catering.
Click on the photos or the recipe title to go directly to the recipe.
Enjoy!
Here are two different ways to make your Easter Leg of Lamb. One is stuffed and the other is not. Both are boneless and both are marinated. Both are served with Lamb Sauce. No need to brine the lamb as the marinade will break down the tough muscle.
I am a proponent of marinating meat without acids such as wine, vinegar, soy or lemon juice. Using an acidy liquid to marinate will eventually begin to “cook” the meat making it tough and leathery. By using olive oil, herbs and black pepper you give the meat great flavor and the oil helps break down the tough muscle making it more appealing in texture and flavor. Don’t use salt in marinating because this will draw out the juices of the meat causing it to be dry and tasteless.
Ask your butcher to remove the aitchbone and gland and to leave the end of the bone intact. Doing this makes it much easier to carve: The end bone acts as a handle when carving. Discard the gland (the butcher will do this for you).
I love to serve these beautiful Legs of Lamb with Vegetable Couscous or Roasted Potatoes along side Asparagus Mimosa.
If you try either of these I would love to know your results.
I know we all have heard the phrase “Erin go Bragh” when St. Patrick’s Day is approaching. I also know that many us that are Irish on that one day only have no idea what it means. Erin go Bragh is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, Éirinn go Brách, and is used to express allegiance to Ireland.
So Erin go Bragh to all of my true Irish friends and all of us wannabes.
I will be cooking my traditional Oven Braised Corned Beef with Irish Beer and Irish Whiskey on St. Paddy’s Day along with Mrs. Hogan’s The Best Ever Irish Soda Bread,. Click on the links or photos you will go directly to the recipes. This year I am going to cook my cabbage a couple of different ways just to shake it up a bit and keep things interesting. I am going to prepare roasted cabbage and sautéed cabbage besides the cabbage I cook with the Corned Beef. After making cabbage three ways I have decided that I like cabbage cooked all ways.
To finish the meal I thought my Apple Bread Pudding would be approbate to complete this Irish Feast along with a cup of Baileys Irish Cream Coffee. I’m sure you all know how to make this delicious coffee – coffee, a shot of Baileys, whipped cream and optional chocolate shavings. I don’t know if I can wait until St. Paddy’s Day for this meal.
Slainte! and Erin go Bragh!
It’s been a while since I made this delicious retro soup. The last time I had it out in a restaurant was in Paris last year. It made think about the days of catering out of my store Camille’s Gourmet To Go And Catering. Whenever I made this wonderfully “onion sweet” soup I would sell out of it almost immediately. I’ve been dreaming about it since Paris and decided to make some this week. I did it totally from scratch by first making a rich beef stock. You can use a store bought stock but make sure it’s a low or no sodium stock. Don’t use broth as it is not rich enough. Making your own stock is inexpensive to make and the only real cost is in time. Twelve hours of simmering is the best way to get a stock rich enough for French Onion Soup Au Gratin
Serves 4
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 Large Sweet Onions, Sliced Lengthwise
2 Large Red Onions, Sliced Lengthwise
4 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Bay Leaf
3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
3 Tablespoons Flour
2 Teaspoons Coarse Sea Salt
1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
½ Cup Madeira
6 Cups Hot Homemade Beef Stock or Canned Low Sodium Beef Stock
6 Slices Toasted Baguette
½ Pound Gruyere Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
In a large, heavy bottomed pan melt the butter over medium heat. When butter is hot and stops sizzling add the sliced onions, minced garlic, bay leaf and thyme springs. Sauté the onions until softened and slightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the onions with the flour and stir to incorporate the flour. Cook for several minutes to lose the flour flavor, stirring the whole time. Add the Madeira and cook until well incorporated into the onions. Add the hot beef stock. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and continue cooking for about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme.
Preheat broiler.
Ladle the soup into warm bowls, float a toasted slice of baguette (Crouton) on each bowl and top with shredded cheese. Place bowls on a sheet pan and place under the broiler to melt the cheese. Keep an eye on the bowls to be sure the cheese does not burn. Serve immediately.
Hints and Tips: Gruyere Cheese is the traditional cheese to serve with French Onion Soup but Mozzarella is a good substitute if you prefer.
Adding flour thickens the soup just a bit but if you would rather not use flour it will not make a difference in the flavor. It will just be thinner.
(Click the recipe title or photo for the recipe.)
Risotto is one of my favorite side dishes to make and eat. It is something that gives me a little bit of a challenge. There are so many things that can go wrong if you don’t pay attention: It can separate, not cook, not be creamy, not absorb the liquid. But if you are focused and not distracted by other items on the stove you will be able to make this deliciously creamy dish and be a superstar. I once taught this to a group of people who had never made risotto, or rice for that matter, and by the end of the class they were all experts. Some went home and made it ending up with great results. Sometimes a challenge is good when you want to get out of the boring hum drum of making the same old stuff.
Serves 4
2 Tablespoons XVOO
¼ Cup Shallots, Finely Diced
1 Cup Arborio Rice or Carnaroli Rice (Carnaroli is Best)
4 Cups Homemade Chicken Stock or Canned Low Sodium Chicken Broth, Heated, Plus 1 Cup Extra If Needed to Finish
1 Teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt
½ Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
1/3 Cup Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Heat a 2 quart heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Heat XVOO to just shimmering and sauté shallots with salt and pepper until the shallots are translucent, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes.
Add rice and stir well to be sure each grain of rice is coated with the XVOO. Lower heat to medium low and stir in one cup of stock. Stir continuously until the entire cup of stock is incorporated. Add 1/3 cup more stock and stir continuously until all of that stock is incorporated. Do this with all of the rest of the 4 cups of stock in 1/3 cup additions, always stirring, for approximately 20 minutes. You want the mixture to be creamy, not broken, and the grains of rice should be tender and not crunchy. When the rice is perfectly perfect, add the butter and cheese and stir until completely incorporated. If the Risotto is too thick and not creamy, add some of the extra hot stock to loosen it up. It must be creamy to be perfect.
Hints and Tips: Risotto is a rice dish made with a particular kind of rice – either Arborio or Carnaroli. You need a high starch variety of rice in order to cook a real risotto. The main difference comes from the rice variety, but the way you cook risotto is also a bit different from how you cook other kinds of rice dishes. You don’t want the rice to separate from the stock. The best way to keep this from happening is to cook slowly and to be sure each addition of stock is fully absorbed by the rice before you put in the next addition. Also, at the very end of cooking vigorously stir and shake the risotto. The continuous stirring is what makes the risotto creamy. Stirring separates the starch from the rice and incorporates it into the chicken stock.
Suggestions to enhance your risotto:
1.) Add a heavy pinch of saffron to the sauté. The saffron makes it the famous Risotto Milanese. Not only does it give the risotto a wonderful flavor but also gives it a deeply rich intense color. Saffron is usually sold in packages weighing in at 0.028 oz. A pack of saffron this size is perfect for one cup of uncooked rice. You can almost always purchase the real deal saffron at the grocery store. Look for it among the spices. It is expensive and sometimes it is under lock and key. Ask your grocer.
2.) When you add the butter and cheese at the end, add freshly cooked spring peas for even more flavor and color.
3.) Sauté chopped pancetta with the shallots.
4.) Add reconstituted dried porcini mushrooms at the sauté. Replace part of the chicken stock with reconstituted mushroom liquid.
5.) Sauté shrimp and remove from the pan before you sauté the shallots. This will give you a little shrimp flavor. You can also make a shrimp stock from the shrimp shells and use this as your broth.
6.) Substitute 1 cup white wine for the first one cup of chicken stock and use 3 cups of stock instead of the 4 cups.
7.) There is an endless list of possibilities to add to your risotto.
(Click on the recipe name or photo and it will bring you to the recipe’s page.)
New Year’s Day has always been the best day to stay home and recover from the previous night’s partying. I like to make a Prime Rib Roast with all the trimmings. The trimmings being Au Jus, Potato Dauphinoise, Haricot Vert and a Caesar Salad. A no muss, no fuss dinner. Well, maybe a few easy appetizers to have during the day. And of course, dessert. All of the appetizers, potato, salad dressing and dessert can be made ahead.
(Click on the menu item above and below each photo to go directly to the recipe.)
New Year’s Day Menu
Salmon Gravlox “Pastrami Style”
Maryland Crab Cakes
Roasted Prime Ribs of Bee Au Jus with Horseradish Creme Fraiche
Potatoes Dauphinoise
Haricot Vert with Pecans
Caesar Salad with House Made Croutons and Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano
Apple Tart with Caramel Sauce
Salmon Gravlox “Pastrami Style”
Roast Prime Ribs of Beef Au Jus with Horseradish Creme Fraiche
Caesar Salad with House Made Croutons and Shave Parmigiano Reggiano
Apple Tart Frangipane with Caramel Sauce
I Wish You A Very Happy New Year, And May 2019 Be The Best Year For All!
