birthday dinner

This past sunday I had the great pleasure of making a birthday dinner for my friend Cara who happens to be vegetarian.  I was excited to get to work with a variety of vegetables and cooking methods.

For dinner I decided to make chiles en nogada filled with veggies instead of meat, a roasted vegetable quinoa salad and a baked cabbage soup.  For dessert I made pecan bread pudding with a Mexican chocolate whipped cream.

For the roasted vegetable quinoa I utilized a variety of vegetables: parsnips, celery root, potatoes, onion, turnips and fennel.

I diced all the vegetables and placed into baking sheets.  I drizzled with olive oil over, seasoned with salt and pepper and placed in the oven to roast.

To prepare the quinoa I added 1 part quinoa and 2 parts water to a rice cooker, it cooks perfectly every time. I removed the vegetables from the oven once they were cooked through and slightly toasted. I tossed the quinoa in with the roasted vegetables and set aside to cool. 

To make baked cabbage soup I first chopped one head of cabbage and added this to a deep pot.  I then added enough vegetable broth to almost cover the cabbage and cooked over high heat until the cabbage was tender but not mushy.

While the cabbage boiled I cut thick slices of crusty Italian bread that I then toasted in the oven.  I buttered a dutch oven and placed a few slices of the toasted bread as a base.  I topped the bread with grated gruyere cheese.  Using tongs I added about half of the cabbage and topped with dabs of butter.  I made another layer of bread, cheese, and cabbage.  I covered the dish with a final layer of bread and poured the vegetable broth into the dutch oven to soak into the bread.  I topped with more gruyere and placed in the oven to bake until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

layering the soup:

Chiles en nogada is a traditional Mexican dish that consists of a roasted poblano chile, stuffed with picadillo that is then topped with a walnut cream sauce and pomegranate seeds.

In this version I am stuffing the poblano with a variety of vegetables.  The main component of my stuffing was zucchini, I think it has a heartiness to it that worked well as a stuffing.  The rest of the ingredients were cremini mushrooms, tomatoes, and walnuts:

I diced all the vegetables and sauteed in a skillet with olive oil, onion and garlic:

I prepared the poblano by first roasting it over an open flame, making sure to slightly char the outside.  After taking them off the flame I immediately placed them in a plastic bag to steam for few minutes before peeling off the skin.

roasted peeled poblano:

I cut the poblano along one side and shook out the seeds.  I then stuffed the chiles with the zucchini mixture, topped with a bit of crema mexicana, and sprinkled with some pomegranate seeds.


To complete the dinner I tossed the quinoa salad with chopped cilantro and lime juice and set along side the chile en nogada. I made a quick guacamole with avocados, lime, and onions and served with the dish as well.  I pulled the cabbage soup out of the oven and I served this separately in a bowl.

The texture of the roasted poblano went well with the stuffing and the quinoa had a bright earthiness with the lime and root vegetables.  The cabbage soup was luscious, very rich and satisfying.  It was a bounty of vegetables but we made sure to make room for some dessert.

I had it under good authority that Cara is a fan of bread pudding so this was an easy choice to make.

To serve alongside the bread pudding I made a mexican chocolate whipped cream.  I used one of those bricks of mexican chocolate that you can get at most stores.  I boiled the chocolate with heavy cream until melted and passed this through a mesh strainer and placed in the refrigerator to cool. To make the whipped cream I used an iSi cream whipper, but I have also made whipped cream by whisking cooled cream in a large mixing bowl.

I first cut a loaf of crusty Italian bread into large cubes and placed in a buttered casserole dish and topped with roasted pecans. In a large mixing bowl I combined milk and heavy cream with eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. I poured the mixture over the bread and let this sit for 10 minutes so that the bread can properly soak.  I placed the pudding in the oven to bake until the top was golden brown.

The bread pudding was a hit: the vanilla and pecan of the bread pudding went well with the chocolate and cinnamon flavors of the whipped cream.

I am happy to say that our guest of honor enjoyed her dinner very much and I was glad to have the opportunity to do something special for her birthday.

baked eggs

Breakfast is definitely my favorite meal.  There is something very gratifying about being able to wake up early while everyone is still asleep and make something special happen.  There is nothing like being able to brew some coffee and have that first cup before anyone else, all while cooking.

I have been experimenting with this baked egg dish that has lots of flavor and allows for perfectly runny eggs.  That experience of breaking into the yolk of a well cooked egg is the best thing about breakfast.

The dish I made is a baked egg on top of spinach, bacon and a bit of gruyere cheese.

To prepare the spinach I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil.  To this I added a couple handfuls of baby spinach and let it wilt down in the pan, absorbing the flavors of the onion and garlic.

I cooked the bacon in the oven, using cooling racks in a cooking sheet so that the fat drips off the bacon.  I found that this makes for crispier bacon.

it was really hard to not just have this for breakfast:

To bake the eggs I used small gratin dishes.  The cooked spinach formed the bottom layer, on top of which I added bacon and gruyere cheese.  Finally I topped all the ingredients with eggs, a splash of heavy cream, and some cracked pepper.

waiting for the oven:

After about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven, the egg whites set and the yolks came out runny and somewhat custardy in texture.  to go with the eggs, I made sticks out of a couple sesame bagels which I then toasted with a bit of butter.  These make a perfect tool for digging out all the eggy goodness.

breakfast is served:

breaking into the yolk:

bo ssam

I'm a big fan of Working Class Foodies (http://www.hungrynation.tv/wcfoodies) and in one of their episodes, they make a dish inspired by the Bo Ssam at Momofuku.  Being a fan of roasting pork, I knew I had to make my own version at home.  Bo Ssam is a Korean dish consisting chunks of pork in bibb lettuce with various condiments on the side.  For my version I decided to make a ginger-scallion sauce and a one day version of kimchi that I tried out.  As an additional side I also prepared a cold noodle salad with shrimp.

To begin, I rubbed a pork shoulder roast with a combination of sugar and sea salt and let this sit for a few hours. I then placed the roast in the oven for 4 hours, making sure to baste the pork in its drippings every hour until it was tender enough to shred with a fork.

Pork marinating in sugar/salt mixture:

Pork right out of the oven:

While the pork roasted I also prepared a quick one day kimchi recipe.  To begin I quartered a large head of napa cabbage lengthwise then cut into large chunks crosswise.  I placed the cabbage in a large bowl along with a cup or so of coarse sea salt.  I let this sit for a couple hours to draw out as much water from the cabbage as possible.

Napa cabbage before:

Napa cabbage after:

To complete the kimchi, I rinsed the cabbage to get out any excess salt and I squeezed by hand to get out any additional water.  In a food processor I blended garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar and red pepper flakes until a loose paste formed.  I tossed this mixture with the cabbage until completely covered and let sit for another two hours.

Finished kimchi:

To prepare the noodle salad I combined in a large bowl softened rice vermicelli noodles, cooked shrimp, cucumber, red pepper, and onion.  For the dressing I combined soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, hoisin, lime juice, sugar, and some red chili sauce.  The noodle salad was a bit more Vietnamese inspired but went well with the pork.

Noodle salad with shrimp:

To prepare the ginger scallion sauce I first fried minced garlic in sesame oil until browned and crispy.  I combined this in a bowl with ginger, scallions, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and thinly sliced serrano chile to add some spice.

To wrap the pork I carefully pulled the leaves off of a few heads of bib lettuce and rinsed.  The leaves are the perfect size for stuffing with pork and condiments.

Ginger-scallion sauce and bibb lettuce:

To complete the meal I shredded the pork meat and placed in a large plate with the lettuce and condiments all around.  This was a very exciting meal to make as well as to eat.  The pork and condiments went well together and were full of flavor.  The sauce did a good job of cutting the fatty saltiness of the pork and the kimchi added a nice element of flavor to the dish.  The noodle salad was was very flavorful as well making it a great side dish.  Made in large quantities this dish can be a crowd pleaser and I will definitely be making a larger version of this for a party some time in the future.

My complete bo ssam dinner:

meals for a special day part 2: dinner

For anniversary dinner I decided to go with a more French-inspired approach.  The main course was a dry aged ribeye steak, potato leek gratin, and green beans with almonds.  For dessert: classic creme brulee.

I began with the gratin because this took longest to make.  I thinly sliced potatoes and leek and began to layer these in a buttered casserole.  Each layer consisted of potatoes, leeks, minced garlic, butter, gruyere cheese, and heavy cream.  I continued this until i had about 8 layers.

Building the gratin:

I cooked the gratin for about an hour and a half until the top was crispy and golden brown.

still bubbling out of the oven:

The second side are green beans with almonds.  I first blanched green beans in boiling water for a few minutes and then tossed these in a pan with butter, garlic and sliced almonds.

Finally, the star of the dish is a dry aged ribeye steak.  The ribeye was prepared very simply by searing the steak in an extremely hot cast iron skillet on both sides then placing in an oven for a few minutes until medium rare. 

I removed the steaks from the skillet and created a pan sauce by adding some garlic to the pan and then deglazing with a bit of red wine.  I added a good deal of pepper, reduced the wine to half and added a bit of butter for richness.

Creating the pan sauce:

The dinner went over very well, the steak was cooked perfectly, the green beans were crisp, and the leeks melted into the gratin.

anniversary dinner:

I was very excited to make dessert because I decided to splurge and purchased fresh vanilla beans.  I also purchased a kitchen torch for the express purpose of creating the sugar crust for the brulee.

vanilla bean:

To create the brulee I split the vanilla bean in half and simmered it in heavy cream.  In the meantime I whisked egg yolks with sugar until creamy.  I added the heavy cream to the egg a bit at a time making sure not to scramble the yolks.  I placed the custard mixture into ramekins and baked in the oven in a water bath until the custard set.

To create the sugar crust, I sprinkled sugar over the top of the cooked custard and used a torch to brulee the sugar.  

flame on:

Dessert came out well.  The custard was perfectly creamy and the fresh vanilla added a complex woody flavor.  The crust was crunchy and contrasted beautifully with the smooth custard.  

Dinner overall was very memorable, for many reasons.  I am very proud that I was able to put together a romantic French meal, and I'm looking forward to many more.

meals for a special day part 1: breakfast

Today is my anniversary and to celebrate I'm making two special meals featuring ingredients we both love.  Part one for today is breakfast: poached egg with spinach and bacon on a corn biscuit with a guajillo goat cheese hollandaise.

To prepare the biscuits I mixed masa harina with butter, salt, pepper, and milk.  I folded in sweet corn and baked in an oven until they were flaky and cooked through.

Cutting out some biscuits:

While the bicuits were in the oven I fried bacon until crispy and tossed some baby spinach in the pan to wilt.  I added a bit of salt, pepper and garlic and cooked through to combine the flavors.

Can't have spinach without the bacon:

To prepare the guajillo goat cheese hollandaise I softened dried guajillo chile in boiling water.  I place goat cheese, two eggs yolks and the softened guajillo chile in a blender to combine.  I added some of the boiled water a bit at a time to cook the egg to thicken the sauce a bit.

Dried guajillo waiting for hot water:

Finally, I poached eggs in a shallow pan filled with water and a bit of vinegar to keep the egg in tact.  To complete the dish I placed a biscuit on the plate and covered with the spinach/bacon mixture, which I then topped with a poached egg and the guajillo goat cheese sauce.

I had a great time making this dish.  It was fun to experiment with an egg sauce and corn biscuits.  The flavors complimented each other well and the dish overall was very enjoyable, something I definitely will be making more often in the future.

pumpkin bread pudding

Pumpkin is one of my favorite things about fall.  It is a flavor I look forward to every year.  I picked up a sugar pumpkin at the store, not really knowing what I wanted to do with it.  Normally I would roast it and leave it at that, but I decided to take roasted pumpkin and incorporate it into a bread pudding.

To begin I cut the pumpkin into smaller pieces to roast in the oven. I placed the pumpkin on a cookie sheet and covered with melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger paste.  I set this to roast in the oven until the pumpkin fell apart easily with a fork.

I removed the skin from the pumpkin and I placed the cooked pieces in a blender with eggs, half and half, sugar and cinnamon.  I blended this combination until smooth and set aside while I cut my bread.  I used a day old country style sourdough bread.  Any day old crusty bread works to soak up all the liquid from the pumpkin mixture.  I cut the bread into large cubes and placed them in a deep pan.  I covered the bread with the pumpkin mixture and let this soak in for 10 minutes.

The pudding was browned on the top and the inside of the pudding was tender, but not mushy.

The flavor of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger really stood out making this a perfect fall dessert.

chicken milanese with garlic mashed potatoes

I have been craving crispy chicken lately, so I decided to use some leftover panko breadcrumbs to create chicken milanese.  I thought to pair this with some creamy mashed potatoes to provide a contrast in texture.

To begin I pounded out some chicken breasts until very thin and spread out.  I sliced my chicken breasts in half first before flattening to make them more manageable.  I added the flattened breasts to a dish and covered in plain kefir for about 20 minutes.  I did this to further tenderize the chicken and it also acts as a glue for the breadcrumbs.

In a flat dish I combined panko breadcrumbs, minced garlic, chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  I coated the chicken breasts with the breadcrumb mixture to cover both sides.

I covered the bottom of a skillet with olive oil and added my chicken.  I let the chicken fry away for a few minutes on each side, making sure to get a crisp, golden-brown crust on each side.

While I cooked the chicken, I boiled potatoes in water until very soft.  I cooked these for longer than I normally would to assure that they come out very creamy.  I strained the potatoes and mixed with sour cream, milk, and garlic that I sautéed in butter.

to complete the dish I leaned a piece of chicken milanese on a mound of mashed potatoes that I placed at the center of the place.  I added a simple salad with greens tossed in lemon juice.  The lemon juice cuts the richness of the dish and the salad added another contrast in texture.  I was very happy with the outcome of the dish, the flavors and textures went very well together.