Make it Big! It just makes sense.

Our Sunday night pot roast dinner was interrupted by an invitation and while we did eat a bit of the roast, and it was lovely, most of it was saved for later in the week.  Last night we had the leftovers and I have to say, the thing cooks say about foods getting better over time... it is just SOOO true. 

So, why don't I always make a double batch when I'm making anything that is braised, slow roasted. And come to think about it,  any soup or stew too! 

I've been cooking for a long time. I suppose some lessons take longer than others? 

New house rule: MAKE IT BIG! Carefully save the leftovers in the freezer or refrigerator. Take advantage of a night off of cooking knowing the dinner waiting in the freezer is even BETTER than the fabulous slow cooked meal you made over the weekend!

Enjoy!

BLOT Sauce for Cheese Ravioli: Oscar Inspiration

Years ago I catered an Oscar party and one of the dishes I served was a Tomato, Escarole & Bacon pasta. I used lovely cherry tomatoes, cut in half and tossed into a hot pan where the bacon was crisping, some shallot and garlic were added creating an intoxicating aroma to entice the party guests. Fresh herbs as well a head of torn escarole, some white wine & chicken stock were added as well. It was finished off with luscious al dente cooked pasta which was all gently tossed together as the greens wilted and the flavors melded before it was quickly devoured by the hungry movie buffs.

Inspired by that dish and a large box of Pomi diced tomatoes in my pantry, I set out to create a more simple version which could be whipped up in 20 minutes. So I stripped the recipe in my memory down to the BLT ingredients, but added the O(lives) for texture and punch.

It's may not be Oscar worthy, but certainly does make a quick delicious dinner for the family.

Enjoy!

Bacon, escaroLe, Olive & Tomato - BLOT Sauce
for Cheese Ravioli or Tortellini

(Serves 4, more or less)

Ingredients:
6 oz. diced bacon
2 lb. can or box of Pomi diced tomatoes
1/3 Cup Kalmata olives
salt, pepper
dried Italian herb mix or Oregano to taste
1 head of Escarole
1 lb of cheese ravioli or tortellini


Method:
Fill a large pot with water and put it on to boil.* Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and continue to occasionally stir the bacon as it cooks for about 8 minutes until very crispy.
Meanwhile, thoroughly wash the head of escarole.  Cut out the core and trim off the coarse white ends. Tear or cut the leaves into 2" pieces. Set aside.
Pit and coarsely chop the olives. Set aside.
When the bacon is crispy remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pour out 1/2 of the bacon drippings in the pan (if you are a whimp, I left them all in there.).
Return pan to the heat and pour in the tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a slow simmer.
Add a little salt and pepper and a teaspoon or so of a favorite dried spice mix (I used a Greek blend because I really love Greek oregano, but use whatever is on hand.) to taste.
Add the escarole and olives. Stir to combine thoroughly.  Partially cover.
Cook the ravioli pasta al dente, don't over cook. Before you drain the pasta, add 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to the tomato escarole sauce.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir gently to thoroughly coat the ravioli.
Don't forget to add back the bacon into the pan.**
Serve to hungry family.



*A very smart friend has passed on the advice of a wise chef & that is to always first put a pot of water on to boil, you will need it for something, surely.
**Honestly, I was taking the picture I shared on my blog of this dish & saw the bowl of bacon I had completely forgotten to put back into the dish.  Ha, mediocre dish avoided!

Farmer's Market Veggie Feast

It's what''s for dinner:

Heirloom Carrot Soup with Ginger & Caraway

Roasted Parsnips & Potatoes in Garlic Thyme Butter

Roasted Asparagus in Blood Orange Brown Butter Sauce

Paris Eats Part I: Today and Tommorrow

We choose to eat at Hier & Aujourd'hui (In English: Today and Tomorrow) based on Pudlo's recommendation. The restaurant had won his year's Value for the Money award and we were anxious to see if it measured up to our expectations.

Hier & Aujourd'hui is located in the 17th Arr. - way the heck north in the outskirts of Paris. We took the Metro as close as we could and then walked and walked and walked trying to find the place. The neighborhood we passed through on rue de Saussure was the most un-Parisian we had experienced. It was very quiet, not a sole walking the streets. The area is filled with large apartment buildings most of which appeared to have been built in the 1960's or 70's. It seemed to be a bedroom community and there was no street-life to speak of. When we reached the huge train yard we knew we were close. We arrived at 8pm and were the first patrons to be seated for the night.

The place is simple and charming with dark wooden tables on a slab concrete floor, swaths of gray and white linen soften each table setting. A huge slate wall serves as the menu. The meals are all prix fixe here. There are five appetizers, seven main courses and five desserts to choose from.


The place is small, seating only a maximum of 40 people. I imagine this is the perfect size seeing that there are only two people running the entire place. One woman runs the front of the house which has one seating a night. One man is in the kitchen, quite methodically cooking and plating each dish. It's a marvel of hard work, focused calm and attention to detail which pull together to make this place seem bigger, more special than it's simple appearance.

The hand writing on the slate wall is difficult for us to read and our poor French makes things even more difficult. But we muddle through. Two of us order the beef entrecote as a main course, another a roasted fish fillet and I choose the slow cooked pork with pistou. For starters two spinach salads, the seasonal white asparagus with egg and I go for the gusto with the foie gras pots du creme (Pudlo had suggested it.).

The service is very French. We wait a long time to place our order, but by this time in the trip we have come to relax into the slow pace of a French meal. While we wait for our first courses, a beautiful country style terrine of pork and duck is brought to the table with a spreading knife sticking out of it, it isn't sliced, we're brought the whole thing still in the terrine in which it was cooked. A basked of fresh baked bread and a crock of cornichons round out the wonderful start to the meal. The terrine is perfectly seasoned and the bread is warm and just dense enough to hold up to a thick slathering of the meaty goodness. The cornichons add the perfect balance of acidity to wash away the fatty richness left in our mouths. We could actually make a meal out of just this... but alas we have to share the terrine. As our starters arrive the terrine is brought to the next table of patrons. An ingenious, if not hygienic, way to feed many in a simple manner.

The spinach salad has shards of a spicy cured meat laced throughout and has a creamy dressing. What seems a simple salad had obviously been well thought out, the spicy meat wakes up the spinach and the dressing pulls them both together. It's quite addicting and it's shared around the table. The white asparagus are wonderful, huge, perfectly cooked and dressed with French scrambled eggs and a creamy cheese which offers a tangy taste to offset the richness of everything else on the plate. The fois gras pots du creme arrive in two shot glasses. They are filled with thick creme and topped with a rich clear jus. Spread onto a thin toast or just spooned into the mouth it offers an explosion of foie gras flavor and creamy texture. It is so rich that I can only eat one and offer the second to Bruce who then offers me the second half of his spinach salad - a good deal for both of us.

Our main courses did not disappoint either. The beef entrecotes were large, perfectly cooked and well seasoned. Served with a lovely Lyonnaise potato salad neither serving could be finished as the portions are very generous.

The pork I ordered, rather adventurously as I didn't really understand the description on the board, is a simple and homey dish served in a bowl. It's pork shank that has been slow cooked and taken off the bone. It's served in a rich broth with large tender white beans, and cubes of carrots and zucchini. A basil pistou has been swirled into the broth offering a fresh flavor that brightens the whole taste. I was thrilled with this dish because it's something I can easily make at home and each bite is like the best home cooked meal you've ever had. Lovely!

For dessert we ordered one chocolate mousse, two yogurt, fruit and graham crumb parfaits and one baba rum. The mousse was light and fluffy served in messy large scoops onto a plate. Chuck inhaled it so quickly we could barely get a taste. Bruce loved the yogurt and vowed to eat his yogurt this way every day once we got back home. The Baba Rhum was served with a dollop of chantilly cream and was a bit dry. The entire bottle of rum, made in Martinique, was brought to the table and with a generous pour over the top, the cake and whipped cream became palatable enough through my rume induced haze.

We sipped coffee and espressos as we waited to get the waitresses attention for l'addition (check). This took quite a while as by this time every table was full and she was hustling calmly between each of them, serving, bussing, chatting, etc.

Pudlo certainly did not disappoint with regards to this fine establishment. The food was simply delicious and very affordable compared to most any restaurant we sampled in Paris. It's worth venturing out of the center of Paris to experience this wonderful spot as well as the unique neighborhood in which it resides.

Evolution of a Dinner Menu

Steinbeck was so right, about the "best laid plans" thing. So we had dinner for 5 adults it turns out. The menu turned out like this instead of the post from yesterday:

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Spring Garlic, Red Wine and Porcini Mushrooms
Roasted Root Vegetables with coarsely ground Cardamom - carrots, parsnips and potatoes
Apple and Blueberry Crisp with almonds and oatmeal

The meal was good. I didn't have time to deal with a starter at all. It was actually a double dinner party night. I made pork ribs, fried potatoes and broccoli for my two boys and two others BEFORE our adult dinner guests even arrived. I'd do the crisp again, but use lots more topping and very thinly slice the apples as the Pink Lady apples were quite firm.

I'm most proud of the short ribs. No recipe, just winging it and they were awesome. Here's what I did:

Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs

Serves 5-6

Ingredients

3 lbs Beef Short Ribs cut into 3" pieces (ask your butcher)

2 Tablespoons Flour

Salt and fresh ground pepper

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 heads green/spring garlic

3 whole carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 large onion

500 ml (3/4 bottle) red wine - something good, but not fancy

1 15oz can Beef Broth

1 oz. package dried porcini mushrooms

1 Cup boiling water

bouquet garni of fresh herbs - 3 sprigs parsley, 2 sprigs rosemary, 3 sprigs thyme, tied into a bundle of cheesecloth

Method

In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Open up your meat package, rinse the meat and pat dry with paper towels. Salt and pepper the meat. Sprinkle with the flour. In small batches, fry the beef ribs in the oil making sure to brown on all sides. This takes time, but it's worth doing a good job. As the beef finishes, remove to another dish and set aside.

Chop the onion, garlic, celery and carrot into large dice (3/4" - 1"). Make sure to remove any fibrous outer layers of the garlic heads.

When the beef is all browned, pour out all but 2 Tblsp. of the oil. Add all the diced vegetables and lower the heat to medium. Stir well coating the vegetables with the hot oil. Cook for about 5 minutes while you prepare the bouquet garni and boil water for the mushrooms.

Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl. Add 1 C boiling water. Let sit 10 minutes. Taste the soaking water. If it tastes good, not musty, not dirty, but like mushroom tea, use the water in the dish. If the water tastes terrible, don't use it, just strain the mushrooms, use them and a cup of water instead.

Salt and pepper the vegetables in the pan. Return the beef ribs to the pan. Tuck the bouquet garni into the mix. Pour in the wine and beef broth. Now add the mushroom water. Bring to a boil. Put on a tight fitting lid.

Put in a medium low oven (325F) for about 3 hours until the meat is falling off the bone. Pull out the meat and put on a platter. Using a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables to another bowl. If you'd like, de-fat the juice and return to the pan. Reduce, the juice for a few minutes and taste for seasoning.

Enjoy!