Canal House Cooking Volume No. 7: La Dolce Vita

by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton
photos by Christopher Hirsheimer; illustrations by Melissa Hamilton

Facts: Andrews McMeel Publishing LLC,  124 pages, $29.95 (or Amazon at $12.90)
Photos: 55, plus illustrations
Recipes: 66
Give To: Passionate home cooks with a bent toward Italian cooking

At the risk of being accused of having a bias toward Italian cookbooks, I’m going to review two in a row. But, other than the fact that each book has tasty Italian recipes, they couldn’t be more different. And, Canal House Cooking, Volume 7: La Dolce Vita is a gem.

Canal House — which happens to be on a canal — isn’t a restaurant but rather a studio/kitchen/atelier where Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton cook every day. They are proponents of home cooking – even the tagline is “home cooking, by home cooks, for home cooks.”

Oh, and you noticed that this is Volume No. 7? Previous volumes focused on seasonal, holiday, and farmers’ market cooking. Then one afternoon, a lunch of cannelloni inspired them to focus on Italian food, specifically homemade food.

To have true in-depth knowledge of Italian home cooking, they needed to be on Italian soil. A rustic Tuscan farmhouse was their base camp for a month – daily excusions would be their fodder. The first day they noticed that a vegetable farmer was within walking distance and hiking a bit further they “passed a garage with the door rolled up and noticed two aproned women… chatting away as they plucked a pile of chickens.” Back at the farmhouse that evening, they dined on roasted capon with chestnut stuffing. Each day was an adventure that ended in the kitchen developing recipes and recreating flavors.

The experience yielded toothsome recipes like Speck, Fontina & Lemon Panino, Salt Cod with Tomatoes and Green Olives, Braised Lamb & Green Beans and Vin Santo-Poached Pears with Gorgonzola Dolce. All courses are represented in clear and well written recipes, i.e., a few cocktail recipes followed by antipasti, soups, pasta and rice, fish, meats and desserts. Salute Melissa and Christopher!

To see Canal House and hear the authors talk about Italianate cooking watch this video.

Gelato di Gianduia

Makes about 1 quart

photo © by Christopher Hirsheimer

In any form, the classic Piemontese combination of toasted hazelnuts and chocolate is one of our favorite flavors. You’ll see why, when you taste this luxurious gelato.

Ingredients
3 cups skinned hazelnuts
2 1/4 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon Frangelico or other hazelnut liqueur
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. When cool, finely grind 2 cups of the nuts in a food processor. Chop the remaining cup of nuts and set them aside.

2. Put the milk and cream into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in finely ground nuts, and steep for one hour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another saucepan, pressing on the solids before discarding them. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

3. Put the egg yolks, salt, and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a medium mixing bowl and whisk together until thick and pale yellow. Whisk in the cocoa. Gradually ladle about 1 cup hot milk into the yolks, whisking constantly. Stir the warm yolk mixture into the hot milk in the saucepan. Reduce the heat to low, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and registers between 175°F and 180°F on an instant read thermometer, about 3-5 minutes.

4. Strain the custard into a medium bowl. Add the liqueur and vanilla and stir frequently until cool. Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 4 hours. This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

5. Churn the custard in an ice-cream maker following the manufacturer’s directions. Just before the gelato has finished churning, add the reserved chopped nuts, letting the paddle stir them in. Transfer the gelato to a quart container with a lid. Cover and freeze for a couple of hours or until it is just firm.

Tags: Canal House Cooking Volume 7 La Dolce Vita, chocolate hazelnut gelato, Christopher Hirsheimer, cookbook review, Linda Avery, Melissa Hamilton, recipe
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Jaclyn Douma did something lots of people dream of doing but never do: she published a cookbook.

It isn’t fancy or filled with page-after-page of glorious food close-ups (although there is a small section at the beginning with 28 professional photos of some of the dishes).

Instead, the book is filled with simple, easy to read and understand recipes. These aren’t the kind of dishes I would cook, but darn if I’m not smitten with this book and the way Douma put it together.

Our First Year is a compilation of recipes (84 in all) Douma developed during her first year of marriage. She figured there were other newlyweds who didn’t know where to begin in the kitchen, so she drew them a map from here to there, beginning with a pantry list and section called “Bits of Advice.”

She put together 13 party ideas and gives tips on how to execute them. There’s a section on menus, too, so the new bride knows how to put a meal together, and just in case there’s a question about an ingredient or cooking technique, she penned a basic glossary.

Snuggle Pigs

Makes 40 wieners

Ingredients:
1 (14-oz.) package cocktail wieners/little sausage smokies
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (loosely packed)
10 strips of bacon
Toothpicks

Method:
Preheat oven: 400° F. Place sausages in a bowl so they are easier to handle. Cut uncooked bacon into 4 sections and wrap each wiener with bacon, securing with a toothpick. Place wrapped wieners in a 9″ X 9″ casserole dish and cover with brown sugar. Make sure you cannot see any wieners. Then cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 ºF for 18 to 20 minutes covered and an additional 15 minutes uncovered or until brown sugar has turned into a liquid.

Just a little Secret

No need to keep these babies warm. Snuggle Pigs are great at room temperature as well.

Jaclyn Douma’s website: a-sugarnspice-life.com and blog: passion2crave.blogspot.com 

Tags: appetizer, cocktail wieners, cookbook, Jaclyn Douma, Our First Year cookbook, recipe
Posted in Appetizers, Book & Product Reviews | 4 Comments »

Editor’s note: Linda Avery returns with a look at Colman Andrews’ new cookbook, The Country Cooking of Italy and an easy recipe for frico (cheese crisps). Interestingly, Gabrielle Hamilton, author of Blood, Bones & Butter, was in Phoenix recently for a book signing  and said “ if we think we have enough Italian cookbooks, we don’t and — and we need his The Country Cooking of Italy.”

The Country Cooking of Italy

by Colman Andrews
photos by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

Facts: Chronicle Books, 392 pages, $50.00 (or Amazon at $29.56)
Photos: I counted 60 in the first 150 pages – let’s consider that representative
Recipes: Hundreds – literally
Give To: passionate home cooks, Italian food lovers

When I reviewed Colman Andrews’ The Country Cooking of Ireland in 2009, I wondered how long it him took to put together such a collection. Apparently the answer is about two years. This is a man who grabs the bull by the horns; a man who doesn’t do anything slipshod.

After the success and awards garnered by “Ireland” (his sixth James Beard and the Julia Child/IACP award), he kicked it into high gear and two years later, another voluminous cookbook is introduced: The Country Cooking of Italy. He again partnered with noted photographer Christopher Hirsheimer. (By the way, Andrews and Hirsheimer were two of the co-founders of Saveur Magazine in 1994.)

The book is formatted like the Ireland book. Beautifully photographed recipes are peppered with page-long stories, some historical, some educational, some anecdotal from Andrews’ travels. Although images of recipe dishes abound, lifestyle photos deepen the interest and are testimony to Hirsheimer’s talent.

These aren’t the recipes of fine restaurants but of the casalinga (housewife) or what one would be served at an agriturismo (an Italian farm property offering accommodations and meals).

Most pan-Italy cookbooks forget about the little known regions so I was gratified to see numerous mentions of Le Marche, birthplace of my grandparents and Olive all’Ascolana, the deep-fried olives stuffed with meat particularly famous in Le Marche and served in local bars from Venice to Tuscany.

Go to Amazon and use their “Search Inside This Book” feature to see the index of recipes. Remarkable. In no time you’ll be humming “That’s Amore!”

Frico  (Friulano Cheese Crisps)

© photo by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

Makes about 20 fritters; serves 6 to 8

These easy-to-make cheese crisps or fritters are a specialty of Friuli, and are best made with Montasio, a firm cow’s milk cheese from that corner of Italy. there is also a cheese from Valcellina in Friuli’s Pordenone Province, rarely seen today, called frico Balacia, specifically meant to be fried. Some purists insist that the cheese must be fried in lard. (A source for Montasio is Corti Brothers).

Ingredients
1 pound/500 grams Montasio or Asiago, grated
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Method
1. Combine the cheese and flour in a large bowl, and mix together well but gently with your hands.

2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium-low heat, and add 2 tablespoons of oil.

3. When the oil-butter mixture is hot, working in batches, use a spoon to form fritters 2 to 3 inches/5 to 7.5 centimeters in diameter, using about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture for each fritter and gently tamping down each fritter with a spatula. Make sure the edges of the fritters don’t touch.

4. Cook the fritters, without moving them, until their edges turn golden brown, about 3 minutes.

5. Then, using the spatula, carefully turn them and cook until golden, about 2 minutes longer. As the fritters are ready, drain them on paper towels.

6. Serve the fritters at room temperature.

Tags: cheese crisps, Colman Andrews, cookbook review, frico, Linda Avery, recipe, The Country Cooking of Italy
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Funny thing, I was hunting for truffle oil, not pepper sauces.

But four pepper sauces were tucked in my box of truffle oil. They were a gift from the small business that makes both truffle oil (from Oregon white truffles) and now pepper sauces.

I contacted the company  – Oregon Truffle Oil, Inc. — and explained that I don’t ask for or generally accept free product. (In the interest of full disclosure, most, but not all, of the cookbooks Linda Avery reviews for Pen & Fork are sent to her from publishers.) I asked the company for a bill for the sauces I didn’t order. They countered with, how about we send you an invoice for the extra shipping? Fine.

So, these sauces were free (save the extra $5 shipping plus the original $51 order I placed for their truffle oils — more on those another time).

All four sauces ($8 each, or $25 for all four) are wheat free and contain no preservatives. The first ingredient is Pinot Noir wine, hence the name Pinot & ____. It makes sense. The company is based in Willamette Valley, Oregon, arguably home of the best American Pinot Noirs.

In fact, all four have a winey nose when you take a sniff. The wine taste, however, is lost in a myriad of other flavors, but it seems to be a good base for a sauce, just as tomato concentrate is.

All four sauces contain gluten-free soy sauce, and cornstarch as a thickener. From there, it’s lemon juice and/or distilled vinegar for tartness, some brown sugar to cut the acid, and salt and spices.

Sodium content ranges from 170 mg (7%) to 370 mg (15%) per tablespoon, which seems low to normal for sauces, but all taste salty straight from the bottle. Could be because soy sauce is the second ingredient and table salt is also listed in the ingredient list. For comparison, my beloved A-1 sauce has 280 mg (12%) of sodium per tablespoon. Once I cooked with the Pinot sauces, however, the saltiness mellowed, although it did impact how much additional salt I used.

The most intriguing of the bunch is the Pinot Szechuan. It has Chinese 5-Spice notes and a hefty heat kick. According to the ingredient list, it gets its kick from habanero chile, not Sichuan peppercorns (perhaps Sichuan peppercorns are included in the generic “spices” ingredient). No matter, it’s still an intriguing sauce.

The chipotle flavored sauce is appropriately smoky, and the habanero is appropriately fruity hot — make that HOT, but in a pleasant lip-numbing way – (it has a touch of orange peel, and even chipotle to add some smokiness). In fact, the habanero might be my favorite, and I’ll try it out in creamy coleslaw and even on a baked potato. (Why not? I have been known to load up a baked potato with A-1 sauce instead of butter. Try it.)

I used the Pinot & Pepper Sauce to make the Bloody Jack, a recipe included with the sauces. It wasn’t the best bloody Mary I’ve ever tasted (that would be this one) but then again, I never claimed to be a cocktail maven (smoothie savant, yes, cocktail savant, no).

Still, it was a fine bloody Mary (I garnished it with feta stuffed olives from Queen Creek Olive Mill) and it made reading the local newspaper all the more fun.

CZAR’S Bloody Jack

(adapted from CZAR’s Fine Foods)

Makes 1 small cocktail

Ingredients:

3 ounces tomato juice (I used low-sodium V-8)
1-1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Pinot-Pepper Sauce
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 ounce lemon juice (about 1/4 of a medium lemon)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker (without ice). Shake and strain mixture over a small cocktail glass filled with ice. Garnish with celery stick, cucumber spear or olives.

Tags: bloody Mary, CZAR'S pepper sauces, Oregon Truffle Oil, Queen Creek olives, recipe
Posted in Beverages, Book & Product Reviews, Recipes | 2 Comments »

UPDATE: Who says 13 isn’t a lucky number? The random number generator spit out 13 and the 13th commenter was Krissy, who says “pulled pork is the BEST!” Congrats, Krissy, the signed copy of Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue is on its way to you!
Last month we gave you a sneak peek into Chef Bryan Dooley’s brand new cookbook featuring stories and recipes from his award-winning BBQ joint, Bryan’s Black Mountain Barbecue in Cave Creek, AZ.

We think you’d really like to have this book, so we bought you one. We’re thoughtful that way. And, we also had the chef sign it!

(Fess-up time — actually, we only bought one of you a copy (we’re thoughtful but we’re not rich).  However, YOU might win the book. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what your favorite BBQ dish is.)

Maybe you like ribs. Bryan’s BBQ ribs were featured in Grub Street’s Big-City Barbecue: 101 Places to Satisfy Your Urban ‘Cue Craving.

Or maybe you love brisket or pulled pork or who knows what you like? Tell us and we’ll put your name in the drawing for the signed copy of the book. If you entry is the random number winner, we’ll mail you a copy of Bryan’s book. It’ that simple.

Fine print: Only one entry per person. Deadline to enter is Friday, January 20th, 2012, at midnight (EST). Winner will be notified via email on Saturday, January 21, 2012. USA addresses only for shipping.

Tags: BBQ beans, BBQ recipes, Bryan Dooley, Bryan's BBQ, Bryan's Black Mountain Barbecue, cookbook giveaway, recipe
Posted in Book & Product Reviews, Recipes, Side Dishes | 25 Comments »

Editor’s note: We promised another cookbook review from Linda Avery to inspire your New Year cooking and here it is: Melissa Clark’s Cook This Now, along with a recipe for grilled lamb sausages paired with an arugula and celery root salad. 

Cook This Now

by Melissa Clark
photos by Andrew Scrivani

Facts: Hyperion, 416 pages, $29.99 (or Amazon at $19.79)
Photos: 21
Recipes: 137 (see Note)
Give To: cooks looking for seasonal inspiration

Cook This Now by Melissa Clark topped Epicurious’ Best Books of 2011 and Clark is all about seasonal cooking.

She sets the stage from the start with content pages listing recipes by month, when their main ingredients can be optimally obtained. Of course, there are plenty of crossovers and nothing will stop you from having November’s Carroty Mac and Cheese if you have a hankering in March.

Each recipe has an addendum, which I really like, dubbed “What Else?” This is where she notes suggestions for substitutions and other information such as buying Atlantic or Spanish mackerel rather than the larger king mackerel with a higher mercury content, or substituting a combination of a lemon and a tangerine for a similar flavor if you don’t happen to have Meyer lemons on hand.

Note: The dustcover of this book announces 120 recipes but that doesn’t include the 17 bonus recipes from Melissa Clark’s cookbook In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite

Also, for space considerations, we cut Ms. Clark’s engaging headnote down a bit. (Sorry, you’ll just have to buy the book to read every delicious word.)

Grilled Sausages with Celery Root Salad with Hazelnuts and Arugula

photo © by Andrew Scrivani

During my junior year abroad in Paris, in between gobbling warm croissants, raw milk cheeses, and countless macaroons, I ate an awful lot of celery root rémoulade.

I never bothered making celery root rémoulade when I was in Paris because it was ubiquitous and cheap. But once I got back to New York, if I wanted any more of the silky, savory salad, I’d have to tackle the homely root and whip some up myself.

And that’s the thing about celery root rémoulade. It starts with celery roots, which, with their hairy skins and muddy crevices, are never going to be the most inviting vegetable in the bin. But once those roots are peeled and grated, a quick toss with lemony, mustard-imbued mayonnaise will make the most of their inner beauty.

These days, my celery root salad of choice is a lighter take on a rémoulade. Instead a mayonnaise, I use a zippy mustard vinaigrette, and serve the salad on a bed of tangy arugula topped with hazelnuts for crunch. It’s marvelous as a first course on its own. Or to make it mealworthy, grill up your favorite sausages-lamb sausages are particularly good-and serve them alongside the salad, letting the mustard from the vinaigrette sauce the sausages and the sausage grease flavor the salad.

Serves 4

Ingredients
For the mustard vinaigrette
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus 1 small pinch
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/4 pounds sausages, whatever kind you like

For the salad
1 medium celery root, trimmed and peeled (see What Else? below)
5 cups arugula or other salad green, torn into bite-size pieces
1/4 cups finely chopped toasted hazelnuts

Method
Make the mustard vinaigrette
1. With a mortar and pestle or using the flat side of a knife, smash the garlic and tiny pinch of salt to make a paste. Whisk it in a small bowl with the mustard, vinegar, and remaining salt. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Season with pepper.

2. Preheat the broiler. Prick the sausages all over with a fork, then lay them on a baking sheet. Broil them about 3 inches from the heat until browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side (exactly how long will depend on your oven and the thickness of your sausage).

Make the salad
1. Fit a food processor with a large grating blade; grate the celery root. You can also use a box grater, though beware your knuckles. Transfer to a large bowl and add the salad greens and hazelnuts. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well. season with more salt, lemon juice, and/or olive oil if needed before serving.

What Else?

• This recipe calls for a medium celery root, which is about the same size as a large navel orange (4 or 5 inches in diameter). If you can only get one of the giant, grapefruit-size roots, use about three-quarters of it. Or use it all; just make a little extra vinaigrette to make sure it’s well seasoned.
• Trimming the celery root is probably the hardest and most annoying thing about this recipe. You can use a sharp vegetable peeler, but a sharp paring knife is more efficient.  Either way, be prepared to go deep. You will likely need to hack off about a quarter inch of the surface to get past the divots of dirt.
• This goes really well with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. To make them, try this: boil the potatoes (unpeeled) in plenty of water until very soft. Drain, let cool, then slip them off the skins. In the same pot you used to boil the potatoes, heat some milk or chicken stock seasoned with salt until simmering. Add the potatoes and a lump of butter (use as much as you can bear; my tolerance is high), and mash with a potato masher or fork over very low heat until as smooth as you like it. We like lumps. Sometimes I leave the skin on the potatoes. Serve all at once.

Tags: Cook This Now, cookbook review, grilled lamb sausage, lamb, Linda Avery, Melissa Clark, recipe, salad
Posted in Book & Product Reviews, Lamb, Recipes, Salads | No Comments »

Editor’s Note: Linda Avery returns with two reviews to kickstart the new year. First up is Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck. Later this week, she’ll return with a look at Melissa Clark’s Cook This Now. Here’s to starting the year off with healthful — or at least mindful — inspiration.

Tis the season for resolutions, to-do lists, and various other self-rebooting nudges. For those who include “lose weight”, I suggest start by trying to eat healthier and, perhaps more importantly, everything in moderation.

To this end, I have two cookbooks worth consideration: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals and Cook This Now.

Here is the first. I’ll be back later this week with a look at the second.

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

by Maria Speck
photos by Sara Remington

Facts: Ten Speed Press, 240 pages, $29.99 (or Amazon at $19.70)
Photos: 44
Recipes: 96
Give To: curious cooks who want to explore whole grain cooking

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck was named in The Washington Post’s 2011 top ten list of cookbooks and on the New York Times 2011 notable cook books for holiday giving.

The first words of Speck’s introduction are “Whole grains have cast a spell on me…” and if she can’t cast the same spell on you, then she’ll sell the benefits and lure you with old world recipes she drew from her Greek and German heritage.

She defines each grain from barley, buckwheat and kamut to quinoa, millet and everything in between. The recipes are enticing: Barley Salad with Figs and Tarragon-Lemon Dressing, Mediterranean Mussels with Farro and White Wine, Lamb Stew with Wheat Berries in Red Wine Sauce and Wheat Berry Fools with Grand Marnier Figs!

With everyone from Mayo Clinic to the Harvard School of Public Health touting the benefits of whole grains, let’s jump on the good carbs bus. Speck makes it easy with recipes that focus first on taste, grain-goodness second.

Saffron Waffles with Orange Cream

Becoming a reasonably mature adult has not diminished the intense pleasure I get from making crisp waffles on a lazy morning. After my Iranian friend Golnaz brought me what I soon declared to be the best saffron ever, I started adding a pinch of the strands to everything, including this waffle batter. Don’t pass up the scrumptious cream topping which will kiss awake any prince out of The Thousand and One Nights. Still, it is barely sweet—so everyone can add a drizzle of maple syrup. Double the amount of topping if  you have very hungry royalty descending upon you.

These waffles have a gentle toothiness, which you can lighten if you like; for a smoother texture, use 1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) white whole wheat and 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour. You will need to adjust the preheating and cooking times as well as the amount of batter needed according to manufacturer’s instructions for your waffle iron.

Makes about 4 (7-inch) Belgian-style waffles,  to serve 6

Ingredients
For the orange cream topping
1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
1 large orange
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
1 to 2 tablespoons honey

For the waffles
2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
2 cups white whole wheat flour (8 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Maple syrup, for drizzling

Method
Make the orange cream topping
1. Beat the yogurt in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth. Finely grate the orange until you have 1 tablespoon zest. Set the zest aside.

2. Peel the fruit, cut the segments into 1/2-inch pieces, removing as much of the pith as you like, and gently stir into the yogurt. In a second medium bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the cream, honey, and zest until firm peaks form. Using a spatula, scrape the cream into the bowl with the yogurt-orange mixture, and fold until just combined. Chill, covered, until ready to use.

Make the waffles
1. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet and transfer the sheet to the center shelf of the oven. The wire rack will keep the waffles from getting soggy. Preheat the oven to 200°F.

2. Place 1/4 cup of the milk and the saffron in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until steaming. (Or combine the milk and saffron in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high until steaming, 15 to 20 seconds). Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining 1 1/4 cups milk, saffron milk, and oil until blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and whisk together with a few swift strokes. Do not overmix; the batter should have a pebbled look, with many lumps. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes while preheating the waffle iron (or chill the batter for up to 1 hour).

4. Lightly grease the waffle iron with oil or coat it with cooking spray. When a drop of water sizzles and briskly evaporates on the surface, add 1 scant cup batter to the center and level with a spatula to distribute (or as specified in the manufacturer’s instructions). Close the lid and cook until the waffles are golden and can be removed easily using tongs, 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the waffles to the baking sheet until ready to serve. Do not stack them, as the waffles will become soggy. Continue until all the batter is used, lightly greasing the waffle iron in between as necessary.

To get a head start: The orange cream topping can be prepared 1 day ahead. Chill, covered.

To light it up: You can use lowfat or nonfat Greek yogurt in the topping. Or omit the heavy cream, double the amount of yogurt, and add a bit more honey to taste. In the batter, 1 percent or 2 percent milk will work fine.

Tags: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, cookbook review, Linda Avery, Maria Speck, waffles
Posted in Book & Product Reviews, Breakfast, Breads & Muffins, Recipes | 3 Comments »

Editor’s note: It’s no secret Pen & Fork’s book reviewer Linda Avery loves Moroccan food, so she was thrilled to get her hands on Paula Wolfert’s new 528 page cookbook, The Food of Morocco. Take a look and see what she thought, then try the delicious chicken dish with fragrant spices and tomato “magic.”

The Food of Morocco

by Paula Wolfert
photos by Quentin Bacon
drawings by Mark Marthaler

Facts: Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins, 528 pages, $45.00 (or Amazon at $22.50)
Photos: More than the number of recipes (and that’s saying a lot!)
Recipes: 192
Give To: friends who belong to a cookbook club, anyone wanting to explore Moroccan cuisine

Decades ago I did a brief touch-and-go in Tangier. I’ve wanted to return to Morocco but never so much as now, after reading The Food of Morocco. Although a few have complained that this book has many recipes found in Paula Wolfert’s Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco (originally published in 1973 and inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2008), I find this is yet another cookbook with a travelogue dimension.

Within the book’s introduction lies a fascinating map of Morocco listing notable dishes and ingredients indigenous to various areas e.g. Marrakech: rabbit tagine; Casablanca: camel meat; Tangier: Kalinté, a chickpea flan; Fes: the famous preserved lemons, etc.  Paula Wolfert has no doubt personally experienced each and every dish noted.

Wolfert then lays a foundation for the recipes by explaining the curious eathenware tagine, the Moroccan larder, the most used spices and secondary spices, and how to make basics like preserved lemons. The recipes in the ten following chapters would paint bright mental images even if there weren’t fabulous photos. Colorful salads with oranges, dates and raisins; green and red peppers complement fish, poultry, meats and vegetables. Fruits are plentiful in this diet, including dessert couscous with pomegranates and poached pears with prunes.

There is no doubt that in addition to a love of complex and unique flavors, Moroccan people don’t mind spending time achieving those results. The recipes in this book require a commitment whether in terms of time, learning or both. This is particularly true if you decide to tackle bastila (AKA pastila, bisteeya, or bestela) making your own warqa, their pastry akin to phyllo dough. It would take me most of the day and I’d only have a first course completed!

This would be a fun book for a supper club whether the club cooks all dishes together or divvies up recipes among your membership and comes together for the dinner. BTW, if you have a recipe calling for a tagine and are without one, Wolfert says a deep straight-sided large skillet with a tight fitting cover and a sheet of parchment paper placed directly on the food will give you good results. And SHE is indisputably the queen of Mediterranean food.

Chicken Smothered with Tomato Jam

photo © by Quentin Bacon

Recently I asked my daughter, Leila, to test this recipe, since she remembered it from her girlhood in Tangier. She was thrilled with the results, telling me that two of her friends liked it so much “they actually licked the bottom of the tagine pot.”

Please remember to transfer a hot tagine to a wooden surface or a folded kitchen towel on a serving tray to prevent cracking.

Serves 6

Ingredients
For the Tomato Magic
(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)
One 6- to 8-ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
One 28-ounce can organic tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen fire-toasted tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken
6 large fat chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), preferably organic and air-chilled
2 large garlic cloves
Coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons saffron water (see note)
1/3 cup grated red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
2 1/2 pounds red-ripe tomatoes, peeled, halved, seeded, and chopped
1 tablespoon Tomato Magic or tomato paste
2 tablespoons thyme or floral honey
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Method
Make the tomato jam
1. Combine the sun-dried tomatoes, with their packing oil from the jar; the canned tomatoes, with their juices: the salt; and 2 tablespoons water in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

2. Scrape the puree into a wide heavy-bottomed saucepan, set over medium-low heat, and cook, stirring often, until reduced to a thick jam, about 30 minutes.

3. Scrape some of the tomato paste into a clean, dry jar for more immediate use. Cover with 1/4 inch of olive oil, close the jar, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. For longer storage time, divide the remaining paste into 1- or 2-tablespoon balls and place them side by side on a flat tray. Set in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm, then place in a freezer bag and store in the freezer.

Make the chicken
1. The day before: Rinse the chicken thighs and pat dry; trim away excess fat. Slide your fingers under the skin to loosen it from the flesh. Crush the garlic and 2 teaspoons salt to a paste in a mortar. Mix with the pepper, ginger, olive oil, and saffron water, and rub under and over the skin of the chicken. Let stand, covered, in the refrigerator overnight.

2. The next day: Place the chicken with its marinade, in an 11- to 12-inch tagine set on a heat diffuser. Add the grated onion, cilantro, 3/4 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon, and 1/2 cup water and mix thoroughly with the chicken pieces. Cook, covered, over low heat, stirring once, for 20 minutes. Then begin to slowly raise the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and the Tomato Magic or tomato paste to the tagine and continue to cook over medium heat, uncovered, turning the chicken pieces often in the sauce, until very tender, about 20 more minutes. Take the chicken out and wrap in foil to keep warm and moist. Allow the tomatoes to cook down until all the moisture evaporates, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching, about 1 hour. The tomatoes will begin to fry and the sauce will thicken considerably.

4. Add the honey and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the tomatoes and cook for several minutes to bring out their flavors. Reheat the chicken parts in the sauce, rolling them around to coat evenly.

5. Remove the cover, scatter the sesame seeds on top, and serve hot or warm.

Note: To prepare a small jar of saffron water, dry 1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron strands in a warm (not hot) skillet. Crush again, then soak in 1 cup hot water and store in a small jar in the refrigerator. This will keep for up to a week.

Tags: chicken, cookbook review, Linda Avery, Paula Wolfert, The Food of Morroco, tomato jam
Posted in Book & Product Reviews, Chicken & Turkey, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Editor’s note: Linda Avery takes a look at Molly Stevens’ new roasting tome and tests a recipe for rack of lamb with a spiced honey glaze. Read on to see what she thought.

All about Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art

by Molly Stevens
photos by Quentin Bacon
wine pairings by Tim Gaiser

Facts: W.W. Norton, 573 pages, $35.00 (or Amazon at $22.63)
Photos: Over 100
Recipes: Over 150
Give to: Carnivores and cooks who want to know the “why”

Roasting is to winter what grilling is to summer.

Most cooks think roasting is the easiest of cooking methods, and sometimes they are right. Who hasn’t slathered olive oil on veggies, tossed with salt and pepper and popped them into a 400-something oven? Easy-peasy and delicious, right?

But Molly Stevens explains, explores and educates us about this technique just as she did about braising in her 2004 IACP and James Beard award winning book All About Braising.  Her newest tome, All About Roasting, is an another amazing book.

It opens with a primer on the role of fat, the effects of basting, when to use a roasting rack and which type to choose, plus various roasting methods i.e., grill or spit. She discusses wet roasting, pan roasting, and the wonder of pre-salting (a la Judy Rodgers’ Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken, where Rodgers suggests seasoning the chicken 1 to 3 days ahead).

Beyond that, the book is organized by category from beef and lamb (which, by the way, includes a nod to goat), to vegetables and fruits. Each chapter begins with a time-saving summary of the recipes in that chapter followed by informational pages on “how to buy” and “how to carve” as well as thoughts on grass-fed and dry-aged meats.

The following recipe is representative of how the educator Molly presents her material. She anticipates your questions and delivers on every count.

This dish would be a stunning centerpiece for a holiday get-together. Complete the total roast meal with a salad of roasted red and golden beets, asparagus bundled in bacon, and roasted pears or apples over ice cream for dessert.

Did I say this book is amazing? Put it on your wish list and be certain you have a sturdy holiday stocking – the book weighs 4.1 pounds.

And if you have an extra minute or two, perhaps while the lamb is roasting, check out Photographer Quentin Bacon’s website for stunning photographs and Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser’s website for more wine pairing information.

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Spiced Honey Glaze

photo © by Quentin Bacon

Serves: 4 to 6
Method: High heat
Time: 25 to 30 minutes
Wine: Concentrated red with dried fruit character, such as an Amarone.

This recipe takes a cue from the Moroccan kitchen and combines honey with a mix of warming spices balanced with fresh mint and a jolt of lemon juice. The resulting glaze provides a beguiling, mildly sweet, somewhat floral background for the rich meat. Also, the glaze caramelizes quickly in the hot oven, creating a beautiful brick-red finish.

This glaze works best with a mild floral honey, such as orange blossom, acacia, or fire-weed. I like to serve the lamb with herb-flecked couscous (mint and parsley are especially good) or rice pilaf.

Ingredients
2 racks of lamb (1 to 1-1/2 pounds and 8 ribs each), trimmed
1/4 cup honey, preferably a mild-tasting variety such as orange blossom, acacia, or fireweed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon paprika, preferably sweet
1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted in a dry skillet and finely ground
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of cayenne
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Method
1. Heat the oven. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 425˚F (400˚F convection). Line a small, low-sided roasting pan or heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty foil (this makes it easier to clean the glaze from the pan).

2. Trim the lamb. If necessary, trim the lamb so that only a thin layer of fat remains. Arrange the racks meat side up on the foil-lined pan. (You can cover the rib ends with a strip of aluminum foil to protect them from charring if you like; I rarely bother.)

3. Make the glaze. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine the honey, butter, paprika, cumin, ginger, and cayenne. Generously season the rack all over with salt and pepper. Brush the surface with about half the glaze. (A heatproof silicone pastry brush works best here, but any pastry brush will do.) Transfer the remaining glaze to a very small saucepan and set aside.

4. Roast and baste. Roast, brushing the lamb after 10 minutes and then again every 5 minutes with the glaze that has dripped onto the roasting pan, until an instant-read thermometer inserted close to but not touching the bone reads 125 to 130˚F for rare to medium-rare or 135 to 140˚F for medium-rare to medium, 25 to 30 minutes.

5. Simmer the glaze. Meanwhile, add the lemon juice and garlic to the reserved glaze in the small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and simmer gently until fragrant and slightly syrupy, 2 to 4 minutes. Keep a close eye on the glaze, as it can thicken and scorch very quickly; if it becomes gummy, add a teaspoon of water. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm over very low heat.

6. Rest, carve, and serve. Let the lamb rest for 5 to 10 minutes on a cutting board (preferably with a trough). Carve the rack into single or double chops, cutting down between the bones. Add any juices from the carving board to the glaze, along with the fresh mint. Serve the chops with a little glaze drizzled over them.

Posted in Book & Product Reviews, Lamb, Recipes | No Comments »

Editor’s note: Linda Avery reviews the recently released cookbook by super chef Ferran Adrià, a collection of “family meals” prepared for his staff at the now closed El Bulli restaurant in Spain.

The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià
by Ferran Adrià
photos by Francese Guillamet

Facts: Phaidon Press Inc. 384 pages, $29.95 (or Amazon at $17.15)
Photos: Grab a calculator and do the math (see 4th paragraph below: Open the Book)
Recipes: 93 plus basic recipes
Give to: Gourmet home cooks, professional chefs, cookbook collectors

The name Ferran Adrià immediately summons thoughts of molecular gastronomy: his famous spherical olives which appear as jellied green blobs jiggling on a spoon but burst to fill the mouth with the flavor of intense olive juice. Or the frozen Gorgonzola balloon, a hollow white sphere, about eight inches across and the color of fresh ricotta, topped with a grate of nutmeg meant to be broken (with your fist?) and eaten in shards.

photo © by Francese Guillamet

Ferran Adrià is the father and inspiration of a creative culinary era of deconstructing the dish and reassembling in a way you’ve never seen. His three Michelin star restaurant El Bulli closed last July after 24 years. He will reopen as the El Bulli Foundation in two years, most likely transforming the space as he transforms food.

When I first saw The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià, I wondered if I need buy a chemistry set or cylinder of liquid nitrogen.

No, this truly is home cooking, the maestro demonstrating in detail how a dish should be done. You see, “family meals” are the repasts of his restaurant family; the menus of dinners prepared and eaten daily by his staff of 75.

He insisted on good food, easy-to-find ingredients that are mostly fresh and the aggregate couldn’t be expensive. (I think I read that the cost could not exceed €6/person but I can’t confirm).

Open the Book. There are 31 meals within. Each meal has a starter, a main, and a dessert. Recipe ingredients are listed for 2, 6, 20 or 75 and carefully calculated (not mathematically but via testing at each level) for each group. So using a bit of math, we know that 31 meals x 3 recipes equals 93 recipes.

photo © by Francese Guillamet

Each recipe has photos showing every step — about 15 photos per recipe. That’s almost 1,400 photos not counting the photo stack of appetizer, main and dessert preceding the meal, photos of utensils, types of fish and more.

It’s a blog but on paper: each step of every recipe is a photo with instructions superimposed. One almost doesn’t need to read English.

Aside: is this some sort of Bizarro world? Maybe the first caveman recipes were chiseled into a rock wall. Then the Egyptians invented paper and recipes were portable and accompanied by illustrations and later photos. Fast-forward to the internet: food blogs have photos of every step of the recipe. Is this where the world turns around? Now photos of every step put back on paper? Should we be sharpening our chisels?

Here is the entrée from Meal 24 which consists of Garbanzo Beans with Spinach & Egg, Glazed Teriyaki Pork Belly, and Sweet Potato with Honey & Cream.

Glazed Teriyaki Pork Belly

Teriyaki is a sweet Japanese sauce used for marinating before roasting or broiling. You can make the teriyaki sauce yourself or use a good-quality, store-bought sauce.

photo © by Francese Guillamet

Serves 6
Ingredients
For the teriyaki sauce
(Makes 4 1/3 cups)
1/3 cup lemongrass, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
3 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups soy sauce
1 3/4 honey

For the pork belly
2 1/2 pounds pork belly
10 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
12 black peppercorns
3 garlic cloves
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 1/2 cups teriyaki sauce

Method
For the teriyaki sauce
1. Using a rolling pin or other heavy utensil, crush the lemongrass and ginger.

2. Put the chicken stock, sugar, and soy sauce into a large saucepan.

3. Add the honey.

4. Add the crushed lemongrass and ginger. Put the pan over medium heat, bring to a boil, then boil for 15 minutes.

5. Strain and reserve.

Make the pork belly
1. Put the pork into a large pan with the water. The pork should be well covered, so add more (water) if necessary. Add the salt and peppercorns.

2. Coarsely chop the onions and add to the pan with the garlic.

3. Bring the water to a simmer.

4. Cook the pork covered, for 1 1/2 hours, until cooked through, adding more water if necessary to cover. Remove and place on a cutting board.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

6. Cut the pork into strips about 3/4 inch thick.

7. Place the pork in a roasting pan in a single layer, then cover with the teriyaki sauce.

8. Roast the pork for 30 minutes, regularly basting with teriyaki sauce to glaze.

9. Serve the pork with spoonfuls of the teriyaki sauce.

Tags: cookbook review, El Bulli, Glazed Teriyaki Pork Belly, Linda Avery, pork, recipe, The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria
Posted in Book & Product Reviews, Pork, Recipes | 5 Comments »

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