40 cloves and counting

Last Thursday we had an extensive menu in class which included "Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic." I do not remember how it turned out in class Thursday so I thought I would give it a try the next day. I served it with some non-instant couscous flavored with some Meyer lemons and zest. I didn't get the couscous steamed very well so that part of our meal was so so at best. The chicken was just OK (my food critic described the taste as "a little dark") - I might try this again when the weather is a little more conducive for grilling the chicken before it gets braised. Also I think I may have been a little heavy on the amount of oil used to brown the chicken and the garlic cloves. So I see another 40 cloves in my future.

Yes, it was me

Yes that wonderful aroma of steaks on the 'barbie at 7:00 PM was created by me grilling USDA Prime rib eyes on my charcoal-fired Weber last night in the dark. Yes I know that the outside temperature was 20 degrees but the wind was non-existent so it only felt like 20 degrees. Yes I served those steaks with some Bearnaise sauce (the kind of Bearnaise Chef would say is for a "leetle girl") and Chef's creamed spinach. The steaks and spinach were pretty tasty. You know, sometimes in winter you just have to say, "What the heck." One of these days I'm going to make a real Bearnaise . . .

Damn it, Chef

First, it was "illegal" Chef bread. Now, the list has grown to include oatmeal cookies. I'm not much of a fan for cookies, especially any cookie with fruit in it. The recipe was modified to eliminate the raisins and dates - I substituted craisins, toasted pecans and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Damn.

Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde

Our menu today certainly wasn't one of my favorites for the quarter. Yet if I had to "sign up" for more sessions on this menu, I would be first in line. Today's menu is one of the reasons why I'm in school - to expand my culinary horizon beyond the the everyday type of things we tend to cook. Veggie burgers - I don't think so - but Brian's burger was really good and showed how someone with some skills and imagination can take some rather mundane ingredients and make them literally sing.

We had chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes with a side dish of quinoa pilaf for dinner - maybe I'm making some progress - who knows?

Meat, please . . .

Looks like we are having veggie burgers in class on Moday so to prepare myself for meatless Monday I tried a new recipe, Poblano Albondigas with Ancho Chile Soup (poblano meatballs). I though the soup was just OK and the meatballs were a little soft when cooked. I'm not sure how to make them firmer (perhaps more panko to firm them up or maybe cooking the meatballs a bit before putting them in the soup would have helped - the meatballs also had grated zucchini in them).

Score!

Every now and then it's rewarding to try something new and have it turn out well. We just consumed the ribs that I braised yesterday and this is the first time that I have prepared this type of meat where it has not been dry and overcooked. These country style ribs were moist and tender, their flavor reflected the braising liquid flavorings (onion, fennel, apple cider vinegar, apple cider, chicken stock, cinnamon sticks, red pepper flakes) and the sauce from the reduced braising liquid was very nice.

Win some lose some
Well the cake came out of the oven in good order but it didn't come out of the pan in a like manner - maybe next time . . .

The veloute turned out better, as did the mac & cheese. I'm still trying to find the "best" combination of cheeses.

The pork is braising away in the oven, uncovered at 350 degrees. We'll see how this goes.

The Braise

I was planning on using the same braising liquid from the short ribs to cook my country style pork ribs. However, the staining power (on the sink, cutting board, etc.) of the adobo sauce changed my mind. So I headed to the basement archives last night in search of some braising articles and recipes. An old Fine Cooking (March, 2002) had an article on braising in a section called "Cooking Without Recipes" written by Tom Colicchio, the head judge on Bravo's Top Chef (the picture of him is a scream - younger, skinnier and some hair . . .). These articles typically describe the technique and list a variety of ingredients - no real recipes. Looks like I may use onion and fennel for the aromatics; some cinnamon sticks, cider vinegar, garlic and red pepper flakes for flavor; and chicken stock with apple cider for the braising liquids.

No class today so I tried roasting onions at 400 degrees in a dutch oven instead of carmelizing them in a saute pan. This method supposedly is less labor intensive; however, the onions did not seem as sweet as the ones we did in class for French Onion soup. The soup turned out OK but I think next time I'll just carmelize them on the stove.

The recipe called for 1/4 cup of sherry

I have had a gift certificate (from my friend Ed) to the Corkscrew since last August. I've been in the store a number of times but haven't really found any wines that just jumped out at me (other than a label from Roshambo Winery which sold out shortly after I saw it but that is another story and I digress - see the attached photo). Anyway, it finally dawns on me that I should use this gift to add some additional spirits to my collection for cooking purposes. So today I picked up a bottle of ruby port, a dry sherry, some madeira and a bottle of marsala (chef said he thought this stuff would have a lengthy shelf life even when opened). So today was the day to fill this perceived void in my pantry.

Only "The Best" for birthdays

We had three birthdays last week in my Wednesday Protein Fabrication class so I think I will make a cake for our next class. The name of the recipe is "The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake" although I've made it a couple of times and maybe it is and maybe it isn't. The recipe says all that is needed on the cake is a dusting of confectioners' sugar but a nice chocolate ganache is really a tasty addition . . .

Veloute

Tomorrow is also veloute day as our family recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese uses this mother sauce along with mozzarella, white cheddar, Emmenthaler and Parmesan cheeses. I think this is a pretty good recipe.

We just finished off some Bananas Foster as I have vowed that my bottle of Creme de Banana is not going to evaporate faster than the time it takes for me to use it up.

The ribs were tasty and the sauce not too spicy but the arroz verde did not turn out as I would have liked. It had good flavor and I substituted some Hatch green chilies in lieu of some roasted, pureed poblanos. That change resulted in a much lighter color of green for the rice which in turn did not provide the visual contrast I was seeking between the ribs, rice and hominy.

Now I'm off to clean the kitchen - another technique which is being reinforced in spades at culinary school . . . you know one of the reasons I went to college was to avoid washing dishes . . .