Oui, Chef: Creamed Kale

Sometimes you need to eat healthy.  Lots of fruit and vegetables and green tea and organic free-range eggs and the like.  And sometimes you need a big bowl of something horribly bad for you, preferably including cream and butter.  And sometimes you luck out and get both in the same bowl.

I'm a big fan of creamed spinach, but I wasn't so sure about using kale instead.  I mean, it's nothing against kale.  I pretty much haven't met a vegetable I didn't like.  Except lima beans.  But I digress.  I love all vegetables, so I would totally eat a bowl of kale.  But it just didn't sound right upstaging spinach.  Except it WAS right.  Kale makes a fabulous bowl of creaminess, especially since it keeps a little bit of its crunch.  So it's not all goo.  You can actually identify that you are eating a vegetable.  And that definitely relieves the conscience.  At least slightly.

Creamed Kale
From Oui, Chef blog

2 bunches Lacinato kale, washed, dried, stemmed, and cut into ribbons
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fill a large bowl with ice water (an ice bath) and set it aside.

Set a large stock pot full of salted water to boil over high heat.  Add the kale ribbons to the boiling water and blanch until slightly tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Scoop the kale from the water and toss it into the ice bath to stop the cooking and set the color.  Let cool, then drain the kale in a large colander.  Squeeze any excess water out of the kale and set it aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the minced onion.  Cook until translucent, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook another 2 minutes.  Add the kale and the cream and turn the heat to medium-high.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cream thickens to a sauce-like consistency, about 5 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Makes 4 servings

Ready for Dessert: Fresh Ginger Cake

It's already November, and I feel like I'm behind.  I haven't made one single thing with pumpkin yet.  Nothing.  Does that make me a bad seasonal cook?  Probably.  And I like pumpkin, so I'm not sure what my deal is.  So I decided to get with the program and make something seasonal.  And I chose...something that isn't pumpkin.  But hey, it's still spicy and delicious!  Just like pumpkin pie!  Without the pumpkin!

I really enjoy gingerbread, but so often it's bland and rubbery.  And that's just not fun.  So I thought I would give the master of desserts a try, and whip up his famous gingerbread.  Sorry, ginger cake.  The darn thing has a whole piece of ginger in it, so I knew I wasn't going to get some sad little gingerbread reject.  This would be GINGER cake.  And it lived up to every promise, getting better as time went on, like a good wine.  Seriously, just make it.  And don't forget the whipped cream.

Fresh Ginger Cake
From Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

1 (4-ounce) piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup mild-flavored molasses
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup water
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform or round cake pan with 2-inch sides and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade or with a chef's knife, chop the ginger until very fine.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, sugar, and oil.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper.

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, then stir in the baking soda.  Whisk the hot water into the molasses mixture, then add the chopped ginger.

Gradually sift the flour mixture over the molasses mixture, whisking to combine.  Add the eggs and whisk until thoroughly blended.

Scrape the batter into the prepare springform or cake pan and bake until the top of the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  Let cool completely.

Run a knife around the sides of the cake to help loosen it from the pan.  Invert the cake onto a plate, peel off the parchment paper, then reinvert it onto a serving platter.

Serving:  Serve wedges of this cake with whipped cream, a favorite ice cream, or a fruit compote.

Storage:  Because this cake is so moist, it keeps well for up to 5 days at room temperature.  It can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Giada de Laurentiis: Pollo alla Cacciatora (Hunter-Style Chicken)

I've been trying to cook for myself more often, and for some reason I keep ending up with Italian food.  Which is incredibly weird.  Since I hate Italian food.  Okay, maybe hate is a strong word.  I think bad Italian food is about as bad as it gets.  It sits like a doughy brick in your stomach until you wish you could either die or purge yourself of it.  Good Italian food, however, is welcome anytime.  And I've had some good Italian food parading through my kitchen lately.

For some reason I've been obsessing about chicken cacciatore lately.  I remember my mother making a simple version when we were kids, but it's been years and years since I've actually had any.  Not sure where the idea came from.  But who am I to question delicious fate?  I'm one of those who likes her hunter-style dishes to have lots of goodies in them, so I added mushrooms and green peppers to Giada's recipe.  And since I couldn't bring myself to pick every last pathetic leaf off my struggling basil plant, I threw in some dried basil.  Delicious, satisfying, perfect for a cold night.  I'm liking fate.

Pollo alla Cacciatora (Hunter-Style Chicken)
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup all-purpose flour, for dredging

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, sliced into 2-inch long strips

1 large green bell pepper, sliced into 2-inch long strips

1 onion, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced

¾ cup dry white wine

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

¾ cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons capers, drained

1½ teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

Chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of each salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour to coat lightly.

In a large heavy sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high flame.  Add the chicken pieces to the pan and sauté just until brown, about 5 minutes per side.  If all the chicken does not fit in the pan, sauté it in 2 batches.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the bell peppers, onion, garlic, and mushrooms to the same pan and sauté over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes with their juice, broth, capers, oregano, and basil.  Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce.  Bring the sauce to a simmer.  Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes longer.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a platter.  If necessary, boil the sauce until it thickens slightly, about 3 minutes.  Spoon off any excess fat from atop the sauce.  Spoon the sauce over the chicken, then sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Makes 4 servings

Emeril Lagasse: Egg Salad Supreme

I've made egg salad before.  Who hasn't?  But honestly, I've still been looking for the best egg salad.  The one that made me stop looking for egg salad recipes because I had found the magical answer.  Am I the only one who does this?  Probably.

This egg salad is a mish-mash of a recipe from Emeril Lagasse, the insistence of an Aussie on a cooking forum that egg salad HAS to have curry powder, and a bunch of fiddling of my own.  And I think I have found my egg salad nirvana.  I could eat this on a piece of toasted Pepperidge Farm Italian bread for lunch every day.  Well, at least for a week.  And no, Pepperidge Farm isn't paying me to plug their bread.  But they could (hint hint).

Egg Salad Supreme
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

6 large eggs, hard-boiled

½ teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika

½ teaspoon curry powder

½ teaspoon celery salt

¼ cup celery, finely chopped

2 tablespoons capers, drained

2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled

Roughly chop the eggs or mash with a fork and place them in a mixing bowl.  Add the mustard, paprika, curry powder, celery salt, celery, capers, and chives.  Fold in the mayonnaise and bacon pieces.  Stir with a rubber spatula until very well blended.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Silvia Lavecchia: Tiramisu

I think every Italian restaurant in the country has tiramisu on their dessert menus.  And now that I'm starting to see it at Chinese buffets, I think we can just admit that it's part of our dessert lexicon.  It's been done a million times over, but every time I see it offered, even if I KNOW it's going to be bad, I still order it.  When I was younger, I tried to make a version by Giada de Laurentiis at home, but even that didn't come out the way I expected.  A good tiramisu is hard to find.

When I finally decided to try again, I scoured the internet for what would be the most delicious, most authentic tiramisu.  I would overcome any sourcing issues, translate from Italian, whatever it took.  When I landed on one that claimed to be direct from someone's Italian in-laws, I was curious.  When they listed the ingredients like a demand letter, I knew I had found the right recipe.  This tiramisu is transcendent.  It really is amazing.  But I have to add that if you have no immune system, or you're 2 years old, or you're on your death bed, you might not want to risk the tiny chance of getting salmonella from the raw eggs.  Although I think I still would.

Tiramisu
Adapted from Silvia Lavecchia and Michael Janke

16 ounces mascarpone cheese

6 large eggs

2 packages Alessi savoiardi ladyfingers (about 36 cookies)

3 tablespoons sugar

2 ounces Cognac

1 (6.8-ounce) can Illy unsweetened espresso drink

Grated bittersweet chocolate

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Bring all the ingredients to room temperature.  Pour the espresso drink into a shallow flat-bottomed bowl or dish.  Add 1 ounce of water and 1 ounce of Cognac.

Separate the egg yolks and whites.  In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow.  Add the mascarpone cheese and 1 ounce of Cognac and mix until blended.  In a second mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until fluffy.  Fold the beaten egg whites into the mascarpone cheese mixture.  Mix only enough to blend as over-mixing will deflate the egg whites.

Quickly dip a ladyfinger in the espresso bowl.  To get the right amount of espresso on the ladyfinger, lay the ladyfinger flat in the bottom of the bowl, sugared side UP, and immediately pull it out.  Place each ladyfinger flat in the bottom of a 9x13-inch glass dish, sugar side DOWN.  The ladyfinger will quickly absorb the espresso.  Soaking the ladyfingers in the espresso will result in soggy ladyfingers.

Build a layer of dipped ladyfingers across the bottom of the glass dish.  If some of the ladyfingers do not look dark from the espresso, spoon a few more drops of espresso on the ladyfingers.  Any espresso left in the bottom of the dish will be absorbed by the ladyfingers.  Spoon a layer of the mascarpone mixture across the layer of ladyfingers, using half of the mixture.  Grate bittersweet chocolate over the mascarpone mixture.  Dip another layer of ladyfingers and lay them on the grated chocolate.  Layer them as before, sugar side DOWN.  Drip espresso on the ladyfingers that don’t look dark.  Spoon the remaining mascarpone mixture across the second layer of ladyfingers, smoothing the top.

Refrigerate the tiramisu for at least 4 hours before serving, preferably overnight.  Before serving, sift the unsweetened cocoa over the top of the tiramisu.

Makes 16 servings

Gourmet: Lasagne alla Bolognese con Spinaci (Lasagne Bolognese with Spinach)

When you have company, what's the first thing that pops into your head to make for dinner?  Lasagne, right?  Heck, it's easy and filling and pretty much everyone likes it.  Except for that one picky person who has the tomato phobia.  Moving on.  Lasagne is a good dish for parties and get-togethers because it can be put together ahead of time.  This means more time for the hostess to be drinking with her friends.  And that's always a good thing.

This version of lasagne was boasted by Gourmet magazine to the BEST lasagne.  And you know when I see words like that, it's like a dare.  I have to cook the dish and either prove or disprove the claim.  And with this one, I may have to say they're on to something.  However, the lasagne turns out a little dry for my tastes (but cuts prettily!), so I like to serve it with some delicious tomato sauce on the side.  Your call.

Lasagne Bolognese con Spinaci (Lasagne Bolognese with Spinach)
From Gourmet: Italian Kitchen magazine

For the Bolognese sauce:

¼ cup olive oil

3 ounces sliced pancetta, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, finely chopped

1 celery rib, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 pounds ground beef chuck

1½ cups dry white wine

1½ cups whole milk

¼ cup tomato paste

1½ teaspoons thyme leaves

For the ricotta filling:

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed

2 (15-ounce) containers whole milk ricotta

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

¾ cup whole milk, divided

For assembling lasagna:

12 Barilla no-boil dried lasagne noodles

½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Heat oil in a 12- to 14-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers.  Cook the pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are golden and softened, 12 to 15 minutes.  Add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up any lumps, until the meat is no longer pink, 6 to 10 minutes.  Stir in wine, milk, tomato paste, thyme, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¾ teaspoon pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated but the sauce is still moist, about 1 hour.

Put the spinach in a paper towel and twist to squeeze out as much moisture as possible.  Whisk together ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, nutmeg, 1¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.  Transfer 1½ cups ricotta mixture to another bowl and whisk in ¼ cup milk; set aside.  Whisk spinach into remaining filling with remaining ½ cup milk.

Preheat the oven to 375°F with the rack in the middle.  Soak the noodles in a bowl of very warm water until pliable but not softened, 3 to 5 minutes.  Place on a paper towel.  Spread 1½ cups of the Bolognese sauce in a 13x9-inch baking pan and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.  Cover with 3 noodles, leaving space in between.  Spread half of spinach filling on top, then 1 cup Bolognese sauce, and top with 1 tablespoon Parmesan and 3 noodles; repeat.  Top with remaining Bolognese sauce, 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, and 3 remaining noodles.  Pour reserved ricotta mixture over the top and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese.

Cover the pan tightly with parchment paper and foil (or just buttered foil) and bake 50 minutes.  Remove foil and bake until the top is browned in spots, about 15 minutes more.  Let stand 15 to 30 minutes before cutting.

Makes 8 servings

Giada de Laurentiis: Pork Chops Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach

Let's just be honest here.  I love pork.  In all its incarnations.  I think tender ribs are the height of fabulous, caramelized ham will make me ignore everything else on my plate, and being German, I worship at the shrine of sausage.  Oh, and I subscribe to the line of thought that bacon makes everything better.  EVERYTHING.

The only problem with pork is that if it isn't cooked the right way, it turns out tasteless and dry as a bone.  Because the bureaucrats at the USDA want to make sure no one on the planet could possibly ever get sick from anything, they have decreed that pork be cooked to a temperature that renders it....incredibly unappealing.  It also renders it a waste of your money and your tastebuds.  Luckily Giada ignores the USDA.  My kind of girl.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Spinach
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 (10-ounce) bag of frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
½ teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ cup (2 ounces) goat cheese
⅓ cup cream cheese
4 (4-ounce) center-cut pork chops
1½ cups chicken broth
½ lemon, zested
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

Warm the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, and thyme.  Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes.  Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese.  Stir to combine and set aside.

Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop.  Stuff each pocket with ¼ of the spinach and sun-dried tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing.  Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, and mustard.

Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  When the pan is hot add the pork.  Cook until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.  Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm.  Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium-high heat.  Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the chicken broth simmers.  Reduce the broth by half to make a light sauce, about 8 minutes.  Add the heavy cream and stir until warmed through.  Spoon some sauce over the pork before serving.
 

Makes 4 servings

Saveur: Stewed Green Beans

You know those huge smoked turkey legs they have at the fair?  The ones that looks like they came from Godzilla turkey?  Well, everyone I know seems to love those things.  I'm not sure I can get into it, though.  I feel like a cave woman gnawing on a mammoth bone. Luckily there is something else to do with those giant legs.  Something delicious.

Every time you go to a restaurant in the South, you'll see green beans on the menu.  But not just any green beans.  These are slow cooked with meat until they're tender and succulent.  And if you're lucky, the cook will take the time to pull the meat from the bone and throw that in, too.  But since some of us have large student loan payments and can't eat out all the time, we have to try and recreate the magic at home.

Stewed Green Beans
From Martha Lou's Kitchen Restaurant, as seen in Saveur magazine, May 2011

4 tablespoons unsalted butter or bacon fat
1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 pound green beans, strings removed
1 small smoked turkey leg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the butter or bacon fat in a 6-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes.  Add the green beans, turkey leg, and 4 cups of water.  Season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring, until the green beans are very tender, about 1 hour.

Makes 4 servings

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary: Everyday Orzo

A lot of people define comfort food as something that you grew up with, something your mom cooked.  When you cook that dish, it brings your dear sweet mother to mind (including whether or not she burned everything she touched), and it's comforting.  I'm not sure this is true.  I have had many foods that I didn't eat at all when I was a kid that I consider to be comfort food.  And anything with butter and cheese on it pretty much fits on this list.

I'm not sure how things get much better than pasta covered in cheese.  Maybe they don't.  I was never a fan of pasta as a kid, but now I'll take it in any shape or size, as long as it's covered in goo.  And although this orzo looks deceivingly elegant, it's really just more pasta with cheese.  And butter.  And sauteed shallots.  I'll take a bowl of this any day of the week.  Oh, and Comté cheese works beautifully if that's the only expensive cheese you have left after making cheese toasties for dinner every night.  Busted.

Everyday Orzo
Adapted from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary blog

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2½ cups chicken stock
2 cups orzo pasta, uncooked
½ cup Gruyére cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat.  Add shallots and cook until soft but not browned, about 6 minutes.  Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat chicken stock just until it begins to boil.

Add orzo to shallot and garlic in skillet.  Stir in hot chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat.  Let stand, without removing cover, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.  Stir in cheese until melted; add chives and season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings

My Berlin Kitchen: Ragù alla Bolognese (Bolognese Meat Sauce)

I love reading food blogs, and that's where a lot of my ideas for meals comes from.  And I love it when one of those blogs makes it, and a book is released.  It shows that the little guy can cook delicious things and be recognized without having a big name or a fancy restaurant.  Not that I mind big names **cough cough** Bobby Flay **cough cough**.  It's just nice to see other people being recognized.

My Berlin Kitchen is more than a cookbook based on a blog.  It's more of a autobiography than anything.  And even though I was feeling a little bored in the middle where all the whining took place, I liked the overall storyline.  I even made a recipe from the book, one that was promised to be fabulous.  Maybe I just don't get Italian food, but I think it fell flat.  When I think of ragu sauce, I don't just think of meat, I also think of vegetables and herbs.  And these are exactly the things she forbids.  And in the end, you just have a big bowl of juicy, salty ground meat.  Which is fine.  It's just not interesting.  At all.  Unless you're my dad, who had two bowlfuls.  So maybe I really don't get it.

Ragù alla Bolognese (Bolognese Meat Sauce)
From My Berlin Kitchen by Luisa Weiss

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, finely minced
2 large carrots, finely minced (you want roughly equal amounts of minced onion and carrot)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
½ cup red wine
1 (28-ounce) can peeled San Marzano tomatoes, pureed
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Put the oil and butter in a large cast-iron pot over medium heat to melt the butter.  Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for about 7 minutes, until the onion is well cooked.  Do not let it take on any color.  Add the minced carrots and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring now and then.  Add the ground meat to the pot, and using a wooden spoon, stir and chop up the meat so that is cooks and breaks down into uniformly tiny pieces.  Raise the heat to medium-high or even high as you do this.  It takes a good amount of elbow grease and a little bit of time.

Continue to stir and cook until the meat is no longer pink (at no point, however, should the meat be browning).  There will be liquid at the bottom of the pan.  Continue to cook until that liquid has mostly evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes.  Add the wine and stir well to combine.  Simmer until the wine has mostly evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the pureed tomatoes and the salt, and stir well to combine.  The sauce will come to a simmer almost instantly.  Lower the heat to the lowest possible setting, put the lid on the pot, and let the sauce simmer for as long as you can, stirring it occasionally.  Seven hours would be wonderful, 5 hours is pretty good, but any less than 3 and you're really missing out.  The longer you cook the sauce, the richer and more flavorful it will get.

At some point in the cooking process, the fat will separate from the sauce and float at the top, so just give the sauce a good stir every so often to reincorporate the fat.  At the end of the cooking time, taste for seasoning and add more salt, if needed.  Then serve tossed with pasta or use in a classic lasagne (this recipe makes enough for a 9x13-inch pan).

Makes 8 to 10 servings