Gazpacho Redux

Katelyn and I made Gazpacho again recently as the summer tomatoes have finally reached the Farmer’s Markets in Fargo.  Her chunky recipe again turned out a wonderful product even with my modifications.  I added about 2 T more olive oil, salted it till I thought it tasted good, added one coarsely chopped jalapeño, and topped it with sour cream.  I thought the changes were OK even though the heat from the jalapeño made me cough more than once.  Don’t let your summer go by without making this dish at least once.  Now, all I need to do is make Panzanella!

Mixed Berries with Mascarpone-Limoncello Cream

This recipe is a nice and tart way to jazz up the traditional berries and cream.  The whipped mixture contains both lemon zest and limoncello which makes the concoction seem lighter and give it that “Mmmmm” quality.  Here’s the recipe:

Mixed Berries with Mascarpone-Limoncello Cream, based on this recipe from Epicurious

Makes 8 regular size or 4 large servings (Plan on the large servings!!!!)

3/4 cup chilled whipping cream

4 oz mascarpone cheese

3 T sugar

1 T lemon zest, finely grated

3 T limoncello or other lemon liquer

8 cups assorted fresh berries

Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

Combine the cream, cheese, sugar, zest and limoncello in a large bowl.  Beat until soft peaks form.  Divide the fruit amongst the serving dishes and top with the cream mixture and mint.  Serve immediately.

I made a couple of modifications to the original recipe.  Namely, I added lemon zest to the cream mixture (it originally was mixed with the berries) and didn’t bother dressing up the berries with sugar or preseves.  I prefer a tarter dessert to a sweeter one and really, with good berries, there’s no need to add any sweetness.  I liked having the additional acidity in the cream as well.  Enjoy!

French Bread with Kalamata Olives and Thyme

 

This is a pretty quick and very satisfying loaf.  The emphasis in the recipe is on the addition of some salty Kalamata olives and some earthy-flavored thyme.  Those two additions are good enough to make an otherwise pretty ordinary loaf extraordinary.  And it’s fabulous with some good olive oil.  Give it a try, it’s a lot of payoff for not too much work.  Enjoy!

 

French Bread with Kalmata Olives and Thyme, from Epicurious here

 

1 cup whole milk

 

2 teaspoons butter

 

2 teaspoons sugar

 

1 cup water, room temperature

 

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (for do-ahead version) or quick-rising dry yeast (for same-day version)

 

3/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives (about 4 ounces pitted)

 

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

 

2 teaspoons salt

 

4 cups (or more) all purpose flour

 

Olive oil

 

1 egg white, beaten to blend

 

Bring milk to simmer in small saucepan.  Add butter and sugar; stir until butter melts.  Pour mixture into large bowl.  Add 1 cup room-temperature water and cool mixture until lukewarm (85°F to 95°F), about 10 minutes.  Add yeast; stir to blend.  Stir in olives, thyme and salt.  Add 1 cup flour.  Using wood spoon, stir until flour is incorporated.  Add 3 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir vigorously with wood spoon until incorporated after each addition.  If necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour until dough is smooth and begins to pull away from sides of bowl. Oil large bowl.  Transfer dough to bowl; turn to coat with oil.  Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap.  Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes (do not punch down dough).

 

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 500°F.

 

Oil large baking sheet.  Turn dough out onto floured work surface (to avoid deflating, do not punch down dough and do not knead dough).  Divide dough into 2 equal pieces.  Gently form (do not knead) each piece into baguette 15 inches long by 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches wide (dough will not be smooth).  Transfer baguettes to prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Let rise in warm draft-free area until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes for refrigerated dough and 15 minutes for room-temperature dough.  Brush top of each loaf lightly with egg white.

 

Generously spray inside of oven with water (about 8 sprays); immediately place loaves in oven. Bake 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and continue to bake until loaves are deep golden and sound hollow when tapped, about 35 minutes.  Cool on rack.

 

 

Coconut-Lime Shrimp over Black Bean Cakes Redux

Coconut-Lime Shrimp over Black Bean Cakes is my proudest culinary creation.  The dish manages to be unique, seamless, and fulfilling all at once.  Katelyn and I prepared it together tonight and played with the plate presentation.  Here’s what we did:

My favorite?  The middle picture because of the height of the dish.  Also, the shrimp “flag” is sort of pirate-like which is thematically consistent with the seafood nature of the dish.  Enjoy!

Roquefort Chive Butter Two Ways

I whipped up a classic compound butter containing Roquefort cheese and a bit of fresh chives.  The result is an ultra-creamy and delightfully salty spread that has notes of sharpness and heat from the chives.  It’s really almost good enough to eat on its own but it’s even better as a topper.  Here’s two ways I’ve used it:

Grilled Portabella Mushrooms with Roquefort Chive Butter

The mushrooms were served with grilled asparagus and a really elementary attempt at popovers.  (I’m quite embarassed about those popovers incidentally.)

Rib Eye Steak with Roquefort Chive Butter

The steak was served with a chilled grilled aspagus salad with Parmesan cheese.

So, I guess the question to ask and answer is which dish was better?  While both dishes worked really well, I have to say as a composition, the steak was a higher-quality dish.  the butterfat seemed to simply mesh better with the natural juices and fat in the steak.  The mushroom took the flavors of the butter well but it always felt like two separate parts instead of an integrated whole. 

Here’s the recipe to the butter:

Roquefort Chive Butter

1 stick (4 oz.) good quality butter

2 oz Roquefort or other good quality blue cheese

about 1 T finely chopped chives

Kosher salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a hand or stand mixer or by hand.  Taste and adjust the amount of salt, if needed.  Place a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper (or wax paper, I suppose) and on your work area and put the butter mixer atop that.  Fold the paper or plastic wrap over the butter and use it to shape the butter into a log shape.  Twist the ends shut and then refrigerate for at least an hour.  When ready to use, just open the package up and slice. 

Enjoy!

A Very Good Article by George Will

It’s about beer and you can read it here.

1st Piece of Birthday Cake

Some Pictures From the Lake

Grilled Pizza with Pesto and Tomatoes

Here’s a nice and simple variation on grilled pizza:

Grilled Pizza with Pesto and Tomatoes

Enough Pizza dough for one 12 inch pizza of your choice (EZ Grill Bread would be nice)

1 cup freshly made pesto

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

Build a fire in your charcoal grill.  This recipes assumes a 22-inch kettle style grill.  Adjust your grilling technique accordingly for other types of grills.  (Apologies to gas grill owners, I don’t own one so I can’t give any advice as to how this would be done on a gas grill.)  When the coals are ready, bank them off to one side of the grill, leaving one side completely coal-free.  Let the fire go until it is medium (you can hold your hand above the coals for 4 to 5 seconds). 

Brush one side of the dough with olive oil.  Place two rounds of dough (oil side down) over the coals and cook just until toasted.  This shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes.  While it cooks, brush the other side of the bread with olive oil.  Watch it carefully as it goes from perfect to burnt pretty quickly.  Then flip the bread over and add the toppings.  Start with a layer of pesto and then layer on the tomato and red onion.  Finish with the Parmesan cheese.  When the other side is toasted, move the pizzas to the cold side of the grill and clamp on the lid.  Cook about 3-4 minutes or until the cheese has almost completely melted.  Remove from the grill.  Cut and serve immediately. 

Zesty Beef Kebabs

This is my favorite kebab recipe.  It’s a pretty simple concoction but the beef comes out so brightly flavored because of the lemon zest in the marinade.  The garlic adds a nice bit of punch and the mustard adds some depth and richness.  Here’s the recipe:

Zesty Beef Kebabs

1 1/2 lbs beef, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

2 T vegetable oil

1 T red wine vinegar

2 tsp dijon

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix together all ingredients, except the beef, in a gallon sized resealable plastic bag.  Add the beef to the bag, seal, and then use your hands to massage the marinade so that it covers the beef.  Place the bag in the refrigerator. 

Meanwhile prepare a hot grill.  When hot, skewer the beef on skewers, leaving about 1/2 an inch of space between each chunk.  Grill, turning occasionally, until cooked to your desired level of doneness.  Serve immediately.

So, when I say a hot grill, I mean something along these lines:

 

I think the charcoal chimney is a perfect method of cooking kebabs.  They’re small, so they cook really quickly.  Yet, part of the appeal of grilled food is just a bit of char and to get that, when things cook quickly, you really need to turn up the heat.  Hence, the chimney. 

One note:  It is a good idea to use metal skewers for this dish, especially if using the charcoal chimney method.  Bamboo skewers really tend to burn pretty quickly at that level of heat and they will fall apart, especially if you forget to soak them in water (like a certian chef did).  Enjoy!