Garfield dinner

I was in a lasagna mood this morning.  Naturally, as I picked up mozzarella and stared at the containers of packaged ricotta I knew.....I couldn't buy ricotta today.  I would have to make it.

You've seen this before, I won't bore you.  Milk, cream, yogurt, lemon juice, kosher salt.

Drain.

Here is something that I've been wondering about since I made ricotta last week: would you notice truffle salt in ricotta?  I wouldn't want it to just get lost in the layers of everything going on.

Only one way to find out!  And I have to say....this...smelled....fantastic.  It could have been dinner right then and there.  But I resisted.

Onions, garlic, carrots.  Saute until soft.

Add a large can diced tomatoes and juice.  Bubble away 20 minutes or so.

Blender it all, then taste for SnP.

I made a bechamel, seasoned it with truffle salt and white pepper, then layered the lasagna noodles with white sauce, red sauce, truffle ricotta, and grated mozzarella.  

Guess what.  I can taste the truffles.  :)

Bourdain, BBQ, and the Black Keys. Hells Yes.

I love Anthony Bourdain.  He's not the most amazing chef, and his opinions are sometimes wonkey, but I love his attitude.  He's so snarky, he has great chef friends on all the time, and I die laughing every time his wife is on ~ woman keeps him in line!!  I started a tradition to cook something from wherever he is going each week (at least for new episodes), no matter how hard the challenge.  High desert episode?  I made road house food.  Vienna?  Pork chops in mustard sauce with sauteed apples.  Japan?  Ordered a side of sushi to go & made Soba.  


This week Bourdain went to Kansas City, so I knew I'd have to make something barbecue-ie, but I put a little flare on the sides.  I don't like potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, boiled corn, or at least the mainstream versions of the above.  The main reason that I was SO excited about this episode had to do with the guest.  The Black flipping Keys.  :)

Ok.  I'm making three things tonight, and you get one ingredient photo.  Because it's my blog.  Carrot slaw!

Carrots tossed in a dressing of Balsamic, lemon juice, crumbled chile de arbol, capers, olive oil, and salt.  Let sit in the fridge for the better part of an afternoon, then before serving taste for SnP, and top with julienned sun dried tomatoes and parsley.

Pork chops.  I put the rub on them that I also use for ribs.  There's too many ingredients to list patiently, but if you want it, ask me.

While the chops rest with their rub combine ketchup, beer, cider vinegar, Worcestershire, brown sugar, hot sauce, liquid smoke, and about a tablespoon of the same rub the chops are sitting around in.

In a big pan bake at 450 for 10 minutes, turning once.  Pour the sauce over, lower the heat to 250, and bake for 30 minutes.

Alright, I love Leeks Vinaigrette!  Leeks, I mean what else do you need to hear??  But tonight I wanted a potato side for the pork so...Potatoes Vinaigrette.  The warm potatoes are topped with a Dijon & red wine dressing, parsley, and a chopped boiled egg.

Slice the pork, and plate with the sauce, carrot slaw, and potatoesthatIcouldeataflippingbowlof.  :)

Redo

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  Sunday I was gone all day, and returned home at the precise moment you realize you and your entire family are hungry enough to eat each other.  I didn't feel like a take-out pizza, so I opened the fridge and commanded all delicious elements that were inside to come to me.  Here's what happened:

Saturday's Roast chicken & aoli, Havarti, Kumato tomatoes, greens from the yard, and the last of a baguette.  BAM!  Dinner.  

Sometimes (sometimes meaning always) I am worried about feeding my family leftovers, so soon after having them for dinner.  Like all of our meals will taste the same, the children will rise up and revolt, start cooking their own meals.  Hm.  Wonder if they'd do their own dishes too.  Anyhow, this was a great way to combine a few leftover items into a very different meal than the night before.  And I didn't have to turn on the oven or dirty a pan.

In summation: Leftovers = not evil

Epic. Simple.

In celebration of our little blog hitting 1,000 views since we started, and somehow hitting 1,100 in the following 2 days!, I decided to cook a very special dinner.  It may not seem elegant, it may seem simple, but that's many times my favorite.  This is elegant to me.  I wish I could have had everyone over whose ever been a reader, but....I live in a tupperware.  Call me up, you can take turns coming over.  Tonight is about my family and my friend.  And making the postage stamp of a dwelling smell amazing all night.

Aioli.  It's simple, it's garlic & lemon.  And it's got spring all over it.  Blanched Spring veg.  Goat cheese, from the Cave of course, some traces of homemade ricotta, and bread.

Garlic paste, whisked with egg yolks & salt.

 Whisking in the olive oil, lemon juice, and tasting for salt

Roast Chicken, butterflied, and with a fennel pollen paste.

Before cooking...

...after cooking.  Crispy skin & all.  Don't be jealous.  ;)

Home grown greens, lemon dressing, Parm shavings

An Orange Olive Oil Cake.  My weakness.  Bake, me, wha??  I'll admit, I was cranky.  If you are on my friend's list, and you KNOW who you are, you know this.  However....It tasted like heaven.

The juice of 1 orange, the zest of SIX ORANGES, and olive oil.  No wonder it tastes and smells like singed orange essence.  It's fantastic.

Cake, whipped cream, beat into submission by a vanilla sugar I made recently.

Wines ~ Villa di Corlo, Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro
Hitching Post Gen Red, 2007

Pies

It's raining for the second time this week.  It's cold, and dreary, and it makes me want to cook cozy food!  I love it!!  Shepherd's Pie and Cheddar Apple Pie are very cozy items of food, what can be better than both in the same night?!  No day can be truly complete without a trip to the Cheese Cave, and this trip yielded a great cheddar that I knew would end up in the pie crust of a really yummy apple pie.  

Lots of easy veg tonight.  It's a Friday, I can spoil myself with prepped veggies!  Just ignore the rosemary.  I made a last minute substitution of Herbs de Provence.

Brown ground meat, pearl onions, and cut up carrots.  Drain excess fat.

Add herbs, tomato paste, and most of a good beer.  What you do with the rest is up to you.  Simmer until the sauce begins to reduce, stir in the flat beans (or green beans, or peas), then pour into your favorite baking dish.

Top meat & veg with boiled golden potatoes that have been peeled, mashed with butter, goat cheese, SnP, & chives.  The chives were a last minute suggestion from a friend, and I'm glad for it!

Bake @ 375 for 35 minutes until bubbly and awesome smelling.

Bomb cheddar.  Thank you Cheese Cave!

Humble pie dough beginnings.  Pulse until crumb-like, add in cold grated cheddar, then ice water until a ball forms.  Resist the urge to over-process.  You'll thank me later.

Bake @ 425 for 20 minutes, then lower the temp to 375 for another 45 minutes.  LET IT COOL for at least 3-4 hours unless you want apple bread pudding.  Serve with a little ice cream, whipped cream, or if I have my way...a fork.

This Fried Chicken is Whey Good!

Fried Chicken, soaked in buttermilk first.  I love this meal.  When you soak chicken in buttermilk (and other seasonings of course!), the chicken takes on a tangyness from the milk, but is also tenderized.  Later when you bread and fry the chicken you will notice a huge difference.  For this meal, I had a large bowlful of whey, left over from making ricotta.  Instead of tossing the whey out, I chose to soak a chicken in it, and make biscuits.

My starting place for this chicken's soaking: a bowl full of whey.

Into the whey: 1 Chile de Arbol, crushed, 2 bay leaves, 1 head garlic smashed, 1/2 c. kosher salt, 1 bunch fresh thyme, 1/4 c honey, a few Tasmaninan Pepperberries - stir to combine.

Oh, you don't have any Tasmanian Pepperberries?  You don't know where to get them?  Just have an Mother In Law as awesome as mine.  I had never heard of them either, and she brought them home after one of her trips.  Or, if you can't have my mother in law, I suppose you could Google them.  You could also of course use regular peppercorns, but it's less fun to say.

Brined chicken - overnight preferably - flour, Old Bay, oil.  Begin by heating your oil over med-high heat, in a pan with sides high enough that ensure you won't have to call the fire department.  Stir 1 Tbl Old Bay into 2 c. flour, and put in a sturdy paper bag.  Drain the chicken pieces, then toss in the seasoned flour.  Fry the chicken for 12-15 minutes, turning to ensure all the sides become equally crispy and brown.

Biscuits!  I used Alton Brown's Southern Biscuit recipe, and substituted whey for buttermilk.  The biscuits were flaky and light, and had a great flavor.  I may make ricotta all the time, just to have some whey around!

So if you are wondering how beautiful and golden the chicken turned out, and how tall the biscuits rose in the oven.....too bad.  My phone ate my pictures.

A Napoli Pizza Nod

The other night I watched Anthony Bourdain in Naples, and was absolutely drooling over the pizza scene.  Pizza from Naples is very simple, and should be made with excellent ingredients due to it's simplicity.  It's not New York pizza, and it's nothing like the monstrosity that is deep-dish Chicago pizza.  I set out to do my best, and to incorporate yesterday's fresh ricotta, along with the more traditional mozzarella.

I didn't love this dough recipe.  So I'm not speaking to it.

Yeast, oil, blah blah.

Flour, kneading, resting, rolling *phhbt*  Basically I ended up with flat bead pizza.  :/

The ricotta was amazing, and buratta is always fantastic.  But the last time I made pizza I used Batali's focaccia dough & it was to die for.  Next time...we'll do that again.  :)