Pumpkin-Ricotta Pie

Another great recipe from Food Network. We always have pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to make it more interesting than the traditional pumpkin pie that I usually make. This recipe intrigued me because it’s half pure pumpkin and half ricotta cheese. It came out moist and delicious. The cream cheese crust is made from scratch—don’t worry, it’s not that complicated to make, as you will see if you try this recipe. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie

I made this easy-to-make but delicious dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner. It's adapted from Emeril Lagasse's recipe, and it's a welcome change from the standard pecan pie, which always tends to be cloyingly sweet. The addition of chocolate tempered the sweetness perfectly. The original recipe called for a caramel sauce for garnish, but I did away with it because it would have made the pie too sweet. Finally, I always try to make my crust from scratch because it's not really that difficult to make, but I have to admit that for this pie I used a pre-made crust, which I found in my daughter's freezer -- it wasn't too bad.

A Thanksgiving Dinner, Winchester, MA, 2011

What could be more comforting than sitting at dinner with your beloved family, with the table laden with dishes galore that you've been cooking for the past two or three days, and the whole house redolent with the  deliciously mingled aromas of all that food? This is what my family had for our Thanksgiving Dinner this year -- the recipes for some of them are already posted on this blog, and the rest I will try to post as soon as possible. My daughter did this brined fresh (not frozen) turkey, which was first roasted in their Egg Grill and then finished in the oven--it was incredibly juicy and so flavorful.

America Eats Tavern (Jose Andres), Washington, DC

[This posting is still in progress--thanks for your patience.]

America Eats Tavern

Penn Quarter 

Corner of 8th and D NW, between D&E 
Washington, D.C.
October 31, 2011/Dinner

 The following is quoted from the website of Open Table:  “A groundbreaking partnership between José Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup and The Foundation for the National Archives, America Eats Tavern features award-winning Chef José Andrés’ unique take on traditional American classics and celebrates native ingredients and some long forgotten regional dishes. This "pop-up" restaurant is a non-profit partnership which extends the exhibit “What’s Cooking Uncle Sam: The Government’s effect on the American Diet” that is currently at the National Archives through January 2012. The menu showcases the fascinating history of our nation one plate at a time. America Eats features a refined and elegant menu upstairs on the second and third floors and a similar but slightly more casual menu offered on the first floor. Open Table Reservations are for the upstairs dining rooms, while reservations for the first floor tavern area can be made by contacting the restaurant directly at 202-393-0812. Both menus are available for viewing at the America Eats website.”

Fig & Olive Restaurant, New York City

Fig and Olive - Fifth Avenue
10 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 18079

Tel. 212-319-2002

November 8, 2011/Lunch

 

It was the day after my son’s concert (“Suites by Sondheim” at the Lincoln Center, November 7, 2011), and some family friends from D.C. who came to see the show joined us for lunch at this wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in New York City.  As their website says, the Fig & Olive's signature dishes embody Executive Chef Pascal Lorange's passion for the best olive oils and cuisines from the Mediterranean region. And, as to be expected, olive oil was ubiquitous on the menu. I loved this place – the service was cheerful and super efficient, the ambience very bright but relaxed, and all the dishes we sampled were exemplary (great plating too!).

Cassava Bibingka (Cake)

Today I attended the monthly meeting of CHoWDC (Culinary Historians of Washington, DC). I love it that the group has this very nice tradition of members bringing a home-made dish or two. I decided to bring Cassava Bibingka, to give them a taste of Filipino desserts. This is another Chef Romy Dorotan recipe, from his and Amy Besa's cookbook, Memories of Philippine Kitchens (reviewed on this blogsite). I made a few minor changes, but basically remained faithful to the recipe--the bibingka was delicious, and they loved it (somebody even asked for the recipe). 

Today's guest speaker was Joan Nathan, the doyenne of Jewish cooking, and she gave a very interesting and informative account of the history of Jewish food, which is the subject of her latest cookbook (more on this in a separate blog posting).

Maharlika Restaurant, New York City

Maharlika Restaurant
111 First Avenue & 7th St.
646-392-7880
maharlikanyc.com

Maharlika is still young, having started out in January 2011 as a "pop-up" place serving only brunch on weekends at the Resto Leon (East Village), and then at the Alias Restaurant (Lower East Side). Their food earned consistent raves from critics, and now, owners Nicole Ponseca and Enzo Lim together with their Chef, Miguel Trinidad, have now opened their own place, also in the East Village.


I had heard a lot of good things about Maharlika, so I made sure we visited it on our next trip to New York. We came twice, for dinner and brunch, with a group so we could sample a good number of items on their funky and playful menu.

Spiced Nuts (Yum!)

I have company coming for drinks and cocktails tonight, and I wanted to add something to the usual boring cheese board, prosciutto and salami that I'm serving. I remembered having seen this nuts recipe in a Cooks Illustrated magazine, so I thought I'd give it a try. Excellent results, if I may say so myself -- the nuts were crispy and well-flavored with the mild spices in it. They're truly so more-ish -- once you start eating them you can't stop! I will definitely make this for the coming holidays. [Note:  I used a mixture of almonds and walnuts, which were what I had at hand. Next time I will add cashews, macadamia, and pecans.]
   I have always found it tricky to make the spices adhere to the nuts, and the secret in this recipe is the water-diluted egg white, while the salt prevents it from coagulating. I have added some variations at the end of the recipe, for other exciting flavors.

Spaghetti Sauce, Filipino Style

Whenever I visit my children in New York and Boston (or they come to visit me), I always cook Filipino dishes – both are foodies and love to cook (yes!), but they live such busy lives and don’t often have the time to cook their favorite comfort food from home. Spaghetti sauce is one such dish and back home in the Philippines this sauce is always cooked with ground meat, in Ragu or Bolognese style (see my posting in this blog about Pasta Sauces). Bolognese is a robust meat sauce also known as Ragu; it is hearty, with ground beef or pork, pancetta, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and celery.  The sauce is sometimes enhanced with a bit of wine, cream and seasoning.

Pasta Sauces

Pairing Pasta Sauces Pasta Shapes

Pureed, creamy or clinging sauces are best served with such long, thick and sleek pasta shapes as spaghetti, fettuccine, cappellini or linguine pastas that will allow the sauce to flow evenly over the face of the noodle.

When the sauce is both thick and chunky, it is appropriate for any shape of pasta. It is viscous enough to coat long pastas such as fettuccini or spaghetti and its chunks are just rights for filling the gaps in a shell or spiral-shaped pasta.

My Maiden Cooking Demo, Quezon City, Philippines

[Posting is in progress - this might take a while - thanks for your patience.]

With Malou & Sammy

With Chito, Rose, Malou & Sammy

With some sorority sisters & fraternity brods.

With my family.

[Narrative to follow.]

Couscous Salad

This is a super easy, healthful side dish that is excellent with meat or seafood entrees. You can cook it ahead, and keep covered at room temperature until ready to serve (you can even make it a day ahead -- store in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving, making sure to re-fluff it with a fork to loosen the grains). I made this at my cooking demo the other evening, and it made a fantastic partner for the Salmon en Croute and the "Smoked" Pork Tenderloin.

Cooking Demo Party at Home

October 30, 2011

We had a rollicking cooking demo party at my home last night, organized by a couple of my dear friends. They brought the people (there were 12 of us), the fun and laughter, plus lots of wine; they not only bore the cost of the ingredients but also handled the washing up and clearing up throughout the evening. With great friends like these, who could ask for more?

Where are the men?

There they are!

Thai Basil Restaurant, Chantilly, VA (Luncheon & Demo)

Thai Basil Restaurant

Chef/Owner:  Nongkran Daks

14511 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy./Route 50

Chantilly, VA (703-631-8277)


Luncheon/Cooking Demonstration
Sponsored by Les Dames d'Escoffier
Saturday, October 22, 2011

 [The photo on the right is the restaurant's logo.]

An Incomparable, Unforgettable Russian Dinner

We had the very good fortune of experiencing an unforgettable dinner last night at the sprawling but very homey estate of a Russian couple, very close friends of ours.

It was a perfect evening for al fresco dining, so for the appetizers part, we sat out in the custom-built  (personally designed by the owners) expansive patio which included a well-designed grill/barbecue/fireplace center, a nice gazebo, a sauna/Jacuzzi, and one of those so-called resistance swimming pools. A large dining table and super-comfortable sofas and chairs completed the picture. Amazing.

Fried Vegetable & Meat Lumpia (Eggrolls)

Lumpia (eggroll) is a wonderful Filipino food beloved by all back home in the Philippines, and it's one of the three most well-known Filipino dishes outside the country (the other two are, arguably, adobo (vinegar-braised meat) and pancit (noodles)). This can be a challenging dish for the uninitiated, and if you've never rolled an eggroll before, you are going to need some practice to make perfectly tight rolls like the ones you see in the photo above. A loosely-wrapped lumpia will not survive the frying -- it will open up and spew out the filling. There are several different kinds of lumpia, and the list is too long to include in this headnote; I'll test a few of them in the near future and post them here. 

Chocolate & Nuts Tart (Gluten-Free)

I have adapted this recipe to make it gluten-free, combining a standard recipe for a chocolate/nut tart (substituting gluten-free all-purpose flour for the regular flour, and agave nectar for the corn syrup) and Elana Amsterdam's gluten-free basic crust for pies and tarts. The recipe for this crust is posted on this blog site, but I have added it to this posting so you won't need to go looking, if you decide to try making this delicious dessert. I have made this into both a tart and in a deep-dish pie pan, and the tart came out better -- the flavor is the same, but the tart is easier to slice and serve because of the pan's removable bottom. [Note: You can use the recipe for the filling and make your own crust, if you don't need to worry about gluten.]

Basic Gluten-Free Crust for Pies & Tarts

[Photo to follow]

This is another of Elana Amsterdam's recipes (slightly adapted by me) from her "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook." It's very easy and simple to make, and you won't need a rolling pin since the dough is soft and is "pressed" into the cake or tart pan using your hands. Ms. Amsterdam says that the almond meal that is readily available at supermarkets (Bob's Red Mill brand) will not work in her recipes, and I would like to test this out because blanched almond is impossible to find anywhere except online (which makes it a bit expensive especially because of the shipping costs). We shall see.

Flourless Orange & Almond Cake (Gluten-Free; Dairy-Free)

I'm always on the lookout for gluten-free or dairy-free recipes to test, because I have friends and family who are allergic or sensitive to gluten and dairy. I found--and adapted--this recipe from "Planet Cake" by Paris Cutler, and it was a success at first try--delicious, moist, with a subtle almond taste, intensified by a wonderful orange aroma and flavor. The cake is yummy as a dessert, snack, or breakfast item. Try to buy oranges with unwaxed and unblemished skin, since the whole fruit is going to be used. Finally, enjoy the nice orangey smell that envelops your kitchen while the oranges are boiling. [Note: I'm afraid you'll need a weighing scale to accurately measure the orange purée.]

Baked Potatoes Stuffed with Spinach &Gruyère Cheese

This is a perfect side dish for grilled meats or fish--it provides your starch and vegetables in one dish. Try to pick uniform-sized potatoes so they cook evenly and at the same time. It's important to use freshly grated Gruyère cheese, to make sure you get the full fresh flavor of the cheese. Left-overs can be refrigerated, then re-heated for another meal.

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Fig & Port Wine Sauce

We've got another winner here! Believe me, the "wow" factor is quite high when you serve this to your guests because the presentation will blow them away. And then, when they taste it ..... another wow! I like serving this with either steamed rice, or orzo, or couscous, or mashed potatoes, all of which can soak up some of the delicious sauce so every bite is sure to please. A side dish of grilled or roasted vegetables, or even a salad of fresh greens tossed in a homemade vinaigrette would be great.

Shell Pasta Stuffed with Spinach & Panchetta (or Bacon)

This is another worthy steal from Giada di Laurentiis' recipe collection (I love Giada!)--it's quite hearty and very filling, so it can be an entree or a side dish, depending on how many people you're feeding. I made this while visiting my son in New York, and since it was a large dish, it lasted for quite a few days. It could be a bit tricky arranging the stuffed shells in the baking pan, as they kept rolling on their side -- the next time I make this dish I'm going to use a smaller pan so I can arrange them a bit more snugly.

Baked Asparagus & Carrots Parmesan

My apologies! I completely forgot to photograph the baked vegetables before apportioning them into the plates, but I hope you still get a good idea of how it looks like from the photo above. This is a very easy side dish to prepare; you can prep the veggies and put them into the baking dish ahead of time, then just sprinkle with the cheese when you're ready to bake it. It was a perfect partner for my Veal Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce (see the recipe on this blog site).

Veal Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce

I love veal, because it is the easiest meat to cook and will be always tender unless you are really careless and overcook it. I know there are people who won't eat veal as a form of protest for the way the calves are raised, but I better not go there. This is a stress-free dish (adapted from www.washingtonpost.com/recipes) to make especially for a large group, because it only takes a couple of minutes to pan-fry the veal pieces, and the delicious sauce can be made ahead. Many cooks prefer to use Wondra flour for dusting meat and fish, as it results in even

Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Nuts & Dried Apricots

Here's another easy, do-ahead dish, to serve for pre-dinner cocktails. Using these small, decorative cupcake liners makes it easy for your guests to pick up the food (the dates are a little sticky). Try to buy plump dates of the Medjool variety, which are bigger than other varieties and easier to stuff. You can be flexible with the recipe, adjusting the proportions of the goat cheese to the nuts and dried apricots, to suit your taste.

Mascarpone Parmesan Gnocchi

This is a delicious potato-less gnocchi, which can be prepared halfway through and kept in the freezer until you're ready to serve them. This recipe is borrowed from Giada di Laurentiis, but I have tweaked it a little bit, by adding the quick-frying last step to give the gnocchi that nice golden-brown color. I like serving gnocchi as a side dish to accompany meat entrees (like the Veal Piccata that I served for dinner to a large group the other night--will post that recipe next). I will tweak this gnocchi recipe a little more the next time, to try to make the dough a bit more firm so they keep their oval shape when fried.

Butternut Squash & Leeks Soup

If you're having a big crowd over for lunch or dinner, here is a healthful (no heavy cream!) soup that is not only easy to make, but can also be cooked two or three days ahead and kept in the refrigerator until you're ready to re-heat and serve it. (I served this as an appetizer to 14 dinner guests the other night.)  Prepping the squash in the microwave saves a lot of time and effort, compared to first roasting the pieces to get rid of excess moisture and concentrate its flavor. Caramelizing the squash with the leeks in the butter takes care of intensifying the flavor.

CHoWDC - Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C.

I am a proud member of the Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. (CHoWDC), and I always enjoy going to the meetings, where you not only meet interesting, similar-minded foodie folks, but also learn so much from the talks and presentations given by culinary luminaries and have a great time in the group's activities. Here's a quick fact sheet on the organization (click here to check their website).

Pesto Sauce, On the Ready

I like to make a quantity of pesto sauce and freeze it, so I have it on the ready when I need it for a recipe. As you can see, I put the finished pesto in an ice cube tray (mine has a lid, which is great) then freeze it so when I need to use some I just nudge them out of the cube slot and I'm ready to add it to my dish. I love cream pesto with grilled salmon (see the cook's note below, after the recipe).

Asparagus Mimosa

This timeless dish is an elegant and delicious beginning to a dinner, or serve it as a main item for a brunch. You get some inexpensive protein from the eggs. This is an easy dish that you can prep ahead of time--prepare separately the asparagus, the vinaigrette, and the shredded hard-boiled egg, and then just assemble the dish when you're ready to serve.

Triple-Berry Sabayon

 

I call this one of my "do-ahead" desserts because you can make the sabayon (a variation of whipped cream) hours ahead and chill it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can wash and prep the berries ahead of time too, and refrigerate them, then when you're ready to serve the dessert, just take them out of the refrigerator and assemble them in your beautiful dessert glasses (champagne glasses will make your dessert look sexy!).

Chicken Croquettes with Green Pea Sauce

For a first try, this dish turned out really well. It had a crunchy exterior, and inside it was moist and flavorful. The green pea sauce was great, but next time I will make it a little bit thinner by reducing the simmer time at the end. If your breadcrumbs are coarse, give it a whirl in a mini-processor or grinder; finely ground, they will cover the whole croquette better and stay on during frying. To add a bit of flavor to the breadcrumbs, I threw in some pistachio nuts and a dash of dried thyme before grinding. Make sure your frying oil is not overly hot (as in smoking), or the croquettes will burn before the inside is heated through (the breadcrumbs brown very quickly)--start frying as soon as the oil starts to shimmer.

PRESENT RESTAURANT (Imperial Vietnamese Cuisine), Falls Church, VA -- A Review

Present Restaurant – Imperial Vietnamese Cuisine

6678 Arlington Blvd.

Corner Annandale Rd.

Falls Church, VA 22042

Tel. 703-531-1881

Click here to see their website.

September 14, 2011

How would you like some "Silken Shawl Imperial Autumn Roll," or "Smokey Petal," or "Jewel Green Papaya," or "Treasure from the Sea?" And those are just for starters--wait till you read the rest of the menu of this excellent Vietnamese restaurant, one that boasts--and deservedly so--of a chef who cooks authentic Imperial Vietnamese dishes. They must have hired a poet to name their dishes; the names are fanciful and musical, and evocative of what you will discover in flavor, texture, and creativeness when the dish arrives at your table. This is not your run-of-the-mill Pho shop, which are a dime a dozen in the D.C./VA area--far from it--it's a top-rate restaurant that serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine fit for royalty. 

BLUE DUCK TAVERN, Washington, D.C. -- A Review

September 2, 2011

We had gone to see a movie at the West End Cinema in D.C., and were wandering around the area for a nice place to have dinner, knowing it might be dicey since it was a Friday night. Well, we got lucky -- we spotted the Blue Duck Tavern on the corner of 24th and M Streets, on the ground floor of the Park Hyatt Hotel, and got one of the last few tables available. I had expected a decent dinner, but what we got was much much more than that!!! (Click here to see their website.)

PER SE RESTAURANT, New York -- A Review

I celebrated my 60th birthday with my family (10 of us) at Chef Thomas Keller's renowned Per Se Restaurant in New York, and posted below are the photographs we took of the amazing and spectacular dishes that we had for the nine-course Chef's Tasting Menu. (The photo above is the gorgeous view of Columbus Circle from our private dining room.)

Mr. Sam Sifton, the New York Times restaurant critic, has unwittingly saved the day for me (thank you, Mr. Sifton!). Perhaps this was the reason I had kept putting off my narrative for this posting--Mr. Sifton has just published, in today's (October 11, 2011) issue of the New York Times, a glowing review of Thomas Keller's Per Se Restaurant in New York, giving it the most-coveted four stars (Mr. Frank Bruni, the previous NYTimes restaurant critic, also gave it four stars). Needless to say, I couldn't do a better job than this, so I'm adding Mr. Sifton's review at the end of the photos below.

MY SOURCES

I have used the following sources for some of my postings on this blog site:

James Peterson, “Sauces, Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making,” and “What’s a Cook To do?”
Harold McGee, "On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen"
Thomas Keller, "The French Laundry Cookbook" and "Ad Hoc Cookbook"
Amy Besa & Romy Dorotan, "Memories of Philippine Kitchens, Stories and Recipes from Far and Near"

SAUCES

Mother Sauces - Also called Grand Sauces. These are the five most basic sauces that every cook should master.  Antonin Careme, founding father of French "grande cuisine," came up with the methodology in the early 1800's by which hundreds of sauces would be categorized under five Mother Sauces, and there are infinite possibilities for variations (called petite sauces), since the sauces are all based on a few basic formulas. Sauces

MEATS

[content forthcoming]

GRAINS & PASTA

Common Grains:

Rice - Short-grain rice has a high starch content, which makes it a little sticky when cooked; Medium-grain rice remains firm and light when cooked, but tends to get sticky when cooled; Long-grain rice remains separate when cooked, but must not be overworked during the cooking process. Popular rice varieties are: Converted rice, which is par-boiled by the manufacturer so it cooks more quickly; Jasmine rice, which is very fragrant and perfumed; Basmati rice, a staple of Indian cuisine; Sushi rice, which is sticky rice for sushi rolls and sashimi in Japanese cuisine; Arborio rice, a short-grain rice used in Italian risotto; and Brown rice, which is the entire rice grain with the bran still attached—it is more chewy and higher in fiber than white rice.

FRUITS

[content forthcoming]

Pavlova

Anna Pavlova, the principal dancer of the Russian Imperial Ballet, visited Australia and New Zealand in the 1920's, and the natives went crazy over her and concocted this fluffy, crunchy yet chewy, flamboyant dessert in her honor. Both countries claim they invented this truly scrumptious creation, but that doesn't matter to those of us who break into a swoon at the prospect of having a generous slice of it for dessert!