Adapted from How to Eat by Nigella Lawson
You probably already know how I feel about Nigella Lawson. She is my number one living- person-I-don’t-know that I’d like to have lunch (and dinner) with. How to Eat is a book that will nourish you all by itself. It is a tome as voluptuous as Nigella herself. I keep daydreaming about taking a flat in London for two weeks, armed only with this book, trolling around town buying things like double cream and self-rising flour and caster sugar and Cumberland sausages and coming home to cook, of course with the occasional foray to the River Café and Sally Clarke’s in between.
This is a good recipe and a fabulous way to eat pears, especially considering the truth of what Nigella says about them. "When they’re good, they’re wonderful, but I am beginning to think Ralph Waldo Emerson was being optimistic when he wrote, 'There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.' ” So give this one a go. You’ll like it.
For the Pears
4 – 6 firm pears, Bartlett work well here
Juice of 1 lemon
½ cup superfine sugar or vanilla sugar*
1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract if not using vanilla sugar
Peel, halve, and core the pears and sprinkle them with the lemon juice to stop them from discoloring. Put 1¼ cups water, the sugar, and the vanilla bean, if using, in a wide shallow pan that can hold the pears in one layer. Bring the water the boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract now if you are not using the vanilla bean or vanilla sugar. Put the pears into the liquid, cut side down, and raise the heat so the liquid boils up and covers the pears. Spoon the syrupy liquid over the pears if necessary. After about 30 seconds, lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes; turn the pears, cover the pan again, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Continue simmering the pears until they are cooked and translucent; they should feel tender but not mushy when pierced with a cake tester. The amount of time it takes to cook them depends upon the pears. Remove the pan from the heat, keep covered, and cool.
For the Chocolate Sauce
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
½ cup strong black coffee or 1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in ½ cup boiling water
½ cup superfine sugar
½ cup heavy cream
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put into the top of a double boiler with the coffee and sugar, and melt over low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the cream, and keep stirring until the sauce is very hot.
Serve the pears with best-quality vanilla ice cream (your own or Haagen-Dazs) and the chocolate sauce.
*Vanilla Sugar
This is easy to do and worth the little effort it requires as you end up with gloriously scented sugar to use in desserts.
Chop a couple of high-quality, moist vanilla beans into 2-inch pieces, and put into a screw-top jar. Fill the jar with a cup of superfine sugar. Let it sit at least a week. As you use it up, pour fresh superfine sugar over the pieces of vanilla beans. Stop using the same beans once they no longer give out their sweet scent.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Siamese Chicken Curry
Adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook by Steven Poses, Anne Clark, and Becky Roller
Serves 2
This is from one of my very favorite cookbooks. Everything I’ve ever tried from it has been really good, the directions are clear, and it’s just plain fun to read. I never ate at Frog when the restaurant was open in Philadelphia, but I did go to The Commissary a few times, and my favorite cup at work is one from there that has been used for so long, the trademark carrots have washed away. I was told by Nach Waxman at the wonderful (wonderful, wonderful) bookstore, Kitchen Arts & Letters , that Steven Poses is Barbara Kafka’s cousin, and she is one fine cookbook author. Must be fabulous when they get together for family meals.
Anyway, this recipe was my first introduction to cooking with Thai curry paste. Apparently, some members of the staff at Frog were from Thailand, and they brought packets of curry paste to work with them to cook staff meals. Steven Poses was intrigued by these curry pastes and started messing around in the kitchen with them, stirring some green paste into a classic Béchamel sauce. Voilà. This recipe is not authentic Thai food, but it is the delicious result of that experimentation. When I first discovered it, I was working at Media Exchange, and Sandra and I started making this dish regularly, coercing crew members into going to The Commissary whenever they were in Philadelphia to bring back the curry paste that was not available to us in Alexandria at that time. This recipe is so good that once I introduced Aunt Rita to it, I had to start mailing her some of my precious hoard. Now curry paste is available everywhere, so you shouldn’t have any trouble trying this recipe, which I urge you to do. Use the best chicken you can get (as if you wouldn’t).
Béchamel Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper
1 cup half and half or milk
Curry:
1½ cup broccoli flowerets
1 pound of carrots cut into matchsticks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ oz Thai green curry paste
12 oz boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup peanuts, dry roasted or honey roasted
Hot cooked white rice
Make a Béchamel with 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, dash of white pepper, 1 cup half and half (or milk if you must).
Blanch the broccoli and carrots in plenty of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet or saucier. Stir in the curry paste, and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken, salt, and sugar. Stir-fry until the sugar begins to caramelize. (It’s really starting to smell good now.) Add the garlic ,and cook until it's fragrant, but don't let it burn. Add the soy sauce, and continue to stir-fry until the liquid has almost all evaporated, and the chicken is cooked through.
Blend in the Béchamel. When the sauce is smooth, add the broccoli and carrots, and heat through.
Sprinkle peanuts over the top and serve with hot cooked rice.
Anyway, this recipe was my first introduction to cooking with Thai curry paste. Apparently, some members of the staff at Frog were from Thailand, and they brought packets of curry paste to work with them to cook staff meals. Steven Poses was intrigued by these curry pastes and started messing around in the kitchen with them, stirring some green paste into a classic Béchamel sauce. Voilà. This recipe is not authentic Thai food, but it is the delicious result of that experimentation. When I first discovered it, I was working at Media Exchange, and Sandra and I started making this dish regularly, coercing crew members into going to The Commissary whenever they were in Philadelphia to bring back the curry paste that was not available to us in Alexandria at that time. This recipe is so good that once I introduced Aunt Rita to it, I had to start mailing her some of my precious hoard. Now curry paste is available everywhere, so you shouldn’t have any trouble trying this recipe, which I urge you to do. Use the best chicken you can get (as if you wouldn’t).
Béchamel Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper
1 cup half and half or milk
Curry:
1½ cup broccoli flowerets
1 pound of carrots cut into matchsticks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ oz Thai green curry paste
12 oz boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup peanuts, dry roasted or honey roasted
Hot cooked white rice
Make a Béchamel with 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, dash of white pepper, 1 cup half and half (or milk if you must).
Blanch the broccoli and carrots in plenty of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet or saucier. Stir in the curry paste, and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken, salt, and sugar. Stir-fry until the sugar begins to caramelize. (It’s really starting to smell good now.) Add the garlic ,and cook until it's fragrant, but don't let it burn. Add the soy sauce, and continue to stir-fry until the liquid has almost all evaporated, and the chicken is cooked through.
Blend in the Béchamel. When the sauce is smooth, add the broccoli and carrots, and heat through.
Sprinkle peanuts over the top and serve with hot cooked rice.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Beef Stew - For Bill
Adapted from Beat That! by Ann Hodgman
Serves 6
I have avoided posting this recipe because it’s embarrassing to give you a recipe that includes a can of soup. But this is a good, handy recipe to have, and it really works just the way it is. According to Ann Hodgman, obvious substitutions, such as tomatoes or tomato sauce, do not, so don’t try them. Either make it as is, or forget it.
The original recipe was in Beat This!, and it called for Campbell’s Tomato Bisque. I thought Tomato Bisque had been discontinued, but on December 16, 2008, I called Campbell's, and was told I was wrong. I was even given the names of the stores in New York City that carry it.
The ubiquitous Campbell’s Tomato Soup does work fine, and M.F.K. Fisher loved it and drank it out of a special little pitcher as one of her secret comfort foods ("The Midnight Egg and Other Revivers," Bon Appetit May 2978 ). However, Campbell's Tomato Soup now has high fructose corn syrup in it, and the Tomato Bisque doesn't, so look for the Tomato Bisque if you want to try this recipe, ask your store to stock it if it doesn't, and contact Campbell's to eliminate HFCS from all their products.
This is not elegant food, but it is, after all, beef stew, and a good dinner to have during the winter when you want to eat at home and don’t have time to make a big production out of cooking. My friend Debbie’s husband Randy likes it so much, she can wheedle him into trying anything by telling him it’s a recipe from me – even if it isn’t!
Ann Hodgman says that adding chopped mushrooms to the recipe would probably be a good idea, and I think so too even though I have never tried it. I also think it would be good to sauté thick slices of mushrooms, sprinkle them with chopped fresh parsley, and serve them on top of the stew, but that might be more trouble than you want to go to if you're making this for dinner to begin with.
Beef Stew
2 pounds beef stew meat in cubes, london broil works well here, believe it or not
6 carrots cut into thick slices
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
1 large baking potato, cut into stew-size dice
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 10-ounce can Campbell’s Tomato Bisque (preferred) or Campbell's Tomato Soup
½ can red wine
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Combine the beef, carrots, onions, potato, and bay leaf in a large bowl. Sprinkle the seasonings in, and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the soup with the red wine and pour over the stew ingredients. Mix well.
Put everything into a lidded casserole or pot that can go into a 275-degree oven. Cover the casserole or pot first with a tight layer of foil and then with the lid.
Bake the stew for 5 hours. After the first 2 hours, check it every half hour or so to make sure there’s enough liquid left in the pot. There probably will be. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
To see just the recipe, click here.
Print recipe.
Serves 6
I have avoided posting this recipe because it’s embarrassing to give you a recipe that includes a can of soup. But this is a good, handy recipe to have, and it really works just the way it is. According to Ann Hodgman, obvious substitutions, such as tomatoes or tomato sauce, do not, so don’t try them. Either make it as is, or forget it.
The original recipe was in Beat This!, and it called for Campbell’s Tomato Bisque. I thought Tomato Bisque had been discontinued, but on December 16, 2008, I called Campbell's, and was told I was wrong. I was even given the names of the stores in New York City that carry it.
The ubiquitous Campbell’s Tomato Soup does work fine, and M.F.K. Fisher loved it and drank it out of a special little pitcher as one of her secret comfort foods ("The Midnight Egg and Other Revivers," Bon Appetit May 2978 ). However, Campbell's Tomato Soup now has high fructose corn syrup in it, and the Tomato Bisque doesn't, so look for the Tomato Bisque if you want to try this recipe, ask your store to stock it if it doesn't, and contact Campbell's to eliminate HFCS from all their products.
This is not elegant food, but it is, after all, beef stew, and a good dinner to have during the winter when you want to eat at home and don’t have time to make a big production out of cooking. My friend Debbie’s husband Randy likes it so much, she can wheedle him into trying anything by telling him it’s a recipe from me – even if it isn’t!
Ann Hodgman says that adding chopped mushrooms to the recipe would probably be a good idea, and I think so too even though I have never tried it. I also think it would be good to sauté thick slices of mushrooms, sprinkle them with chopped fresh parsley, and serve them on top of the stew, but that might be more trouble than you want to go to if you're making this for dinner to begin with.
Beef Stew
2 pounds beef stew meat in cubes, london broil works well here, believe it or not
6 carrots cut into thick slices
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
1 large baking potato, cut into stew-size dice
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 10-ounce can Campbell’s Tomato Bisque (preferred) or Campbell's Tomato Soup
½ can red wine
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Combine the beef, carrots, onions, potato, and bay leaf in a large bowl. Sprinkle the seasonings in, and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the soup with the red wine and pour over the stew ingredients. Mix well.
Put everything into a lidded casserole or pot that can go into a 275-degree oven. Cover the casserole or pot first with a tight layer of foil and then with the lid.
Bake the stew for 5 hours. After the first 2 hours, check it every half hour or so to make sure there’s enough liquid left in the pot. There probably will be. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
To see just the recipe, click here.
Print recipe.
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