If It's Friday..........

Washington, DC and a government shutdown that is looming over everyone in this country; if it weren't for the fact I'm going to have lunch with my 95+ year old aunt and a cousin, I probably would forego  the visit---the diatribe around this shutdown has made me physically ill.
I grew up around here, and when I deplane, many times it feels like home..my Dad was in the Navy and we moved every two years...tough on kids, and parents to make new friends every few years, but we spent happy times here with my parents together (Dad worked at a desk instead of commanding a ship) and family living close by.

Aunt Ele with Ethel her nurse (we LOVE Ethel!)

Aunt Ele lives in an assisted living facility for military officers and their widows-( and no, it's not government funded, otherwise, there will be no free lunch!)  I've decided that I am not getting old because the food in this facility is pretty bad-I'm not a food snob--I know that cooking for large groups is difficult, but it can be made better--I've seen it happen, but in the 15+ years she has been at this place,I know my sodium intake will be in the stratosphere when I leave!  That said, she's got stories to tell and opinions on every subject, and I am so glad to know I still have her in my life.  If you haven't asked your mom or dad, uncles or aunts their story, trust me, your life will be richer because of it.

If it's Friday it means I'm teaching at The Kitchen Shoppe in Carlisle, PA, tonight---I'll be there all weekend, ending on Sunday night with a benefit class for the Harrisburg Symphony.  I'll try and post some more over the weekend but hope you enjoy your weekend, I know I will. 

Pile 'em on.............

Onions, oft maligned, can become the star of the show if you prepare them with a little love and some time.  Raw onions can taste harsh, and can turn an entire dish into disposal fodder if you aren't careful.  Onions need to release some of their oil, then their sweetness comes to the fore, and they balance dishes with strong flavors with a bit of sweet flavor and texture.  Caramelizing onions, allows them to reduce down and become sweet, caramel-like and smoky, making them even more delicious.  The best news?  You don't have to stand over them and cook them for hours, just load up your slow cooker and let them do their thing.  You will be amazed at how easy this is, and how beautifully they turn out.  So pile them on burgers, pizza, flat breads, steak, pastas, and add a layer of caramelized onions to your next batch of mac and cheese.  These slow cooked onions freeze beautifully, and you can bring them out for additions to soups (French onion, anyone?) and stews.  One of my favorite dips is a caramelized onion and Gruyere dip that is terrific served warm with baguette slices, pita chips, or fresh veggies.  Try it for your NCAA Championship party tomorrow night! 

Caramelized Onions

Makes about 5 cups

Make sure to use sweet onions, like Vidalia, Walla Walla, Texas Sweets, 10/15’s or Maui onions; these onions are 6% sugar, and can only be labeled “sweet”.  Ordinary brown onions will give you a harsh flavored dish, where the sweet onions will yield sweet and buttery onions.  Once cooked the onions can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. 

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Tabasco

1 teaspoon dried thyme

¼ cup chicken broth

6 large sweet yellow onions, sliced in half, and sliced in half moons

1. In an insert for a 5 to 7-quart slow cooker, combine the butter, oil, sugar, salt, Tabasco, thyme and chicken broth.  
2. Stir in the onions, and toss to coat with the butter mixture.  
3. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, stirring several times during the cooking process, until the onions are golden brown, watching them at 10 hours, to make sure they don’t burn.
4. Remove the onions from the cooker, cool the onions and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for 2 months. 

Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Dip

Serves 8

3 cups cooled caramelized onions (see preceding recipe)

5 drops Tabasco

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

3 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (or Emmenthaler or imported Swiss cheese)

1.       One round loaf of sourdough or French bread, top cut off, insides hollowed out leaving a 3/4 inch to 1-inch shell. 

2.     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

     When the onions are cooled, stir in the Tabasco, mayonnaise and cheese. Transfer to the hollowed bread bowl, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dip is bubbly.  Serve with crudités, toasted bread cubes (from the inside of the bread) or crackers for dipping.   

Cook’s Note:  This is delicious made with Havarti with dill cheese and about 2 cups of lump crab added.

I'm in Bloomington with our son Ryan until I return to West Lafayette on Tuesday for two more classes, then it's on to DC and Pennsylvania for a bit of visiting and classes.  We are looking forward to the NCAA championship game tomorrow night.........go Bulldogs!  I'll be back with some more thoughts on food this week. 

Smokin'

I'm spending the weekend in Bloomington, IN, basketball mecca in past years, watching the Final Four with my son as he live blogs for Fox sports.

I taught 2 classes in West Lafayette, IN this week and promised my students I'd share a few recipes that we prepared before class, and I hope you'll enjoy them.  Today's recipe is for smoked salmon, which we then turned into a great smoked salmon spread covered with sweet and spicy pecans.  It's a great nibble for your next party.


Dry Smoked Salmon

2 sides of salmon
3/4 cup coarse salt
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns

Lay one side of the salmon on a large piece of plastic wrap.  In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Rub the mixture into the flesh of the two sides of salmon and press the salmon together, and wrap in the plastic wrap.  Refrigerate the fish overnight   Rise the fish with cold water, and dry the fish.  Using a stove top smoker, sprinkle the chips into smoker, and lay the salmon into the smoker.  Cover the smoker, and cook until the salmon is 150 to 160 degrees.  The smoked salmon will keep refrigerated for 3 days.

Smoked Salmon Spread with Spicy Nuts

Makes two 12-inch logs

Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 pound dry smoked salmon, (not lox, or Norwegian cured salmon) chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup Sweet and Spicy Nuts (see below)

1.      In a medium-size bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

2.      Gradually fold in the salmon, dill, onion, horseradish, and lemon juice, stirring to blend.

3.      Place the mixture on a piece of plastic wrap and form into a log 1 inch in diameter. 

4.      Place the pecans on another sheet of plastic wrap and roll the log in the pecans until coated.  Twist the plastic wrap to seal.

5.      Do-Ahead: At this point, refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight, or freeze for up to 1 month. (Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

Sweet and Spicy Nuts

Makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts

1.      Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. 

2.      Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar, the seasoned salt, garlic salt, and cayenne and stir until the spices give off some aroma, 1 to 2 minutes. 

3.      Add the nuts and toss until well coated, about 4 minutes. 

4.      Remove from the heat and place the nuts in a glass bowl. 

5.      Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar over the nuts and toss until coated.

6.     Do-Ahead: At this point, you can let cool, transfer to zipper-top plastic bags, and freeze indefinitely.

I'll be back tomorrow with some caramelized onions you can make in your slow cooker and a dynamite recipe for using them, so stay tuned, and go Butler bulldogs!

On the road again

I'm heading East to Cincinnati this morning, to teach in Springboro, OH at CooksWares, a great retail store with a cooking school.  Independent cooking school and retail shops compete in a market with Walmart, Costco, and Bed Bath and Beyond.  What you get from an independent is personalized service, and they stand behind everything they sell---don't like that pan?  Bring it in and we'll find just what you need. Too many of these stores have folded in the past few years, with the down turn in the economy, but the places I travel to are still going strong because they still believe the customer  is always right. 
I love all my students---they love to cook and they are a lot of fun--classes are always filled with lots of laughter, and the scraping of forks on the plates!
It's 25 degrees this morning, I'm getting an early start, and I'm hoping the bright sun will warm things up.
Have a great day!

It's in the Bag

Friday was the Specialty Produce Farmer’s Market Bag class at Great News, and did we have fun!  If you missed it, we will be having a nighttime class in April for the first time, and we’ll be featuring Brandt Beef (which you can order with your FMB from Specialty Produce) as a compliment to the contents of the FMB.   

Yesterday we had some adorably delicious baby artichokes and as I was teaching the class all manner of delicious ideas were coming into my head.  Small, and tender, these babies can be stuffed, and roasted, for a terrific side, or appetizer.  They also do well on the grill, if you are so inclined.

Cheesy Stuffed Baby Artichokes

Serves 4 to 6

4 baby artichokes
Fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino romano cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped basil
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1 1/2 cups dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or dry vermouth

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Remove the tough outer leaves of the artichokes, and cut the artichokes in half.  Remove any of the fuzzy choke in the center, creating a cavity in the center.  
2. Sprinkle the cut surface with lemon juice and arrange in an ovenproof dish, cut side up.  
3. In a large skillet, melt the butter with 2 tablespoons of the oil and saute the garlic for 2 minutes. 
4. Remove from the heat and toss in the crumbs, cheese, basil and parsley.  
5. Stuff the artichokes with the bread crumb mixture, and drizzle with the remaining oil.  
6. Pour the wine into the baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes until the artichokes are tender. Remove the foil, and cook another 10 minutes, until the crumbs are crispy.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. 

In class we roasted the artichokes with pee wee potatoes---aren't they cute???

We also had some amazing Gaviota strawberries, and made a syrup from Sumo mandarin oranges to put over a Dutch Baby pancake.  The berries are great plain from the basket, but another way to serve them is with this delish mascarpone crème.

 

Mascarpone Amaretto Crème

Makes 4 cups

2 cups heavy cream, whipped stiffly

2 cups mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup Amaretto di Sarrono (or your favorite flavoring)

In a mixing bowl, whisk the mascarpone and Amaretto into the whipped cream.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 4 days.  The crème can be frozen for up to 2 months. 

Leeks, a member of the onion family are mild, and are terrific to braise with salmon, or other seafood.  Try this main dish using the leeks that are coming into your farmer’s markets this week.

Salmon and Braised Leeks

Serves 4

3 leeks, cleaned, and thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups dry white wine (such as Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Grigio or dry vermouth)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

Four salmon filets (6 to 8-ounces)

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons of butter mixed with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill

1. In a large baking dish, combine the leeks and white wine.  
2. In a small bowl, stir together the oil and Old Bay and paint onto the salmon.  
3. Drizzle any additional oil onto the leeks.  Place the salmon on the leeks, cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and registers 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.  
4. Remove from the oven, using a spatula transfer the salmon to serving platter, cover with aluminum foil and allow the salmon to rest for 5 minutes. 
5. Pour the leeks and wine into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil,  add the lemon zest, and the butter and flour mixture, whisking until the sauce comes back to a boil.  
6. Stir in the dill, and serve the sauce over the salmon or warmed on the side. 

Swiss Chard is a veg that you may pass up in the supermarket, but it is so good for you, and has so much more flavorful than spinach.  We did a frittata in class, but this pasta dish is to die for and so simple to prepare. Try it for a great weeknight dinner. 

Swiss Chard Pasta Bake

Serves 4 to 6

½ cup unsalted butter

2 medium shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound Swiss chard, tough stems removed, and thinly sliced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ cup chicken broth

1 ½ cups milk

4 shakes Tabasco

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup freshly grated imported Romano cheese

1 pound penne pasta, cooked 3 minutes short of al dente and drained

12 strips bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

½ pound fresh mozzarella, cut into ½-inch cubes

1.      In a 3-quart saucepan, melt the butter, and add the shallots and garlic, cooking for about 2 minutes.  Add the spinach and toss in the butter, until the Swiss chard is tender, about 5 minutes. 

2.      Sprinkle the chard with the flour and cook the flour for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Gradually add the broth, milk, Tabasco and nutmeg, and stir until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.  Remove from the heat, and stir in half of the Parmesan and all of the Romano, stirring until the cheeses have melted.  Taste the sauce for salt and pepper, and adjust if needed. 

3.      Coat the inside of a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the remaining cheese.  Stir the sauce into the penne, add the bacon and mozzarella and stir to combine.  Transfer to the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  

4.      Do-Ahead: Cover and refrigerate for 2 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

5.      Defrost and bring the casserole to room temperature for about 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling and golden brown on top.  Allow the pasta to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. 

I've arrived in Indiana, and it's SNOWING!!  I'm so glad I have my down coat but as I told a friend, I feel like the Michelin man, only I'm wearing black!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!