Programming note. (Leaving New York, never easy; I saw the light fading out)
After an eventful afternoon of traveling (involving the Metro-North, subway and Amtrak as well as an ill-fated cab ride that made me miss my desired train and entailed me screaming at the dispatch while I waited for the next one), we’re safely ensconced in Pennsylvania for the rest of the week. As a result, posting will be very light until next week while we eat delicious food and hang out at Victory, but we at the Manhattan [food] Project wish you a happy, healthy and savory Thanksgiving! Cin cin!
Stuffed Cremini and Button Mushrooms
The week of Thanksgiving, for me at least, means two things: getting ready to travel during the most hectic time of year, and already experiencing turkey fatigue without an ounce of tryptophan in my system. The latter I partially blame on watching The Food Network during the past two weekends, as a quick scroll on the DVR showed that every single show had something to do with turkey, stuffing/dressing, potatoes, and gravy, ranging from deep-fried turkeys to potatoes au gratin to “mapletinis”. As my fellow blogger The Kitchen Witch would say, it’s a lot of attention paid to a lot of beige food, and speaking as someone who grew up eating many a Thanksgiving-lite meal during the year, the mythos surrounding this one meal has mostly dissipated.
Fortunately for me, Michael has been craving duck after watching a recent Iron Chef rerun that featured them as the theme ingredient, so we picked out a recipe for roasting a whole one for our big weekend project out of The Silver Spoon..but those details must wait for another post. Today I want to share with you the first part of what ended up being a weekend-long food celebration: Saturday night’s antipasti.
Stuffed mushrooms are a particular favorite of mine, of course, but until we tried this recipe (also from The Silver Spoon), we’ve tended to favor very simple preparations that just involve breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic, and maybe some parsley for color and taste. These went well beyond that in combining sauteed shallots, anchovies and homemade breadcrumbs bound together with an egg and spooned into large caps, then sprinkled with more breadcrumbs and baked in the oven. The original recipe called for porcini mushrooms, but given that those are nigh impossible to find fresh in the U.S. (much less whole), we substituted cremini and button mushrooms in their place. Using a more neutrally-flavored base ended up working out perfectly as it allowed other ingredients to shine; the anchovies especially were able to lend a briny bite, albeit one cut by the breadcrumbs, eggs and shallots.
This is a great appetizer to serve whenever you’re in the mood for something light but different, and a great way to inject some non-traditional flavors into a typical Thanksgiving tableau without interfering with the star of the meal.
As for our star ingredient from Saturday? Stay tuned…
Maccheroni alla chitarra with San Marzano Tomato-Basil-Red Wine Sauce
Michael left me to my own devices last weekend while he visited good friends in New Hampshire (I wanted to go, but it was not to be unfortunately), and given his reluctance to red sauce these days, I found it the ideal time to try out a recipe I had seen on Serious Eats New York a few weeks ago. I’ve never been to Scarpetta’s (well, at least not yet) but upon seeing the final product in the post, well, I knew I would have to give it a try someday, and a rainy, wet evening following a rainy day seemed like the perfect time. Of course, me being me, I had to switch things up a bit–but for good reason! I swear! read more…
Cornish Game Hen with Pancetta-Brussel Sprouts and Egg Noodles
Nothing, absolutely nothing, helps you get over the stress of a long, frustrating day like spatchcocking a game hen. Simply put, using a heavy-duty pair of shears to cut out the birdie’s spine and pulling out the keel bone is therapy that no money can buy. To my delight, last week I found my Fairway stocks twin packs of Cornish game hens for a reasonable price. Long enamored with the classic Good Eats episode ‘Fowl Territory’, I decided it was time to dispatch a hen or two.
As I mentioned, I used my kitchen scissors to clip the ribs on either side of the backbone and cut out the keel bone. In AB’s immortal words, I “opened the hen like a book” and pressed it flat. I cut two slits in the skin around the cavity and inserted the end of the drumsticks to hold it all open.
I rendered some pancetta in my grill pan, removed the pancetta once browned then added two prepared birds with some sliced onions. To increase heating, I put a screaming hot saute pan that I had in the oven on top (the part that normally touches the range touching the wee-chickens) and let it go for 5 minutes on high, then finished for 15 more in the oven on full burn (500 F).
I transferred the hens to a plate and dumped the pan contents onto some egg pasta. I sautéed some Brussels sprouts and re-warmed the pancetta in the departed pan fond to round everything out. Once again, something intriguing at the supermarket has led to culinary fruition. Be not afraid, dear readers. Cook on.
Apple & Onion Bone-In Pork Chops with Couscous
Something I’ve found strange about living in New York is how warm it feels outside since we’ve been here, even as we hit the middle of November. This past Sunday alone found me hanging out with an old friend outside and wearing a sleeveless top. By the time I had hoofed it home lugging a bag of groceries from Whole Foods I was a disgusting, sweaty mess and immediately needed a shower, which seems utterly ridiculous, don’t you think?
We’ve had a few moments of colder, more fall-like days here, however, and when I came across this post from Saucy Little Dish, I knew it would be right up our alley, so we stocked up on most of the ingredients during our weekly trip to Fairway in order to be prepared when the mood struck–including taking advantage of Fairway’s amazing meat selection, specifically being spoiled for choice in the pork chop department. Bone-in pork chops have been a recent-ish discovery in our kitchen, and a delicious one at that, as the bones impart even more flavor and always seem to yield a more tender chop than a boneless one. The latter are, of course, great to have on hand, but it’s worth switching things up every once in a while if the option is available to you.
The post’s author suggested using either white wine or a combination of chicken stock and bourbon, but considering that the only bottle of bourbon in our house is a very expensive bottle of Booker’s (a congratulations gift from L on Michael’s successful thesis defense), he used some cognac we still have on hand from our sangria-making escapades over the summer instead. My general aversion to mashed/smashed potatoes (yes, you read that correctly) meant I requested couscous to be served alongside the dish, and to be honest, it serves well as a blank canvas to soak up all of the sauce while the apples and onions provide a nice texture, and it morphs into a pretty tasty lunch the next day if you have leftovers.
Overall, it was another successful instance of food-blog-inspiration, and we tip our hats to the ladies at Saucy Little Dish. Cin cin!
Mushroom-Provolone Ravioli in Rosemary Brown Butter Sauce
It’s adorable to watch the Mrs. get all enthusiastic about dinner while in the throws of our weekend food shopping, sometimes even on the subway ride. Keeping her in suspense is easier than you might thing since typically I have no idea what I want to make until I’m wherever we’re going. It’s a bit existential, I know, but lately I’ve felt compelled to well… not plan anything. I think being in a new place has something to do with it. I also think that it’s almost impossible to get used to something as large and multifaceted as NYC. As far as choice goes, I feel literally spoiled by it. This makes for some wonderfully spontaneous evenings in the kitchen, but pulling a culinary Hail Mary carries some amount risk. read more…
Wild Shrimp with Saffron Orzo
In the pantheon of quick, weeknight dinners, this dish ranks easily among my favorites, because it’s one that guarantees at least one day of leftovers, if not more, if you’re splitting it among two people. It comes from Giada DeLaurentiis’s Everyday Pasta, which if you do not own, I would suggest getting if you’re as much a fan of dried semolina flour as I am but looking for alternatives to serving it with the reliable, if not a little dull, marinara sauce.
Michael had gotten a good deal on wild shrimp from Fairway (or maybe Westside) and wanted to do something with them, though he wasn’t sure what. These seemed a little too good to be dumped into one of our favorite soups that includes tomatoes and coconut milk, so he opened up the floor to me to decide. Knowing that we had a box of orzo, I rapidly developed a craving for this dish and placed my request; surprisingly, he acquiesced without any of the resistance I usually encounter when I suggest a pasta…again.
The real key to this dish is procuring saffron of some sort. The real strands are once again readily procurable for us, but in the past we’ve also made it with safflower stamen as well, usually known as “American saffron.” It’s a significantly cheaper option, as we’ve mentioned before, and while it doesn’t pack the exact same visual or flavorful punch as the Spanish original, it’s quite close and certainly budget-friendly.
You can find the original recipe here, but if you feel like adding a little more texture (like Michael did), slice half a red onion into half-moons and lightly saute them in a little olive oil and add to the pasta prior to cooking the shrimp. Serve with your favorite salad, and you have a light, simple meal that will tempt you to eat the contents of the entire serving bowl–trust me on this.
Rosemary Focaccia
I’ve shared the results of my focaccia baking adventures here a few times, but I’ve hesitated on posting a recipe for it until I felt like I got it right. Michael has commented that each attempt has yielded a better loaf than the one before, and now that I’ve gotten back into bread-baking mode as the weather has gotten cooler, I’ve finally solidified my method to the point where I feel comfortable sharing it with you. Baking is difficult; it’s been said time and time again that baking requires the level of precision that cooking does not, and I wanted to share something that, well, works.
This produces a sizable loaf that can easily serve 4, whether cut up into pieces to snack on, or to slice in half and use for sandwiches, depending on what toppings you feel like sprinkling on top. For this time around, I went simple: just some fresh rosemary needles. Cherry tomatoes work wonders here too, or tarragon, or even some hard cheese grated over the top.
So here it is: my focaccia recipe as adapted from an incomplete one by Emeril Lagasse:
Focaccia
Serves 2-4 with leftovers
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 packet instant dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1½ cups warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees—I microwaved my water for a minute to get this temperature
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for topping
- Olive oil
- Toppings of choice (cheese, herbs, etc.)
In a stand mixer bowl (with the mixer attached to a dough hook), combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water and then stir slowly to combine. Bring the mixer up to medium speed and knead for about five minutes. Depending on the humidity, you may need to add more flour in order to turn it into a smooth ball. After five minutes, knead by hand a little more, adding flour if needed to reduce the stickiness.
Coat a bowl with olive oil and place the smooth ball of dough into it and cover with a towel. Let rise for three hours at room temperature. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13 pan with olive oil and stretch the dough to fill the pan, press dimples into the dough, and then season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle toppings evenly over the top of the bread, and place into the middle of the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Then set the oven to broil, and while monitoring every two minutes, brown the top of the bread to desired doneness.
Buon apetito!
San Marzano Tomatoes
I never would have thought that a gray, drizzly miserable Saturday morning would yield such sunny fruit. After several hectic weekends, I insisted that Elizabeth and I meander out into the city even though it was a lousy day. [Ed.--you insisted? I believe I was the one dragging you!] I was perusing the tents of the Union Square green market waiting for the skies to open trying to snag some great produce while avoiding the NYC-markup (double trouble since it would be compounded with the liberal guilt markup inherent to outdoor farmers markets). This market has an amazing number of merchants which helps to keep things interesting as well as competitive. My problem with several of the smaller markets is that they lack selection and what they’ve got isn’t worth what they charge.
Tomatoes were lackluster this year due to weird weather and blight and honestly, I’ve felt their absence. This is born out in my obsession with the $5 tomato, which was soooooo good and totally worth every penny. When I saw the hand-written ‘San Marzano’ tag, I was so excited I didn’t even care to ask what the tomaters did to deserve such a noble moniker (my guess is seeds come from Italy). Anyway, these little guys would have probably made a better cooked dish, but I wanted to taste them fresh, so I resolved to schlep then back uptown for simple bruschetta before dinner (you can see a few split from during the 100+ block ride north on the subway).
This dinner was completely provided by the fresh market. It was great. Now, I realize that I have the privilege of shopping at a fresh market with (I’m guessing) 50+ vendors, but wherever you are, there’s no substitute (or rent hike) that replaces taking the time to find some buried treasure in an unlikely location. Food shopping shouldn’t be a chore- like I said, it was raining and crowded and the subway has been all messed up for the past month, but somehow, this was a great trip and the results were delicious.
Pollo al pimentos con spaghetti fini
When I was mulling over purchasing the Barcelona Wine Bar cookbook a few months ago, I knew that I’d have to have a pretty compelling reason to do so in order to avoid Michael rolling his eyes at my wanting yet another book to add to our library. In all fairness, he’s right to do so–it’s not worth wasting time and shelf space on books that just sit and go unused, mocking me with their lack of utility. So I did a little digging on their website and took a peek at the three recipes featured, all of which were completely new to me and intrigued me instantly. That, combined with the knowledge of which of our favorite tapas from the menu were also included, was enough reason for me to add this book to my birthday wishlist on Amazon.
This particular recipe sang out to me for several reasons:
- we never order the entrees whenever we’ve visited the restaurant,
- it was inspired by a Sicilian dish,
- which itself was originally served with pasta.
When Michael offered to make me anything I wanted on Halloween, I knew that this would do quite nicely. read more…
elizabeth
michael
