What Tom Cooked

Tortellini / Torteloni with Prosciutto and Peas

2024-12-20T14:42:00.004-06:00

See recipe at: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1770426669714940865/7216107904249138844

Charlie Trotter’s Ginger-Infused Egg Drop Soup with Poached Chicken

2024-10-05T13:40:00.000-05:00

Ginger-Infused Egg Drop Soup with Poached Chicken

4 chicken thighs

1 T olive oil

Sauté 2 min/side

1 onion chopped

1 carrot chopped

1 celery chopped

8-10 min

1/4 C ginger chopped

2 minutes

2 Qts chicken stock

Cover, med-low 30-40 min
Remove chicken and cut into small pcs
Strain and defat

—————— can remove and finish later

Simmer stock

1/2 C lemon thyme

Simmer 3 min
Strain
Season
Simmer med-low

1 egg lightly beaten

Add to soup and stir

——————

Center chicken in bowl
Ladle soup

Scallions - top

From: Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home

Braised Leek Soup with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms

2024-10-05T13:34:00.001-05:00

From: Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home

The pictures look terrible for many reasons, but the only one I’ll mention is that these were taken with seconds, because the first serving was so good.

Also, it was suggested that skipping the mushrooms would still make an incredible soup.

Braised Leek Soup with Sautéed Oyster Mushrooms

3 leeks, white and 2” green, sliced in half

5 C chicken stock

2 sprigs rosemary

Cover and simmer 25 minutes
Chop leeks into bite sized pcs

3 T butter

Purée 2/3 of leeks, stock and butter until smooth
Strain, return to pan
Season
Reserve chopped leeks for garnish

——————

1 shallot, minced

1 T butter

Heat 2 min

1.5 C Oyster mushrooms

Sauté 7-10 min
Season

——————

Plate mush in wide bowl
Top w leeks
Surround w soup

Olive oil drizzle

Chives - top

Saffron Mussels w Spinach and fresh Fettuccine

2024-09-23T14:13:00.001-05:00

From Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home.

Charlie Trotter’s Ginger-Melon Soup w Citrus Granite

2024-09-23T14:11:00.002-05:00

This is a great recipe to test out your new Vitamix 5200. With only two ingredients in the soup, it seems like a no brainer. However, it’s important that you make the citrus granite (which is just a fancy word for ice). The soup, while flavorful, doesn’t stand up on its own. It’s too subtle.

There is a great documentary on Netflix about the groundbreaking work done by Charlie Trotter - titled “Love, Charlie”; it’s an important survey of how we went from fine dining meaning French to now meaning Fine Dining in America.

Ginger-Melon Soup

2 small or 1 large honeydew melon, flesh cut into 1-2’ chunks

1/4 C candied ginger, coarsely chopped (see note)

Purée in blender until smooth
Strain through a chinois / strainer / cheesecloth

Citrus Granite

1 grapefruit

2 oranges

2 lemons

1 lime

1/4 C simple syrup

Juice all the fruit into a metal 8x8 pan (or similar)
Freeze, scraping the surface with a fork every 10-15 minutes until completely frozen

Assembly

Place a scoop of granite in center of a shallow bowl
Carefully pour soup around the granite
Garnish with mint or citrus zest if desired

Notes:

Add a 1/4 C water to the melon if it doesn’t blend right away
Use 2 T of preserved ginger if you can’t find candied ginger. Mix 1/4 C of julienned ginger into 1/2 C water and 1/2 C sugar. Simmer 10 minutes. Drain and repeat 2 more times with refreshed water and sugar.

Adapted from: Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home

Herb Crusted Cod, Chilled Pea Soup, Pickled Cauliflower and Cucumbers

2024-09-07T14:39:00.001-05:00

Adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s Maze cookbook.

Veal stock used for soup.

Pickling was lime juice, vanilla paste and a T of sugar.

Fennel-Coriander Halibut with Mixed Peppers

2024-09-03T12:56:00.002-05:00

From the pictures below it should be obvious that the spice coating on the halibut is the key to this very simple dish.

All you need to do is put 1 teaspoon each of fennel seed and whole coriander into a spice grinder (or mortar and pestle) and grind finely. Add lemon zest and salt and fresh ground pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees.

For the peppers, just sauté sliced peppers and onion, salt, pepper and some cayenne.

Source: NYT Cooking

Carnitas with Tomatillo-Avocado Sauce

2024-09-03T12:47:00.001-05:00

This is one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever find - just pork, salt and water. Yet the cooking technique makes it sizzle. The only thing you need to watch carefully is the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Once the water has all evaporated and the carnita pieces are nicely browned you must stop cooking or they’ll shrink up and be dried out. You want them to be big and still juicy, with a nicely browned outer crust.

The Tomatillo-Avocado Sauce is equally easy. One bit of advice - don’t add any water until the main ingredients are fully blended, as you don’t want the sauce to be too thin. If it’s already thin prior to adding water, you can thicken it by adding more avocado.

Both recipes are adapted from the world-class Mexican cooking authority Rick Bayless.

Carnitas

Preheat oven to 375.

4 pounds bone in pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes

Salt - sprinkle liberally

Place in pan with 1/3 C water
Cover pan with foil or lid
Cook at 375 covered for 1 hour
Raise to 450 and cook uncovered for 30 min
Cook for another 20 min, turning every 7-8 min

Serve with tortillas and Tomatillo Sauce

Tomatillo-Avocado Sauce

4 tomatillos - about 8 oz. peeled, rinsed

1 small avocado

1 large garlic clove, coarse chop

1 jalapeno or 2 serranos, coarse chop

1/2 to 2/3 C cilantro

2 teaspoons salt

Puree in a blender
Add water for consistency

Chilean Sea Bass Provençal

2024-08-22T13:23:00.001-05:00

Chilean sea bass, dusted with cayenne

Fennel, tomato, garlic and capers

Summer Shellfish Salad

2024-08-20T10:26:00.005-05:00

Tower of Calamari Fettuccine and Summer Vegetables

Lobster tail with Magic Vinaigrette

Poached Scallops dressed with home-infused Basil Oil

Broccoli Salad

2022-09-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I’ve been dealing with cancer for the past few years. Blogging fell low on my list. Many people have kindly asked that I share my advice, menus and recipes again. If you’re one of them - thank you. It’s meant a lot to me that you found this useful.

Sending my love, Tom

This is a nice version of broccoli salad, using Asian flavors instead of overplayed suburban mayo, ranch, bacon, etc.

Broccoli Salad

Dressing

½ cup raisins

½ red onion, finely sliced

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

4 tsp sugar

1 tsp Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

Combine and let rest for 10 min

3 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs sesame oil

Add to mixture and stir

Salad

1½ pounds broccoli, chopped into ½” pieces

1 apple, cut into ½” cubes

2 scallions, sliced

½ cup toasted almonds

1 cup red or green grapes, cut in half

Toss with dressing

Notes:

Include the broccoli stalks: cut into small, thin, bites sized pieces, excluding the toughest woody parts
If desired, blanch broccoli for less than 1 minute and cool in an ice bath
To toast almonds: roast at 300 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes

Adapted from New York Times Cooking subscribe here.

My Favorite Simple Grilled Tuna Steaks

2015-08-24T09:28:00.001-05:00

I have a few favorite methods of seasoning tuna for grilling. Several come from my beloved chef Pierre Franey's classic book Cuisine Rapide. One version uses grated ginger, paprika, cumin and lemon juice. Another with thyme, garlic, lemon juice and rind is drizzled with melted butter and the marinade.

All go well with a simple tomato and herb salad.

However, my favorite is the simplest of all, presented here.

Grilled Tuna Steaks

4 tuna steaks, 1 inch thick. Approx. 2.5 pounds

8 Fresh thyme sprigs

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Olive oil

1. Sprinkle both sides of tuna with salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Drizzle olive oil over steaks.

2. Press thyme sprigs onto steaks. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temp for 15-20 minutes.

3. Grill over high heat for 2 minutes per side, leaving thyme sprigs on the steaks.

4. Slice thinly and serve wth tomato salad or a vinaigrette for dipping.

Classic Cabbage Slaw - Cole Slaw

2015-08-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

My grandparents owned a deli on Long Island in the late 1940's or early 50's I think. Grandma's potato salad was a classic and loved by customers and our family alike. The two keys to that recipe were sliced potatoes, I rarely see that anymore, and a healthy dose of celery salt. So I grew up loving that taste.

This classic slaw draws on the celery theme, using both celery and celery seed.

I find it important to slice the cabbages by hand, using a large chef's knife. This results in slightly larger slices of cabbage than in most slaws, creating a little more firmness and crunch.

Also, the use of mayo and sour cream is a great combination, here and in chicken and potato salads.

Serves a medium sized crowd

2 celery stalks, chopped in 3 pieces

1 apple, preferably Granny Smith

1 yellow bell pepper

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (not seasoned)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder (I rarely use these powdered ingredients, but they work here and are essential for my Red Beans and Rice)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 cups mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 head green cabbage

1/2 head purple cabbage

2 carrots,shredded

1. Chop the celery, pepper and apple in a food processor to create a finely chopped mix.

2. Combine all the dry ingredients and vegetables in a small bowl. Allow them to sit for 10 to 15
minutes.

3. Add the mayo and sour cream to the small bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.

4. Cut the green cabbage into 1/8's then slice thinly by hand. However, the cabbage shreds should be larger than you normally see. Cut half the purple cabbage in the same manner.

5. Dress the cabbages and carrot with two-thirds of the dressing. And more to your taste. As with nearly all slaws, it's better after a few hours or the next day.

The vegetable purée - a key step that makes this slaw unique.

Short Rib Ragu - Perfect Cold Weather Comfort

2015-01-14T15:00:00.001-06:00

This is one of the best dishes I've made in the past year or two, possibly the very best in terms of flavor. I've served it over small pasta shapes, but it is likely best over polenta, either loose or grilled in cakes. It is very rich, so stretches to more servings than one would expect.

What makes this recipe so good? Anything with short ribs is pretty darn good. This recipe creates several distinct rich flavors - meat, vegetable, wine, herb - which all present themselves in the final dish.

Cooking tip: Scrape down the sides of your Dutch oven or roasting pan during and at the end of cooking. The browned coating on the edges is super concentrated flavor that can be returned to the cooking liquid.

Ingredients

1/3 cup dried porcini mushrooms

3 pounds beef short ribs

1 cup onion, chopped

1 large stalk celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

3 medium garlic cloves, sliced

2 anchovies

2 T tomato paste

1 large sprig rosemary (or 1 T dried)

4 sprigs thyme (or 1 t dry)

2 cups full bodied red wine (Cabernet or a blend)

2 T soy sauce

1 fresh bay leaf (or two dried)

2 cups imported San Marzano tomatoes with sauce

3 cups beef stock

- or 1 cup veal stock plus water

Equipment

Dutch oven, or large oven proof pot

Procedure

Soak mushrooms in 2 cups boiling water
Salt and pepper ribs, brown in batches, remove
Sweat onion, celery, carrot, garlic, anchovies, tomato paste, fresh thyme
Add wine and soy reduce to half
Return ribs to pot, add bay leaf, mushrooms and soaking liquid (avoid gritty bits at bottom)
Add tomatoes, stock and water to barely cover ribs
350 oven, covered, 3 hours
Scrape down sides of pot several times while cooking
Remove ribs, blend veg and sauce with a stick blender. Season with salt and pepper.
Separate rib meat from bones and shred. Return to sauce.

Easy Roasted Sausage Peppers and Tomatoes

2014-08-12T12:42:00.001-05:00

This is a favorite 3 ingredient dish. Just add herbs - any mix will do.

Add 2 lbs Italian sausage, 2 or 3 red and yellow peppers cut into 1-2 inch pieces and 3 or 4 containers of cherry tomatoes to a large roasting pan. Liberally douse with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Toss in 2 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary along with 1 bay leaf and 3 large garlic cloves.

Roast this mess at 375 for about 45 minutes. If you remember, stir the ingredients around once or twice while cooking. You'll end up with a sweet-savory mix that is great on pasta.

Crispy Skinned Salmon + lightly Creamed Leek and Cabbage

2014-05-26T23:03:00.001-05:00

Great technique on the salmon from this Food52 pairing (www.food52.com). Scraping moisture from fish skin with the blade of a chef's knife is a technique Thomas Keller mentions in The French Laundry Cookbook. Along with using high heat, this is a foolproof way to cook meaty fishes.

The. cabbage dish is one that even cabbage-averse eaters will enjoy. Technique is again a key to make this dish work. Add the cabbage to the pan of bacon and leek in three successive batches to have a blend of soft, medium and slightly crispy textures.

Batali Menu - Stuffed Meatloaf (?? !!), Pasta w Jalapeño and Crawfish,

2013-04-28T19:09:00.001-05:00

This picture kind of stinks, and the mushroom, yellow pepper and spinach didn't work out (probably the quality of the spinach, not the recipe).....but this was a really nice dinner.

The pasta with crawfish and jalapeno was excellent - in part because there were just a few high quality ingredients. Thins strips of gently sautéed jalapeno did not make a spicy dish - just a well flavored one. The dish also relied on Batali's excellent basic tomato sauce, about which I will describe soon on Be A Better Cook.

The meatloaf-like dish was wonderful. The meat mixture was 50/50 beef and sausage, along with the expected breadcrumbs and milk. Not expected was a substantial amount of Pecorino Romano in the meat mix. The stuffing included blanched spinach and carrot batons, mortadella slices and fontina cheese. It might be a little intimidating to roll up a giant piece of meat - but it wasn't too hard with 4 hands involved.

The three recipes came from Mario Batali's iBook "Simple Family Meals", which is the first electronic cookbook I've found that is better than a traditional hardcopy cookbook. More on that recommendation coming soon.

Christmas Menu - Crown Roast, Alsatian Potato Pie

2012-12-31T12:34:00.000-06:00

Christmas at home in Houston - a little different than cooking in various relatives' kitchens in Chicago for the past few years. Le menu.....

Egg Nog

Bacon Cheddar and Chive Gougeres

Crown Roast of Pork Stuffed with Winter Fruits

Alsatian Potato Pie

Sautéed Vegetables with Beans and Chanterelles

Tart aux Fruits

The last three recipes came from Hubert Keller, who currently has a show on PBS. You can find his recipes here. Be careful though, there are errors in some recipes and the website has errors too. The vegetable technique for cooking each veg separately is commonly used in high end kitchens - I think I first saw it from Thomas Keller - and is worth the extra effort. The Tart aux Fruits recipe is not in the list of desserts - but is in the master list of all recipes. And there are no pictures of the dishes on the site - a shame because many are beautiful.

Alsatian Potato Pie from Hubert Keller

Crown Roast of Pork with Winter Fruits - apricot, prune, dried blueberry, dried cherry

Sautéed Vegetables with Beans and Chanterelles from Hubert Keller

Tart aux Fruits from Hubert Keller

Secret Ingredient for Turkey Soup

2012-11-26T08:57:00.003-06:00

See the new post on Be A Better cook for Secret Ingredient for Turkey Soup.

Hard for you to keep a secret? Me too. It's Marsala wine or Spanish Sherry.

2012-10-04T12:52:00.001-05:00

With cool, overcast skies we attended a great tailgate party at Reliant Stadium with coworkers and friends. Not wanting to make too big a deal about food, I just prepped two staple dishes - Red Beans & Rice, New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp and some homemade bread for dipping into the shrimp sauce.

Well....that didn't work. No low key at all. Because these recipes are so reliable and I've made them so many times it's hard not to get pretty good results....so the people brought out the looove!! And the Texas held up their end of the bargain by smothering the Titans to get out to a 4-0 record for the season.

Except for the bread,which requires some dedication and training on the techniques, these are REALLY easy dishes to make. Give them a try.

Goat Cheese and Spinach Omelet

2012-09-24T16:38:00.003-05:00

After a long break from posting here, I'm pleased to start back up with a 3 ingredient recipe. But there's a backstory. I recently spent a long weekend+ in Vegas and had the opportunity to eat at Gordon Ramsey's new restaurant several times. It was my first time eating at a Ramsey restaurant ever, desite my connection to Gordon via the Master Chef show.

I've cooked dozens of Ramsey's recipes over the last few years, so it was informative to experience his restaurant's results first hand. Many dishes were in line with others he's done around the world (as gleaned from cookbooks) - but others were entirely new to me. One such dish was his beef marrow with pesto, tortoloni and homemade English muffins.

The experience revived my interest in cooking Gordon's recipes at home - as it had been 6-9 months since I last did one of his dishes. So last weekend I made a few, including this 3 ingredient omelet.

Keys to this dish were simply to:

Use a good amount of butter in the pan
Precook the baby spinach for literally seconds, remove it, then add back when the omelet is 75% cooked
While cooking the omelet, use a plastic or silicon fork to almost continuously stir the eggs, which will make a flat style omelet. But the technique with the fork makes for a 'tender' texture, what ever that means. Try it.

Recipe:

Preheat broiler.
Add a tablespoon or more of butter into an omelet sized pan over medium high heat.
Sauté a handful of baby spinach for 10 seconds then remove.
Gently stir together 3 eggs, add a pinch of salt.
Pour into pan and cook over med high heat, while consistently stirring with a plastic or silicon fork until eggs are almost set.
Add goat cheese by pinching small portions of cheese and dropping randomly around the eggs. use as much as you like.
Add spinach atop eggs and place under broiler until lightly browned and eggs are set.
Top with a grind of fresh pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Fusilli with Caramelized Cauliflower, Corn and Capers

2012-04-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

Fusilli with Cauliflower, Corn and Capers
alongside Hill Country Sausage and Pickled Okra

Time for spring / summer pasta dishes. Roast vegetables are a sweet touch - balanced by the tartness of a few capers.

Three ears fresh corn, cut from cob. Saute in oil until browned. Remove.
A whole head of cauliflower cut into 1/8" to 1/4" slices. Cook in same large skillet as corn, don't wipe out between uses. Add olive oil and brown until cauliflower is soft.
Add 2-3 tablespoons capers. continue to cook.
Chop 2-3 tablespoons garlic, add a few dashes of hot pepper flakes and a tablespoon of fennel seed, gently crushed. Add corn.
Meanwhile, cook 1 pound of pasta and drain.
Add vegetable mixture to pasta. Top with toasted bread crumbs.

This dish was inspired by a Judy Rogers as published in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, which has become a recent favorite source for recipes that involved a minimum of ingredients and maximum taste and variety. Beware, though, the recipes are highly dependent on high quality ingredients and mastery of moderate to advanced technique.

Root Vegetable Gratin

2011-12-23T10:51:00.001-06:00

This dish has been a hit with family members and friends for several years. It's a little labor intensive, but worth the effort. Even kids find it delicious, just don't tell them up front that it's made with parsnips and celery root!

4 parsnips (the size of a large carrot); rutabaga can be used if you can't get parsnips)

1 celery root (tan, rough skinned about the size of a grapefruit)

1 pound sweet potatoes

1.5 pounds Yukon Gold (or similar) potatoes

2 small cloves garlic or one large

1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock

2 cups heavy cream

Whole nutmeg and grater

A mandoline, electric slicer or a steady hand and sharp knife are important to this preparation.

Peel parsnips and cut into large pieces, cutting around the core.
Peel celery root and sweet potatoes and cut into large, manageable pieces, a couple inches in size (a handful or small fist size).
Using mandoline, an electric slicer or a sharp knife, slice vegetables into 1/8" thick slices.
Lastly, prepare potatoes in same manner.
Add all vegetable slices to a large bowl and combine with 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, a healthy grinding of fresh black pepper, the stock, and 1 cup of cream. Grate nutmeg liberally into mixture.
After combining, add more cream, up half a cup, to ensure mixture is moist and well coated, but not runny or pooling with liquid.
Coat a gratin dish(or any ceramic dish) with butter, add vegetables in an even layer.
Cut a piece of parchment paper (or foil) to fit the dish, butter it liberally, then place atop vegetables.
Cook at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes, ensuring that vegetables are tender.
Just before serving, drizzle the top of the vegetables with cream, and place under broiler until slightly browned.

This dish can be baked in the morning (or prior evening). Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate. Reheat at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, then do final browning.

Eggs with Toasted Breadcrumbs

2011-12-05T17:57:00.001-06:00

First - my sincerest apologies for the long break between articles. Many of you may know that I've returned to the corporate world from the consulting world....I thought I was working long, hard hours before, but now......:)

Here's a simple dish inspired by Judy Rodgers of the Zuni Cafe (in S.F.). Toasted breadcrumbs along with fried eggs seems like an obscure combination - until you've tried it. Then it will seem to be an obvious combination, and one you'll return to often. The gentle crunchiness of small breadcrumbs with fried eggs is surprising. I've also used crumbles of leftover grilled polenta in this dish.

Eggs with Toasted Breadcrumbs and Herbs

Coarsely grind a few slices of rustic bread. Alternately, use Japanese panko breadcrumbs. Reserve a few tablespoons of crumbs.
Add a few leaves of fresh herbs (thyme is great).
Heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick or stainless skillet. Add the bread crumbs.
Right after the crumbs begin to brown, break 2, 3 or 4 eggs into the skillet, sunny-side up style.
If you care to flip the eggs, sprinkle a the reserved crumbs over them first.
Top with an herb sprig, or a thin slice of crispy pancetta or bacon.

Monkfish and Shrimp Braised with White Beans, Fennel and Tomato

2011-10-22T16:43:00.001-05:00

This is a brilliant dish from Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe Cookbook, and is far easier to make than the end result implies.

Saute fennel then a little onion. Add white wine, tomatoes, garlic, chili, saffron and a splash of liquor such as ouzo, pernod or sherry. Add fish or chicken stock. Then add cooked white beans. (Here's a simple way to cook the beans, introducing lots of flavor)

Sear and broil the monkfish and shrimp - then toss over the vegetables/beans.