What Tom Cooked

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.

Tom's Chris Steak House - Photo Menu

2011-10-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

Special thanks to Tootsie Urwiler for these incredible photos. See her work at www.thebubbleyears.com.

Roasted Corn, Bacon and Cheddar Gougeres

Antipasti: Cravanzina Two Milk Cheese, Aged Provolone, Molinari Salumi

Verdure a Scapece: Marinated Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini, Squash, Cauliflower, Red and Yellow Peppers and Olives

Caesar Salad, Garlic-Rosemary Croutons, Crispy Pancetta

Homemade Rustic Bread

Entree Plating

Summer Vegetable Scafata: Asparagus, Artichoke, Baby Carrot, Fennel, Haricot Vert, Leek

Spinach with Roasted Shallots and Garlic

Grilled Calamari Steak with Tangerine Vinaigrette and Fennel

Porcini Crusted Grilled Ribeye

Hazelnut Panna Cotta Topped with Amaretti Crumbles and Raspberry

KHS Homecoming 2011: Tom's Chris Steak House

2011-10-03T19:43:00.000-05:00

If you've been following this blog you might recall the 'fine dining' menus for my daughter Nora and her friends for their high school homecoming festivities. Parents participate as waiters and kitchen staff. It's been a blast. As usual a mix of couples, singles, long time friends and new faces among the kids resulted in new and energetic parental labor.

In 2009 it was "Looks Like a Kid's Menu" in which 'kids dishes' were taken to an innovative and high level - such as a recreation of Grant Achatz's PB&J and a 'deconstructed hamburger with a constructed tower of chili cheese fries'.

Last year the menu was "Tastes From (Almost) Every Continent".

Yesterday's event went down the path of 'high end steak joint' - with Italian influences. My good friend Chris Day again tended the grill and prepped with me for hours and hours. So we labelled the effort as Tom's Chris Steak House. The menu is below, with links to several similar from here or Be A Better Cook. Other recipes to follow in due course. Wow - I like that unintended pun.

My friend Tootsie Urwiler did a professional photo shoot of the event. We'll share a complete photo essay / multimedia thing soon as we work through the hundreds and hundreds of great shots she captured. Here's her website - www.TheBubbleYears.com

Tom’s Chris Steak House

An evening of fine steakhouse dining inspired by the elegant style of Mario Batali’s Babbo and the comfort of Frankie’s 457 Fourth Street Spuntino. These two ends of the dining spectrum have been transplanted from New York to Texas for our honored guests.

REFRESHERS

Apple – Ginger Spritz

Pomegranate and Soda

STARTERS

Roasted Corn, Bacon and Cheddar Gougeres
Antipasti: Cravanzina Two Milk Cheese, Aged Provolone, Molinari Salumi

Verdure a Scapece: Marinated Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini, Squash, Cauliflower, Red and Yellow Peppers and Olives

SALAD

Caesar Salad, Garlic-Rosemary Croutons, Crispy Pancetta

Homemade Rustic Bread

ENTRÉE

Porcini Crusted Grilled Ribeye

Grilled Calamari Steak with Tangerine Vinaigrette

Cheesy Grilled Polenta

Spinach with Roasted Shallots and Garlic

Summer Vegetable Scafata: Asparagus, Artichoke, Baby Carrot, Fennel, Haricot Vert, Leek

DESSERT

Hazelnut Panna Cotta Topped with Amaretti Crumbles and Raspberry

Family Dinner for the staff: Texas Hill Country Sausage and Seafood Gumbo (Shrimp, Crawfish, Crab).

Romesco Sauce over Tilapia with Roasted Asparagus

2011-09-17T10:36:00.000-05:00

Romesco Sauce, as published in Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Fresh bread crumbs, garlic, toasted hazelnuts, toasted almonds, fresh tomato, paprika, roasted ancho pepper, olive oil.....baked, then combined with fresh stock.

The Best Wine Value I've Ever Found

2011-08-08T22:21:00.000-05:00

My friend Bill is a serious wine collector. And he won't go near California Cabernets, owing to the excessive prices.

However, if we could all buy wine like the bottle above, there'd be no argument with Bill.

After buying a few other things at a grocery store, on a Sunday when liquor stores / wine shops are closed, I ran across the following:

Mount Veeder Winery - 2007 Cabernet

A favorite Cab, from a winery / producer which Margie and I have visited in Napa

(disregard the big corporate background involved)

Fairly ridiculous list price at the grocery store: $49.99 - overpriced by about $14 or so

How evah......this bottle was conspicuously on some sort of "super-discount-for-some-reason-we-need-to-dump-it" display

I nevah pay much attention to such displays, and have never bought anything from one.

Unexplained discount at checkout - $12.00

Discount from being on remainder shelf: 50%

Net cost: $18.99

Drinkability, Taste, Quality - 100%

Enjoyment - Full.

Reason for 50% discount - scraped up label on back of bottle.

Seared Lemon Rosemary Tuna

2011-08-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

These days it's easy to find 100% contrary points of view. Politics. Religion. Fish. But it's hard to engage in a sustainable fishing debate when your good friends bring their hand caught Gulf tuna over.

In this treatment I coated the tuna with salt, very finely chopped rosemary and lemon zest. Sear on a very hot grill for no more than 2 minutes per side. Or use a grill pan if it's so intensely hot outside that you don't want to fire up a grill.

Clockwise from the top of this little appetizer spread are:

Chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano
Mixed olives with Feta
Hot Spanish Chorizo slices
Sticks of Asiago

BBQ Chicken - Totally Indirect Heat

2011-07-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

We did this simple BBQ chicken a few weeks ago. Since it wasn't a few days ago, I've since forgotten where I read about the specific cooking technique. For some reason, I don't recall seeing this exact approach for grilled BBQ chicken:

Use Indirect Heat for 100% of the cooking time

Almost all grillers know that direct heat and chicken doesn't work. But I don't recall a recommendation for 100% indirect heat. The approach I think I've seen most often is to char / brown first, then use indirect heat.

One key to this approach is that the chicken be coated in a dry-rub first. I used my own smoked paprika rub which is most frequently used for brisket.

Yes - you can / should brush a little sauce or even honey over the chicken at the last second and cook over high heat briefly.

Herbes de Provence Flat Bread

2011-07-23T13:26:00.000-05:00

Flat Bread with Garlic and herbes de Provence

I got a lot of positive email and FB comments about the recipe for Pizza Dough with herbes de Provence. Thanks!

It might be quickly obvious that the same dough makes a great flatbread if you don't use it for pizza. Obvious to others, not me. I used it for flatbread for the first time recently. Add a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Some grated hard cheese is good too.

The Cheese Stuffed Flatbread, shown below came from Ideas in Food. I didn't care for it as much as the herby one.

Printer Friendliness for 216 Recipes and Articles on What Tom Cooked!!

2011-07-20T11:41:00.000-05:00

Apologies to my Kindle readers - this doesn't apply (yet) to Kindles.

Many of you have asked for printer-friendly versions of my recipes and articles. For some recipes, but certainly not all, I've provided links to a printer friendly archive.

I'm pleased to announce that ALL past and future articles on What Tom Cooked are now available in printer friendly format!!

Just look for the "Print Friendly" icon at the bottom of each article and click. Not only can you print, but you can edit out any section you don't want, email the article / recipe or even create a PDF. Way cool.

Herbes de Provence and Garlic Pizza Dough

2011-07-13T21:47:00.002-05:00

This is my go-to pizza dough, rich with garlic and herbs. At times I have bought a brand of herbes de Provence from Williams Sonoma that comes in a decorative ceramic jar with a loose fitting lid. It's a pricey decision, but I will attest that the quality of the mixture is quite good.

I just checked out WS. A 1 ounce jar is $18. Whoa, I can't believe I ever rationalized that purchase (they've carried this product for years - and admittedly I always liked the rustic container).

BUT, there's a 2 ounce refill for $12. That's actually a pretty good price.

Herb and Garlic Pizza Dough

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
Fresh ground black pepper
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast (if using a packet, reduce water to 1 1/4 cups and flour to 3 cups)
3 1/4 cups bread flour (all purpose is an acceptable substitute)
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon salt

Heat oil, garlic, herbes and pepper in a small pan until flavors are released. Immediately remove from heat and let cool. This can be done well ahead of making the dough.
In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over the warm water and let sit for about 5 minutes.
Separately, combine the flour, cornmeal and salt.
Add the flavored oil to the water, then add the flour mixture about a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly until all ingredients are combined. Steps 3 and 4 can be done in a food processor, for speed.
Remove from bowl and knead dough for a few minutes until smooth.

The dough can be refrigerated, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out. It also can simply be stretched out by hand without a rolling pin, creating an even more rustic look and feel.

Divided into several pieces, the dough also survives well in the freezer for a few weeks or months.

Pizza with Carmelized Onions and Sausage

2011-07-12T21:35:00.000-05:00

My kids like an occasional pizza night. Unlike some enthusiastic pizza lovers, I've never tried to achieve perfection in pizza making. Instead, I've got one really reliable and flavorful dough recipe that works for hand formed pizzas that can be grilled or oven cooked.

There are some fundamental techniques that are almost mandatory - such as oven tiles and a pizza peel if cooking in an oven. Cornmeal is needed for transfer to / from the oven.

There's one exception to my approach, which a recipe for Chicago-style deep dish pizza, which is summarized in this article snippet I shared last year. The dough technique was adapted from pastry making and published in Cook's Illustrated. But that's a whole 'nuther story.

What I like about this free-form pizza making:

You don't necessarily need tomato sauce
Choices for toppings are endless (past posts: Carmelized Onions, Figs and Blue Cheese, Potato, Bacon and Rosemary, Alligator Sausage, Roasted Garlic, Roasted Shallots and Spinach.)
Even leftovers are fair game for potential toppings.
Kids of any age can get involved in assembling pizzas or shredding cheese(s)Dough recipes? Frankly, if you use a good source - such as Cook's Illustrated Magazine or The Essential York Times Cookbook or How to Cook Everything - you can't go wrong.

All right, I'll publish my dough recipe with garlic, olive oil and herbs de Provence. Tomorrow.

Independence Day Menu 2011

2011-07-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

I Guess They Liked the Brisket

We had a few families over on Monday to celebrate Independence Day.

By the way. Does it drive you nuts when a celebrity on national TV wishes you "Happy 4th of July"? OK. Happy December 25th right back atcha'.

Though our menu somewhat lengthy, any given dish was surprisingly simple in and of itself. Lemon Chive Potato Salad only had four ingredients besides lemon and chive. I tried a Maple Syrup Baked Bean approach (my son LOVES beans) from How To Cook Everything that only had mustard and bacon in it besides the beans and syrup. Fresh tuna from the keys was prepared several ways, all of which were simple and quick.

Here's the whole menu with links to the recipes if I've already published them. If not, they're coming soon to What Tom Cooked or to Be A Better Cook.

Michelle Mah's French Onion Dip - from Tasting Table
Tuna Ceviche Gazpacho Style
Seared Tuna Provencal - recipe coming soon
Spicy Sichuan Seared Tuna - recipe coming soon
Lemon Chive Potato Salad
Grilled Asparagus with Citrus Vinaigrette - from Batali's Molto Italiano
Pimenton Spiced BBQ Brisket
Homemade BBQ Sauce
Smoked Texas Pork Sausage & Pork and Venison Sausage
Maple Syrup Baked Beans - Bittman's How to Cook Everything
Fresh Baked Bread

Tuna Ceviche Gazpacho Style

2011-07-05T13:53:00.002-05:00

[[[ I swear I saw it spelled cevice when I ran across the dish and made it for the first time in the late 80's. Looks like my memory is not so hot.]]]

Our good friends returned from a fishing trip in the Keys with lots of fish. For our holiday barbecue yesterday, this was one of the ways the fresh tuna was prepared. I could have added a lot more herb, citrus or acidic tones to this dish.....but wanted to let the tuna stand almost entirely on its own. This was subtle, but very enjoyable.

1 pound sushi quality tuna loin (to be eaten nearly raw)
1 yellow bell pepper
2 plum tomatoes
1 cucumber
3 tablespoons "subtle vinaigrette" (you can use the linked recipe in smaller ratios if you'remaking it for just this dish - 2 tablespoons each of oil, 2 teaspsoons each of the vinegars.

Peel cucumbers partially (some small skin strips should be left on for texture and color). Sprinkle with Kosher salt and drain on paper towels or in a strainer for at least 20 minutes.
Seed and chop the tomatoes and yellow pepper. Mix with vinaigrette.
Less than an hour before serving, chop the tuna into cubes. Mine were more than 1/4" but less than 1/2" cubes.
Mix thoroughly and serve in small glasses or atop a bed of tender greens. Season with Fresh Ground Pepper and Sea Salt.

Bruised Rosemary Pineapple

2011-06-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

Another combination from Aki and Alex's book Ideas In Food. This is a whole pineapple cut into planks, lightly seasoned with salt, brown sugar and cayenne, packed and vacuum sealed with lots of rosemary.

I gently froze it overnight because I don't have a vacuum sealer. This apparently gives a close approximation.

Results? Flavors were more subtle than expected, but noticeably unique. Tasty on it's own, it was best combined with other things we had around - such as a piece of grilled shrimp or a bite of spicy steak. We used quite a bit of it the first night as an important garnish and flavoring for Grey Goose vodka.

With some leftover, the flavor intensified brilliantly over the next few days.

A Quick Cocktail Party for 50

2011-06-20T11:50:00.001-05:00

First - there's no such thing a quick party for 50. But, you might find yourself quickly planning such a party, with little time to spare. That's where I found myself last week. A dear friend called and asked if I could make a few appetizers and salad for a 40th birthday party. I said "sure" quickly, then asked how many people were to be served. 50.

Twenty people or so is just a good sized family gathering. 30 is a party. 50 is a catering job. The total volumes really do affect choices of dish to serve, greatly extend prep and cooking time, and may even drive some changes in technique choices.

Here's the menu:

- "Everything Bagel" Cured Salmon with Goat Cheese on Savory Bagel Chips
- Chunky Gazpacho with Basil Oil and Tarragon Cream garnish
- Shrimp and Roasted Zucchini Brochettes with Bacon
- Caesar Salad with Rosemary Chicken-Drenched Croutons

Here are some quantities to consider:

11 pounds of shrimp
30 plum tomatoes
15 heads of romaine
10 pounds of yellow squash and green zucchini

And here are important techniques to use:

- Detailed planning for shopping and timeline
- Roasting in large hotel pans instead of pan-searing
- Always have something cooking in the oven (because in this menu you can) while you are prepping other parts of the meal.
- 2 gallon zip lock bags, lots of plastic containers
- An assistant / gopher who can run to the store, do dishes and do simple prep tasks (quartering tomatoes, spinning lettuce, washing veg, ......)

No time was taken out to snap photos of these dishes......but then again, they were being loaded into bags and containers for transport, not presentation!!

Penne Carbonara with Zucchini and Thyme

2011-06-10T13:14:00.000-05:00

Very nice dish from Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home. Very few ingredients, only a touch of cream, and though he recommends a handful of egg yolks to finish the carbonara (as is traditional), I used half as many and still had a delicious result.

The fresh twist in this dish is the use of zucchini saute over high heat in bacon drippings (bacon removed, much of bacon fat removed). Fresh thyme over the top, especially if you can score some thyme flowers from the tips of the plant - adds color and great unique flavor.

This dish was also a case where i used a high-end $5 for 17.6 ounce pasta. It did not disappoint. I recommend that indulgence once in a while.

Strange Memorial Day Menu - Brats and Vegetable Fried Rice

2011-06-07T12:41:00.000-05:00

Even if it's just our small family, we normally have a BBQ feast of some sort on the warm holiday weekends - Texas style brisket, Ribs, mixed grill.....something in the spirit of the holiday, anyway.

This year, well, we were pretty busy. And just a day before I had made a Chinese menu to celebrate Nora's birthday, and had leftover chilled rice and some dry-fried long beans. The result was a Memorical Day menu of:

Johnsonville Bratwursts in lame grocery store buns
Flavorful Vegetable Fried Rice

I'm guessing that this combination has never been served in on a holiday weekend, or any weekend, ever in history.

The most unusual part of this menu? All three children asked the question, "What's a bratwurst?" I guess we've been out of the Midwest for a long time now.

Roasted Fennel, Leek, Celery Root and Peppers

2011-06-01T09:15:00.001-05:00

Miscellaneous vegetables on hand, some needed to be used soon. Here's what happened.

Peppers cored and laid out in quarters skin side up. Broil until skins blister. Remove, cover.
Celery root cut into 1" batons, similar in size to a small french fry. Shallot and Fennel sliced, tossed with olive oil, S & P. Roast 450 degrees 15 min.
Peel and chop peppers. Toss with other vegetables.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in small skillet, add 1 garlic clove, sliced, 1 teaspoon fennel seed, red pepper flakes to taste. Heat to soften garlic. Add 1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar. Add vegetables ti skilled if cooled, or toss garlic and spices onto warm vegetables.

Serve as a piquant side dish, as a topping for small pizzas, or on baked potatoes.
Leftovers can be mixed with rice cooked in chicken stock. Add a touch of olive oil.

Homemade Fettucine Alfredo, Roasted Broccoli, Chicken Diavolo

2011-05-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

Homemade pasta was cut to fettucine and used in fettucine alfredo - not my favorite dish. But instead of slathering pasta with creamy, cheesy sauce, I simply lightened it up by simply tossing the pasta in butter, grated cheeses and some cooking water. Quite good, and better for you.

Roasted Broccoli with oranges - zest and orange juice make a simple vinaigrette to top the broccoli. Mmmm. Recipe comes from Molto Italiano by Mario Batali. I think I used his proportions for pasta dough too. 3 cups flour, 1/2 cup semolina, 5 eggs. I think.

Chicken? Eh. It was OK.

Making the dough "well" used to intimidate me. It's actually quite, quite easy. Kneading is, well, I'd like to say minimal, but it's a little more than that. The rolling / cutting process is probably more time consuming than anything, really.

Sausage and Brown Mushroom Frittata

2011-05-23T08:07:00.000-05:00

Recently we had this delicious frittata. You can see that there are slices of Texas Hill Country sausage (which is similar to kielbasa). This one is likely garlic sausage, which I prefer to most varieties, with pork and venison my second favorite. Large slices of crimini mushroom are added and a few fresh thyme sprigs. Most times I start this kind of fritatta with some sliced shallot and pancetta in small cubes - there may be evidence of their presence here - but I kind of forgot exactly how I made this one.

That's the beauty of Frittata - any reasonable savory or neutral base can be used. The egg mixture can be plain, or you can whip in cream, grated cheese or fresh herbs. For more details on this technique, see my detailed article on frittata making.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook

2011-05-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

If you've been reading my columns for a while you know that I'm picky about cookbooks - they have to be very, very good to make it onto my short shelf of favorites

So it's quite rare to see a book in a bookstore, immediately buy it, and have it be as good or better than I had anticipated. However, that's the story behind the newly published The Essential New York Times Cookbook edited by Amanda Hesser.

Amanda is now almost a household name, even if you're not a NY Times reader, as she appeared in the movie Julie and Julia, owing to her role of publicizing Julie's blog. Hesser has been one of the elite corp of NY Times food writers from the past couple decades. She strongly upholds their collective credentials with this impressive volume of recipes, history and amusing personal anecdotes.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century is a fairly unusual cookbook, as it draw on recipes from as long ago as the 1850's, when the Times first began writing about food and cooking. In some cases these ancient references serves as cultural history lessons, but in almost all cases the original recipes are quite useful and appealing renditions of classic or forgotten dishes.

The recipes are drawn from columns as they appeared in the paper, or from the many cookbooks assembled by NY Times food writers.

Several of the most important recipe sources I used to develop my own cooking skills tie to the New York Times publications and writers. So some of these recipes are already in my repertoire (or on my cookbook shelf). The New New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey (very hard to get now on amazon or ebay - good luck) was the first "serious" cookbook I used. The 60 Minute Gourmet columns were published every Wednesday and I used them extensively. Each week I would make whatever two or three courses Pierre Franey happened to concoct. This ritual ended up being a key component of my courtship with Margie. Let's get back to the new book, shall we?

The original publication date and source of the recipes are included. It's really exciting to read a recipe, find it appealing and then learn that it was first published in 1892 or 1907.

In many cases there are comments from original recipe authors or other relevant anecdotes.

So, it's quite uncommon for me to find a new cookbook and embrace it so quickly and strongly. I already recommend this book highly, as the recipes go far beyond the simple phrase "time tested", and the background stories surrounding them are a delight to read.

I've already made two new dishes from the book - and each was an unqualified success. Actually, I've many more recipes from the book since I first drafted this list. A testament to the book's value, for sure.

Winter-Slaw with Lemon and Orange Dressing
Italian Beef Stew with Rosemary
Buttermilk Herb Dressing
Sam Sifton's Pizza dough
Apple Galette

I also started a quick list of recipes that caught my attention. I was obviously in the salad section, and got distracted before I got too far, but here are some I liked and look forward to making:

Puree of Celery Root
Fried Radishes
Warm Eggplant Salad with Sesame and Shallot
Airplane Salad (what ever that is)
Fennel and Apple Salad with Juniper Berries
Moroccan Carrot Salad

Pizza with Carmelized Onions, Figs and Blue Cheese

2011-05-16T14:15:00.000-05:00

Dough recipe came from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, listed as Sam Sifton's Pizza dough. Much like tomato sauces, I've made many, many pizza doughs over the years. This is not my #1 favorite, but it's near the top of the list. Labor is minimal, texture and flavor is excellent.

The Frankies Sausage with Peppers

2011-05-10T14:46:00.000-05:00

Italian Sausage with Carmelized Onions and Roasted Peppers
-- was served over polenta with Romano cheese

Another great recipe from The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion and Cooking Manual. While at times this cookbook seems almost too elementary, the Frankies share some great technique ideas. [Please click on the link to buy the book and support my tiny amazon commission. I won't print full recipes from other peoples cookbooks without permission. Plus, the book is worth it, a good resource and enjoyable read].

In the case of sausage with peppers, there are several keys that make this a truly above-average or better dish:

Parboil Italian sausage links for 15 minutes, partially submerged in liquid in a large saute pan (sausage still won't be cooked through).
Roast red and yellow (and green if you want) peppers separately, grilled or broiled; peel in the usual manner, slice and reserve.
Carmelize onions on their own, before other ingredients are combined.

Sausage is then taken OUT of it's casings, added to onions. Add tomatoes (San Marzano or fresh) then peppers.

The technique of cooking several ingredients separately is common in some super high end kitchens (think Thomas Keller) to allow each ingredient to be cooked to a desired done-ness and retain it's texture at a desired level. The opposite approach - creating a melthing pot of flavors, has is own distinct benefits. I like what happens in this dish - as it takes an immigrant classic and brings it up a level.