Last Night’s Dinner

Did you know that March 1st is National Pig Day?

I didn’t find out until recently, but once I did, I knew that as such big fans of the pig and her gustatory gifts, it was our duty to celebrate. Luckily, the fridge and freezer were well stocked will all manner of porky goodness, and the pantry with tasty accompaniments, so we put together our plan: Rancho Gordo Marrow beans, slow cooked and studded with chunks of Mike’s pork confit; center cut whey-fed pork chops from Bobolink, lovingly rubbed with a mixture of smoked paprika, fennel seeds and ground chipotle then seared to perfection; and chard wilted down in the same pan the chops had cooked in, lightly glazing the leaves in rich and smoky pork fat.

Dinner was set, and in the end it was delicious, but we had no intention of putting off our celebration until the evening – oh, no. Pork is fantastic any time of day, and we wanted some sooner rather than later. Bacon and eggs would have been a great choice, as would biscuits and good sausage gravy, but I was really craving Mexican, so we made our way to the Fort Greene outpost of Bonita for a hearty, pork-centric brunch. With full bellies and satisfied smiles, we drank a toast to the pig – a truly magnificent beast.

Happy post-Valentine’s Day! I hope you are all basking in the afterglow of whatever sort of fun you engaged in yesterday.

In the nearly five years that Mike and I have been together, we have never gone out to dinner on Valentine’s Day. In fact, with the exception of our traditional anniversary meal at Marlow and Sons, we prefer dining in on most real or manufactured holidays. It gives us a chance to do a bit of “stunt cooking,” trying new preparations and working with higher-end ingredients. When brainstorming ideas for our meal, I looked back through a long list of bookmarked recipes. I came across a photoset of the mini Beef Wellingtons the dynamic duo over at Married with Dinner had prepared over the Christmas holiday and it sounded like just what I was looking for. I mean, really, filets of beef, mushroom duxelles, puff pastry, foie gras… what’s not to love? As it turned out it was an extremely easy dish to put together on a weeknight since the most labor-intensive stuff could be done ahead of time.

Mike mixed up a batch of pastry dough on Wednesday, experimenting with a mix of half butter and half rendered leaf lard, but he was a little unsure about how well it would work for the Wellingtons, so I picked up an emergency back-up package of DuFour all butter puff pastry. He seared the filets in our cast iron skillet when he got home from work on Thursday and set them in the fridge to chill, and I prepared the duxelles in the same pan when he was finished. Once the mushrooms and meat were both well-chilled, I rolled out the pastry and got ready to assemble, layering the duxelles and filets on top of the pastry, topping each with a slice of foie gras, sealing them up and brushing them with a bit of egg wash before placing them into a preheated 400 degree oven.

Because of the thickness of our filets, I let them bake for about 18 minutes before removing them and letting them rest while I sautéed a handful of green beans and made a quick pan sauce, again using our cast iron skillet. I combined about half a cup of red wine and an equal amount of Bobolink’s suckled veal demi-glace, reducing it until it was thick and syrupy, and finishing it with a knob of cold butter before spooning it onto our plates, setting the Wellingtons on top.

This was a truly luxurious meal, and as it turned out, when we added the cost of the filets of grass-fed Angus beef from Elk Trails, the tin of D’Artagnan duck foie gras, the puff pastry, the ingredients for the duxelles and pan sauce and the bottle of wine we picked up to go with it, we actually spent less than we do on most dinners out at our regular haunts. Nice, and we didn’t have to worry about disapproving stares when we mopped up the last little bits of pan sauce/beef juices/melty foie gras with our fingers.

Wine Pairing: Once we decided what we were cooking, we made a beeline for Uva Wines and asked wine guy Dan to recommend a bottle. We wanted something a little splurgier than normal, and he had a few good suggestions in our price range. He went to retrieve a bottle we had selected from the cellar but returned with that and another option, this 1999 Billard-Gonnet Pommard Premier Cru. One of the other store employees had recommended it as a great wine and a good match for our meal, and because it had a few more years in the bottle than the other wine we were considering, we decided to go for it. It was a delicious wine, round and velvety in the mouth with aromas of dark fruit and leather.

What with all of the excitement around the city and around Chez Dietschyblossom recently, I somehow missed this site’s first birthday. It’s pretty amazing how this little blog has grown since then, and I want to thank all of you out there for your inspiration and support. As Peter Murphy once sang, “We love our audience!”

While I’ve been a bit frazzled, I did remember to plan a Mardi Gras meal for our dinner last night, a tribute to one of my favorite cities. Just like he did last year, Mike started us off with a round of Sazeracs, and just like last year I made red beans and rice, though this time around I made a few changes.

I was inspired by Leah Chase’s recipe which was reprinted in a Williams-Sonoma catalog I recently received, but I noted that her method called for a pressure cooker. Since I don’t yet have one of those in my arsenal, I went with our trusty Le Creuset pot instead. I didn’t have a chance to run around and track down some good andouille, so I used some beautiful chorizo we recently got from Tamarack Hollow instead. I sliced that up and got it browning in a bit of olive oil, added one whole onion, chopped, and softened it in the fat. I added a pinch of salt and cayenne, plus a little bit of smoked paprika and stirred them through, then added about two tablespoons of fresh thyme and one bay leaf.

I had soaked some gorgeous Anasazi beans from Rancho Gordo overnight, so I added those next along with their soaking liquid and two cups of my homemade chicken stock. I lidded up the pot and let the beans cook over low heat for about an hour and a half, until the beans were very tender. I added a bit more salt at this point, as well as a dollop of tomato paste for richness, then mashed some of the beans with a potato masher and stirred everything through.

I ladled the beans over some steamed Carolina Gold rice, topped each serving with some sliced scallions, cracked open a couple of Abitas and we drank a toast – to the city of New Orleans, and to the future. It’s going to be an exciting year and I look forward to sharing the ride with you all.

Wishing you health, happiness and good cheer in 2008.

I had really hoped to give more updates, or frankly even a complete post wrapping up our Christmas nibbles, but wouldn’t you know it, I’m sick. Really sick. All the running around we did over the weekend and our 2 day cooking marathon caught up with me. I’ve apparently got the flu now in addition to a bad flare - bad timing as today is my birthday and Mike made dinner reservations for tonight at Blue Hill. He had planned to take me there for my birthday last year, but since we were still catching up with veterinary expenses from Dub’s hospitalization, we ended up canceling, so I’m bound and determined to drag myself into the city and enjoy my birthday dinner this year.

I did manage to take photos of our kitchen shenanigans, which you can see here. Posting will probably be light as I try to recover from all this.

Hoping you had a wonderful holiday season, and wishing you all the best in 2008.

The shelves of our fridge and bar cabinet are positively groaning under the weight of all of the goodies we have to eat and drink over the next two days (if you click on the photo you can see the annotated version in my Flickr stream). Work is already underway on tonight’s meal, and I’ll try to post periodic updates as we go along.

To those of you who celebrate, have a safe and happy Christmas.

I recently received a copy of Judith Jones’ wonderful memoir, and as I read through it (twice!), I spent a lot of time thinking about my own food memories and how I came to love cooking. It all goes back to my paternal grandmother, Marina. Some of my earliest memories involve walking into her big old house in southwest Detroit, the aromas and warmth that emanated from her small kitchen filling every room, or of the showers, First Communions and other parties held at the nearby Mexican-American hall, where Grandma and a small band of her comadres would head into the kitchen and deftly prepare enough delicious food to feed an army of guests. I loved hanging around and watching her in action, and once I reached an age where I began dabbling in the kitchen myself, I wanted to learn how to recreate her dishes.

Grandma’s a natural cook, rarely measuring seasonings, tasting and testing as she goes along, and turning out consistently delicious dishes. I’m sure some of that comes from 80-plus years of cooking, but I also feel that she has the gift of knowing instinctively what works, how much chile or garlic or liquid is just the right amount, and how much is too much. The days of watching her turn out dozens upon dozens of tamales for holiday dinners are behind us, but she still relishes cooking meals, big and small, and she loves watching cooking shows, reading recipes, talking about food, and answering questions about how she prepares the dishes we love. My dad makes his guacamole just like Grandma does, my mom has learned to turn out a nearly spot-on version of Grandma’s rice and has also mastered her chicken tacos, and my brother and his wife were delighted to get a lesson in making migas during their last visit to our hometown.

For my part, I’ve learned to make several of her dishes: borrachos, which are a favorite accompaniment to summer barbecue; guacamole and salsa, which I am often enlisted to make for office socials; and my favorite chicken soup, fragrant with onions and cumin – which incidentally, is the very first recipe I wrote up for a food blog. And of course, her chicken tacos and Mexican rice, which were part of so many family gatherings. I have yet to attempt her tamales, but you can bet that when I have a kitchen with a little more space, I’m going to round up Mike and some good friends for a tamale-making party.

As a bit of an aside, it’s interesting to me that I should be thinking so much about food memories and my grandma’s cooking this time of the year, because although I am of Mexican descent, I don’t recall my family ever celebrating Dia de los Muertos. It is without question a beautiful holiday, with rich traditions and plenty of good food, but I feel that for me to do a Day of the Dead-themed post would be a bit disingenuous – it just wasn’t something we celebrated when I was growing up, and I wouldn’t want to take away from those of you for whom the celebration holds real food memories.

When I reflect on my heritage, my upbringing, and those who have most influenced me both in and out of the kitchen, I think first and foremost of my grandmother, who I love so very much, and who I am grateful to share the love of food and cooking with. We don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like, but every time I step into the kitchen, she is right there with me in some way. So on this day, when Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are celebrating the lives and spirits of loved ones who have passed on, I celebrate my grandmother, who is full of life and who continues to inspire me.

Mexican Rice

I can recall very few meals at Grandma’s house at which this rice wasn’t served – it is as much a staple as warm tortillas and the little Sanka jar filled with homemade salsa.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, lard or bacon fat
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups long grain white rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup tomato puree
2 Knorr chicken flavored bouillon cubes, dissolved in 4 cups hot water (For some reason, if you use other bouillon or stock, it just doesn’t turn out right. So trust me on this one.)

Warm oil or fat over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onion, season with salt, and cook until softened. Add the rice, stirring to coat the grains with oil, and cook until toasted and beginning to turn translucent. Add the garlic powder and black pepper and stir well. Add tomato puree, bouillon and water, stirring well to incorporate. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking until rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed, 20-30 minutes.

Chicken Tacos

The proportions below will yield about a dozen tacos. I’ll warn you right now, they are addictive – Mike and I polished off the full batch in one sitting, and my family has been known to fight over any leftovers. If you have cats, don’t leave them unattended on the countertop – Tom the grey tabby, who belonged to my Aunt Romelia years ago, was on probation for a very long time after my aunt walked into the kitchen to find him happily munching away on the tacos she had brought home from Grandma’s one afternoon.

For the filling:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thigh meat
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup tomato puree
2 cups water

Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until chicken is very tender. Break apart with a fork and continue to cook the shredded chicken, uncovered, until all of the liquid has cooked off (you want it still juicy but nearly dry so it doesn’t make the tortillas soggy).

For the tacos:
Corn tortillas
Oil, lard, or bacon fat for frying

Heat about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of fat in a small skillet. Fry tortillas one at a time until soft and pliable, gently turning once – each tortilla should only take a few seconds per side. Add additional fat as necessary.

As the tortillas finish cooking, set them on a baking sheet until cool enough to handle, then spoon a bit of the filling in the center and roll into small cigars, finishing with the seam side down. Repeat until you have used up all of the filling.

The tacos can be held in a warm oven for a few hours or served immediately with your favorite garnish - salsa, guacamole, grated Monterey Jack cheese, or sour cream are all good with these.

The birthday boy had originally requested brisket, but it was 85 degrees yesterday, so I figured I’d do something a little more appropriate to the weather. He always appreciates a nice rack, so lamb it was.

This was pretty straightforward - I rubbed a paste of garlic, kosher salt, fresh thyme and rosemary, lemon zest and olive oil into the meat and fat side of the lamb, seared it on the fat side in the cast iron skillet about 8 minutes, flipped it and seared it for another three, then chucked it into a 500 degree oven for about 10 minutes. I let it rest for about 5 minutes while I deglazed the pan with some cognac, veal demiglace and balsamic, then sliced it and served the chops with whipped potatoes with feta.

Last night’s lamb was a breeze to prepare, but I’m home from work today and already at work on tonight’s meal - suffice it to say it’s a bit more labor intensive. Stay tuned… and Happy Thanksgiving to our friends to the North!

The last of the glasses have been washed, the platters have been put away, and our second annual cocktail shindig is behind us. Though we’ve got a fridge full of leftover food and booze and I’m still nursing aching muscles, I think Mike and I both feel that the party was a big success. We had a great time this year, and hopefully our guests did, too.

Like last year, we started planning for the party a few months ahead of time, with a long string of email conversation, notes and charts. We looked back at what we did last year, what worked well and what didn’t, and we tried to make adjustments to our game plan as needed. The weeks leading up to up to the party were particularly hectic because of our work commitments, so the pre-planning we did was extremely helpful, and while I did find myself getting a bit overwhelmed as party day drew closer, in the end I was able to laugh off the things that went wrong – and you know there’s always something.

When planning out my menu, I had a few considerations: I wanted things that people could easily eat while balancing a drink in their other hand, I wanted to have things available for meat eaters and non-meat eaters, I wanted to plan dishes where I could do as much as possible ahead of time, and I didn’t want to rely too heavily on the stovetop or oven (last year, our oven died the morning of the party, and 10 lbs. of rye whiskey marinated chicken wings went uneaten).

We broke down our shopping, purchasing most of the pantry items and other non-perishables a week or so in advance, and bringing home fresh food items on Thursday evening. Mike and I both took Friday off work so we could prep for the party and handle any last minute things that came up, and we had arranged to have a FreshDirect order delivered that day with wine and the remainder of what we needed food-wise. When our order arrived on Friday, an entire box was missing (including all of the wine we ordered) – it just didn’t get loaded onto the truck at the warehouse, and there was no way they could get the missing items to us before Sunday.

If I had not done so much of the food prep already, I would have completely panicked, but as it turned out, most of my dishes were ready to go, and we were able to get the rest of what we needed in the neighborhood. In the end, we had plenty of food – probably too much. In fact, there were a few things I had ready to go that I didn’t even serve (figs with Blu di Capra; my spicy tuna tartare), so I’ll have some fun this week trying to think of creative ways to use up our leftover ingredients. Here’s what we did serve:

Cocktail Shindig 2.0 – The Menu

tamari almonds

white bean and sun-dried tomato dip
Green Goddess dip (I used a mixture of wild baby arugula and fresh basil leaves in place of the watercress)
crudite

spiced olives
Prosciutto San Daniele
Molinari and Sons Toscano Dry Salame

goat cheese bites with herbs and lemon

deviled eggs – plain and with smoked trout

Caprese skewers

wild mushrooms in puff pastry

chicken and red pepper sausage in puff pastry

shredded duck breast in Hoisin barbecue sauce on mini brioche rolls

caramelized onion dip with potato chips

Mike’s working on blogging the drinks end of things, so keep an eye on A Dash of Bitters for his wrap-up.

(More photos are here.)

As you can see, I’ve got a bit of cleaning up to do. Our cocktail gathering yesterday was a big success, and once I’ve caught up and caught my breath, I’ll tell you all about it. For now, here’s Mike’s first post on the drinks side of things.