Scott Conant's Spaghetti Sauce

As far as I’m concerned, over that last decade at least, chef Scott Conant has continually sent gastronomic love letters to New York. His supple pockets of duck and foie gras ravioli and perfect coils of spaghetti and sauce at Scarpetta have sent me howling! I’ve yet to visit and surely be enchanted by his alchemic ventures in the Faustina kitchen at the Cooper Square Hotel but at a recent bazaar in its courtyard, Mr. Conant’s sauce was up for sale, 10 bucks for a small jar, made fresh that morning, and we were more than eager to try it at home. It wasn’t nearly enough to coat our glut of pasta but thankfully the recipe came with as well so we could make more. Although it calls for blanching 20 plum tomatoes and peeling off their skins and mashing them up later, I just went with what we already had in our cupboards, namely two 28 oz. cans of Redpack tomato puree although crushed tomatoes would work as well.

Here’s how it went for us: the olive oil we had went in first, brought to a very hot temperature and the puree followed. A few dashes of cayenne pepper were added, with some kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. After simmering down about 20-25 minutes, we let it cool and sit overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, we boiled a pound of pasta in salted water according to the directions on the box until just al dente, added the drained pasta (reserving about 1/2 cup or so of the pasta water) to the re-heated sauce, tossed around and finished off with a tablespoon of the best butter we had (Vermont Cheese Company), 6-8 basil leaves rolled up and cut on the bias for a festive chiffonade, and added in about ½ cup of parmesan-reggiano.

Buon appetito!

Kao Soi - Curry Noodle Soup!

My love of Saveur magazine is hardly a secret amongst my friends, thanks to the recipes I've made for them from the now well-worn, food-spattered pages. Perhaps disclosing that one issue in particular is probably my favorite is a little more forthcoming. The April issue from 1997 features many incredible dishes, several of which I've made often--Oeufs en Meurette (poached eggs in red wine sauce), Pad Thai, and Lentilles du Puy and Macaroni and Cheese which I've posted on Evenings With Peter. I'd also like to introduce Kao Soi here, an incredibly tasty curry noodle soup that never fails to delight my guests, when served with a host of colorful accompaniments such as the sweet and sour pickled red cabbage that I use, chopped shallots, scallions and wedges of lime. I skip the first step and don't fry any noodles first, as the recipe suggests--the simply prepared Kao Soi I've always made hardly needs further embellishment!

Curry Noodle Soup (Kao Soi)
SERVES 4
"In Thailand, kao soi is made with ba mee, a variety of egg noodles, that can be difficult to find in the U.S. But lo mein–style Chinese egg noodles are a good substitute."

Ingredients
4 cups vegetable oil
3/4 lb. fresh lo mein-style egg noodles
1 tbsp. Thai red pepper (coarsely ground) or cayenne pepper
3 tbsp. Thai red curry paste
1 tbsp. Madras-style curry powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups chicken stock2 tbsp. nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 tsp. sugar
1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cut in 2''–3'' pieces
3–4 scallions, white parts only, chopped
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
1/3 cup pickled cabbage, rinsed and julienned
2 limes, halved

Method
1. Heat about 3 1/2 cups oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add a large handful of noodles and cook until crisp, about 1 minute. Remove noodles immediately and drain on paper towels. Pour off frying oil (which can be reused 2–3 times; strain and store in a closed container until needed), wipe out wok, then add 2 tbsp. fresh oil. Heat over medium-high heat, then add red pepper and fry, stirring constantly, until oil begins to smoke, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in enough remaining oil, about 3 tbsp., to form a thick chile oil. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
2. Wipe out wok, then add curry paste, curry powder, and cumin, and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 40 seconds. Stir in coconut milk and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, add nam pla and sugar, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. (Add up to 1 cup of water if soup is too thick.)
3. Cook remaining noodles by blanching in a large pot of boiling water until soft, about 1 minute. Drain, then refresh under cold water.
4. Divide noodles among 4 soup bowls, ladle soup into bowls, and top with scallions and fried noodles. Serve with shallots, pickled cabbage, chile oil, and limes.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #18

Photo courtesy of defindesemanagastronomia.wordpress.com

Mac Daddy

Just make this scrumpdilly Macaroni and Cheese and bring to your next summer barbeque. A few months ago, I posted a leaner version that incorporates cauliflower, but this is the whole cheesy deal, soaked with cream and topped with bread crumbs sauteed in butter, courtesy of Saveur magazine. Diet tip for an afternoon barbeque: eat two portions of this and a few less hot dogs.

Macaroni and Cheese

SERVES 6
This grown-up version of a childhood favorite is a great way to satisfy that deep-seated yearning for melted cheese.
8 tbsp. butter 6 tbsp. flour 1⁄2 tsp. cayenne pepper Salt and freshly ground white pepper 3 3⁄4 cups hot milk 4 cups grated cheddar 1 lb. short macaroni, cooked 1⁄2 cup heavy cream 1⁄2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 6 tbsp. butter in a medium stainless-steel saucepan over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes (flour mixture must foam as it cooks, or sauce will taste of raw flour). Stir in cayenne and season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk in hot milk, 1/2 cup at a time, and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens. Reduce heat to low and stir in 2 cups of cheese. Cook, stirring, until cheese melts, about 2 minutes.
2. Combine pasta and sauce in a large bowl, and season with salt. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over the bottom of a buttered 8" × 11" baking dish. Place one-third of the pasta in the baking dish, top with 1/2 cup of cheese, then repeat, layering pasta and cheese, ending with cheese, making three layers in all.
3. Pour cream over assembled macaroni and cheese. Melt remaining butter in a skillet. Add bread crumbs, coat with melted butter, and sprinkle over macaroni and cheese. Bake until crust is golden, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #18

Leave It To Beets

Freshly plucked from her garden, a friend gave Baby some gorgeous beets, which always remind me of the rich, red earth that Steinbeck wrote about. Baby was about to throw out the momentous leafy fronds when I suggested we prepare them on their own. Beet 'tails' are really composed of two different parts and the leaves should be separated from the stems by cutting a 'v' into them and then setting them aside while preparing the stems. Chop the stems into roughly half inch pieces and boil them in salted water with a few bay leaves until tender, about 10 minutes.

We experimented with the leaves by rolling them up and cutting along the bias to make a chiffonade. With a little toasted sesame oil and minced garlic, we simmered them down until wilted, added the softened, drained stems, tossed with a tablespoon or two of shoyu (naturally brewed soy sauce), a squirt of sriracha hot chili sauce and Sauce Istanbul, a wonderful dressing made simply with tahini, shoyu and water, found here.

What a treat--and what a shame if the leaves had been merely relegated to the garbage!

A Vegetarian Picnic

I fell in love with my friend Sharyn the day I met her, more than a few years ago. We discovered we had a multitude of things in common and I immediately felt as if I had always known her and her kindnesses, warmth, and direct humor. Since then she got married and gave birth to a beautiful boy. Given our respective schedules, we don't get to see each other that much but I do think that great, lasting friendships don't rely on time or place to exist as we grow older; we all have our lives and it's just enough to know that with good friends we're happy to know that they are in the world, that we're always thinking of each other and when we are able to finally convene, it's a lucky thing. Recently, we committed to a plan to get together for a picnic on our sundeck with her family and me and Baby.

It's not often that I make a meal that's strictly vegetarian but as that's what our guests required, I pulled out several of my favorite recipes from The Book of Whole Meals by Annemarie Colbin. I love this book and its menus to create balanced breakfasts, lunches and dinners--it even lists the order of steps to throw all the dishes together to bring to the table.

Here's an abbreviated version of what Baby and I did and brought up to the sundeck on a platter, stacked in Chinese take out containers with lacquered chopsticks and sriracha hot chile sauce! Rich, sumptuous vegetables, tahini-coated noodles, naturally brewed shoyu soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil all came together for a fun and most delicious dinner.

MENU--All recipes adapted from The Book of Whole Meals below serve 4 people.

Sauce Istanbul
This sauce is so good!
Ingredients
1/2 cup sesame tahini
2 tb shoyu natural soy sauce
1/2 cup water

Method
Place tahini in a bowl and slowly stir in shoyu until mixture stiffens. Slowly add 3 tablespoons of water and continue adding water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture has reached a light, creamy consistency. Adjust ingredients to taste and serve cold over soba noodles.

Steamed Garlic Kale
This recipe uses broccoli but we decided to use kale!
Ingredients
1 bunch kale, 2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

Method
Chop kale. Place in large saucepan with water and garlic; cover and steam until wilted. Uncover, give a stir, add some salt and steam until cooked through. Set aside.

Soba (Buckwheat Noodles)
Ingredients
1 lb buckwheat noodles
1 tsp sea salt

Method
In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil; add salt if noodles are unsalted.
Add pasta, stirring, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.

Hiziki with Mushrooms and Tofu
We found wakame seaweed instead of hiziki; it worked wonderfully!
Ingredients
4 washed, chopped Shiitake mushroom caps
2 cups water
1/2 cup hiziki seaweed
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method
Soak mushrooms in 1/2 cup water; retain soaking water. Heat oil in saucepan; add hiziki and saute briefly. Add mushrooms. Pour mushroom soaking water into hiziki, careful not to add the gritty residue. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes longer. Add tofu, shoyu and simmer for 15 minutes longer.

Arrange in your Chinese take out boxes with the soba noodles and dress with Sauce Istanbul. Cover with the hiziki, mushroom and tofu mixture and top with your steamed vegetables, perhaps as we did, with kale and a little more of the Sauce Istanbul.

Enjoy your picnic with some white wine, homemade sangria or beer!

Songs for Sharyn: Seals and Croft, Greatest Hits; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, So Far; Neil Young, After The Gold Rush; Joseph Arthur, Redemption's Son

A Marvelous Party!

Garden Party 27 officially kicked off Pride Week on June 21 with more than 50 restaurants, caterers and food trucks participating. The tasting event at the Hudson River Park Trust’s Pier 54 featuring these fine foodies brought everyone together to raise money for the LGBT Center, so they may keep their doors open year round and continue their commendable efforts to support the LGBT community.

An estimated 2,000 guests flooded the Pier to celebrate the gayest time of the year, chowing down while the sun set over the elegantly tented proceedings. We started at the free-flowing Ketel One vodka bar made entirely of ice and checked out the bidding booths offering dining packages at the ‘Foodies’ Silent Auction, which this year included gourmet food baskets, wine classes and tastings, and tickets to Broadway shows. Chad Carns, previously featured in Next, was on hand to sign his book The Gourmet Bachelor along with a chance to win a private cooking lesson with the chef and author. The auction’s premier package included Lunch for Four at Food Network and a taping of Iron Chef America.

Although we couldn’t hit all of the stands, we certainly did try. North Square offered little cups of Tomatillo Gaspacho with poached shrimp, which was almost as good as the Chilled Watermelon Gaspacho with chipotles from Boqueria; we loved the Mini Kobe Beef Brats from Klee where Chef Daniel Angerer himself doled out the little sausages on a brioche roll with cranberry mustard; Grass-Fed Meatballs from Colors were served with a piquant chimichurri sauce; we continued drinking with tasty Rum Punch from the South African restaurant Braai; the Grilled Asian Chicken Salad tossed with lemon ginger vinaigrette was refreshing and a favorite; Green Chile Mac & Cheese from Good topped with tortilla crumbs was actually really good; we had more cheese courtesy of La Bottega Trattoria with their sumptuous Robiola Pizza and we drank more too, imbibing their fabulous White Sangria; On The Plate, an underground supper club, presented wonderful Low Country style Butterbean Paté with pickled onion.

For dessert, we descended upon Peanut Butter & Co. for a fantastic PB&J. The Rice Crispy Treats from the Treats Truck (treatstruck.com) were delightful and the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from This Chick Bakes were utterly beyond.

What a great way to start our Pride Week! Congratulations to the LGBT Center for throwing the marvelous Garden Party—such an important, delicious evening!

More information is available at gaycenter.org, gaycenter.org/gardenparty27

First published for Next magazine.

Rabbit Is Rich (or not)

Despite my initial misgivings--I had wanted to use chicken--I forged ahead and cooked rabbit for the first time, procured from the nearby butcher. I felt guilty tossing the whole little body around in the roasting pan; it still resembled a rabbit frankly more than I would have wished, its hind quarters stretched out as if in mid-jump hopping through a field of clover. Usually I don't have much of a meat conscience but I admit I felt somewhat like the hunter returned home fresh from the kill, as it were.

Baby and I made a lighter version of the recipe from the cookbook that I had purchased at one of my most beloved, favorite places, Harvey Nichols in London--I've had this gorgeous tome for years and never have dallied with a single dish! It was time to dust it off! We didn't use whipping cream, only reduced-fat sour cream, soaked our own chickpeas over night instead of canned and then boiled them, swapped out spinach for the kale that we had on hand, substituted leaner Canadian bacon for the fattier pancetta it called for and used non-alcoholic beer instead of wine to save on more calories. We had a great dinner but we'd like to make it again and forego the meat altogether and just lightly toss the steamed greens and chickpeas in the luscious mustard sauce!

Comments on the recipe in italics--and I've taken care of the the conversions.

Rabbit, Spinach, Chickpea and Paprika-Cured Bacon with Mustard Sauce
Adapted from Harvey Nichols: The Fifth Floor Cookbook by Henry Harris with Hugo Arnold
Serves 4
Ingredients
big knob of butter (or a more reasonable knob)
2 saddles of rabbit, halved (or two whole chicken breasts or not)
4 rabbit legs (or not)
1/2 glass white wine (or fat-free chicken or vegetable broth, or non-alcoholic beer)
8 paprika-cured slices of bacon (or Canadian bacon)*
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 16 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
A big bunch of spinach or other greens, about 1 lb
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (we used a generous 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic)

Mustard sauce:
knob of butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
About another 1/2 glass white wine, to taste
1/2 cup whipping cream (or not! Reduced fat sour cream is fine!)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

For the mustard sauce, gently saute the shallots in a small saucepan in the butter until translucent. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Add the whipping cream, bring to the boil, season and simmer gently for 1 minute. Whisk in the mustard.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a large roasting pan stovetop over medium heat. Season the rabbit pieces with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and gently saute for 10 minutes, turning frequently until nicely browned. Add the white wine and transfer to the oven. Roast for at least 20 minutes until the pink bits have gone away, basting halfway through. Remove from the oven, transfer the rabbit to a plate and keep warm.
Place the roasting pan back on a medium heat and fry the bacon, Yorkshire-style (cooked but not crispy). Keep warm with the rabbit.
Add the olive oil to the pan and when hot, add the chickpeas and coat well in the oil. When they are sizzling, add the spinach and turn so it starts to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste and the garlic and continue cooking for 2 minutes, turning frequently. Drain.
Meanwhile, quickly reheat the mustard sauce and whisk in the Dijon mustard.
Divide the spinach and chickpea mixture between 4 plates, arrange a rabbit leg and half a saddle on top of each pile, garnish with the bacon and spoon some mustard sauce around the edge of each plate.

*Paprika-Cured Bacon
Take 8 pancetta rashers and brush with olive oil that has been mixed with a generous pinch of paprika. This is best done a few hours before cooking.