A Dinner to Die(t) For

As Baby was away on business for three weeks and rigorously dieting all the while, I wanted to create a celebratory dinner for him upon his return; one that was delicious but also mindful, regarding pounds and ounces. I had read an article in New York magazine about the influence of cauliflower in terms of the city's tables--I was instantly intrigued as it set my mind to work on what was to be the centerpiece of our dinner--cauliflower steaks! This cruciferous vegetable has been blanched, sliced and griddled all over town apparently as of late. I was drawn to a particular description of the cauliflower first being "milk-pickled" at Blue Hill in Greenwich Village before being cooked sous vide and then seared. For a number of hours, I thought to let our halved head of cauliflower sit refrigerated in low-fat milk with a few tablespoons from a tin of buttermilk brining powder we had bought at Williams-Sonoma, shaking the mix about now and then. The cauliflower was then ready for a sear in a cast iron skillet. I wasn't sure if the whole thing would fall apart but it didn't, clinging firmly to its leaves at the base, which added a fine flavor. I think our veggie friend could have even withstood more time in the pan for an even markedly deeper char.

Garlicky kale from Fresh Direct was a great side and we absolutely fell in love with our easy-to-make, beautiful summer squash salad so fresh and full of flavor from basil and parsley with crunchy red quinoa and complementing walnuts from Epicurious.com.

Rosie Daley, Oprah Winfrey's spa chef from years ago, provided a recipe for Chocolate Tofu Cake from In The Kitchen With Rosie for a wonderful dessert! Tofu, cocoa powder, cinnamon, maple syrup, low-fat ricotta cheese and cream cheese, a few tablespoons of Godiva chocolate liqueur and Patron coffee liqueur were first all whipped up and then chilled (no crust!) to lead us to a most satisfying, guilt-free conclusion! 

Shrimp Fried Rice

I do seem to be in a shrimpy mood this week! So to further our fishy friends, here's a recipe for Shrimp Fried Rice to elevate as well as celebrate the Chinese New Year, courtesy of Jo's in Nolita delivered by chef Andrew Pressler--where else would you wish to be?

Shrimp Fried Rice

Serves Four

Ingredients:

4 cups Jasmine rice, cooked

4 oz vegetable oil

2 Tbsp ginger, minced

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

½ Tbsp Thai chili, sliced thin

2 Tbsp scallion whites, sliced thin

¼ cup carrots, finely shredded

1/8 cup red Chinese finger chilies

¼ cup Chinese long beans, sliced thin

2 oz sweet soy

2 oz dark soy

8 oz medium shrimp, chopped

2 whole eggs, beaten

Salt

Procedure:

1. Lay cooked rice to dry on a cookie sheet the day before. Leave uncovered in refrigerator overnight.

2. Remove dried rice from refrigerator and crumble between your hands to break up the larger chunks.

3. Heat wok on high heat and add vegetable oil. When the oil smokes, add minced ginger, garlic, scallion whites and Thai chili.

4. Stir and cook the aromatics until fragrant.

5. Add the Chinese finger chilies, carrots and long bean. Cook until they just begin to soften and add your rice and shrimp.

6. Toss wok repeatedly to heat the rice and cook the shrimp.

7. Add the egg by drizzling on the upper sides of the wok and then stirring into the rice.

8. Add the two soy sauces and salt if needed. Scoop into bowls and garnish with scallion greens. Now eat!

Jo’s is located at 264 Elizabeth St (btwn Prince/Houston Sts). Visit JosNYC.com for more info. 

First published in part in Next magazine.

Date Night - Whole Grain Pasta with Shrimp

I have a small confession to make. On Monday nights, Baby and I cross the hall and watch The Bachelor with our neighbors. The Mrs. is completed obsessed with the show and insists on total silence during it but her Mr. couldn't care less, even though he still watches. Baby and I however just like getting together with our friends to witness the witless parade of mewling girls fawning over the ideal, hopeful husband-to-be. There is a certain escapist sense about it, tuning in for the two whole hours every week, anticipating who will receive a rose--and who will be most grievously jilted.

Sometimes the lot of us will order in sushi together or just eat on our own before sitting down to watch. This week I offered to cook, as we had a pound of Colossal Shrimp from Trader Joe's tucked away in the freezer next to some bacon. With some sturdy whole grain spaghetti, a touch of white wine from a recently opened bottle, a few other ingredients and a little ingenuity, I made a great meal that easily satisfied four and certainly deserved a rose!

P.S. Speaking of romance and since love is in the air, this recipe could be easily reduced for just two--an ideal meal to create an intimate Valentine's Day dinner--served with a celebratory bottle of wine, perhaps. It's very quick to make, which leaves time for...other investments.

Whole Grain Pasta with Shrimp
Ingredients
1/4 lb bacon, cut into roughly 3" strips (I used Oscar Mayer Hardwood Smoked--delicious!)
6 or so cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
A big splash of white wine 
1 lb deveined, tailed thawed shrimp, the bigger the better
1 lb whole grain pasta
2 TB anchovy paste 
2-3 TB butter
2-3TB olive oil, the best you can find
1 TB Lemon rock salt, or Kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

Method
Fill a large pot with water and get it simmering, ready to boil quickly. On medium high heat, start cooking the bacon in a frying pan, and grind your pepper over it with abandon, flipping occasionally until nicely browned and peppery on both sides. Remove with tongs and place on a plate lined with two paper towels. Drain about half of the fat and toss in the garlic. The pan will be hot, so douse the almost immediately with a judicious splash of wine (about 1/2 cup) and remove from heat. Stir in a TB of the anchovy paste to your froth and gently simmer on low heat for a few minutes and secure the sauce in a vessel that can stand up to heat. Bring your water to a full boil, add salt and pasta and cook for 7-8 minutes. Strain when done to your liking. As the boiling process transpires, use your frying pan again for the shrimp. Melt butter, add olive oil and the other TB of anchovy paste before adding the shrimp. The shrimp cooks quickly, about 3 minutes per side. While the shrimp turns a blithely orange-pink on both sides and has become just opaque (do not overcook!), strain your pasta, which should be done by now and place into a large bowl. Toss with the garlicky-anchovy-wine froth. Incorporate your cooked shrimp evenly along with the bubbly sauce in which it has been sauteed, crumble the bacon into the mix with lots of Parmesan cheese and more cracked pepper, if you like.

Behold the bubbling bacon below--which could hardly hold still to take a decent picture!

Shouldn't You Just...?

Concoct the pale cosmo that was served at Flaming Saddles during the book launch party for my equally bracing novel, the pale of memory? The basic ingredients and method are below, but less cranberry juice is used so the cocktail appears...paler.

the pale cosmo
Ingredients
1 1/4 oz thrilling vodka
1/4 oz memorable Cointreau or Grand Marnier
1/4 oz shocking lime juice
The faintest trickle of cranberry juice
An insinuating wedge of lime for garnish

Method
Pour liquids over some rocks in a mindful mixing glass. Give it a few good shakes and strain into a chilling martini glass. After a throttling the lime, throw it in at the end and do enjoy!

Flaming Saddles is located at 793 Ninth Ave (btwn 52nd/53rd Sts), 212-713-0481, Flaming Saddles.com.

Next Magazine - Hudson Lodge Review

Hudson Lodge 

356 W 58th St, btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves, 212-554-6217, Hudson Lodge

Though the weather outside is…well, indecisive at best, one thing is certain: it snows every night promptly at 8 o’clock in Hudson Lodge, the seasonal pop-up at the glorious Hudson Hotel’s outdoor park. Gusts of artificial snowflakes propelled from several strategically placed snow blowers gently float down to make a miracle on 58th Street. Under a thumping DJ beat, garden vines extend from the grand lobby to discover roughly paneled wood planks on the walls and trophy animals, both real and imagined, filling them—heads of gazelles, boars, stags and wildebeests look on with fanciful ceramic deer for neighbors. Vintage sporting goods such as toboggans, snowshoes and ski boots thrown about add to the wintry whimsy. Should you not wish to participate in the après-ski atmosphere, you may leave your earmuffs, mufflers and mittens at the door; this lodge is tented and heated.

My fella and I met up with a few friends for cocktails and nibbles. Hudson Lodge is self-service, so we found our selections from the charming bar and food stands attended by men clad in patterned sweaters and knitted caps. Although it sounded fun, we thought better of bottle service, with Belvedere frozen in a block of ice for $150 bucks--Veuve Clicquot in a drift of SnoPowder over a bucket of ice was a better bargain at $65, but we went for cocktails instead. The Snow Cone with shaved ice was an easy decision for me. It was definitely drinkable but was so flooded with lemon juice that the elements of clementine, grapefruit and apricot juices with chamomile were difficult to discern. The Winter Holiday Cooler with pisco and bitters had exciting inclusions of fig jam and maple syrup, but was dominated by the flavor of ginger beer. On the warmer side of things, the Chocolate Bonbon looked quite a treat. It was a great sensation to discover—underneath the delicious cold cream topping the mug—tequila, Grand Marnier and hot chocolate hibernating below! Ultimately we decided a simple order of Bulleit bourbon whiskey was the best answer to the cold.

The menu is limited, with savory and sweet options. And there are no plates, just napkins—chalet style. We dipped lots of olive oil-slathered slivers of toasted country bread into a steaming tub of fondue with its pervasive hint of green chilis licking the gooey strings of Gruyère, Comté and Appenzeller cheeses as well as Brooklyn Lager, burnt garlic and chunks of well-braised pork. Wonderful chili served in red-and-white plaid cardboard snack trays was their version of a classic Frito pie, I supposed, with chipotle brisket, white cheddar cheese, onions, a dollop of sour cream and of course, Fritos.

Balk and question as you may, the S’more Grilled Cheese with ricotta, Gruyère, and cheddar cheeses laced with Nutella was a wondrous melding of flavors. I don’t know how it worked or why, but spread out between two slices of pressed, grilled bread, it was heaven. 

Homemade cookies with chocolate, peanut butter, caramel and cinnamon were made to order and shockingly good—they were still warm when they came to the table! A light dusting of crushed rock salt brought out the balance of flavors even further. Whatever the weather outside may be, inside the Hudson Lodge it’s so delightful. Let it snow!

Short Order: Pots of fondue and hot toddies are among the tasties on the tiny après-ski menu at this urban lodge. 

Peter's Picks: Chocolate Bonbon cocktail; green chili fondue; grilled cheese; made-to-order cookie

Peter's Pans: The idiotic woman who complained about the blasts of fake snow.

Prices: Appetizers:  $9-$20; Alcohol:  wine, beer, full bar, specialty cocktails.

First published in part in Next magazine. 

A Rollicking Reader's Digest Dinner

 

What an evening! I pulled this menu together from an old Reader's Digest cookbook "Secrets of Better Cooking" first published in 1973. The volume was handed down to me by my elderly cousin years ago and I absolutely treasure it. The menu was all laid out as what to serve for a specific occasion and I did very little tinkering to it.

Tonight's Menu
Caviar Eggs
Truffled Green Beans with Mushrooms
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Ham with Black Raspberry Glaze
Cinnamon Orange Savarin

I wanted to set a very 70's dinner party table, reflective of the menu, so conveyed this carefully, with copper serving ware and white candles wedged in candlesticks from Scandinavia, balanced by sturdy white free-form plates, with a wooden bowl filled with whole pink grapefruit as the centerpiece. 

 

 

We started out in our living area with stuffed eggs topped with caviar. Cook 12 eggs, cool and cut in half, putting the yolks in a small bowl. Mash with 4 TB mayonnaise, 1 TB Dijon mustard, a hearty minced shallot and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the eggs and serve over a nest of greens. Now, what else would you serve with caviar? 

Vodka! The nips seen here were frozen in a tray of ice cube blocks and then lit with battery powered votives in the ice bucket to create an illusory, nearly preternatural effect. It was a great idea that I felt conclusively added to the merriment.

 

 

Here's a frozen bottle of Ketel One standing on its own.

We also provided frozen shot glasses as a vessel for those that might not wished to have their vodka quite so straight.

 

Onto the dinner, and the sides:

I don't mind confessing that I used a few oven-ready pans of mashed potatoes from Fresh Direct with only a little added butter. As everyone professed their love for it, I sat quietly, apart from other conversation, merely thanking them but otherwise didn't say a word about it! Baby kept mum as well.



I sauteed a host of wild mushrooms in butter, olive oil and randy truffle oil to toss in with a batch of green beans.



The 8 1/2 pound ham, as seen above, was uncooked, not smoked, and sat in a 450 degree oven until an internal temperature of 140 degrees was reached. It was not exactly as I expected it to be--our ham was more like a pork loin roast. But for just the six of us, we ate the whole thing anyway, so I guess it was good enough, with crispy skin and a black raspberry glaze (added the last half hour of cooking) outfitted with a frock of apricots escoffier strewn about the edges of the serving platter. This decorative side of apricots is easily made: dried apricots are boiled in 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup cider vinegar, 1 cinnamon stick, slices of fresh ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves and 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg. Chill and bring to room temperature when ready to serve as your garnish.

Bottles of rose were uncorked!

So to cut back in time a bit: several hours before the party, I launched into my savarin to be reserved for dessert with vigor, as one must when exploring unknown territory (I had never attempted this cake before), here briskly beating four eggs until fluffy to put the wheels in sweet motion.

The brilliant cinnamon orange savarin! I wasn't sure what to expect at the outcome, but it turned out that I arrived with a very good tea cake. I filled the center with plump maraschino cherries as much for fun as to add a stroke of color.



I just loved this table...

And our rollicking night spent together!

Brrrrrrrrrrr-Roast Beef Sandwiches!

 

Perfect for a wintry day! And goodness, just how delicious. Outrageously so! I spied this in last week's New York Magazine, there it was, just calling my name. It's all very easy to make, the roast is the only thing that takes time, but that's just the slow time involved to cook the meat; there's no fussing over it at all. And it's really only two hours of agonizing over the amazing aroma wafting through the kitchen, desperate to dig in. Do laundry or tend to the garden to take your mind off of it. But there are other simple things to do involving this wondrous creation, such as making the Henry Bain sauce and the pico de lettuce to be later stuffed in a warm baguette.

Click here for the full story about Mr. Henry Bain and his classic sauce/condiment, both of which hail from Louisville. 

The roast, all rubbed down, ready to go in the oven. Seen here before...

Off-Oven Roast Beef

Ingredients

1 beef roast, like top, eye or bottom round, approximately 3 pounds

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Red-pepper flakes to taste

Preparation

Remove roast from refrigerator. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil and red-pepper flakes to create a kind of paste. Rub this all over the roast. Place beef in a roasting pan or cast-iron skillet, fat-side up, and put in oven. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes per pound.

Turn off oven. Do not open oven door. Leave roast to continue cooking, undisturbed, for two hours.

After two hours, remove roast from oven. Slice and serve alongside, ideally, a watercress salad, some skillet-fried potatoes and a small tureen of Henry Bain sauce.

YIELD

4 to 6 main courses, with leftovers for sandwiches 

Making Mr. Bain's sauce at a slow simmer until just thickened, while cooking the meat. This sauce is cooled down and refrigerated until ready for use.

Henry Bain Sauce

Ingredients

1/3 cup mango or peach chutney, best available

4 tablespoons of your favorite steak sauce

4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

4 tablespoons chili sauce

2 tablespoon ketchup

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Hot sauce, to taste

4 tablespoons chopped watercress, optional

Preparation

In a small pot set over medium heat, stir all the ingredients except the watercress. Heat until slightly thickened, then remove from heat. Allow to cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

Just before serving, if you like, stir chopped watercress into the sauce.

...And after! The juicy roast, having sat in the oven off-heat for two hours.  

 

Pico de Lettuce

Ingredients

1 head romaine lettuce, cleaned, dried and cut into chiffonade

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 small red onion, or half a medium-size one, peeled and sliced very thin

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

Pinch of salt

Preparation

Put the lettuce into a medium-size nonreactive bowl. Set aside.

In a small nonreactive bowl, combine the other ingredients and whisk to emulsify. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Mix together the lettuce and the dressing and allow to sit, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Drain off some of the juice that will accumulate at the bottom of the bowl. Use on a sandwich.

  
While the roast rested, I heated up loaves of par-baked bread for the sandwiches.



Here's our meaty friend at rest on a carving board having been transferred, soaking up all the juices.

All there is left to do is to slice the meat, slather the bread with the sauce and top with the nostril-tingling dressed lettuce, having essentially pickled the onions and garlic with the acid from the lemon juice. Once everything comes together--consummate this marriage and EAT!

Thanks to the Times for such an outstanding outing!