Thursday, December 8, 2011

Broccoli and Potato Gribiche

One of the problems of getting a new cookbook that you love is that you spend a whole lot of time cooking out of it and then posting subsequent blogs from it to the point where you bore your friends (we should all have such problems, right?)  Well, bored friends, sorry to say this recipe is another from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day.  
That said, this gribiche it is one of the very best ways that I can think of to eat broccoli.  Because no one really loves broccoli. Oh sure, there are those that profess to hate it (G. H. W. Bush) and those that don't mind eating it.  But no one ever says, "wow, I am craving a stalk of steamed broccoli," the way they might crave a slice of watermelon, or a glass of cold milk, or a triple scoop sundae with salted caramel sauce. Make it this way and you might find yourself actually thinking about it the next day and hoping that there are still leftovers in the fridge.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds potatoes (waxy type as opposed to baking potatoes are best), unpeeled and scrubbed (I just bought the little potatoes from TJs)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
12 ounces broccoli cut into florets
4 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled (directions for pretty egg yolks are below)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 to 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (don't skip this...it really makes the flavor pop.  If you aren't growing some in your backyard, go to a Persian or Kosher market to buy it.)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil, chives, or green tops of green onion
Directions
Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs 


Place the eggs in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat and cover the pan.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes then rinse in cold water.  Put them in the fridge to cool further.  You can do this days before you make the dish.

Broccoli and Potatoes
Preheat the over to 400 degrees and put a baking sheet in while it is warming up.
Cut the potatoes into chunks about the size of your thumb.
Using your hands, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and turn them onto a sheet pan and sprinkle with salt.
Put the potatoes on the preheated baking sheet and return to the oven, roasting them until they are cooked through and browned (about 30 minutes); do not stir or move the potatoes during this time for best results.
About 15 minutes before you think the potatoes are done, add 1 tablespoon of oil to the broccoli and toss to coat.
Arrange the broccoli in a single layer on a sheet pan and sprinkle with salt.
Put the broccoli into the oven and roast untouched; the potatoes and broccoli should be done about the same time and both should show signs of browning and slight char (on the broccoli).
Gribiche Dressing
Remove the yolk of one of the hard-boiled eggs and mash in a medium sized bowl.
Slowly add 1/2 cup of olive oil beating constantly with a wire whisk; the dressing should look smooth and glossy.
Whisk in the vinegar, followed by the mustard, whisking each ingredient into the dressing for uniform consistency.
Stir in the capers, shallots, herbs, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Chop the peeled hard-boiled eggs and add them to the dressing.
Assembly
Place the warm potatoes and broccoli into a large bowl and gently fold in three-quarters of the dressing.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, adding more of the dressing if desired.
Serve.
Serves 6




Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tortellini Veggie Salad

I pulled this recipe from Heidi Swanson's (of 101 Cookbooks blog fame) book, Super Natural Every Day. It is a kind of a weedsy seedsy, but really delicious recipe collection and every dish turns out well and pretty gorgeous to boot. It has definitely inspired me to get more vegetables into my diet, even if it has no such effect on any other human being living in my household.





Ingredients:

1 16 oz package cheese tortellini  (or any fresh stuffed pasta)

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch spears

1/2 head of broccoli or broccolini, cut into small trees

1 small clove garlic, smashed with salt with a butter knife (in the parlour with Colonel Mustard) or you can try just mincing it really really well

2 T lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

small handful mint or cilantro

1/4 cup pine nuts or almonds, toasted (please, please, please toast them...really enhances the dish.)
1 medium avocado, cut into small pieces

salt and pepper

Other options can include radishes, freshly shelled peas, fresh spinach and whatever crunchy happiness you can come up with (no, not gingersnap cookies.)

Directions:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath and prep vegetables.  Combine garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt in a small jar and shake, shake, shake to combine.

When the water is boiling, add the tortellini. It will cook in about 5 minutes (or follow package directions). After the first 3 minutes, add the asparagus and broccoli.  Strain the pasta and vegetables and place immediately into the ice bath. Once they've cooled, strain again and pour into a mixing bowl. Toss the pasta and cooked veggies with half the dressing.  If it needs more, add more.  Add the avocado and nuts and gently toss.

Serves 4.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Salmon Hash


Yeah, it has been a while. I swore I wasn't going to post any new recipes until I got the new iPhone, but it the phone has already sold out and I have had some good meals to share in the meantime. Plus, the webpage got some new fancy design elements for me to play with, so there you go. You can more easily access past recipes with the new template when you fool around with it. Expect many more recipes once that fancy dancy phone is in my hot little hands.

In the meantime, this recipe, adapted from my new favorite cookbook, Plenty, by Diana Henry, is all about the leftovers. Leftover salmon, leftover potatoes. But we rarely have leftover salmon since I buy it in small quantities at the Japanese market and we NEVER have leftover potatoes since they are the only vegetable my son is willing to eat happily. So I made everything from scratch before I assembled the recipe and it was still pretty easy. With real leftovers, it will be a cinch.

2 tbsp unsalted butter (I used one tbsp)
1 1/2 tsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 c cooked potatoes in chunks (I roasted them at 425 degrees for 20 min or so)
12 oz cooked salmon (I pan roasted it over medium high heat for 10 min or so) AND smoked salmon (NOT lox) in a 2:1 ratio
10 oz spinach leaves (yes, I just emptied a bag o' spinach for this)
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon juice
small bunch of dill, finely chopped

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet and add the onion and potatoes. Fry over medium heat until the onion is soft and golden.

2. Flake the cooked salmon into large chunks, discarding the skin and stir this in along with the smoked salmon and spinach until the spinach has wilted.

3. Season to taste, add the lemon juice and dill.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Father's Day Cherry Pie

Crust courtesy of Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours. Cherry Pie filling courtesy of Cooks Illustrated Best Recipes.


I'm not going to lie. Pies are a pain in the tush to make. They aren't easy to be spontaneous with like brownies or cookies. They require ingredients that don't just happen to be sitting in your pantry. And cutting up fruit? What do you mean I can't just throw the fruit in the Cuisinart to chop it up?

But correctly made homemade pies are magical. They make you never want to eat a store bought pie again. And if you make them over the course of two days, they are less of a pain to make.

Which brings us to the Father's Day Cherry Pie. My husband keeps asking for Baked Alaska, but I keep making Cherry Pie instead. I have no idea how the hell to make Baked Alaska and I'm not sure I have ever really seen one. But Cherry Pie for Father's Day? No complaints. From anyone.

The key is making the crust the day before in the Cuisinart. Wrap it, pop it in the fridge and wait until the day of pie baking to roll it out (I like to do it between sheets of wax paper...so much less messy...wow that sounds wrong.) And then the only lousy part of pie making, and especially Cherry Pie making...preparing the fruit. There is no way to get around pitting the cherries. Get yourself a good pitter, plug in your ipod to some high beat music (or a nice NPR podcast, if that is more your style) and set to work. It is absolutely worth it.

For a 9 inch Double Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
About ½ cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.

Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).

To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.

You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.

If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.

Getting Ready: Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate (I use a Pyrex pie plate). If you want to use a standard 9-inch pie plate, just reduce the amount of filling by about one quarter.

Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2-inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle and slip it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling. (If it's more convenient, the crust can be well covered and kept refrigerated overnight.)

Cherry Pie Filling

6 cups pitted bing cherries
3/4 c sugar
3-4 Tbsp tapioca (available in the baking section of the market)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp brandy
2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs (or dry bread crumbs)

For the Glaze (optional)
Milk or heavy cream
Decorating (coarse) or granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put everything except the graham cracker crumbs in a big bowl and toss, toss, toss. Roll out the bottom dough as directed above and sprinkle with the crumbs. Dump the filling in (you can sprinkle a couple of pats of butter on top if you want, but it doesn't really need it.) Cover with the second rolled out dough disk and crimp the edges together so delicious pie filling doesn't escape. Cut 4 slices in the top to allow steam to escape. If you want, you can brush the pie with milk or cream and then sprinkle with sugar, but I didn't bother.

Bake 20-25 minutes with a baking sheet on the rack below the pie to catch the inevitable overspilling filling. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and keep on baking until crust is golden-ish, another 30-40 minutes. Cool to room temperature before eating to allow filling to thicken properly.

And because you read through this whole recipe, I will also share with you Dorie's Apple Pie filling recipe. It is darn good...a Thanksgiving tradition.

Special Secret Bonus Apple Pie Filling (from Dorie Greenspan)

4 pounds (about 6 very large) apples
3/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs (or dry bread crumbs)
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

Same thing as above...mush together, except for the crumbs which will line the first crust before you dump the whole thing in. The cooking temperatures are different. Oven should preheat at 425 degrees, pie should bake for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375 degrees for another 50-60 minutes.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Easy and Delicious Black Cod

Sometimes you make a meal so good and so easy that even though you did not have the foresight to take a photo of it for your silly little blog, you feel a deep deep need to share it nonetheless. And that is what happened tonight with this Black Cod dish from the Out of the Box Collective* recipe collection. Suffice it to say that if you follow the directions, make some nice rice and something green on the side (I did a roasted asparagus, but I am not going to force that down your collective throats,) your meal will be photo worthy and will garner quick raves from those lucky enough to be seated at your table (unless they are your picky and hopefully one day broad palated but right now annoyingly unadventurous children. Oops, did I say that out loud?)


Ingredients:

• 2 (or more) black cod fillets (I get mine from the Japanese market)
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice (half of one, or so)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• fresh chopped cilantro and arugula

Other Ingredients:

• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• A little brown sugar
• Rice vinegar
• Soy sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season fish with salt and
pepper. Rub with a little oil to prevent sticking and place in
an ovenproof pan.

In a small pot on the stove, add brown sugar, citrus juice,
vinegar, soy sauce, and pinch of salt and bring to a boil
over medium heat. Simmer until thick and syrupy, 4 to 5
minutes. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of glaze evenly over
each cod filet. Hang onto any leftover glaze.

Roast cod for 10-12 minutes until done. Drizzle with sesame
oil if you have it. Serve over rice with cilantro and arugula
sprinkled here and there. Bring out the glaze, and use as
needed.

Out of the Box Collective is a fancy dancy CSA with a nice website full of interesting recipes:

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Shiraz-Soy Tri Tip Roast

My husband loves tri tip...doesn't matter if it is steak or roast, he just loves it. And so do my kids. And so do I. Wonder of wonder, a meal we can all agree on! But the problem is that a friend of ours made a delicious tri tip years ago marinated in Lawry's Teriyaki Marinade overnight and that is the only way he wants it prepared. I come across recipe after recipe of delicious sounding tri tips and he will only have his Lawry's. Until now. This recipe from Sunset Magazine is easy, can be prepared the day before, and is delicious. Take that, stupid Lawry's.

And, about this photo...yes we like our cows walking to our table. I cooked it for 20 minutes...you may want to go another 5 or so.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Shiraz (Syrah) wine (I used a cheapie Yellow Tail from TJs...)
2/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 beef tri-tip (about 2 1/2 lb.), fat trimmed, rinsed and patted dry

Preparation

1. In a gallon-size zip-lock plastic bag, combine Shiraz, soy sauce, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire, mustard, and garlic. Add tri-tip and seal bag. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 1 day, turning occasionally.

2. Lightly oil a barbecue grill over a solid bed of medium coals or medium heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds). Lift tri-tip from marinade and lay on hot grill; discard marinade. Close lid on gas grill. Cook tri-tip, turning every 5 minutes, until rare in center of thickest part (still pink; cut to test), 125° to 130° on a thermometer, about 25 minutes, or until as done as you like.

3. Let meat rest 5 minutes, then cut across the grain into thin, slanting slices.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Turkey Bolognese Ragu with Pappardelle

This recipe from a blog called the Culinary Chronicles is one of the few that make both me and my comfort food loving husband swoon. You know me...all veggies and fruits and fish versus my husband who never met an Italian Deli he didn't like. So we don't always agree. But on this recipe...best of both worlds. Turkey instead of pork, chunks of carrot, celery, low fat milk and onion so everyone is happy. Well, except the kids. Because they won't eat meat sauce. Sure, they will scarf down a steak, hamburger or unidentifiable hot dog meat. But somehow meat sauce is scary to them. But that is why god invented plain pasta. For wussie kids. Who will one day grow up to love meat sauce.


Warning: This is not a weeknight endeavor. Unless you happen to have a spare 3 hours on your weeknight. But you can make it on Sunday, serve it on Monday and freeze the rest for another weeknight.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
¼ pound Spicy Italian sausage, out of casing (I used chicken Italian sausage from TJ's)
1 cup white onion, finely minced
1 cup celery, finely minced
1 cup carrots, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon dried red chili flakes (or less depending on your heat preference)
2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup lowfat milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 pound Pappardelle (thank you Trader Joes!), cooked
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped (I obviously forgot this as evidenced by the lack of greenery in the photo.)
2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot. Add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Saute until softened but not browned. Add chili flakes and sauté for an additional minute. Add turkey, Italian sausage, and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Use a wooden spoon to crumble the meat and break into small pieces.

Once the meat is no longer pink, add thyme and bay leaves. Add tomato paste and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add the milk and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering until all the milk has evaporated and only clear juices remain—about 10 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering until all the wine has evaporated—about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes with its juices and bring to a boil, then place the heat at the lowest setting. Continue on this very low simmer for 2 – 2 ½ hours, stirring every 20 minutes until you get a rich, thick meaty sauce. Check for seasonings and add kosher salt and pepper accordingly.

Toss the cooked pappardelle in Bolognese sauce and serve topped with Parmesan cheese. Garnish with Italian parsley and Enjoy!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Apple Pie to End All Apple Pies


This recipe, officially called "All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie" hails from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home to Yours," which is my baking bible. This pie is just about the best I have ever eaten, from homemade to fancy bakery bought. the crust is amazingly flakey, the filling is perfect and I cannot think of a better way to overdo it on the calories. It is so good that it doesn't even need vanilla ice cream. But if you do accompany the pie with said ice cream, I am not responsible for the funny looks you will inevitably get when you moan from happiness as you eat it.

Oh, and the best of all tricks: freeze the butter and the shortening before you chop them into little bits...so much easier than slicing cold and quickly melting butter.

For a 9 inch Double Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces
1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
About ½ cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 Tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.

Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge). You can stop at this point and continue the next day if you would like...I always do.

To Roll Out the Dough: Have a buttered 9 inch pie plate at hand.

You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to life the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.

If you’ve got time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.

For the Pie

4 pounds (about 6 very large) apples (I used a couple of granny smiths, a couple of fujis and a couple of galas.)
3/4 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon (microplane is the tool for this folks. Bed Bath and Beyond, Williams Sonoma, et.al.)
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (seriously, grind your own...use the microplane on the nuts you buy at Cost Plus...much better and not too difficult.)
1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs (or dry bread crumbs)
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

For the Glaze (optional)

Milk or heavy cream
Decorating (coarse) or granulated sugar

Getting Ready: Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate (I use a Pyrex pie plate). If you want to use a standard 9-inch pie plate, just reduce the amount of filling by about one quarter.

Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a 1/2-inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8-inch-thick circle and slip it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling. (If it's more convenient, the crust can be well covered and kept refrigerated overnight.)

Getting Ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, core and slice the apples. You've got a choice for slicing: you can cut each apple in half and then slice each half crosswise or lengthwise into slices about 1/4 inch thick, or you can cut the apples into chunks about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on a side. In either case, put the apples into a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss everything together really well- I do this with my hands. If you've got a little time, let the mix sit for about 5 minutes, until juice starts to accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.

Remove the pie plate and top crust from the refrigerator and put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the crust-this will help keep it from getting too soggy (some sog is inevitable)- and then turn the apples and their juices into the crust. The apples will heap over the top of the crust. Pat them into an even mound. Dot the apples with the bits of cold butter. (The world will not end if you forget the butter...trust me.)

Very lightly moisten the rim of the bottom crust with water, then center the top crust over the apples. (If the crusts-top and bottom- are still very cold and in danger of cracking when you work with them, let them sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes.) Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the crust attractively, or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. If you've pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely. Really I just mush the two crusts together for an easy, I like to call it "rustic" look.

Use a sharp paring knife to cut about 6 slits in the top crust. If you'd like, brush the top crust with a little milk or cream and sprinkle it with sugar.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake the pie for another 50 to 60 minutes (total baking time is between 65 and 75 minutes), or until the crust is gorgeously browned and the juices bubble up through the top crust. After about 40 minutes in the oven, if the top crust looks as if it's browning too quickly, cover the pie loosely with a foil tent.

Transfer the pie to a rack and let it rest until it is only just warm or until it reaches room temperature.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Best Ever Cheese Souffle

 

This recipe, from Alexandra Guaneschelli at Food and Wine Magazine, is impressive yet pretty darn easy when it comes right down to it.  It is not a low cal dish and, therefore, not one to make every week unless you have the cholesterol of a four year old.  But it presents well and who doesn't like cheese souffles?  Another note:  I spaced out at Trader Joes and purchased a sharp cheddar cheese instead of gruyere and it still tasted fantastic!

 Ingredients 

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 large eggs, separated, plus 3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons dry sherry
6 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (2 packed cups)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (I forgot to put this in and it still worked!)

    Directions

    1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a 1 1/2-quart soufflé dish and coat it with 2 tablespoons of the Parmigiano.
    2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour to make a paste. Gradually whisk in the cream and bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking, until very thick, 3 minutes. Transfer the base to a large bowl; let cool. Stir in the egg yolks, sherry, Gruyère, sour cream, salt, Dijon mustard, dry mustard, cayenne and the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano.
    3. Put the 7 egg whites in a large stainless steel bowl. Add the cream of tartar. Using an electric mixer, beat the whites until firm peaks form. Fold one-third of the whites into the soufflé base to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain.
    4. Scrape the mixture into the prepared dish. Run your thumb around the inside rim of the dish to wipe away any crumbs. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the soufflé is golden brown and puffed. Serve right away.