Red Velvet Ice Cream

Hubby loves Red Velvet Cake. I love ice cream. We both love ice cream mixed with cake. Therefore, I decided to see if I could pull off a concoction that married the best of both worlds.

Red Velvet Cake recipes are everywhere…so much so that I was overwhelmed by the options I found on the Internet. Some call for butter, others use oil. Almost all call for a generous serving of red food coloring (Though, I did see at least one recipe that used beets to dye the cake).

I finally settled on a largely reviewed and positively received recipe for Red Velvet Cake from Epicurious.com. I can’t comment on the entire recipe because I stuck strictly to making the cake (sans berries and icing). The cake was surprisingly light and made waaaay more cake then I would ever need for this project. Next time, I’ll cut the recipe in half.

For the ice cream, I went to the source: Dave Lebovitz’ “The Perfect Scoop” and was delighted to find a recipe for Cheesecake Ice Cream. When I went to make the ice cream base I averted almost near disaster after opening the package of cream cheese at 10pm to find that 2 ounces were missing…I must have used some before and forgot about it! A wonderful resource that had I just discovered earlier that day helped me do some quick conversions to account for having less cream cheese than the recipe called for. I tasted the mix before chilling and it was perfect…tasted just like cheesecake.

When it came time to actually make the ice cream, I decided to briefly chill in the freezer the bite size pieces of red velvet cake that I wanted to mix in. I then added them as I transferred the finished ice cream into the container, finding that they broke apart pretty easily.

My husband, the Red velvet cake afficianado, declared that the finished product tasted just like a piece of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, but colder. We augmented the final dish with some buttered pecans and extra pieces of cake. Revisions for the next batch will include adding larger pieces of cake, and possibly some of those yummy pecans.


Cheesecake Ice Cream - Adapted from “The Perfect Scoop” by Dave Lebovitz

6 ounces cream cheese – cut into small pieces
Zest of 1 lemon
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons half and half
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt

Zest lemon directly into a blender; add sour cream, half and half, sugar, salt and cream cheese. Puree until smooth and chill in fridge at least 24 hours.

Churn mix in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Mix in chilled pieces of red velvet cake as you transfer ice cream from the machine to its container. Freeze, wait patiently and then enjoy!

Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes

When we went to David Chang’s Momofuku Ssäm Bar I ordered a spicy pork dish that was really good. When I got home one of the first things I did was look through his new book Momofuku to see if it was in there and sure enough there it was.

I found that the biggest challenge for this recipe was finding the ingredients. Silken tofu, kochukaru, rice cakes, these were just some of the things that I had to find on Asian grocery scavenger hunt. Some might find it frustrating, some might take a look at the ingredients and take a pass, but there is just something about finding this stuff that has been a lot of fun.

The ingredients, while different, have many similarities to American ingredients. Kochukaru is basically chili powder. Rice cakes (in stick form) are not the lightweight prepackaged diet snacks you typically think of, but doughy sticks that have the dense chewiness of gnocchi. Silken tofu, when whipped, has a mellowing affect on spice like one would expect from sour cream. For me it’s the kind of thing that gets the mind going a mile a minute as to the application of these ingredients on some of my favorite foods.

If you’re up for the challenge of finding the ingredients, this is a great recipe for any spice lover. My only caveat would be to make the dish with the dried chiles but pick them out when everything is done. If you’re adventurous go ahead and try them but consider yourself warned. This does freeze and warm up well.

Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes

Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes
by David Chang from Momofuku

• ½ cup grapeseed or other neutral oil
• 3 large yellow onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 2-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 very loosely packed cups (1-1/2 ounces) dried red chiles
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons toban djan (jarred Chinese fermented bean and chile sauce) or ssämjang (the Korean analogue to toban djan)
• 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon kochukaru (Korean chile powder)
• 6 tablespoons of water
• 1 tablespoon usukuchi (light soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups sliced or coarsely chopped Chinese vegetables, such as Chinese broccoli or bok choy
• 8 long cylindrical rice sticks, cut in 1 inch lengths
• 8 ounces silken tofu, drained
• 1 cup sliced scallions, greens and whites
• ½ cup packaged Chinese fried shallots

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. After a minute or two, when the oil is hot, add the onions and ½ teaspoons of the salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to take on color and begin to shrink in the pan, about 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, turning the onions over on themselves every 5 or so minutes, until golden and soft and sweet, about 20 minutes longer.
2. Meanwhile, heat another tablespoon of the oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. After a minute or two, when the oil is hot, add the ground pork and cook, jabbing at the meat with the edge of the spoon to break it up, for about 10 minutes, just until it has lost its raw pinkness but not so long that it brown or threatens to dry out. Transfer the pork to a bowl and reserve it. Return the pan to the stove.
3. Add the remaining 5 tablespoons oil to the pan turn the heat down to medium, and let the oil heat up for a minute. Add the dried chiles and warm them through in the oil for 1 minute, until they’re fragrant. Add the sliced garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute to infuse its flavor into the oil – it doesn’t need to color, but when the aroma of garlic is rising from the pan, it’s ready, Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Chinese chile bean sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, and kochukaru. Reserve until the onions are cooked.
4. Add the water, cooked onions, and pork to the pan with the chile sauce and stir to combine. Stir in the soy, sugar, and remaining2 teaspoons salt. At this point, you can cool the sauce and refrigerate it (for a few days) or freeze (for a few weeks), if desired.
5. Meanwhile, put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it well.
6. Bring the sauce to a simmer over medium heat and stir in the chopped greens. Cook them for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stems are just tender.
7. Drop the rice cakes into the boiling water and cook them for 2 to 3 minutes, until warmed through. Drain and add them to the pan with the pork sauce. Whisk the tofu until creamy and fluid and then stir it into the rice cake mixture.
8. Divide the rice cakes and ragu among serving bowls, garnish each with some scallions and packages fried shallots, and serve hot.

Blueberry and Cream Cookies

We recently had the thrill of experiencing Christina Tosi's incredibly original desserts at Momofuku Milk Bar in the East Village. Bucking today's trend of shopping on the outside isles of the grocery store, Tosi and her distinguished staff's inspiration points them straight to the interior. Using things such as non-fat milk powder, coffee grounds, packaged white bread, potato chips, and the kitchen sink, you find yourself wanting one of everything in the dessert case.

I tried one of the Blueberry and Cream cookies (along with compost cookie, the malted marshmallow cake, and salty pistachio caramel soft serve), and could have easily devoured three more on the spot. I thought chewiness of this cookie was awesome, but was particularly intrigued by the concept of milk crumbs, not to mention blueberries, in cookies.

This is actually one of the more mainstream desserts sold at MMB that won't scare the less adventurous eater. You can watch the video here of Christina making the cookies on Martha Stewart.

If you haven't seen David Chang's book Momofuku you have got to take a look. There are a few more recipes from Tosi in the book that are featured on the Momofuku Ko's menu.

Blueberry + Cream Cookies

Blueberry + Cream Cookies (a two part recipe)
by Christina Tosi

Milk Crumbs

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon nonfat milk powder
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup white chocolate, melted

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until dried and crumbly, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove milk crumble from oven and let cool completely.
3. Transfer milk crumble to a large bowl and fold in remaining 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk powder and white chocolate. Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Blueberry and Cream Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) Plugra European-style unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup glucose
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup Milk Crumbs

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together butter, sugars, and glucose until well combined. Add egg and mix until well combined.
3. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add blueberries and milk crumbs and mix until well combined. Using an ice cream scoop about 2 1/8 inches in diameter, scoop dough into balls and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer baking sheets to refrigerator until dough is chilled, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until cookies are golden brown and tops begin to crackle, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Momofuku Pickled Carrots

For Thanksgiving we had ordered the Salad Box from The Chef’s Garden. Looking for something a little out of the ordinary for the special occasion we thought a unique variety leafy greens, some which we knew others we didn’t, would make for a great presentation. As it turned out, it was huge success. But we’d made an executive to save the gorgeous carrots that came in the box.

Chef's Garden Carrots

So we had these beautiful miniature carrots, but hadn’t planned on making anything with them. I knew I didn’t want to chop them up into little pieces. There was no doubt these things were going to be prepared whole. It was their birth rite. These carrots knew from day one they were not some workhorse carrot that was going to get cut into a fine dice. God had big plans for these things.

Since we were headed out of town I decided to try a pickling recipe. It would be perfect. If I started them on Saturday or Sunday slender orange bits of deliciousness would be ripe for the picking when I got home a week later. It was destiny.

David Chang has a pickling recipe in his new book Momofuku. The book is awesome. Usually you get a few stories sprinkled throughout the book with the majority of the pages devoted to recipes; this thing is packed with both. The stories range anywhere from how he became a chef, to the developing philosophy of each restaurant, to the story behind each recipe (my favorite.)

Pickled Carrots

Pickled Carrots
David Chang Momofuku
2 pounds baby carrots (as in infant or dwarf, the whittled and bagged supermarket variety), scrubbed, peeled, and attached and clean them well; it makes for a better presentation. The carrots we get from Satur Farms on Long Island are 5 to 6 inches ong and slender – perfect for our purposes. For larger (but still small) carrots, cut them lengthwise into halves or thirds – they should be a size that’s comfortable to pick up and snack on, though they don’t need to be bite-sized.

• Vinegar Pickles, Master Recipe
• 1 cup water, piping hot from the tap
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable or fruit, prepared as indicated

1. Combine the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Pack the prepared vegetables into a quart container. Pour the brine over the vegetables, cover, and refrigerate. You can eat the pickles immediately but they will taste better after they’ve had time to sit – 3 to 4 days at a minimum, a week for optimum flavor. Most of these pickles will keep for at least a month, except where noted, though we typically go through them in a week or so after they’ve had a chance to sit and mature.

Salty Carmel Ice Cream with Chocolate Crumble

I'm a huge fan of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams' Salted Caramel flavor, so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. As you can tell from the list of ingredients this is very rich with an intense caramel flavor. Not intense like rosewater, but intense like "it packs a lot of punch so one scoop will satiate me". Its overall consistency reminds my a lot like gelato.

To add a little something to compliment the chewiness of the ice cream I sprinkled it with a chocolate crumble. Johnny Iuzzini uses this at Jean Georges by laying the ice cream on a small bed of this stuff, to keep it from sliding around. It also does a fantastic job of adding some texture to the dessert.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate Crumble

Caramel Ice Cream
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups whole milk, warm
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, warm
• 10 large egg yolks
  
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Put 1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar ina deep heavy saucepan and stir in the water to moisten the sugar and make a mixture that resembles wet sand. (This will help the sugar caramelize evenly.) Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then simmer, without stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the sugar melts into a rich amber caramel. *for me it started to turn, and fast, at about 13 1/2 minutes. Make sure you're paying attention.* If any sugar crystallizes on the sides of the pan, brush with a wet pastry brush.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly (to prevent bubbling up) stir in the milk and cream. Should the caramel seize and harden, return the mixture to the heat and stir to dissolve the caramel, then remove from the heat.
3. Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and yolks in a medium bowl until slightly thickened and the whisk leaves a trail. Slowly, while whisking, add about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid to the yolks, then whisk in the remaining liquid. Set a fine-mesh basket strainer over a clean saucepan and strain the liquid into the pan.
4. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Set a medium bowl in the ice bath; have a strainer ready.
5. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides often with a wooden spoon, until steam begins to rise from the surface and the custard thickens enough to coat the spoon. Strain into the bowl, add the salt, and let cool, stirring from time to time.
6. Refrigerate until cold or, preferably, overnight.
7. Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the texture is "soft serve," transfer to a storage container and freeze to harden. (The ice cream is best eaten within a day, but it can be made several days ahead.)

Chocolate Crumble
Dessert Fourplay by Johnny Iuzzini

• 6-1/2 tablespoons (94g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup (30g) unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Valrhona)
• 1/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour
• 7 tablespoons (87g) sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon (1g) coarse salt

1. Heat the oven to 375 or 350 convection. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment.
2. Cut the butter into pieces and put it in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle. Whisk the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, and salt together and add to the bowl. Mix at medium speed until well combined, dark brown, and in big crumbs.
3. Spread out on the baking sheet breaking up the biggest crumbs and leaving room for spreading. Bake until crisp, about 20 minutes *I burned the first batch at 16 minutes, and the next batch was decent at 13. I'd start checking it at about 11 minutes. It takes less than a minute to burn* rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool.
4. When the crumble is cool, put it in a food processor and process to fine, even crumbs. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
   

What to do with a Monster Cauliflower

Yeah, all of that is from a single head of cauliflower

At the Shaker Market I laid eyes on one of the most incredible heads of cauliflower I'd ever seen. They were big and absolutely filled with florets. Usually when I buy cauliflower you get a smaller head and thirty percent of it is usually waste, for this thing I'd say it was closer to fifteen percent. In fact, the one I picked up was just over four pounds and was enough to make this recipe (which calls for 2 heads totaling 4 to 5 pounds.)

Is there a better way to spend a Sunday morning?

Like most everything I've made from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook, this one is a keeper, (admittedly the only stinker was the chocolate chip cookies, but I think the problem was the amount of flour. I hate baking recipes that use volumes for dry ingredients.)

While this soup is not exactly low fat, it is an irresistible bowl of goodness. I've always found cauliflower to be a pretty boring veggie that is difficult to find good recipes for. As was the case last weekend, the locally grown vegetables at the North Union Farmers Market continues to dwindle, but all of the items used in this recipe can still be found here in Cleveland. This soup is one that should have broad appeal. It's sophisticated enough for the foodie, yet homey enough that my dad wouldn't be afraid to eat it.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Red Beet Chips
by Thomas Keller from "Ad Hoc at Home"

• 2 heads cauliflower (4 to 5 pounds total)
• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 3/4 C coarsely chopped leeks (white and light green parts only)
• 3/4 C coarsely chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon Yellow Curry Powder or Madras curry powder
• Kosher salt
• 2 C milk
• 2 C heavy cream
• 2 cups water
• Peanut or Canola oil for deep-frying
• 1 medium red beet
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• Torn Croutons (see recipe)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower, and cut out the core. Trim off the stems and reserve them. For the garnish, trim 2 cups florets about the the size of a quarter and set aside.
2. Coarsely chop the remaining cauliflower and the stems into 1-inch pieces so that they will cook in the same amount of time. You need 8 cups of cauliflower (reserve any extra for another use).
3. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, curry, and coarsely chopped cauliflower, season with 2 teaspoons of salt, cover with a parchment lid, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are almost tender, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard the parchment lid.
4. Pour in the milk, cream, and water, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off the foam from time to time.
5. Working in batches, transfer the cauliflower mixture to a Vita-Mix (leave an opening in the lid for the steam to escape). Begin pureeing the cauliflower on the lowest speed and blend, slowly increasing the speed, until smooth and velvety. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed. Transfer to a large saucepan and keep warm. (The soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
6. Fill a small deep pot with 1 inch of peanut oil and heat over medium heat to 300 degrees. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Line the rack with paper towels.
7. While the oil heats, peel the beet and slice off about 1/2 inch from the top. Using a Japanese mandoline or other vegetable slicer, slice the beet into rounds that are slightly thicker than paper-thin. Reserve only the full rounds.
8. Carefully add a few beet rounds to the oil and fry, turning them with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon as the edges begin to curl and pressing gently on the chips to keep them submerged. You will see a great deal of bubbling around the beets as the moisture in them evaporates; when the bubbling stops, after 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, the beets will be crisp. Transfer the beets to the paper-towel-lined rack and season with salt. Fry the remaining chips in batches. The chips can be kept warm in a low oven.
9. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the vinegar and the reserved cauliflower florets and blanch until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. The vinegar will help keep the cauliflower white. Drain.
10. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter turns a rich golden brown. Add the florets and saute until a rich golden brown. Set aside.
11. To serve, reheat the soup. This is a thick soup, but if it seems too thick, add water to thin it to the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. Pour the soup into a serving bowl or soup tureen. Top each serving with a few cauliflower florets, several torn croutons, and a stack of beet chips. (If the beet chips sit in the soup, they will become soggy and discolor it.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper. Serve the remaining florets, croutons, and chips in separate bowls on the side,

Torn Croutons

• 1 loaf of country bread
• Garlic Oil from Garlic Confit (see recipe)
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter

1. Cut the crusts off of the bread. Tear the bread into irregular pieces no larger than 2 inches. You need about 3 cups of croutons; reserve any remaining bread for another use.
2. Pour 1/8 inch of the the garlic oil into a large saute pan and heat over medium heat until hot. Spread the bread in a single layer in the pan (if your pan in not large enough, these can be cooked in two smaller pans.) Add the butter. The oil and butter should be bubbling, but if you hear sizzling. the heat is too high. Adjust the heat as necessary, and stir the croutons often as they cook. Cook until the croutons are crisp and a beautiful rich golden brown on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Move the croutons to one side of the pan and keep warm until ready to serve. Torn croutons should be used the day they are made; you can reheat them in a low oven before serving if necessary.

Garlic Confit

• 1 C peeled garlic cloves
• About 2 C of canola oil

1. Cut off and discard the root ends of garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch - none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil.
2. Set the saucepan on a diffuser over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently: very small bubbles will come up throught the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adust the heatas necessary and/or move the pan to one side of the diffuser it is cooking to quickly. Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced with the tip of knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.
3. Refrigerate the garlic in a covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to 1 week.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

Unlike Thomas Keller, I don't have the Central Valley's bounty beckoning at my back door. Each week as I peruse the ever shrinking offerings at my local farmers market, I'm constantly faced with the question of what to make with fewer and fewer locally available vegetables.

There comes a point where you just get tired of the same base seasonal dishes that have only a small twist to them. I'm not saying it has to be "Fancy Food", as some people call it, but give me something different and tasty.

I can't say enough great things about Keller's "Ad Hoc at Home". Armed with the limited number of vegetables that were available to me, this Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup fit the bill for different, tasty, and locally available Ohio fall vegetables.

I originally decided to make this for my wife, but after tasting it myself I was more inclined to stash it away for myself. Trying to taste this thing with your eyes does it no justice. The combination of the bacon fat, the small amount of mild curry, and the punch of the red wine vinegar really creates a satisfying taste to the dish.

When it's all done this soup is more like a quasi-chili than anything else. The lentils absorb nearly all of the stock so it ends up being fairly thick.

Is this the way Keller intended the soup to look like? I don't know. There wasn't a picture in the book, but I bet it came pretty close.

One last thing, don't forget to make some extra bacon. The crispy saltiness makes the perfect bite!



Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
from Thomas Keller's "Ad Hoc at Home"

• 8 oz. applewood-smoked bacon
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 C thinly sliced carrots
• 2 C coarsely chopped leeks
• ¾ to 1 tspn Yellow or Madras Curry Powder
• Kosker salt
• 1-½ lbs. sweet potatoes
• 2 Sachets (1 bay leaf, 10 peppercorns, 1 peeled and smashed garlic clove, and 3 sprigs of thyme wrapped in cheesecloth)
• 2 C (about 8oz.) Spanish Pardina or French de Puy lentils, small stones removed, rinsed
• 8 C Chicken Stock
• 1 to 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• Freshly ground pepper
• Cilantro leaves

Cut the bacon into lardons that are 1 inch long and ½ inch thick.

Heat the canola oil in an 8 to 10 quart stockpot over medium heat. Add the bacon, reduce the heat to low, and render the fat for 20 to 25 minutes. The bacon should color but not crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and set aside.

Add the carrots, leeks, onions, and curry powder to the pot and stir to coat in the bacon fat. Season with salt, reduce the heat to low, cover with a parchment lid, and cook very slowly for 30 to 35 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove and discard to the parchment lid.

Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes. Trim them and cut them into a ½ inch dice. Put the potatoes, one of the sachets, and 2 teaspoons of salt in the large saucepan, add cold water to cover, bring to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and spread on a tray to cool; discard the sachet.

Add the lentils, second sachet, and stock to the vegetables, bring to a simmer, and simmer for the 30 to 40 minutes *mine went every bit of 40 minutes*, until the lentils are tender. (At this point, the soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 day.)

Spread the bacon in a small frying pan and crisp over medium-high heat.

Add the vinegar to taste to the soup, then add the potatoes and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup garnished with the bacon and cilantro leaves.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

Right now we're trying to put together the menu for the Thanksgiving feast we will host in a few weeks. This year we're trying to take a less traditional route.

One of my quests is to try some nontraditional desserts using some of the more typical Thanksgiving dessert ingredients. The now defunct Gourmet magazine provided the template for a Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle.

There's really only three components to it: Pumpkin mousse, Whipped Cream, and Gingerbread.

I chose to use Gourmet's recipe for the mousse and whipped cream. The recipe for that can found here.

For the Gingerbread I chose to not use the recipe from the Nov '09 Gourmet, but a Gourmet from 2000. This Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread is moist as hell. You can actually see some of the stickiness hitting the side of the glass in the picture above. If you take anything from this post, it's to try this recipe, this is one for the arsenal. I made this on Saturday and had a slew of the cubes left over and these were still as moist on Wednesday as the day I made them on Saturday. Instead of putting this in a bundt cake pan I made it in a 13x9 pan for 50 minutes.

Topping it off are some candied pepitas. These didn't really turn out as good as I would have liked. I'll be trying some other things to top this off.

I think I'm definitely on the right track with this one. If I can iron out the topping I think we'll have one of our Thanksgiving desserts.

An Evening with Thomas Keller and Ad Hoc

I love cookbooks. Last week I ordered Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller and Johnny's Iuzzini's Dessert Fourplay. I was pretty excited when they arrived today in the mail. I had actually looked at both of these books a couple of weekends before and thought they were certainly worth buying.

Quite honestly, I'm not a chef. I don't pretend to be, which would explain why I had chose not to get the French Laundry cookbook. It's not that I don't think I could do the recipes. I can. The problem is that it takes a lot more time for me to do it, than it would for someone with better skills and equipment. Ad Hoc at home is the antithesis of The French Laundry. The majority of the recipes have minimal ingredients with way fewer processes than TFL.

Honey-Glazed Cipollini Onions

With a bowl of cipollini onions from Snake Hill Farm sitting on the counter, I figured there was no time like the present to test drive one of Keller's recipes. An easy to follow recipe with just six ingredients, the Honey Glazed Cipollinis were delicious.

If you haven't seen this book, you've got to take a look. Not only are the recipes relatively easy, but there's a lot of "how to" info also included.

Honey-Glazed Cipollini Onions
by Thomas Keller from Ad Hoc at Home

• 1-1/4# Cipollini Onions (about 14 ), about 2 inches in diameter
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed, skin left on
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1/2 C Chicken Stock
• Kosher salt and freshly ground block pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel the onions. Cut off the top of each onion to create a flat surface for browning. Trim the root ends. If any of the onions are noticeably larger than the rest, peel off an outer layer so that they are closer to in size.
3. Heat an oven proof frying pan large enough to hold the onions in a single layer over medium heat. Add the canola oil and heat until warm.
4. Add the onions cut-side down and cook until browned, swirling the pan from time to time for even browning, about 6 minutes. Turn and cook to lightly brown the second side, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and honey to the pan. The honey will bubble up; once it stops, add the chicken stock and swirl the pan to incorporate. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring just to a boil.
5. Transfer to the oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the liquid has reduced to a thick glaze. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer the onions to a serving dish and spoon the glaze over the top.
   

Black and Tan Ice Cream

For years we had talked about making ice cream. It just seemed to be one of those things that we had always talked about doing, but never got around to actually doing. I think a big part of it had to do with the translation of the kitchen gadgetry for the home cook. I have never had cappuccino, from a machine made for the home, which tasted remotely close to the stuff I obsessively consumed in Italy. My fear was without spending a mint, homemade ice cream was going to be in the same category.

The fears were laid to rest when we borrowed my brother-in-law’s ice cream maker and tried a recipe out of Fine Cooking. After screwing up one batch of custard, my second try proved successful. It was official; with a good recipe you can make not only edible, but downright good ice cream out of a home ice cream maker.

Besides the ice cream maker, Dave Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop” is an absolute must for the aspiring home ice cream creator. The recipes are well written and a great bases from which to create more creative flavors.

Most ice cream recipes (especially the custard based ones) can be a little involved, but this Peanut Butter Ice Cream is as easy as it gets.


Peanut Butter Ice Cream
From “The Perfect Scoop”, by Dave Lebovitz

• ¾ C (180g) Smooth Peanut Butter (like JIF or Skippy the stuff you have to stir doesn’t work)
• ¾ C plus 2 Tbsp (180g) Sugar
• 2 2/3 C (660ml) Half and Half
• pinch of Salt
• 1/8 tspn vanilla extract

Puree the peanut butter, sugar, half and half, salt, and vanilla in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

My addition was to mix twenty crumbled Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, as I transferred the ice cream from the ice cream maker to the storage container. I also added chocolate covered candied macadamia nuts (which will be another post).

Goat Cheese......Cheesecake with Cranberries

Last fall Katie O'Donnell at Moxie had a goat cheese cheesecake that I thought was awesome. There's a tang that you get from the goat cheese that you recognize in a good way. It's a classic case of two things you wouldn't normally put together, but when you do they taste great. This is one of those desserts.

I've been looking for a good recipe to attempt the whole goat cheese thing. Armed with 10 ounces of goat cheese from MacKenzie Creamery I finally found a recipe that sounded interesting. February's Food and Wine actually has a recipe for Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Honeyed Cranberries. Put into the arsenal of Team USA for the Bocuse d'Or, Timothy Hollingsworth and Adina Guest share their creation.

I made it without the oranges because Regina's allergic to oranges. So when you look at the picture it's missing the orange zest mixture. Here is the link to the recipe.

Salmon Quick, Salmon Delicious

I think most people that cook with an regularity have a group of recipes that fall under the "Easy and Good" category. There are just some nights where the whole thing is so last minute that you know you're going to have to pull one of the Easy and Good recipes from your arsenal.

I have a client that is particularly difficult when it comes to wanting everything right away. Everything is a crisis and needs to handled immediately. I spent the majority of the afternoon jumping through hoops. Needless to say, last night was one of those last minute meals.

Enter Grilled Salmon with Wasabi-Ginger Mayonnaise.

Written by one of my favorite cookbook authors, Molly Stevens, this is a definite winner. I actually cook this on our panini maker. Since it's non-stick and folds open to convert into an electric grill, last night's warm temperatures made it a no brainer.


Grilled Salmon with Wasabi-Ginger Mayonnaise
by Molly Stevens

• 1 1/2 Limes
• 1/2 C Mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Wasabi Paste; more to taste
• 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• 4 - 6 oz. skinless Salmon fillets
• Vegetable Oil for the grill

Prepare a medium-hot grill fire (be sure the grill grate has been scrubbed clean with a wire brush).

Cut the half lime into four wedges and set aside. Finely grate the zest from the whole lime. Cut the zested lime in half and squeeze the juice from one half into a small bowl (save the other half for another use). In a medium bowl, combine 1 tsp of the lime juice with the lime zest, mayonnaise, wasabi paste, ginger, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Stir to combine. Taste and add more wasabi paste if you'd like a zippier flavor.

Run you finger along each salmon fillet to feel for tiny bones; use tweezers or needlenose pliers to pull out any that you find. Season the fillets lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon about 2 Tbsp of the mayonnaise mixture onto the salmon fillets and refrigerate the rest. With your hands, Spread the mayonnaise in a thin layer over all sides of the fillets.

When the grill is ready, oil the grill grate using tongs and a paper towel dipped in oil. Grill the salmon until crisp and slightly charred on one side, about 4 minutes. Turn and continue to grill until the salmon is just cooked through, another 3 to 6 minutes. Serve the salmon topped with a dollop of the mayonnaise and a lime wedge on the side. Pass the remaining mayonnaise at the table.

Tips:
If you use a non-stick surface you can skip the vegetable oil step. If not, make sure you do use the oil or you will have a mess on your hands.

For grating the ginger I use one of those ceramic ginger graters. Unlike a rasp style grater, it does a better job of keeping the fiberous threads out of the grated portion of the ginger.

You can find the wasabi paste at any Asian market. I've tried the powder (since that's all they had at the grocery store), and it didn't work very well. I prefer the stuff out of the tube.

While you're at the Asian market, I like to use Cupie Mayonnaise. I don't know what it is, but it tastes great in this recipe. Never tried Cupie? I'm not really sure why it's named that. It comes in this crazy, extremely pliable plastic bottle.

Italian Pumpkin Soup

My wife absolutely loves soup. It’s a constant search for the latest and greatest recipe. While I wouldn’t exactly call this low-fat, this is an extremely tasty soup.

We found this recipe in the old 150 Best Recipes cookbook. If you’re not familiar with this series of cookbooks, Fran McCollough and Molly Stevens would create a volume of the best recipes that have been published for the year. These books were published annually from 1999 – 2006. Unfortunately they no longer publish this collection.

Italian Pumpkin Soup

Source: Palio press release
By: Maria Pia

• 1 Sugar Pumpkin or Butternut Squash (about 2 pounds)
• 1/3 C Extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 Large Onion, finely chopped
• Salt
• 6-8 Cups Vegetable Broth
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1/3 Cup Amaretto, such as Disaronno
• 1/3 Cup crushed amaretti cookies (without sugar on top)

Serves 6 to 8

Preheat the oven to 450° and set a rack in the middle rack. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, grease it, and set aside.

Peel the pumpkin or squash and cut it into small (about 1-inch) pieces. Remove and discard the seeds. Spread the pieces on the baking sheet in a single layer and roast, stirring once, for 10 to 20 minutes, or until almost tender.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, for about 7 minutes, or until totally wilted.

Add the pumpkin or squash and 4 cups of the vegetable broth to the onion mixture. Simmer over medium heat until the pumpkin or squash is completely soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cream, amaretto, and amaretti. Remove from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes.

Transfer the soup to food processor and puree. Return to the pot and stir in 2 cups broth, or more to taste. Taste and add a bit more salt, if desired.

Move Over Pumpkin Pie (and say “Hello” to Maple Mascarpone Cheesecake with Walnut Shortbread Cookies)

My contribution for Thanksgiving was the most important item next to the turkey…the dessert. This year’s selection was the Maple Mascarpone Cheesecake with Walnut Shortbread Cookies from Mario Batali’s Babbo cookbook (credit as well to Gina DePalma, Babbo’s pastry chef, for the recipe). Normally, it’s just Mr. Dine O Mite and myself sitting down to dessert, so I found this recipe, which serves 8, to be best suited for a larger dinner party.

Overall, this dessert was a success. I think my only mistake was that I should have reduced the maple syrup (from Goodell Farms in Mantua, Ohio) down just a little further, before adding the cream. I found some adorable fall themed cookie cutters at Crate and Barrel for cutting out the walnut shortbread cookies. The mascarpone cheese was imported from Italy and on sale at Whole Foods. My special touch was the addition of some glazed walnuts.

This dessert was so rich and creamy that it didn’t even need require my usual dose of whipped cream…

Maple Mascarpone Cheesecake (see link for recipe)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Individual-Maple-and-Mascarpone-Cheesecakes-102699

Walnut Shortbread Cookies
From the Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali

4 cups toasted walnut pieces
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

1. Toast walnut pieces on a baking sheet for 5-7 minutes at 325 degrees, until
golden brown and fragrant. Cool completely, then place in food processor until
just finely ground.
2. Reduce oven temp to 300 degrees.
3. Place the butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric
mixer and blend together until smooth and creamy.
4. Beat in vanilla extract
5. In a separate bowl, mix the nuts, sifted flour, and salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat until a soft dough is
formed.
7. Wrap dough tightly in saran wrap and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into ½ inch thickness. Cut out shapes
as desired and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
9. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until they turn light golden brown. Place on a wire
rack to cool, then store in an airtight container.

* I added powdered sugar to the final product.

A Quick Scallop Dinner

We typically try to work fish into our dinners at least three times a week. I’m always trying to find something new (and fast) that I haven’t done before. Since we try very hard to only purchase sustainably caught fish there’s a smaller selection for us to choose from. When I saw this recipe in the new Fine Cooking I just had to try it out. Typically anything with hoisin goes over huge with Mrs. Dine O Mite. These scallops were no exception.



Hoisin-Glazed Scallops with Spinach & Cilantro
By Lori Longbotham

Serves Four

• 16 all-natural “dry” sea scallops (about 1#)
• Kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 Tbs hoisin sauce
• 3 thin scallions, very thinly sliced
• 10 oz. baby spinach
• 1 cup of coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ tsp Asian sesame oil

Dry the scallops well with paper towels and season with ½ tsp salt and the cayenne. In a 12” cast iron skillet, heat 1 Tbs of the oil over high heat until hot. Cook the scallops, turning once with the tongs, until golden brown and just opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes per side. As they finish cooking, transfer the scallops to a large plate and brush the top of each with hoisin sauce.

Wipe out the skillet and then heat the remaining 1 Tbs oil over medium-high heat. Add about two-thirds of the scallions and cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach, cilantro, and ¼ tsp salt and cook, tossing constantly with tongs, until just barely wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, drizzle the spinach mixture with sesame oil, and toss to combine well.

Serve the scallops with the spinach, sprinkled with the remaining scallions.

Delicious Cheesecake Portion Control

I first made the Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes about three months ago. I don't like to make huge desserts that require me to eat them for three days after I've made them. These little suckers, however, are lucky if they make it past the first day. Small in stature, these mini cheesecakes are a guaranteed hit at any party. I took them to my sister's last night and they were instantly devoured.

The Nabisco's Famous Wafer cookies are what I think make this entire recipe. Because these cheesecakes can technically be eaten with your hands, you have this nice creamy cheesecake filling that you sink you teeth into, followed by about a quarter inch of what tastes like Oreo crust. In fact, I think that these wafer cookies may actually be made from the same dough as Oreos. At any rate this is an easy recipe to make and will be wildly popular wherever you happen to serve it. For a printable version of the recipe go here.



Mini Black-Bottom Cheesecakes

Recipe by Grace Parisi

Makes 12 Cheesecakes

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil spray
  

• 24 plain chocolate wafer cookies, preferably Nabisco

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2/3 cup fromage blanc (6 ounces), at room temperature

• 2 large eggs
  

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves, warmed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups and spray the cups with vegetable oil spray. In a food processor, crush the chocolate wafer cookies. Add the butter and process until fine crumbs form. Spoon the chocolate cookie crumbs into the prepared baking cups and press with the bottom of a glass to compact. Bake for 5 minutes, or until almost set. Leave the oven on.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the fromage blanc, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
3. Pour the cheesecake batter into the baking cups, filling them three-quarters full.
4. Bake the cheesecakes for 15 minutes, or until slightly jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven and spread 1 teaspoon of the warmed raspberry preserves on top of each cheesecake. Transfer the muffin tin to the freezer and chill the cheesecakes until set, about 15 minutes.
5. Remove the cheesecakes from the pan and peel off the foil baking cups. Transfer the cheesecakes to a platter and serve.

Make Ahead

The mini black-bottom cheesecakes can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Notes

INSTEAD OF FROMAGE BLANC Crème fraîche, goat cheese, lebneh or quark.

Pistachio Semifreddo with Dark Chocolate Ganache - An Ode to Mario Batali and Gina DePalma

By Mrs. Dine O Mite

Make no mistake about it…I am a dessert addict. What’s worse, I think I have dessert OCD. Whenever I find something that I love, I go on countless internet and cookbook searches trying to find replica-like recipes, so that I can recreate the magic at home. After eating what I consider to be the best dessert I’ve ever had at Babbo in New York City this summer, I have been on a quest to make an at home version of their Pistachio Chocolate Semifreddo. I usually come up short on my efforts, but this time, I nailed it. My husband, who isn’t nearly the pistachio fan that I am, couldn’t stop raving about this.

Special thanks for Mario Batali for making this a mainstay dessert at Babbo and to Gina DePalma, Babbo’s pastry chef for creating this masterpiece. This isn’t the exact recipe, but in my dessert aficionado opinion, it comes pretty darn close. Nevertheless, I’ll continue to have sweet dreams of the original and hope to return to Babbo sometime soon to feast on it again!



Pistachio Semifreddo with Dark Chocolate Ganache

**Special Equipment - 5.5in springform pan

For the Chocolate Crust

8 Nabisco Famous chocolate wafer cookies
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Place cookies in a baggie and crush with the back of a wooden spoon, the transfer to a small bowl
  

• Melt butter and pour onto wafer cookies, mix well with a spoon

• Invert the bottom of the springform pan and close it tight. (This will allow you to easily slide the semifreddo off of the base once it’s complete)

• Evenly spread cookie and butter mixture into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Allow to cool

For the Pistachio Semifreddo
Adapted from www.Epicurious.com

¾ cups shelled roasted and salted pistachios (3 ¼ ounces)
½ cup granulated sugar
3 large egg whites (proud to buy ours from the local farmer’s market)
1 cup chilled heavy cream (another farmer’s market find – try to get pasteurized vs.
ultra-pasteurized, if possible)
¼ teaspoon almond extract

• Pulse 2/3 cup pistachios with 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons of sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Add remaining pistachios and pulse until just coarsely ground.

• Beat egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks (this took a little longer than I thought it would). Beat in remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, a little at a time, then increase speed to high and beat until meringue just holds stiff, glossy peaks.

• Beat cream with almond extract in a wide bowl with mixer at high speed until it just holds soft peaks. (I took mine a little too far and it began to look curdled…I quick switch from using the handheld mixer to an old fashioned whisk softened out the peaks in the cream to the perfect consistency).

• Fold meringue into cream gently but thoroughly, then fold in nut mixture in same manner. Spoon into Springform pan and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours.

Health note/disclaimer: • The egg whites in this recipe are not cooked, which may be of concern if salmonella is a problem in your area.

For the Dark Chocolate Ganache

3 oz. dark chocolate (I was pleased to find some Callebaut in bulk at the grocery store)
½ cup heavy cream (prefer pasteurized vs. ultra-pasteurized, if possible)

• Coarsely chop chocolate and place in a medium metal bowl

• In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil, then pour over chopped chocolate

• Mix well. Once cooled slightly, drizzle or coat the semifreddo with ganache.

Garnish with chopped pistachios and savor every bite!

My Favorite Fall Pork Chops

I love cooking in the fall. Cranberries top my list. Usually by the end of August I run out of my stash from the year before and I'm waiting for the fresh harvest to hit the shelves. I found this recipe last winter in the Niman Ranch Cookbook. Let me just say that this cookbook has a lot of useful information on how beef, pork, and lamb is raised at Niman Ranch (and its affiliates). The cookbook portion is a little under half of the book.

This recipe was actually written by Cleveland (Seven Hills) native Andrew Carmellini. I saw Carmellini on Iron Chef a while back and saw him narrowly lose to Batali by a point.
Having left A Voce in NYC this past summer, the chef has written a new cookbook called Urban Italian. Since I love the following dish so much, I think it's safe to say that I will probably be purchasing this new book.


Serves 4
Start to finish time: about 2 hours

Pork Chops
8 cups water
1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup honey
4 double-cut pork rib chops (I used 1-1/2" Kurobuta pork chops from Mr. Brisket)

Glaze
2 cups freshly pressed apple cider
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cracked back pepper

Squash and Apples
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1# butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2" dice
2 tablespoons hulled pumpkin seeds
2 Gala apples, peeled, cored, and cut into a 1/2" dice
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh lemon juice

For the pork chops, combine the water, salt and honey in a stock pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Put pork chops in a shallow baking dish and cover with the brine. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

For the glaze, combine the cider and vinegar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for around 20 minute, more importantly make sure it's reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency. Stir in the cracked pepper. Set a side. I prefer to split the glaze into two bowls so I can brush half on the chops while cooking, and drizzle the other half on the chops after plating.
Prepare and light a charcoal grill for direct cooking. Put 2 handfuls of apple-wood chips in a large bowl and cover with water. Remove the chops from the brine and pat dry. Bring to room temperature.

For the squash and apples, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the sqash begins to brown. Add the apples and cook for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Stir in the cranberries and cook for 2 and 3 minutes, until soft. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Keep warm.

When the grill is at its hottest (when the coals are red and glowing and too hot to hold your hand over for more than a couple of seconds), remove the wood chips from the water and carefully put on top of the coals. Wait for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the chips begin to smoke. Season the chops on both sides with salt and pepper and set on the cooking grate directly over the coals. Cook uncovered for about 4 minutes, or until browned. Brush the chops with the glaze, turn, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until browned. Brush with the glaze turn, and cook for about 2 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 140 degrees F. Transfer to a plate or cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Slice chops or serve whole with the squash and apples.

Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer

This past summer we had the pleasure of going to NYC and Philadelphia for a week. One of the stops we made was the Saturday morning Green Market at Union Square. I thought we had a really good farmer's market at Shaker Square until I saw this one. It was absolutely eye popping. Piles and piles of produce lined the L-shaped market. There was stuff I had never seen in those quantities and qualities before. Although I don't remember him specifically, Tim Stark of Eckerton Hill Farm was one of the growers at the market. After ten years of growing tomatoes he decided to write a book about the experience in, Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer.

Tim used to be a management consultant in New York City, but one day he decided to try his hand at growing some tomatoes at his apartment in Brooklyn. This decision would eventually lead him to move back to his childhood home in eastern PA and becoming a full time organic tomato farmer.

Stark is very good at layering each chapter in such a way that you get a real sense of the good and the bad that goes with making such a transition. He describes how he first got started with minimal equipment and even less hired help. How family and friends help keep him afloat those first few years.

I particularly enjoyed his chapters on the Amish. Stark talks in depth about the different sects and what made them split from each other. As it turned out, the author had more in common with them than he did with the conventional farmers around him. In the end it would be the knowledge from them that would help him better understand farming.

I particularly enjoyed the very end of the book because there is a fairly lengthy discussion about how hard it is to even have a farm that is within three hours of the city. Outlined are the issues growers in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania face.

Land values in New Jersey are off the hook (and despite what people in Ohio might think all of New Jersey does not look like Newark; quite the opposite). He describes the carrots from a farm in Orange County (yes, where Orange County Choppers is, and no, it isn't south of LA). How the soil has so much peat carrots of all different colors seem to grow forever. I actually took the picture of these carrots [above] at the Union Square Market back in July, during our trip.

The book truly is an eye opener. There are times that I see these people at the farmer's market and think, "Man, they must really have the life." In a sense they do, but they work really hard for it. This book does a great job of showing the good with the bad. Do I think I could do it? I don't think so. I went to school to be a golf course superintendent, and I know how tied to the weather that job was. I would strongly recommend reading this book. If you enjoy local produce like I do, it will really open your eyes to what it means to be a local organic farmer.

Pork Chops, Peaches, and a Grill

I can't tell you how many times I've opened up a cookbook and as I leafed through it said, "Pass.......(page flip).......pass.......(page flip).........weird......(page flip).......pass." I don't imagine I'm the only one that has performed this routine, either.

While I hate his new show, Mario Batali can write one helluva a cookbook. One recipe I found to be a little on the weird side for me was Pork Chops with Peaches out of the The Babbo Cookbook. In the past I had made Berkshire Pork Chops with a recipe from, Cleveland's own, Andrew Carmellini. One of the key components of Carmellini's recipe was to brine the chops. Since I had been doing this with the Thanksgiving turkeys for the past few years, I figured I'd give it a try on pork chops. For me brining was the difference between Mom's "bone dry, Shake 'N Bake, bible page thin, ultra lean, mass produced" pork chops and the "juicy, I don't know what this is on the outside but it kicks ass, will it cook all the way through it's so thick, I'm not eating all that fat (oh yes you will), butchered by the guy who knows where the pigs came from" pork chop. So after trying Carmellini's recipe I was now on a quest to see if I could find an even better brine.

It's true, there is more than one way to skin a cat. While I don't have a desire to find one way to skin a cat, I am interested in finding different ways to brine meat. Carmellini's recipe called for a brine of about 6 hours, Batali's is twice that (minimum). What's right? Who knows, I think they're both great. Although I haven't tried to do it, I'd have to believe that brining would at the very least help those lean, thin, grocery store pork chops taste better.

I think the type of pork and it's thickness make all the difference in the world. I've made Berkshire chops that were thick as hell and I swear I'll never go back unless I can't afford them. They are much more expensive. But I think they grill better because the fat is allowed to cook longer due to the thickness off the chops. The thinner they are the less margin of error you're going to have for overcooking them. The ones pictured here are on the thinner side. Admittedly they were cooked a little more than I like. As anything, I've found that when I make a recipe a third time, it's usually money. This was my second time. The culprit in this case was the thickness of the chops.

The part of this whole equation that makes this recipe a show stopper is the grill. I prefer to cook on a small Weber grill; fueled by lump charcoal. I like the fact that it burns clean and hot and doesn't start off with any chemicals. A chimney starter, some paper, and a match and you're ready to rock and roll. The other nice thing, I like, is that you can easily extinguish them with the cover and re-use the leftover pieces of charcoal. Like anything, they are little more expensive (and don't last as long), but I like them more.

So where's the recipe? Here we go:

Grilled Pork Chops with Peaches and Balsamic Vinegar

From Mario Batali's The Babbo Cookbook

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 - 8 ounce double cut Pork Chops (we used single cut from the Farmer's market)
1/2 c Kosher Salt, plus more to taste
1/4 c Sugar, plus more to taste
4 fresh Peaches, halved and pitted
1/4 c extra virgin Olive Oil
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Best quality Balsamic Vinegar (we used a 12 yr old balsamic vinegar from DiBruno Bros in Philly) for drizzling

Directions:

1. Place the chops in a nonreactive casserole. In a deep bowl, combine salt, sugar and about 2 cups of water and mix well. Pour the mixture over the chops and let them brine in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.

2. Prepare a grill or broiler

3. Brush each pork chop and peach section with some of the olive oil, season both meat and fruit well with salt and pepper, and set the peaches aside. Place the pork chops on the hottest side of the grill and cook for 5 minutes on one side, then turn and grill for another 5 minutes on the other side.

4. While the second side cooks, place the peach halves on the grill and cook until lightly charred and juicy.

5. Place a mound of broccoli rabe on each plate and top with one pork chop. Garnish with the peach halves, drizzle both pork and peaches with the balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

We also paired this dish with Batali's Broccoli Rabe with Garlic (you can see it peeking out from under the chop). For whatever reason, this side dish isn't a big item you'll see in Cleveland, but it's all over restaurant menus back in Philly. It's a wonderful alternative to broccoli or spinach. We found that both our local Heinen's and Whole Foods carried it (I think I've seen it at Fresh Market from time to time as well). You may need to ask someone in produce to help you find it, just make sure they don't accidentally give you Broccolini, which is not the same thing as broccoli rabe.

Broccoli Rabe with roasted garlic

From Mario Batali's The Babbo Cookbook

Serves 4 as a side dish (I think it's more like 2)

1 head of Garlic
2 tbsp plus 1/4 cup of extra virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt and freshly Ground Pepper
3 salt packed Anchovy Fillets, rinsed and drained
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Remove the first few papery layers form the garlic. Drizzle the garlic with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Roast until the garlic is very soft, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and, once cool enough to handle, separate the cloves and squeeze half of them from their skins into a small bowl. Set aside the remaining unpeeled cloves. Add the anchovy fillets to the squeezed garlic and gently mash together. Set aside.

3. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Set up an ice bath nearby. Blanch the broccoli rabe in the boiling water for 3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and immediately refresh in the ice bath. Once cooled, drain and squeeze dry in a clean kitchen towel. Roughly chop the broccoli rabe and set aside.

4. In a 12 to 14 inch saute pan, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil over high heat and stir in the garlic and anchovy mixture. Cook over high heat and stir in the garlic and anchovy mixture. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes, then add the broccoli rabe, remaining cloves of roasted garlic, and red pepper flakes. Saute over high heat until the broccoli rabe starts to brown at the edges. Season with salt and pepper and serve.