January 2007

Our first Happy Mouth of 2007 was Kristy’s selection.

She selected BELLA LUNA on Eastern Avenue for their imported Italian pastas and house-made delights. The restaurant is quite informal and very friendly. We had a really nice time, and the food was very good. I sampled a mozzarella bread, the tomato basil soup, stuffed mushrooms, and mussels from the table, and enjoy my entree of Veal Marsala with Balsamic Vinegar and a few cheese ravioli with bolognese sauce. Everything was really good. A very nice surprise was that bottles of wine are half-off on Wednesday nights, and we took full advantage of that savings. Desserts that I saw included bread pudding (top notch), and tiramisu.

A good time was had by all!

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-

                          Mini White Castles

Recipe By: Joan Fisher at University of Cincinnati
Serving Size: 30
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Easy, Sandwiches, Appetizers

-= Ingredients =-
1 1/2 pound Ground Chuck
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
3 ea 20 count Pepperidge Farm Party Rolls
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/3 cup Bread Crumbs
1 ea Egg
2 tablespoon Water
to taste Dill Pickles ; Slices

-= Instructions =-
Preheat oven to 400.

Mix all ingredients except for pickles well. Pack into flat cookie sheet,  prick the entire surface with a fork. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Cool and cut into 60 squares to fit onto the party rolls. Put a pickle on each sandwich before placing the top bun. Put sandwiches back into party roll container, sprinkle lightly with water and cover with foil.

Store in refrigerator until ready to use (or freeze), then back into oven at 375 for 7-10 minutes (longer if frozen).

** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping.     **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **
 

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-

                   Meat Sauce — Professional Chef

The classic “spaghetti” sauce loved by children and adults; this sauce also works well with lasagna and heavier pasta dishes.

Recipe By: THE NEW PROFESSIONAL CHEF, page 539
Serving Size: 2
Cuisine: Italian
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Sauces

-= Ingredients =-
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 each Garlic Cloves ; Minced
3 ounces Onion ; Minced
2 1/2 pounds Chuck ; or Combination Of Veal And Chuck
1 quart Tomato Puree
1 1/2 ounces Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon Salt ; To Taste
1/2 teaspoon Pepper ; Freshly Ground To Taste
1 tablespoon Basil ; Fresh Chopped
1 tablespoon Oregano ; Fresh Chopped
1 tablespoon Thyme ; Fresh Chopped

-= Instructions =-
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.

2. Add the garlic and onion and saute them until the onions are tender and light and brown.

3. Add the ground meat. Saute the mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, until the meat is browned, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the tomato puree and 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste.

5. Season the sauce to taste with salt & pepper. Add the herbs.

6. Degrease the sauce if necessary.

7. Adjust the seasoning or consistency with additional tomato paste if necessary.
** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping.     **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **
 

Tonight we attended a Wine Dinner at the IRON HORSE INN. Wendy and I have been attending most of the wine dinners there for the last four years or so, and this was a particularly enjoyable one, as it contained one of the best single courses & pairings we’ve had there.

First Course:
Baby arugula salad, pomegranate vinaigrette, almond crusted goat cheese, roasted beets
2005 First Love White Wine
I am a fan of goat cheese, and this course highlighted the ingredient well. Chef Chris loosened the goat cheese with some cream to make it softer. The roasted beets were beautiful and delicious. The wine, a white blend, was decent on its own and improved with the food.

Second Course:
Blue cornmeal fried lobster tail, dueling sweet & spicy pear puree
2005 Mallee-Sands Chardonnay
The fried lobster tail with two colors of sauce around it was a simple, dramatic presentation. The lobster was tender and flavorful.

Third Course:
Candied Bing cherry duck breast, sweet potato puree, maraschino cherry drizzle
2005 Pure Love Meritage
Truly a highlight of this meal and of the wine dinners at the IRON HORSE. A lovely duck breast was properly prepared to get rid of most of the thick fat layer, then roasted and candied before being set atop sweet potato puree. A maraschino reduction was drizzled around. The Meritage (rhymes with “heritage”) wine was perfect with this course. This one, I hope, is destined for the regular menu.

Fourth Course:
Char-grilled Ribeye, wild mushroom citrus compote, asparagus, black tea Concord grape reduction
2004 Mothers Milk Shiraz
As difficult as it was to follow the superior duck course, this course made a good attempt. I thought the flavors of the compote weren’t as unified as they could be, but I understood where Chris was heading. The Shiraz was wonderful.

Dessert:
Banana Fosters Crème Brulee
2004 Carol Shelton Late Harvest Trousseau Gris
Chef Chris is exploring brulees of different types (a fact that Wendy is very happy about). These desserts tend away from my preferred dessert styles (fruit tarts and the like), but they’re still very good. The Trousseau Gris was really good without being overly sweet.

The IRON HORSE INN present Wine Dinners at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday of most months (usually not in December). Five courses with paired wines are $60 per person. Vegetarian menus available with advanced notice. Reservations strongly recommended.

I am currently reading The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine by Steven Rinella. It’s sort of a road book meets hunting book meets culinary book, and it’s fun. Mr. Rinella’s activities as he tries to collect ingredients to re-create a 3-day, 45-course meal from Le Guide Culinaire are very entertaining.

THE MINIMALIST; The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work
By MARK BITTMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html, originally published in the New York Times on November 8, 2006.

INNOVATIONS in bread baking are rare. In fact, the 6,000-year-old process hasn’t changed much since Pasteur made the commercial production of standardized yeast possible in 1859. The introduction of the gas stove, the electric mixer and the food processor made the process easier, faster and more reliable.

I’m not counting sliced bread as a positive step, but Jim Lahey’s method may be the greatest thing since.

This story began in late September when Mr. Lahey sent an e-mail message inviting me to attend a session of a class he was giving at Sullivan Street Bakery, which he owns, at 533 West 47th Street in Manhattan. His wording was irresistible: ”I’ll be teaching a truly minimalist breadmaking technique that allows people to make excellent bread at home with very little effort. The method is surprisingly simple — I think a 4-year-old could master it — and the results are fantastic.”

I set up a time to visit Mr. Lahey, and we baked together, and the only bad news is that you cannot put your 4-year-old to work producing bread for you. The method is complicated enough that you would need a very ambitious 8-year-old. But the results are indeed fantastic.

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