April 2007

 
One Night, Twelve Kitchens
April 29, 6-9 pm
Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State College 

 

Top regional chefs showcase the eleven state-of-the-art kitchens at Midwest Culinary Institute to benefit the Cincinnati State College Foundation culinary scholarships.

I have participated in this event for the last few years and was very happy to work it again this year. I was assigned to Chef Neace, representing the Summit Room, the restaurant at Cincinnati State. The event was very well attended — I would estimate more than 400 guests.

We prepared a smoked duck breast salad with cherry caponate quinoia, microgreen salad with peach vinagrette, and a drizzle of poppyseed yogurt dressing alongside. We sliced the duck breast thin and put it in a ring mold (okay, PVC pipes), pressed in a bit of the quinoia, then topped with the dressed microgreens. It was a very nice looking dish and our guests enjoyed it very much. We ’sold out’ fairly early, so I was able to get cleaned up and walk around to see what was going on at the other tables.

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-

                         Spaghetti Carbonara

Recipe By: From “Garlic and Sapphires” by Ruth Reichel
Serving Size: 3
Cuisine: Italian
Main Ingredient: Pasta
Categories: Easy, Pasta, Main Dish

-= Ingredients =-
3/4 pound Spaghetti
1/4 to 1/2 pound Bacon ; Good Quality Thickly sliced
2 cloves Garlic ; Peeled
2 large Eggs
to taste Black Pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese ; Grated plus extra for the table

-= Instructions =-
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When it is boiling, throw the spaghetti in. Most dried spaghetti takes 9 to 10 minutes to cook, and you can make the sauce in that time.

Cut the bacon crosswise into pieces about 1/2 inch wide. Put them in a skillet and cook for 2 minutes, until fat begins to render. Add the whole cloves of garlic and cook another 5 minutes, until the edges of the bacon just begin to get crisp.  Do not overcook; if they get too crisp, they won’t meld with the pasta.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into the bowl you will serve the pasta in, and beat them with a fork. Add some grindings of pepper.

Remove the garlic from the bacon pan. If it looks like too much fat to you, discard some, but you’re going to toss the bacon with most of its fat into the pasta.

When it is cooked, drain the pasta and immediately throw it into the beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly. The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs and turn them into a sauce. Add the bacon with its fat, toss again, add cheese and serve.

** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping. BigOven.com ID= 161285 **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **
 

In Letters to a Young Chef, Daniel Boulud, cookbook author, chef, and owner of Daniel, Café Boulud, and DB Bistro Moderne in New York City, briefly covers what he believes are the most important building blocks to becoming a great chef. I bought this book for $1 at a used bookstore and was delighted to find that the previous owner had underlined some passages and written extensively on the endpapers and in some margins. Some of their writing is difficult to read, but I enjoy the peek into their life and thoughts.

This was a very informative book and one that I wish I had read some time ago, when I was a young chef. Boulud discusses, with compelling support, the framework of thinking and approach that can set a great chef apart from a so-so chef. When I teach a Basic Cooking or Theory of Cooking class, this book will be on the reading list.

From this page comes this Tuesday’s question… What are 10 things I like to do when I’m alone? In no particular order…

1. Cook! I love to cook for/with people, but I also enjoy cooking by/for myself.
2. Sing along to music
3. Read. I dream of lounging in a hot bathtub and reading a book, but I never seem to get to the bathtub part.
4. Be on my computer for a long time — really get involved with working, or gaming, or whatever…
5. Sleep. Sharing a house with my wonderful wife, five cats, and three dogs, sleeping without someone nestled against me is a rare luxury.
6. Groom myself — trim the nails, clip the beard, and so on. These are things that no one else should have to see.
7. Browse my burgeoning cookbook collection, wandering methods and recipes, taking the time to imagine the flavors in my mind.
8. Watch television. We absolutely LOVE our PVR (it truly changes the way you watch television), but one of the (very) few downsides of this technology is that you end up becoming somewhat of a slave to all the recorded shows waiting for you.
9. Do laundry & chores. Yeah, I know it sounds weird. I really like being caught up on those items, and don’t want to take time away from Wendy to do them, so I prefer to do them when I’m alone.
10. Sometimes, I like to do absolutely nothing. Not read, not cook, not watch television, not converse, nor anything else.

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-

                      Porcini Mushroom Tartlets

Serve with frisee & herb salad.

Recipe By:
Serving Size: 4
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Food & Wine Magazine, Appetizers

-= Ingredients =-
1 cup Walnuts
10 ounces Puff Pastry Dough All-Butter ; Thawed & Chilled
3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
2 ea large Onions ; Thinly Sliced
to taste Salt & Pepper ; Freshly Ground
3/4 pound Porcini Or Cremini Mushrooms ; Trimmed
for brushing Extra Virgin Olive Oil
for garnish Chives ; Snipped

-= Instructions =-
1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a pie plate, bake the walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned, then let cool and coarsely chop. Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Unfold the puff pastry and cut out four 4-inch rounds about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and set a baking sheet on top. Bake the pastry for about 25 minutes or until it is cooked and browned; remove the pastry from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 400.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring, over moderately high heat for 4 minutes; then cook over low heat, stirring often, until soft and golden, about 50 minutes; let cool. In a food processor, coarsely puree the onions and walnuts. Season with salt and pepper.

4. In a medium saucepan of boiling water, blanch the mushrooms until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain, pat dry and slice 1/4 inch thick.

5. Spread the pastry rounds with the puree and arrange the mushrooms, overlapping, on top. Brush with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes, or until hot. Garnish with chives and serve.

WINE: A medium-bodied red with some tannin will contrast with the mushrooms. Consider the French 2000 Mouton Cadet or the Italian 2001 Rocca delle Macie Rubizzo Sangiovese di Toscana.

NOTES : This recipe can be prepared through Step 3 up to 1 day ahead. Wrap the pastry rounds in plastic and refrigerate the onion-walnut puree. Recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Food & Wine Magazine, November 2003, page 74.
** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping.     **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **
 

                      -= Exported from BigOven =-

          Asparagus and Mushroom Salad with Shaved Parmesan

Recipe By: From THE BEST OF GOURMET, 1996. Page 190.
Serving Size: 8
Cuisine:
Main Ingredient:
Categories: Gourmet Magazine, Easy, Sauces, Salads

-= Ingredients =-
1 pound Asparagus Medium To Thick ; Trimmed
1/2 pound Mushrooms ; Stems Trimmed Even With Cap
4 ea medium Radishes ; Halved Lengthwise Sliced Thin Crosswise
2 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
to taste Salt
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 ea bunch Watercress ; Coarse Stems Discarded Wash Dry 3 Cup
1/4 pound Parmesan Cheese ; Room Temperature

-= Instructions =-
With a sharp knife, cut asparagus diagonally into very thin slices and transfer to a large bowl. Halve large mushrooms. Slice mushrooms very thin and add with radishes to asparagus. Toss salad gently.

In a bowl, whisk together lemon juice, mustard, and salt. Add oil in a stream, whisking, and whisk until emulsified. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss gently. Grind pepper to taste over salad.

Spread watercress on a small platter and top with asparagus salad. With a vegetable peeler shave about half of Parmesan into curls over salad, reserving remaining Parmesan for another use.
** This recipe can be pasted into BigOven without retyping.     **
** Easy recipe software.  Try it free at: http://www.bigoven.com    **