Dinner

If You’re Afraid of Butter, Use Cream…

May 22, 2012

The above is one of my favorite quotes from Julia Child, one of the gutsiest broads to ever hoist a meat cleaver. (and I use that term lovingly)

On August 15th of this year, Julia would have turned 100 years old and I’d like to think would still be cooking.
In the 100 days leading up to Julia’s birthday, the JC100 is celebrating this culinary powerhouse and her recipes. Each week, a new recipe is featured and this weeks offering was Coq au Vin… one of my all time favorites.

I remember watching Julia & Jacques and loved her candor and fearless approach to cooking. She made it seem fun and most importantly, possible. She had a way of walking her audience through a recipe that made complex dishes seem effortless and isn’t that all we really want? To feel like anything is possible?

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Choucroute Garni {For the Love of Pork}

January 29, 2012

It may not be 100% authentic Alsatian, but how can you go wrong with three kinds of pork, sauerkraut, apples and a bottle of beer poured over the whole mess?!

Traditionally, Choucroute Garni is made with white wine. However, being the good Midwestern girl that I am, beer seemed the natural way to go. These flavors are more familiar to me… cooking with beer is not exactly a foreign concept. The smell of bratwurst & onions simmering in beer is something that greeted me as I came in the kitchen door of my parents house after school on many afternoons.

This is the kind of meal that you gear up for, like Thanksgiving dinner. I’m in no way suggesting that you make this every week. Like Thanksgiving, this is reserved for once in a while when you need a good stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal.

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Roast Chicken and Vegetables

January 8, 2012

This one is for my Momma. It isn’t anything terribly exciting, just damn good. This is the only meal that my Mom actually asks me to cook for her when I’m home and I am more than happy to oblige. For me, there is no meal more soul-satisfying than roast chicken.
It is without a doubt, my favorite meal. I could have it every week and never tire of it.

The way the house smells when it is in the oven, the sound of the skin sizzling (which is exactly what I’m listening to as I write this…) makes my mouth water knowing that in a few moments when it is on my plate, I will sink my teeth eagerly into the perfect bite.

The crunch of the super crispy skin, the fat oozing out and coating my tongue. This is sublime satisfaction… the look of complete and utter joy on my face.
THIS is the meal you serve to the ones you love.

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Cod & Tapenade

May 9, 2011

Some things just go together… peanut butter & jelly, bacon & eggs, mashed potatoes & gravy, champagne & … hell, ANYTHING.

For me, another one of those pairings is fish and any kind of salty condiment. I love salt. I know it isn’t good for you in excess, but I can’t help it. There are at least 8 different kinds of salt in my kitchen at this very moment. Smoked Salt, Truffle Salt, Hawaiian Pink Salt, French Sea Salt, Kosher Salt, Maldon Salt, Australian Pink Flake Salt, Sel Gris, but NEVER idiodized table salt.

I am not alone in this near-obsession. As is the case with most Chefs, we have a salty palate. What I mean by that is we are so accustomed to highly seasoned food that for the average person it can be a bit too salty. (My Mom used to tease me that she was going to buy me a salt lick at the feed store by our house).

To feed my addiction, I made olive tapenade. It is one of the most delicious things and it will keep in your refrigerator for over a week. It can be eaten on its own: spread of a piece of warm, toasted baguette, or use it as a flavoring on a piece of fish for example. Luckily for me I have a great fishmonger a few blocks away, which brings me back to some things just go together… Fish loves salt. It doesn’t have to come from actual salt, it can come from bacon, capers or olive tapenade! If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Where do fish live? (in salty ocean water…)

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Is Dinner Ready Yet?

April 2, 2011

One of the things most of us feel we never have enough of (besides money) is time. Being at work at an obscenely early hour and not returning home until 10 hours later, I rarely feel I can take a leisurely approach to dinner.

Most people say to me “I’m sure the last thing you feel like doing when you get home is cooking” and sometimes they’re right, but a girl’s gotta eat…

A common misconception with people who may not have Chefs in their lives is that we come home and make seared foie gras. Hardly…
Like teachers, fireman, etc. most chefs do it for the love of the job. Being a chef isn’t always a lucrative gig.

One thing a chef learns quickly when creating a menu is food costs. This translates well into our own kitchens, because like i just said, we aren’t all Tom Colicchio or Mario Batali with restaurant empires.

Dinner most nights needs to be quick, not terribly expensive, good for me and most of all NOT leave a mess of dishes to clean up. If there is one chore I LOATHE it’s washing dishes.

Here’s one of my old favorites that fits the bill quite nicely:

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