My Kitchen My Table

A Table in the Tarn

Shortly before the brunch cookbook club, I purchased the cookbook, A Table in the Tarn. More than just a cookbook it is an account of turning a modest country farmhouse in the southwest of France into a luxury boutique guesthouse and gastronomic destination.

As much as the recipes throughout the last two-thirds of the book have been enjoyed, it was the first 90 pages that I found to be most intriguing. They were full of the tales and foibles of the two year transformation of the farmhouse and its gardens and made for engaging reading. I was completely absorbed in the process, the artisans and the local characters that helped with the transformation. While reading, I coveted the adventure and spirit of the gentlemen from the UK who left their conventional world behind and fantasizing about my own escape to the French countryside.

Such was my curiosity of Le Manoir that I tried to book a night to stay there during last October’s trip to France. It didn’t work out logistically in the end and I figured that with all of the sensational publicity of the guesthouse and publication of the cookbook I would go the next time I was in France. Sadly, there won’t be a next time, shortly after inquiring about a visit, an email came bidding adieu from the staff at Le Manoir. Yes, Le Manoir had been sold and would become someone’s private residence. Quelle horreur!

It doesn’t add up. After rave reviews and seeming successes, why was Le Manoir sold? There must be something greater going on – a back story as to why what appeared to be the perfect place ended up being sold by the proprietors who spent 2 years turning it into their dream.

Whatever the case, all best wishes to the future endeavors or Orlando Murrin and Peter Steggall; I’ll be on the look out for their next adventure and hope to have an opportunity to experience what ever it may be. In the meantime, the cookbook remains a fine tribute to what was.

Here is the smoothie recipe I made for the brunch CBC. I used mixed berries instead of straight raspberries and love the description below of the “lipstick-pink goodness”!

The Raynaudes Smoothie

At Raynaudes we serve the sort of breakfast we would like to eat if we were on holiday: fresh, light, and indulgent – plus almost invariably, a surprise. One of the best surprises has to be our smoothie – an icy cup of lipstick-pink goodness.

Makes enough for 6

2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups plain yogurt
½ cup apple juice
2 cups raspberries, frozen
(or mangoes or other fruit)

Whiz everything in a blender till smooth. (Powerful as a food processor is, its blades work in a different way from a blender, and you get a much smoother effect with the latter). Taste and add more honey if necessary, and more fruit juice if too thick. Serve at once though it will still be delicious half an hour later.

Granola and Fruit for Brunch

Both of these brunch recipes are from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. The Homemade Granola was adapted by Ina Garten from Sarah Chase’s Open House Cookbook. The granola was so good that since the cookbook club brunch I’ve been keeping it on hand as a staple. I like to change it up each time by adding different nuts and dried fruits. If there isn’t yougurt in the refrigerator granola is great with milk – I usually have it with non-fat but it’s always a treat to splurge with whole!

Homemade Granola
Makes 12 cups

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
¾ vegetable oil
½ cup good honey
1 1 /2 cups small-diced figs
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews

Preheat oven to 350°

Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. Pour onto a 13×18 inch baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the apricots, figs, cherries, cranberries, and cashews. Cool and store in an air-tight container.

Fruit Salad with Limoncello

7 oz Greek yogurt, plain
1/3 cup lemon curd
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sliced strawberries (1 pint)
1 cup raspberries (1/2 pint)
1 cup blueberries (1/2 pint)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons limoncello
1 banana, sliced
Fresh mint sprigs

For the lemon yogurt topping, whisk together the yogurt, lemon curd, honey and vanilla and set aside at room temperature.

For the fruit salad, carefully toss together the strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, sugar and limoncello. Allow them to stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes to let the berries macerate with the sugar and liqueur. Gently fold the banana into the mixture.

Serve with the granola or on its own.

Ham for the Tailgater

The day after Christmas my football team – Go Trojan’s! was sadly in the Emerald Bowl. The only redeeming part of this equation is that the Nut Bowl is blocks away from home. With rain threatening I decided to host the pre-game tailgater in the loft instead of in the parking lot. What better than to have civilized cocktails and fill up on food other than hot dogs and ten dollar beers before braving the storm and heading to the stadium?

Since everyone had been gorging on food for the past 2 days, I wanted to keep it simple with a dose of comfort. Ham was the call. It could be sliced to serve in sandwiches or fly solo with mustard and the reduced glaze on the side. Best of all, prep would be minimal.

After sticking a bunch of cloves on the top and pouring the glaze over it, it simply cooked for 90 minutes and voila – perfection, so succulent, it received three cheers and won fans from both sides of the game.

12-14 lb smoked ham
several whole cloves – enough to cover the top and around the sides
6-8 oz jar of mango chutney
1/2 cup smooth Dijon mustard (I prefer the spiciness in the smooth vs. the seeded but you could use either)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
4-6 garlic cloves

Pre-heat oven to 350°

Put the ham in a deep baking dish or Dutch oven. Put the cloves in the top, about 3/4 inches apart. In a blender or using an immersion blender, add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth then pour over the top of the ham so it runs down all sides. Heat in the oven for 60-75 minutes until the top is golden and the ham is warm.

Remove the ham and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. While the ham is resting, pour the glaze and juices from the pan into a sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Serve along side the ham to drizzle over the top.

Once the ham has been devoured, be sure to keep the hock and make split pea soup.

MKMT Cookbook Club – Ad Hoc at Home

On February 21st the MKMT cookbook club will cook from Ad Hoc at Home - the acclaimed (and out of stock until the beginning of February) new cookbook from Thomas Keller. Touted as an “accessible” cookbook for the “home cook”, Ad Hoc At Home features 200 recipes for family-style meals inspired by the eponymous restaurant in Yountville.

I confess that I am skeptical about how accessible a Thomas Keller cookbook can be after The French Laundry and Bouchon, - both stunning books but more for coffee table viewing and fantasy land vs. rolling up the sleeves and cooking for family and friends.

So in the spirit of living life outside of the comfort zone, the cookbook club embraces the challenge at hand and gathering at the table to serve up classic American food Chef Keller style.

One of the recipes that we have to look forward to….

From Ad Hoc at Home: Buttermilk Fried Chicken

If there’s a better fried chicken, I haven’t tasted it. First, and critically, the chicken is brined for 12 hours in a herb-lemon brine, which seasons the meat and helps it stay juicy. The flour is seasoned with garlic and onion powders, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper. The chicken is dredged in the seasoned flour, dipped in buttermilk, and then dredged again in the flour. The crust becomes almost feathered and is very crisp. Fried chicken is a great American tradition that’s fallen out of favor. A taste of this, and you will want it back in your weekly routine. –Thomas Keller

Ingredients
(Serves 4-6)

Two 2 1/2- to 3-pound chickens (see Note on Chicken Size)
Chicken Brine (recipe follows), cold

For Dredging and Frying

Peanut or canola oil for deep-frying
1 quart buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coating

6 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Ground fleur de sel or fine sea salt
Rosemary and thyme sprigs for garnish

Directions

Cut each chicken into 10 pieces: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 breast quarters, and 2 wings. Pour the brine into a container large enough to hold the chicken pieces, add in the chicken, and refrigerate for 12 hours (no longer, or the chicken may become too salty).

Remove the chicken from the brine (discard the brine) and rinse under cold water, removing any herbs or spices sticking to the skin. Pat dry with paper towels, or let air-dry. Let rest at room temperature for 1-1/2 hours, or until it comes to room temperature.

If you have two large pots (about 6 inches deep) and a lot of oil, you can cook the dark and white meat at the same time; if not, cook the dark meat first, then turn up the heat and cook the white meat. No matter what size pot you have, the oil should not come more than one-third of the way up the sides of the pot. Fill the pot with at least 2 inches of peanut oil and heat to 320°F. Set a cooling rack over a baking sheet. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.

Meanwhile, combine all the coating ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer half the coating to a second large bowl. Pour the buttermilk into a third bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set up a dipping station: the chicken pieces, one bowl of coating, the bowl of buttermilk, the second bowl of coating, and the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Just before frying, dip the chicken thighs into the first bowl of coating, turning to coat and patting off the excess; dip them into the buttermilk, allowing the excess to run back into the bowl; then dip them into the second bowl of coating. Transfer to the parchment-lined pan.

Carefully lower the thighs into the hot oil. Adjust the heat as necessary to return the oil to the proper temperature. Fry for 2 minutes, then carefully move the chicken pieces around in the oil and continue to fry, monitoring the oil temperature and turning the pieces as necessary for even cooking, for 11 to 12 minutes, until the chicken is a deep golden brown, cooked through, and very crisp. Meanwhile, coat the chicken drumsticks and transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Transfer the cooked thighs to the cooling rack skin-side-up and let rest while you fry the remaining chicken. (Putting the pieces skin-side-up will allow excess fat to drain, whereas leaving them skin-side-down could trap some of the fat.) Make sure that the oil is at the correct temperature, and cook the chicken drumsticks. When the drumsticks are done, lean them meat-side-up against the thighs to drain, then sprinkle the chicken with fine sea salt.

Turn up the heat and heat the oil to 340°F. Meanwhile, coat the chicken breasts and wings. Carefully lower the chicken breasts into the hot oil and fry for 7 minutes, or until golden brown, cooked through, and crisp. Transfer to the rack, sprinkle with salt, and turn skin side up. Cook the wings for 6 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the wings to the rack and turn off the heat. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter. Add the herb sprigs to the oil (which will still be hot) and let them cook and crisp for a few seconds, then arrange them over the chicken.

Note on Chicken Size: You may need to go to a farmers’ market to get these small chickens. Grocery store chickens often run 3 to 4 pounds. They can, of course, be used in this recipe but if chickens in the 2-1/2- to 3-pound range are available to you, they’re worth seeking out. They’re a little easier to cook properly at the temperatures we recommend here and, most important, pieces this size result in the optimal meat-to-crust proportion, which is such an important part of the pleasure of fried chicken.

Note: We let the chicken rest for 7 to 10 minutes after it comes out of the fryer so that it has a chance to cool down. If the chicken has rested for longer than 10 minutes, put the tray of chicken in a 400°F oven for a minute or two to ensure that the crust is crisp and the chicken is hot.

Chicken Brine
Makes 2 gallons
5 lemons, halved
24 bay leaves
1 bunch (4 ounces) flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch (1 ounce) thyme
1/2 cup clover honey
1 head garlic, halved through the equator
3/4 cup black peppercorns
2 cups (10 ounces) kosher salt, preferably Diamond Crystal
2 gallons water
The key ingredient here is the lemon, which goes wonderfully with chicken, as do the herbs: bay leaf, parsley, and thyme. This amount of brine will be enough for 10 pounds.

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring to dissolve the salt. Remove from the heat and cool completely, then chill before using. The brine can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Aloha Haoles

Aloha! MKMT is in Hawaii for a few days. Yesterday found us speeding up the King Kamehameha Highway in the Jeep Wrangler convertible to the North Shore of Oahu in search of big waves – hello Bonzai Pipeline – and local eats. I had heard that there were shrimp trucks, shave ice and Huli Huli chicken not to be missed.

First stop, Giovanni’s Shrimp truck in Hale’iwa. We pulled the jeep off road and into the dirt lot where three food trucks and a kiosk to get a lomilomi massage were set up. Upon approach we realized that our lunch companions were ten big tattooed Samoan dudes riding shiny Harley’s. We bellied up to the heavily graffitied truck and browsed the menu. It featured shrimp in 3 ways – all extremely garlicky in varying degrees of spiciness over rice with additional garlic sauce and a garlic hot dog – served over rice or in a bun. I had a flash back of college days and Killer Shrimp in Venice Beach although eating shrimp in a dirt parking lot out of a truck is a bit different – and more of an adventure than eating shrimp out of a bowl in a strip mall in LA…..

We opted for the shrimp and rice, most popular style, which included 12 succulent shrimp with 2 scoops of rice and the garlic hot dog on a bun vs. rice which was served with crunchy toasted garlic sprinkled on the top.

Next on the stop was Aoki’s Shave Ice where we attempted to remove the garlic flavor from our mouths. I had the Hawaiian Local Favorite – how’s that for an original name, which was a combo of banana, pineapple, and guava. The banana was overpowering. I will try another flavor the next time. Our timing was perfect because we were able to walk right up and order. 30 minutes later when we passed by again the line was out the door and down the street.

Next stop… big waves…. until we drove by the daily Hale’iwa farmers market and did a big U-turn so we could go see the local flowers – orchids to die for, Plumeria, Bromeliads, Birds of Paradise, and on and on with stunning tropical flora. After the flora fascination and realization that buying everything in site was not a good idea we poked around the produce stalls and saw avocadoes the size of nurf footballs, little gem pineapples that smelled so sweet we were tempted to bite right in. We bought one for later and it was gobbled up in no time – core and all. All forms of imaginable produce – tropical and not were found in the stalls and everything was big, luscious, and healthy. It sure put the current production of my garden back home to shame.

The highlight of the market were the two Hawaiian guys sitting on a long plank of wood making poi the old fashioned way – rolling it out on the wood. Apparently due to health codes this technique is no longer used or legal (no photos allowed), but these guys still maintain the practice to preserve their heritage and tradition.

We finally made it to the big waves. They were BIG. In addition to the waves and surfers along the coast there was a surf competition that was taking place and the shore was full of onlookers.

Classic Hawaiian surfer girl image… she was jay-walking across the highway tanned skin, teeny bikini, a little dog under her arm and guitar across her shoulder on the way to cheer on her surfer sweetie and play some music in the sand….Aloha!

On the way out of the North Shore we saw billows of smoke off to the left and identified the smell as bbq… The Wrangler took a sharp left into another dirt parking lot where we found a line queued up for the Huli-Huli Chicken – slow roasted, over a bbq rotisserie style. This was my first experience with the Huli Huli chicken and it was entertaining to watch the production of preparing the birds, rotating them on top of the flat bead full of hot briquettes then chopping them up to serve.

We ordered the half chicken and pineapple slaw – the chicken was moist and slightly spicy and the slaw, while good in concept was runny and could have used some more pineapple chunks. By the time we sat down, the line was another 20 people deep – this place is a machine.

More photos to come, but here are a few from the iphone and a recipe I found for the shrimp. I haven’t personally tried it yet, but the reviews were good….

Shrimp Shack Garlic Shrimp
Add a scoop of rice to serve one as a meal.
• 1/4 c. olive oil (sub. butter for extra artery clogging power)
• juice of one lemon
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 8-10 or more good sized cloves of garlic, minced. You can never have too much.
• 1 T paprika
• a dozen shrimp, the biggest buggers you can find
• sticky plastic tables, stray cats, graffitti (optional)
• lemon wedges (optional)
Sautee everything but the shrimp over medium-low heat until the garlic is a nice golden brown. While shrimp is cooking, spill soda on the plastic table to create authentic stickiness. Crank the sautee heat to turbo and add the shrimp. Keep stirring until the shrimp are just barely done. Remove immediately to prevent them going all rubbery and flavorless.
Serve shrimp over rice, scraping all the little garlic bits onto the rice. By now the stray cats will have been drawn by the aroma and your shrimp truck experience is complete!

MKMT Goes to France

MKMT is on the way to France to spend 4 days in Paris followed by a week long culinary tour in Provence with Culinary Getaways, a culinary travel company that specializes in cooking tours in France, Italy, and the Napa Wine Country operated by my friend and MKMT cookbook club participant, Sherry Page.

While in Provence, our small group will be staying at a farmhouse in the heart of the Luberon for a week of cooking, visiting markets and learning about making cheese, growing olives, and tasting wine. What could be better than that?

Here are some of the highlights of what I’ll be doing….

 A visit to a wine cave with a notable history in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
 Lunch at acclaimed Chef Daniel Hebet’s restaurant Le Jardin du Quai in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
 A day in Avignon with Chef Julien Charvet that begins with shopping at the Les Halles market followed by a return trip to his atelier where we will cook together using fresh, local ingredients.
 A visit to the Wednesday market in St. Remy (one of my personal favorite places in Provence)
 Exploring the chocolate creations of local chocolatier, Joel Durand, salt tasting, and seeing how the famous soap in Provence is made.
 A tour of an olive mill near Mausanne les Alpilles followed by an olive oil tasting.
 Cheese tasting with Claudine Vigier, a Master Cheese Affineur, who owns the best cheese shop in Provence.
 Lunch at Chez Serge, in Carpentras. Last year, Serge Ghoukassian was named 2008 Sommelier of the Year for France by Gault-Millau. The plan is to spend time in the kitchen with Serge where he will make a special lunch paired with regional wines.

A Bientôt!

Luscious Little Cheese Balls

These luscious little goat cheese balls with lavendar honey were my late afternoon snack at BarnDiva in Healdsburg.

Laura Chenel goat cheese is mixed with dices of heirloom tomatoes, rolled into balls, breaded with panko, then popped into the deep-fryer and salted when they came out. The outside was crisp and crunchy and the inside warm and creamy – and light pink thanks to the tomatoes.

They were the perfect bite – sweet and salty, crunchy and creamy with a lovely presentation on a rustic board with lavendar honey and scattered blossoms.

Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland

The line for Voodoo Doughnuts that Sunday morning at 10am went around the block.

It was a dilemma to stand in line for 20-30 minutes for a doughnut which I certainly didn’t need after a weekend of eating… oh yeah, and just having breakfast….

But there we were in the line, not able to say no to what some doughnut aficionados consider to be the best doughnuts around. Plus, the fast would begin on Monday so why not fill my pie hole with a doughnut.

The line moved quickly and before we knew it we had entered the inner sanctum and would have to order within minutes.

The pressure was on; there were so many options.

I selected the namesake voodoo doughnut, a doughnut in the shape of a person covered with chocolate, filled with cherry goo with a pretzel poking out of it’s belly button.

My travel mate and buddy, Beemer selected the Arnold Palmer, a cake doughnut covered with lemon and tea powder with a fruit loop in the center.

They say that the doughnuts must be eaten immediately so we popped them in our mouths and were silent. In less than a minute, they were gone and there was a consensus that our doughnut diversion was indeed a good idea.

MKMT Cookbook Club Does Brunch

The next MKMT cookbook club will be on November 1st and will be taking a break from our traditional format. After several years of meeting at 4pm on Sunday afternoons and cooking from a single book, we will meet for brunch at noon.

Everyone has been challenged to bring their favorite brunch recipes to share along with the book they are from and copies of the recipe for everyone. In the end we will have a collection of the best of the best brunch recipes; ready to head into the holiday season armed to serve the best brunch ever to friends and family.

The change in format has been so well received that several people have already weighed in with what they’re planning to bring. And let me tell you, people are cooking to impress… while there may be a fruit salad and a scone or muffin, I have a feeling that most of the dishes will be creative and competitive.

At this point, I’m hoping to come across a fabulous, must share recipe on my trip to France. If that fails, two cookbooks that I have recently added to my collection are A Table in the Tarn and Celebrating with Julienne. Both have brunch recipes and while they’re not tried and true to me, they might be given a try.

Cheers to brunch!

MKMT Cookbook Review – A Platter of Figs

It was another day of good cooking and eating as the MKMT Cookbook club gathered to share recipes from A Platter of Figs by David Tanis. The timing was perfect for the summer menus and all but a couple of the recipes that were made came from these menus which meant a lot of seasonal produce and several duplicate dishes.

Overall feedback about the book was positive. The package is beautiful with gorgeous photography and it is well written with thoughtful anecdotes interspersed throughout the pages. We liked how the book was laid out by season and then by menu and how simple most recipes were with the focus being quality of ingredient. The author writes an introduction to each menu that includes information about how to think like a cook, use your instinct around the kitchen and improvise in addition to following a recipe. Reading and cooking from A Platter of Figs can make us all more comfortable in the kitchen and better able to stare into the refrigerator and pull out a few ingredients and whip something up on our own.

One cook at the table commented that he thought “the introduction was a little arrogant, but since the author is the chef at Chez Panisse gives him justification to be opinionated”. Another cook commented that “the quality of the ingredients is so important to the recipes that it is a bit pricy for every day cooking”.

The recipes are all supposed to serve 8-10 people and some of us halved them to make smaller portions, making them more realistic for a family meal or dinner for 4 vs. a larger dinner party.

Menus and Recipes that were made included:

Too Darned Hot, Alors! Menu Eight
Lavender Honey Ice Cream three of us made this ice cream and each was quite different. Mine had the least amount of lavender flavor and was the lightest in color despite the fact that I picked the lavender that morning fresh from the garden. The two others had more intense and pronounced lavender and honey flavor and were also darker in color. We all used plain honey as the lavender honey suggested in the recipe was spotted at $15 for a jar.

Slightly All-American Menu Eight – we made this whole menu.
Sliced Tomatoes with Sea Salt – it doesn’t get much more straight forward than this and with the heirloom tomatoes at their peak this dish couldn’t have been easier to make or tastier. Grilled Chicken Breasts were succulent and packed with flavor.
Corn, Squash, and Beans with Jalapeño Butter was the most time consuming of the recipes in this menu and the jalapeno butter packed a punch.
Blueberry-Blackberry Crumble – there were 3 of these so one we didn’t cook and put in the freezer! The two we ate were both delicious, although as expected, there were subtle nuances between them.

Yellow Hunger Menu Nine
Shaved Summer Squash and Peaches in Wine were both made and both wonderful – how can one go wrong with squash and peaches both in their prime.

Feeling Italian, Part I Menu Ten
Cherry Tomato Crostini with Ricotta is addicting and incredibly easy – a must make several times in the peak of tomato season.
I made the Roast Pork Loin Porchetta Style and needed to adjust the recipe a bit as well as cook slightly longer that the recipe calls for. The menu was finished with the Nectarine and Raspberry Macedonia - peaches and nectarines and stone fruit and berries oh my!

The final recipe from the summer menus was the Cold Pink Borscht in a Glass from Hot Day, Cold Chicken Menu Twelve. There seems to be a trend developing around the table that there is usually something made with beets that is fuchsia! As a non-beet eater ( I think they taste like dirt but keep trying to acquire the taste) I loved this soup and slurped it up.

One of the recipes that fell outside of the summer menu, was Mustard Rabbit in the Oven - spring and a whole lesson about how to cook rabbit. This dish was so savory with Dijon mustard, Crème Fraîche, and pancetta, how could be a bunny be bad? This is a must make for romantic dinner or small dinner party entree. It is unique and flavors unparalleled. Chef Tanis even includes a recipe for home made crème fraîche for those so inclined. He is convinced that commercial product is sub-par – this recipe is also referenced in the Lavendar Honey Ice Cream.

It is far to say that this cookbook should be a staple on the cookbook shelf. It makes an excellent gift for a favorite seasoned home chef. Since many recipes are guidelines and leave some finessing up to the cook, I wouldn’t suggest it for someone who isn’t comfortable in the kitchen. Because of the organization by season it is fair to say that we will likely pull it out again for a winter MKMT cookbook club so we can dive into recipes like Green Chile Stew, Walnut Cigars, and Osso Buco with Orange, Lemon, and Capers.