Two Beans and Pea Salad

Two Beans and a Pea Salad
adapted from a Gourmet recipe

Serves 6 side dishes

1 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2 cups chopped celery
3 tbls fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the edamame in boiling salted water for about 4 minutes or until heated through. Drain them in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.

Heat the oil in a small pan and cook the cumin stirring until fragrant about 1 min. Pour into a large bowl. Add the edamame and remaining ingredients toss with the oil and season with salt and pepper.

I could not decide which picture I liked better so you get both...

I just had to post this as soon as I took my first bite. I didn't even finish my lunch before taking a few shots and getting it up here. This was really what I needed today. A fresh easy filling salad.
It is very gray and wet here in Baltimore today and Robby (the husband and product tester) has his last law school exam of the semester tomorrow. So needless to say I will not be seeing him until tomorrow night.
I plan on making a big roast beef with mashed potatoes and salad for dinner which will be waiting for him to heat up at about 1:00 in the morning if he gets home by then. So the salad is just perfect for lunch.

Oh, and I pulled out some speck that I got at Balducci's last night.
Speck dell'Alto Adige is similar to prosciutto but is cured with garlic, bay leaves, juniper berries, and nutmeg. I don't usually like smoked meats but I am in love with this one. I have a really hard time not eating it in the car on the way home from the store. Try it sometime as an alternative to prosciutto which where I shop is more expensive than speck.

Grand Marnier Crepe Cake

I have collected a stack of magazine pages with recipes that I want to make. This recipe has been calling to me since I first saw it in Gourmet last March. Tonight is the night, it is in the fridge waiting for the guests we have tonight to dig in. I am also working on a Beef Bourguignon from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I have a few DVDs of Julia Childs' old cooking shows, which are great, one of which is the Beef Bourguignon. Like she suggested I am making it ahead so all the flavors have time to blend. That is also the case for this Crepe Cake. So dinner should be easy and I will have plenty of time to be with my guests.
Grand Marnier Crepe Cake
Gourmet March 2008

serves 8 to 12

6 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
3 cups chilled heavy cream, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup confectioners sugar, divided
2 tablespoons grated orange zest, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon grand Marnier of Cointreau

Blend eggs, milk, 1/2 cup cream, and 1/2 tsp vanilla with flour, salt, 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, and 1 teaspoon zest in a blender until just smooth.

Brush a crepe pan or 10-inch nonstick skillet lightly with some melted butter, then heat over medium-high heat until hot. Pour in a scant 1/4 cup batter, immediately tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom. Cook until underside is golden and top is just set, 15 to 45 seconds. Loosen edge of crepe with heatproof rubber spatula, then flip crepe over with your fingertips and cook 15 seconds more. Transfer to a plate. Continue making crepes, brushing skillet with butter each time and stacking on plate.

Beat remaining 2 1/2 cups cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 3/4 cups confectioners sugar, 1 teaspoon zest, and Grand Marnier in a large deep bowl with an electric mixer until cream holds stiff peaks.

Center a crepe on a serving plate and spread with 1/4 cup cream. Continue stacking cremes and spreading with cream, ending with a crepe. Chill, covered, at least 4 hours and up to 24.

November Cook Book Club- James Beard

We have had over a year of Cook Book Club and I am so proud. Covering everything from Southern to Thai food, we have done brunch and dinner and next year there will be a guys night. The theme for this one was mid-century standard American fare a la James Beard. On the menu: baked clams with bacon, garlic soup,beef stroganoff, stuffed bell peppers, and chocolate souffle.

Foundation of the garlic soup - vampire insurance.

We have so many James Beard cookbooks. YOINK! Robby here. Cook Book Club is good when there's leftovers for the menfolk. I'll finish this post up right.

Baked clams with bacon. Coralie made these I think, and they were really good. Duh, there's bacon on it.

The ladies of Cook Book Club. They look sweet in this picture, but they are a rowdy bunch. Don't be fooled by the optic trickery. I was upstairs watching the kid and the ladies were shrieking, laughing and dropping the F-bomb. Sounded like fun, but you know, I tried to remain in the background.

Upper Fells Point Tortilleria & Wild Mushroom Enchiladas with Ancho Chili-Cream Sauce

I am very lucky to live where I do. I am only blocks from the harbor and downtown but I live in a quiet part of the city right near Patterson Park. I love to walk to restaurants, Whole Foods, and the Farmer's Market. One thing that is very special to me and my family is the Tortilleria on Eastern Ave in Upper Fells Point. Every Day they make a massive amount of fresh corn tortillas mostly for the large Hispanic population who lives in the neighborhood, but also for us lucky neighbors who have discovered the irreplaceable freshness and authenticity of their tortillas and chips.

They come wrapped in paper and are weighed by the kilo with one kilo costing about $2.00. I use them for everything including just a snack. Most recently I made a unique memorable enchilada dish from Epicurious. It sounds a little unconventional, which it is, but after you make it you will see that is easy and will soon become a staple in you repertoire. Enjoy!

Wild Mushroom Enchiladas with Ancho Chili-Cream Sauce

Bon Appétit | June 1997

• 2 cups water
• 2 dried ancho chilies
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 12 ounces fresh wild mushrooms (such as oyster and/or stemmed and sliced shiitake and portobello)
• 5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded, chopped
• 1 small avocado, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 8 6-inch-diameter corn tortillas

Preparation

Bring 2 cups water to boil in small saucepan. Remove saucepan from heat, add chilies and soak 30 minutes. Drain chilies, reserving 6 tablespoons soaking liquid. Cut stems off chilies. Cut chilies open. Scrape out seeds and discard. Combine chilies, 6 tablespoons reserved soaking liquid and garlic in blender and puree until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine cream and chili puree in heavy large skillet. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes. Whisk in lime juice. Season with salt. Strain sauce; return to skillet. (Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Melt butter in another heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and sauté until onion is translucent and mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Add cheese, cilantro, tomatoes and 3 tablespoons cream sauce. Simmer until just heated through, about 4 minutes. Stir in avocado. Season filling with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Bring remaining cream sauce to simmer over low heat. Cook 1 tortilla in cream mixture until softened, turning to coat, about 15 seconds. Carefully transfer tortilla to baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Cover remaining sauce and keep warm. Spoon generous 1/3 cup filling down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, enclosing filling completely. Arrange seam side down on same baking sheet. Cover enchiladas with foil.

Bake enchiladas until heated through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plates. Spoon some sauce atop each. Serve, passing any remaining sauce separately.

Penne with Green Beans and Goat Cheese

So I have a pasta problem. I love it. It is important that I try new things including potatoes, and rice as far a starch goes, but I have a hard time passing up pasta. I also have a small obsession with Gordon Ramsey, although I only own one of his books, I have seen all the TV shows including the ones from the UK. In this case I had green beans in the fridge that had to be used so of course this pasta recipe was perfect. It is best eaten freshly made so the the cheese and butter don't separate when you reheat it. But it is so tasty that you and a few friends will have no trouble finding the bottom of the bowl.

Penne with Green Beans and Goat Cheese
Adapted from Gordon Ramsey's Fast Food

10 oz penne
Salt and pepper
6 tbls butter
1 red chili, seeded and minced
1 rosemary sprig leaves chopped
9 oz. green beans trimmed, and sliced on the diagonal to 1 inch length
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
5 oz. goat cheese
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

Boil a large pot of salted water and add pasta. Cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pan, add the chili and rosemary and heat over low heat for 2 minutes. Turn up the heat and add the beans, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring until tender but not too soft.
Drain the pasta and toss with a little olive oil, then mix with the beans. Take the pasta off the heat and mix in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and top with the pine nuts.

I Heart New York

Last weekend my brother Christopher, sister Michelle, and husband Robby and I took what I hope will be an annual trip to Manhattan to visit my other brother Donnie. And what a great time we had.

We drove up Saturday evening and met Donnie at Manhattan Motor Cars where he works. He was a few minutes late so I wasted no time in finding some good eats which happened to be one block away at a little convience store. I got coffee and samosas. One was Chicken which I had not tried before, I am used to just veggie. This is the first reason I love New York. It took me all of one block to find some cheap tasty eats. Not that everything is cheap, in fact most of it is ridiculously expensive but I will get to that later.

After an extensive and dreamy tour of the Bentley, Roles Royce, Lamborghini, etc. store we headed to the hotel to check in and change for dinner. Standing on the curb waiting for a taxi with no idea of where to go we started brainstorming. Did we want Italian, Mexican (Rosa Mexicana was great on the last trip) or maybe Sushi? Christopher chimed in for Sushi and then it was up to Donnie to pick the place. He decided on "Momo's" one of his favorites, and we were off.


When the taxi dropped us off and we walked into the restaurant I realized where we were. Morimoto's as in the Iron chef Morimoto. Now I am lucky enough to have eaten at one of his restaurants before in Philadelphia but this was even better. We went for it and ordered everything. Three appetisers, a Hugh plate of chef's sushi, and then entrees. I got the Duck Duck Duck which was perfect!

Oh, and the bathroom! I can't forget. Michelle tried to take a picture but I don't think it turned out. The toilets are those fancy $10,000 toilets with heated seat, spray, and blow dry for the down there parts. Crazy.

So we left full, "cleaned", and ready for more. Heading to the meatpacking district to do I don't know what. Donnie is always impressing me. We went to one of those fancy nightclubs I don't even know the name. There was a big line out front. We were inspected as Donnie talked to the man at the door. Then the rope opened and we were ushered in ahead of the beautiful New Yorkers waiting in the cold. I don't remember much from that part of the trip and I am definitely not sharing the pictures so lets skip ahead to the next day.


Get up, take Advil, drink lots of water, and shower. That is how the morning went. Then off to find food. Donnie the ever improving food host took us to a cheese shop where I got Speck (one of my favorite). This sounds funny for the first thing in the morning but it was followed by pastries from a shop down the street. Wonderful.

The day was spent shopping in Soho until we were hungry again and headed to The Spotted Pig for what was supposed to be one of the best hamburgers in NY. And it was. We waited for a little while but it was totally worth it. A blend of beef topped with Gorgonzola and placed on a flavorful grilled bun. It was so tender. I can't wait until there cookbook comes out so I can find the secret. (I asked the waitress they are working on it now)

Full again and getting late we left so our car would not turn back into a pumpkin and headed back to Maryland. Thank you Donnie, Robby, Christopher, and Michelle for a great night. Lets do it again soon.

Linguine with Clams it's whats for dinner.

The adult portion...

and the two year old portion.

So believe it or not I love Costco clams. They are cheap, fresh, and so tasty. They are farmed, but for a recipe like this where garlic and chilies play a big role the clams work perfectly. I got over 50little neck clams for under twenty dollar. I used half of them for this recipe and half will be for something new tomorrow night. Wash them well and check for any dead clams before starting.

Linguine with Clams

1 cup water
24 little neck clams
5-6 garlic cloves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 pound fini linguine
1/2 cup shopped parsley
salt

Bring the cup of water to a boil and drop in the clams, cover, and steam until the clams open.

Remove the clams to a plate with tongs reserving then straining the liquid with cheese cloth into a bowl. Remove the clams from their shells and coarsely chop them.

Meanwhile heat the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat. When it starts to sizzle turn the heat down to low and cook for 15 minutes so the oil is infused with the garlic. Add the red pepper and oregano and heat on low for 4 more minutes. Add the strained clam juice and turn up to boil cooking until reduced by half.

While the sauce cooks boil water and cook the pasta one minute less than recommended. Drain pasta and return to the pot adding sauce, clams, parsley, and salt to taste cook one more minute on low. Toss and serve.

Anticipation Blog

Here is a quick note about this coming Thursday and the rest of the week for that matter. I have been invited to a food blogger's dinner at Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore by Liz and Nathan Stambaugh who write "What's to Eat Baltimore?". I am very excited about this not only because I have not eaten at Woodberry, (where I plan on ordering; Baked Stuffed Clams Roasted green chile, bacon, bread crumbs, then Brick Oven Roasted Chicken Bread salad, peaches, almonds, tuscan kale, and if there is room Buttermilk Panna Cotta Cinnamon thin, rhubarb gumdrop, blackberries,) but I am excited that my blog is helping me to make new friends. I love food people, they are fun, interesting, opinionated, and there is usually something good to eat around them.

I also have Cook Book Club on Friday. We will be using The Herbal Kitchen by by Jerry Traunfeld and John Granen. My assignment is apps, and I have chosen the warm figs stuffed with bacon and goat cheese (mouth watering yet?). My week is looking good and it might end with a tomato canning day on Sunday. I will take as many pictures as possible and report back soon. Oh, and I need a name for my Cook Book Club which has been meeting for over a year now so any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

This recipe was original published in Bon Appetit Aug 2007. For my birthday this year I received a bag of unusually spices from my brother Donnie who lives in New York City and is lucky enough to have access to all kinds of products that I can't get in Baltimore. I pulled out one of the more common items the Madras Curry and looked up this recipe. Madras Curry usually contains more chilies than a other Curry's but the combination of the spice and the cucumber raita was wonderful. Give this recipe a try it was simple and really good. I served it with Jasmine rice and Indian Poppadoms which are the chips you get when eating at Indian restaurants. I found them at Whole Foods, they added an authenticity to the meal. Sorry for not having any pictures...it was so good that we ate it before I could get the camera out.

Raita is India's signature yogurt and vegetable condiment. This one would also be good on pita or naan.

Curried Trout with Chutney and Cucumber-Melon Raita

Bon Appétit | August 2007

The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/3 cup diced unpeeled English hothouse cucumber
1/3 cup diced peeled cantaloupe
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, divided
2 large (8- to 9-ounce) trout fillets with skin
4 tablespoons mango-ginger chutney
2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

Preparation

Mix first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons mint; season generously with salt and pepper. Chill raita while preparing trout.

Place trout fillets, flesh side up, on platter or baking sheet. Brush each with 2 tablespoons chutney, covering top completely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each fillet with 1 teaspoon curry powder. Sprinkle almonds evenly over fish; press very firmly to adhere.

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add fish, almond side down, and cook until browned on bottom, about 4 minutes. Carefully turn fish over and sauté until cooked through, replacing any dislodged almonds, about 4 minutes. Transfer fish to plates; sprinkle remaining mint over. Spoon raita alongside.

Breakfast Johnnycakes

So I woke up this morning looked in the fridge and discovered about a cup of uncooked corn kernels left over from a recipe last week. Since it was breakfast that I was looking for I decided to incorporate them into this basic johnnycakes recipe. They are fast, simple, and a great change from pancakes and waffles made with regular flour. You could either pour syrup over them (maple please, none of that corn syrup crap) or just eat them with butter and jam. The one I ate was right out of the pan, plain, it was great. They should warm up nicely in the toaster, but my husband Robby will be the tester of that theory tomorrow before work.
Fresh Corn Johnnycakes

2 1/2 cups fine ground corn meal
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup fresh corn kernels cup off the cob
2 1/4 boiling water

Mix the corn meal, salt, sugar, and corn together in a bowl. Then add the boiling water and mix well. Heat about 2 tbls of butter in a skillet until light brown and then turn the skillet to meadium low. Add 1/4 cup of the batter to the skillet for each cake pressing the top down a little to flatten the them. Cook for 6-8 mins on the first side or until brown. Turn them over and cook another 2-3 mins.