Salt Crusted Striped Bass, Endive & Arugula Salad w/ Peaches & Almonds, Summer Vegetable Gratin, Cheesecake with Strawberry Coulis

Whew what a meal.  I am tired just typing the title!  I will start with the cheesecake which turned out the best.  The process wasn't all that different from most cheesecake recipes except for the use of a water bath and the addition of heavy whipping cream.  It was so good!  It also was beautiful and didn't crack thanks to the water bath.  I whipped up the strawberry coulis condiment to serve alongside.  Those of you reading that have this cookbook...TRY THE CHEESECAKE RECIPE!

For the salt crusted striped bass, I actually had to use a whole five pound red snapper. (Striped bass isn't in season right now).  I mixed up a mixture of kosher salt and egg whites and packed it around the fish while I tried not to look at his pitiful eyes staring at me. 

After roasting in the oven, cracking the salt crust, and fileting the fish it was ready to serve.

The summer vegetable gratin was a layering of eggplant, squash, tomatoes, zucchini with bread crumbs and parmesan baked on a bed of onions and garlic.  It was a great recipe to serve to make use of the bounty in the farmer's markets and gardens right now.

The endive & arugula salad consisted of the two lettuces tossed with sliced peaches and almonds.  It was dressed with a dressing made of the peach puree from the book which is cooked down peaches flavored with spices and canned.

All in all...a great meal!

  107 of 251 recipes...144 remaining

Hamburgers, Plum Zinfandel Jam, Candied Pecans, Pickled Watermelon Rind, and Garden Herb Vinaigrette

Happy 4th of July!  I took advantage of the long weekend to knock out a few recipes.  I didn't necessarily serve all of these together but thought I would post a quick synopsis and keep chipping away at the list.  Forgive the hodge podge collection in this post!

I started the weekend by working on a few of the "lifesavers."  I had picked up plums to make the plum zinfandel jam, tackled the pickled watermelon rind, and made the candied pecans.

The plum zinfandel jam was super easy.  I started with a bunch of plums and a bottle of red zinfandel.  Did I really need to go further?

I cut the plums into pieces and simmered over the stove with the zinfandel and sugar until I had the mixture hot enough to make jam. 

The candied pecans were toasted in the oven for about an hour and half after tossing with a little honey.  They caramelized and darkened in color and were ready to serve.

I served the plum zinfandel jam with a wheel of brie and crackers and the candied pecans.  Both items were the perfect item for a cheese tray appetizer. 

The pickled watermelon rind actually was the pickled inner lighter green part of the watermelon.  After soaking in salt water it was ready for pickling in a mixture of sugar, spices, and apple cider vinegar.  The mixture was a sweet vinegary bite that was a delicious accompanient  to the brisket Matt smoked on his smoker. 

 The garden herb vinaigrette dressed up a salad that was served along with a homemade lasagna (not from the book) while my parents and brother visited us.  The dressing was exactly as named... garben herbs and oil and vinegar.  The result was a bright crisp vinaigrette that was light and flavorful.

Last but not least were the hamburgers. I know what you are thinking.  Why is a hamburger in this book along with dishes like duck, rack of lamb, and veal?  Well, this one was definitely "fancy" because I had to grind my own meat for the hamburger.  Mom and Dad gave me the meat grinder attachment for my mixer for Christmas and I haven't had the opportunity to use it.  I broke it in with the hamburger recipe.  I started with a whole sirloin piece, chuck piece, and brisket piece.  I cut into smaller pieces and tossed with seasonings. It took me a few tries of all of the meat getting crammed in the attachment and Matt casually suggesting that maybe I should read the directions (isn't that backwards?) before I finally had the thing working and meat was coming out and I had a working slaughterhouse in my home kitchen.  It took me an hour to grind all that meat but I finally made it and had fresh ground hamburgers.  I grilled the burgers and served with slices of American cheese.  The pictures of the burger project didn't really turn out...after all that work, I was ready to eat!

102 of 251 recipes...149 remaining

Crab Cakes with Piquillo Pepper Vinaigrette and Sauteed Brocoli Rabe with Garlic and Chile Flakes

Last weekend I attended the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.  The festival was an amazing weekend of food, wine, spirits, demonstrations, and seminars.  I am still so excited about the great time we had so I thought I would share a few of the details on the blog.

We kicked the weekend off with dinner at Restaurant Eugene and the tasting menu.  The menu was a number of small courses which included a grouper dish with a smoked coffee glaze and an iron skilled ribeye served with swiss chard and a butter bean puree.  Dessert was chocolate cake with pickled strawberries.  I have never had a pickled strawberry before but it was awesome! I would definitely recommend this restaurant, everything was perfect.  The restaurant even sent us a handwritten note after dining with them...this pick is top notch.  

The next morning we started the seminars which ranged from a beef grilling demo by Texan chef Tim Love to a how to make your own grits demo by the Lee Brothers out of Charleston.  For lunch, we attended a bluegrass, bourbon, and BBQ Luncheon.  The highlight was an orange glazed BBQ slider with a fried pickle and coleslaw. 

That afternoon we had our first experience with the tasting tents and all I can say is wow!  These tents had it all.  We sampled everything from head cheese sandwiches to rhubarb tarts with a few beer, wine, and bourbons in between! We even were able to talk with Hugh Acheson of Five and Ten and the current season of Top Chef Masters.  If you do just one event at next year's festival...this should be it.

 Later that night we attended the  Break the Rules Evening hosted by rock star Chef Nathan Lippy and had more great food and cocktails including his take on bananas foster with caramel  and even bacon!

We then hit up the late night street carts and had an unbelievable dish of a tater tot with thinly sliced tuna, Japanese mayo, chives, and a sweet Asian sauce.  I know what you are thinking...how were they still eating?  I can't really answer that question but I will say that the tater tot was the best thing we had all day.

The next day we had more cooking demos and wine tasting seminars.  We even were able to meet one of my favorite chefs...Kevin Gillespie.  Some of you may remember him from Top Chef.

The afternoon consisted of a moonshine tasting (White Lightnin' - the legal kind) and more of the tasting tents.  We also had seminars on Sunday morning before heading home.

The festival was so well done and I can't wait until next year.  If you are a foodie like I am, this is the event to attend.  I was so inspired after the festival that I came home and cooked a meal from the book the very next night.

The crab cake was similar to many crab cake recipes in that it contained sauteed onions and peppers, egg, and of course crab meat.  The coating was panko bread crumbs.

After cooking the crab cakes, they were served with the Piquillo Pepper Vinaigrette which is a roasted pepper dressing.

The brocoli was first blanched in boiling water and then later sauteed with red pepper and garlic.

I almost forgot to mention that the crab cakes also called for the homemade mayonnaise recipe from the book.  This is the second time I have tried this recipe and also the second time the liquid just seeped out of the food processor and made a big mess!  So, while I haven't actually tasted the finished mayo, I am a little put out with this one so I am taking credit for it as completed!

The finished crab cake was light and delicate and the roasted pepper vinaigrette was the perfect finishing sauce that wasn't too heavy.  I also really liked the brocoli dish, the subtle heat was the perfect seasoning for the veggie.  The finished plate...

97 of 251 recipes...154 to go!

Roasted Spring Leg of Lamb, Tomato-Basil Marmalade, and Buttermilk Biscuits

The leg of lamb (also a purchase from the Farmers Market) is quite an expensive piece of meat but fortunately very easy to cook. All I had to do is make incisions in the meat, stick cloves of garlic in the incision, sprinkle with rosemary, salt, and pepper and roast in the oven to Med Rare...that's it!

I made the tomato-basil marmalade to accompany the lamb.  This condiment is started by caramelizing onions, fennel, and leeks in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Diced tomatoes are then added along with red wine vinegar and brown sugar and roasted for about another hour and a half.

The finished dish is jarred with whole basil leaves. 

The lamb was perfect for the marmalade but I can't think of much that wouldn't be perfect with the marmalade.  Oh how I have missed you tomato & basil, it's back in season and the marmalade was the perfect way to welcome it home.

  The buttermilk biscuits were started by making a dough in the food processor from cake flour and butter.  The buttermilk and salt is then added and the dough is rolled out.  The dough is then cut into biscuit shapes, brushed with more buttermilk, and baked in the oven.

The finished biscuit is brushed with melted butter.  The biscuits turned out pretty good for my first attempt.  Yes, it was my first attempt.  Why make homemade biscuits when the frozen ones are so good?  Next time I would make the biscuit a little thicker but they didn't turn out like hockey pucks so I was happy.

93 of 251 recipes...158 to go!

Santa Maria Style Tri-Tip, Brocolini Salad with Buratta Cheese, Leek Bread Pudding, & Grapefruit Cake

I discovered a new foodie find this week...the Dekalb International Farmers Market.  The selection here when it comes to meat, seafood, and produce is unbelievable!  After finding this place, I don't think I will have to order near as many items on the internet to complete all of the recipes.  All of the ingredients used for this meal came from the market and everything turned out great.  This may be one of the best meals cooked from the book yet.

The Tri-Tip Roast was started by making a rub of piment d espelette, paprika, salt, and pepper.  The roast sits in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to marinate.  The roast is quickly seared over the stove and then garlic, sliced lemons, and rosemary is added to the pan and it is finished until medium rare in the oven.

The finished roast is sliced and served with the lemons and rosemary.  Although the piece of meat was a little tough for my liking, it was cooked perfectly and the beef really served well with the other sides chosen.

The leeks are cooked in emulsified butter over the stove until they are tender.

They are then tossed with toasted brioche cubes and chives.

The custard is made of eggs, whipping cream, and milk and layers of the leek/bread mixture are alternated with cheese (I used fontina).

After letting the custard soak in, the dish is baked in the oven until set.  I had tried to make this dish from the cookbook before I started the blog and substituted green onions.  I discovered the green onions did not have as much as moisture as the leeks and the dish ended up being a little dry.  This time it turned out perfect.  It was such a savory dish and it seemed to be the hit of the meal.  It also wasn't too difficult to make and made a beautiful presentation.  No one expects bread pudding for anything other than dessert!

For the salad, I blanched brocolini until crisp tender and tossed it with the sherry vinaigrette recipe from the book.  It was then piled on a platter with sliced black olives, mushrooms, and onions. 

The buratta (I had to use fresh mozzarella, even the farmers market didn't have buratta) is served alongside in a bowl with olive oil drizzled over.

The finished salad was the perfect "lighter" accompaniment to the heavy roast and bread pudding.  The brocolini and mozzarella were the perfect pairing and the lightly drizzled sherry dressing really finished the dish off.  It also helped that vidalia onions are back in season and the sweet onions also paired nicely. 

The grapefruit cake was an easy cake recipe made with cake flour, sugar, eggs, and grapefruit zest.  The baked cake is punched with holes and a grapefruit syrup made from sugar and grapefruit juice is drizzled over the cake.  The cooled cake is then finished off with an icing made from grapefruit juice and powdered sugar.  I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the cake.  It is all gone as of this writing, so that tells you how good it was.  The cake was unbelievably moist and it was so easy to make.  The hardest part was juicing the grapefruit.

All in all, this was a great meal and I am excited to dig back in now that tax season is over!

90 of 251 recipes...161 to go!

Artichoke Mustard, Fennel Mustard, Chocolate Ice Cream, Roasted Beet & Potato Salad

This was an assortment of recipes that really didn't go together, but I did make them all in one weekend so it is resulting in one very mismatched post.  The results were also very much mismatched.

I started with the mustards and cooked the artichokes and fennel separately until they were tender.

Both were pureed individually with dijon mustard, dry mustard, vinegar, and other seasonings.  My blender had broken so I was attempting to puree these ingredients with my small immersion blender.  It didn't work so well and the textures of the mustards were a little grainy.  I am taking credit for them because I did make them; however, I may have to try both again once my new blender arrives. 

The chocolate ice cream recipe was exactly like the vanilla ice cream recipe from the last post but you mix in melted chocolate to the batter.

I was very careful about not getting the cream mixture too hot which is what caused my lumpy vanilla ice cream.  The soft serve straight out of the bowl was almost like chocolate mouse.  I used a slightly darker chocolate than the recipe called for and it was perfect. 

The roasted beet & potato salad was a combination of things I never would have tried.  Having not really cooked with beets before, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I started out by roasting the beets in the oven, peeling them, and cutting them into quarters.  I then cooked quartered assortments of purple and fingerling potatoes over simmering water.

 The beets and potatoes were tossed with escarole and pieces of smoked salmon and then dressed with the mustard vinaigrette recipe from the book.  I loved the beets.  Their sweet roasted flavor was perfect for the salad and I found myself picking all of the beets out when I ate the salad.  The smoked salmon was an interesting addition but it wasn't bad, and of course you can't go wrong with the old potato.

85 out of 251 recipes...166 to go

(I miscounted last post)

Herbed Toasted Walnuts, Cipollini Onion Chutney, Slow-Cooker Apple Butter, and Vanilla Ice Cream

I have now cooked 77 out of 251 recipes in the book which leaves me 174 to go.  I know it sounds like a lot.  In looking over the list, it breaks down to 5 poultry dishes, 14 meat dishes, 10 fish dishes, 5 soups, 29 salads (10 of which are dressings), 19 side dishes, 8 breads, 20 desserts, and 64 basic or lifesaver recipes.  The basic or lifesaver recipes include a variety of sauces, jellies, chutneys, pickled items, mustards, and bases.  Some are as straightforward as making chicken stock and others involve complicated concoctions.  In trying to cover some ground, I decided to focus for a while on some of the lifesaver recipes.  Not to mention the weather has been great and Matt just got a new smoker, so grilling outside lately is hard to beat.  The condiments and desserts actually are the perfect pair for the grilled meat.

The first recipe I tried was herbed toasted walnuts.  This was a really simple one and a great way to make use of the herbs coming back for the season.  All you do is toast the walnuts in the oven and then toss them with melted butter that has steeped with minced herbs (I used oregano, rosemary, and parsley).  Served warm, they were a great snack and are just as good reheated the next few days.

 The second item was the cippolini onion chutney.  The worst part about this recipe was peeling all of those tiny cipollini onions (30 in all). 

Once they were peeled, I just browned both sides in a little oil and then made a glaze of honey and red wine vinegar.  They finished product was canned with a red anaheim pepper and the reserved cooking liquid. 

To serve, you dish out a few of the onions and top them with toasted almonds.  We tried this as an accompaniment to steaks.  It is really like a pickled onion more than a chutney but it is kind of a neat garnish since the pickled onion packs so much flavor.  It also looked really pretty on the plate with the toasted almonds. 

 The third lifesaver recipe for the weekend was slow-cooker apple butter.

 Did you know that apple butter doesn't have any butter in it?  I always assumed apple butter was pureed apples and butter but I was wrong.  This was actually a pretty easy dish.  I just cut the apples into slices (core & all) and cooked in white wine and water until very soft. 

After running through a food mill, I added sugar and a few spices and slow cooked the mixture for about 12 hours before canning.  The apple butter is delicious on toast. It turned out the perfect consistency of not being runny but also not too thick.  The cinammon really comes through on the finished spread and it's a great sweet treat that really isn't unhealthy or loaded with sugar. 

Lastly, to dessert which was vanilla ice cream.  I love ice cream.  It's my absolute favorite dessert so I have been excited about the cold weather passing to try a few of these recipes.  My mom gave me the ice cream attachment to my mixer for Christmas.  This is a pretty cool gadget.  It's a freezer bowl that has liquid in the base. You freeze the bowl for 15 hours and then pour your refrigerated batter into the bowl and a churn attachment mixes the ice cream in about 20 minutes.  The batter was made by simmering milk and heavy cream with vanilla and sugar.  The cream mixture is then combined with egg yolks to finish the batter.  I didn't get my batter exactly right.  I think the cream mixture turned a little too custardy thanks to me letting the "simmer" get away from me. Nonetheless, the flavor was perfect and creamy.  There were just a few custard lumps in there but no problem...I get to try again 8 more times!