Porterhouse & Cioppolinis

One food that I don't make often enough at home is steak.

The reason being is that I never seem to be able to prepare a dry aged, great tasting, seasoned just right, succulent, perfectly cooked piece of meat.

I leave that up to the experts. I LOVE a good steak. There are too many great steakhouses that do it right. I love ordering the traditional steakhouse sides like creamed spinach, or potatoes au gratin to accompany my man food, and of course a great big glass of heavy Bordeaux for me, please.

But, there is a price to pay for hanging out with the big boys.
I have noticed the last few times we have gone out to a steakhouse in NY or even a Ruth's Chris chain, the price of the steak, a la carte is $42., and that's minimum, and it comes with nothing, just the moo on the plate.

Well, tis the time to cut down on steakhouse consumption, so I am going to try cooking my favorite cut of steak (which is porterhouse) in my new Lodge cast iron skillet.



Ribeye and porterhouse are the best cuts of meat, because they have a bone (which always add more flavor, whether it be chicken or beef), and nice marbling, and also an extra bonus, the porterhouse cut has a piece of the filet attached.

Yes, I have been known to chew the fat.



My luck, Prime was on sale at my market for half of what it usually costs, so I bought 2 beautiful steaks.



I took them out of the fridge and left them on the counter for an hour plus to come to room temperature. I seasoned them with a swipe of olive oil and lots of kosher salt and tons of cracked black pepper.



I heated up my cast iron skillet and threw the beauties in the pan. I like my steak medium, so cooked them 4 minutes on each side, and let them rest on the counter a few minutes before cutting, so that the juices distribute nicely.

In the same skillet, I threw in a bunch of cut up little red cioppolini onions that I bought at the farmers' market last weekend.



Towards the end of cooking them, I splashed them with a bit of balsamic vinegar to glaze them and served them on top of the steaks!

This was fantastic! I will be adding steak to my cast iron cooking (which I am really enjoying!).

Duck Confit Salad w/ Pears & Goat Cheese Toasts

This is the result of the bounty of French products ordered on line from a French specialty food company.
I ordered duck confit, duck rillettes, and some nice pates and chestnut preserves.

I also received this lovely log of Ile de France chevre, so decided to make these baked toasts and top the salad with some duck and some goat cheese crostini. It tasted very much like Paris.



Duck Confit Salad w/ Goat Cheese Toasts & Pears (serves 2)

head of frisee or mixed lettuces
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 tsp honey

duck confit (2 cooked duck legs, preserved in duck fat)
1 ripe Anjou pear, sliced thin
toasted walnuts (optional)

1/2 a baguette, sliced 1.5" thick
olive oil
a few slices of goat cheese (chevre) from a log

First make your dressing. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

I used duck confit already prepared. All I had to do was cook the legs in a skillet on low heat for 6 minutes on each side in some duck fat (use splatter screen, it makes a mess!). Transfer to paper towels to blot.



For your goat cheese toasts:
Cut your baguette into slices and place in a bowl. Toss liberally with olive oil, coating both sides & soaking up the olive oil.
Toast on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven, about 5 minutes, keep an eye on them so they don't burn.



Turn your toasts over, and lay a round of sliced goat cheese on top of each bread slice & sprinkle with black pepper. Place back in the oven and toast with the cheese for another 5 minutes.



Arrange your salad, duck legs and pear slices. Pour dressing over salad and top with goat cheese toasts.

This was a treat!

March Random Bites

March, in like a lion, out like a lamb. Bye bye.

There's a lot of potatoes in this bowl, with saffron aioli on the side. Too many spuds. I think we each ate only 2.


Had a great loaf of Pane Pugliese from Sullivan Street Bakery.
What to do with the stale leftover slices?
Make French toast, of course.


Pappardelle is all the rage, escecially with some of my yummy leftover beef carbonade on top!



Product Review:
Annie Chun's Miso Soup w/ Noodles.

Ok, so I was sick with the flu and needed some quick nourishment.
Add hot water to this bowl of noodles, a dehydrated block of seaweed, and a bag of miso paste.
What are those little white squares? Tofu.



Would I eat this again?
Probably not.

Spring Awakening: Leek & Asparagus Quiche

The days are longer, and the sun is trying to show who is boss.

A few more weeks to go and I will be able to wear white pants.......who made up that rule "no white before Memorial Day" anyway?

Those leeks and beautiful spring asparagus go so well together, I had to make a quiche to show them off.

This was very rich, and I am not sure if it was the heavy cream or the Comte cheese, but it turned out to be a delicious combination of flavors.

The consistency should be custard like, almost loose, like a quiche Lorraine.

Leek & Asparagus Quiche:

1 pie shell, pre-made crust is fine
a bundle of asparagus, trimmed of woody stems, & steamed (I microwave them for 2 minutes)
2 leeks, washed and trimmed
3 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled (or 1/4 cup of diced ham)

3 eggs
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup of heavy cream or half & half
3/4 cup of Gruyere cheese, shredded
salt & pepper

Cover your pie shell with foil and blind bake your pie shell with pie weights for 12 minutes at 375 degrees.
Remove from oven and set aside.

After you have steamed your asparagus, cut your asparagus spears into 2" lengths, saving the tips for decorating the top of the quiche.

Slice your leeks into rounds and saute them with the asparagus pieces (not tips) in a heavy skillet w/ some olive oil. Cook until leeks are softening, about 5 minutes on medium heat.



Make your custard:
Whisk eggs w/ cream and nutmeg. Add shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, salt & pepper.
Transfer custard to a measuring cup for easier pouring.

Place your leeks & asparagus pieces on the bottom of the pie crust.



Pour your custard mixture over the vegetables, and decorate the top with the reserved asparagus tips.



Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 30 minutes until starting to brown and puff up.



Serve with a nice green salad w/ a mustard vinaigrette.
Happy spring!

Vegetable Tian

Pam from For the Love of Cooking reminded me about vegetable tians.
She made Ina Garten's version, and I wondered why I hadn't made one in years.

A tian is a clay cooking vessel, sort of like a Dutch oven, used in French Alps cooking. And a vegetable tian is a dish with layered vegetables with some sort of cheese on top. Very much like a gratin.

Tian also means "heaven" in Chinese.

Well, this dish is heavenly.

Very pretty and great for a dinner party. Healthy and low fat. No cream, or Gruyere in my recipe, just some Parmigiano Reggiano.
I also don't use potatoes as Ina does.

It is great at the end of the summer season when you have tons of leftover zucchini, yellow squash & tomatoes and don't know what to do with them!

Stacey Snacks' Vegetable Tian

2 small zucchini, sliced 1/4" thick, on the diagonal
2 small yellow squash, sliced 1/4" thick, on the diagonal
4 Roma (plum) tomatoes, sliced thin
2 yellow onions, sliced thin
1/2-1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
a few sprigs of fresh or 1 tbsp dried thyme
kosher salt & pepper
olive oil

I forgot how much I love making this dish because I get to use my big, beautiful oval gratin dish that is usually reserved for Thanksgiving stuffing or potato fennel gratin. It is made by Alpico from France and is worth every penny. I love it.
I know I am a weirdo.

Let's begin.

After you slice your vegetables, place your squash and zucchini in a large bowl.
Drizzle some olive oil over them and sprinkle with kosher salt & a tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves.

Cook your onions on medium heat in a heavy skillet w/ a little olive oil till softened. About 8 minutes. Do not brown them.

Lay the onions on the bottom of an oiled gratin oval dish and sprinkle with some chopped fresh thyme (dried thyme is ok too).

Starting with your sliced tomatoes, arrange them in a row on top of the onions, overlapping a bit.
Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese at the base of the tomatoes, as if to create an adhesive for the next layer of vegetables.

Now layer a row of zucchini, then yellow squash, finishing each layer with some parmesan cheese at the base before the next layer.

Repeat with the tomatoes, cheese, zucchini, cheese, squash. Tomatoes, cheese, zucchini, cheese, squash.

When finished layering your vegetables, sprinkle the dish with about 3 tbsp of parmesan cheese and some fresh thyme & black pepper. It is now ready to be baked.

You can make this ahead of time and keep wrapped in plastic wrap until ready to bake.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, or until vegetables start to brown and cheese is crispy looking.

You can serve this warm or at room temperature. So yummy!

Chef vs. Cook: Tuna Tartare w/ Crispy Shallots

There is a difference between a chef and a cook.

My friend Stephane at Chefs Gone Wild is a CHEF who is paid with dollars.

I am a home COOK, who is paid with "thank yous".

Last summer, I bookmarked Stephane's recipe for tuna tartare and said "I can do this". It isn't foie gras burgers, or fancy pants pork terrines.

Here, I prove to myself that I can compete with the big boys, and not only BUY the tuna, CHOP the tuna, but ASSEMBLE the tuna as well. (I should've named my blog "THE INSECURE COOK").

This is so pretty and such a great first course.

The hardest part was frying the shallots for the topping, which is not really hard at all.

P.S. I am for hire to be anyone's kitchen assistant or sous chef. I am a great chopper! (and great at busting chops too, as people will tell you!).

Zenchef's Tuna Tartare w/ Crispy Shallots

For the tartare:

20 ounces fresh Ahi Tuna, cut into small dice
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 ripe Haas avocados, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt & freshly ground pepper

For the crispy shallots:

canola oil for frying
4 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons flour
sea salt

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sesame oil
1 teaspoon honey

Buy the freshest tuna you can find, ahi tuna, sashimi grade works best.
In a small bowl, mix your diced tuna w/ kosher salt, pepper & olive oil. Set aside.

In another bowl, chop your avocado and mix with lemon juice, and a little salt.

In a 3rd bowl (that's a lot of bowls), mix your dressing.

Fry your shallots in a skillet with a little olive oil and sprinkle with flour.
Fry about a minute till crispy and drain on paper towels.

In a 3" ring mold (I used an oiled ramekin because I didn't have any good molds), layer your chopped tuna & avocado. Put in the fridge until ready to plate.
Tuna avocado mixture should slide out with a little help. Invert in a bowl that will hold dressing.



Carefully pour dressing around the tuna tartare. Place frizzled shallots on top and serve with potato chips or crackers.



Voila! C'est magnifique!

Cod Provencal

This is a great & easy weeknight dinner.
It is low in fat and tastes SO good.

I make a great sauce with herbs de Provence, which are a mixture of dried herbs from the South of France.
They consist of lavender, savory, basil, thyme & fennel seeds. I buy a big cloth sac at the CDG airport duty free shop in Paris for all of my friends, great, inexpensive gift to bring home that lasts forever.

You can use this delicious sauce on top of chicken or eat it out of the pan, it's that tasty.

Stacey Snacks Cod Provencal

4 firm white fish filets, cod, sea bass, or halibut

1 small 14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 leeks, washed well, and sliced
8 kalamata olives, chopped
1 tsp herbs de Provence
white wine
olive oil for the pan
kosher salt & pepper

In a small frying pan, heat your olive oil and add the garlic and leeks, cook on medium high heat for about 5 minutes, until leeks are starting to soften.



Now add your tomatoes, herbs de Provence and chopped olives. Simmer sauce about 3 minutes. Lick spoon.



Place your fish filets in an oiled baking dish and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.



Spoon your tomato leek sauce over the fish filets.



Pour a small amount of white wine around the filets to keep them moist.
Roast at 450 for about 15 minutes, until fish is done.



Bon Appetit!

Sexy Saturday Night Roast Chicken

This chicken was too special to be my usual Friday night roast chicken, so I will reserve it for Saturday nights only, when chickens feel sexy and like to get dressed up.

I make the same boring, but delicious roast chicken every week.

I usually stuff the bird with fresh herbs, a quartered lemon, and rub with olive oil, sprinkle liberally w/ kosher salt and pepper.
Roast 425 for 70 minutes.

Well last night, I was feeling feisty!

CAUTION: FOOD PORN AHEAD
MUST BE AT LEAST 18 YRS OF AGE TO PROCEED







You know I love to clean naked chickens. I know, I am weird.



So to be a bit decadent, I stuffed prosciutto and sage leaves under the skin of a 4 lb. chicken, then massaged olive oil on top and sprinkled kosher salt over the skin.

Sounds erotic, doesn't it?



It wasn't.



Throw a lemon in the cavity and roast it the same way as I usually do. 425 degrees.

Let rest a few minutes before slicing.



This chicken was over the top. So succulent & juicy, served with those oh so sexy, roasted little white trees (cauliflower!).