Tasting Spoons

Hello all - first off - I thank each and every one of you who read my blog, for moving over to this new site. I hope you’ll find it more appealing to your eye and more interesting.

If you subscribed to my other blog, you’ll need to re-subscribe to this one - go down the right sidebar to do that. Subscribing just means you will receive an email every time I post to this blog, and you can choose to go read it. Or not.

There’s a new map (clustrmaps.com) down there too, but because this site is new, so far it shows next to no visitors, so I’ll be delighted when the clusters are back up again.

What’s new:

(1) I have a page at the top (a tab) about Books. Go check it out. I’ve listed most of the books that have been my favorite reads in my life. And you can see the book selections from my book club in the last 4 years by clicking on the PDF links.

(2) There’s a larger, expanded page (also a tab) About Me. If you want to know more about me, in general, go check that out.

(3) Some of you know that I also am an artist, of sorts.  Purely amateur. I’ve uploaded photos of most of my art projects. Although there is a tab at the top titled My Art, it isn’t working so far. Go to the right sidebar and click on MY ART.

(4) Recipes - they’re all there - just click on Recipes in the right sidebar. There is some background work I have yet to do, but everything is there if you need it. For now, if you click on the stories, you’ll be linked back to my old site. I have to insert new links into every single recipe I’ve ever posted. That’s going to take some time. I’d far rather cook or write up posts than re-do links.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to normal recipes and stories.

Knowing I wouldn’t have lots of time to prepare dessert for Easter Dinner, I whipped through my tried and true recipes for one that is easy, but looks like you slaved for hours. Aha! This cake fit the bill. It’s a rich, delicious flourless chocolate cake, with an easy caramel sauce that you drizzle over it. When Phillis Carey made this she talked about how easy it was to make. It truly is – you melt chocolate and butter, then combine with sugar, cocoa and eggs. That’s IT. Pour it into a greased and parchment bottomed springform pan and bake. Done. Then you just have to make the easy caramel sauce, which can be made up to a day ahead.

The flavor? Rich chocolate, no question. Low calorie? No, certainly not. Delicious? Oh yes. You need ice cream on the side, though, to cut the richness. And you can easily cut smaller servings to feed about 16 people if you need to. A small, very small, wedge is sufficient. We fed 9 on Easter and there were still 5 or 6 slices leftover. And I think the slices were too big for a dessert following a rich dinner.

You’ll be very happy you tried this. I’ve made this several times, always to good reviews. When it was first served to me at the cooking class, Phillis told us it’s better warm – so if you can, re-warm the cake in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes. If you have leftovers, store them in a sealed container at room temp for up to 4 days.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Caramel Sauce

Recipe By: Phillis Carey, cooking instructor

Serving Size : 10 (or up to about 16)

CHOCOLATE CAKE:

1 cup unsalted butter

8 ounces semisweet chocolate — ScharfenBerger preferred

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder — sifted

6 large eggs

CARAMEL SAUCE:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream — at room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 T.  rum or 2 tsp vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter a 10-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper. 

2.  Stir butter and chocolate in a 4-quart saucepan over low heat until melted. 

3.  In a large bowl mix sugar and cocoa powder.  Add eggs; whisk until blended.  Whisk in chocolate-butter mixture and pour batter in prepared pan.  Bake about 40-45 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool cake in the pan, on a rack.

4.  Caramel Sauce: Stir sugar, water and lemon juice in a heavy medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat and boil - without stirring - until syrup is a deep amber color, about 7 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the heavy cream.  The mixture will bubble vigorously.  Return to a low heat and stir in any bits of caramel that aren’t dissolved.  Add butter and run or vanilla and whisk the mixture until smooth.  This can be made one day ahead.

5.  Cut the cake into wedges and serve drizzled with the warm caramel sauce with a scoop of ice cream on the side.  If desired, using a baking sheet, you may re-warm the wedges of cake at 350° for about 10 minutes.

Per Serving: 650 Calories; 40g Fat (52.5% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 75g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 216mg Cholesterol; 59mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain (Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 1/2 Fat; 4 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

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It was one day a few weeks ago I noticed a chunk of Gorgonzola cheese in my refrigerator. I do really like Gorgonzola, and always have intentions of using it all whenever I buy a small wedge. I had about ¾ of a cup left over and needed a use for it. A stroll through my “to-try” recipes, and this popped up. Ah . . . crumbled blue (for me, Gorgonzola), bacon, red onion and a zesty mayo-based dressing. Sounded good to me. The recipe came from Bon Appetit in 2006, which you can find online.

A short bit of advice about Gorgonzola: until I took a class from an Italian chef, I didn’t realize that when you buy Gorgonzola you definitely want to buy it when it’s freshly cut from the big wedge, as you can start counting the days from that point, that it will last. Gorgonzola has a very short shelf life. If you see even a smidgin of mold inside the wrapper, don’t buy it.

Nothing much was changed in my preparation of this salad – I used some less bacon than called for, and I didn’t have iceberg, but Romaine. The dressing is just mayo with fresh lemon juice, pepper, and a dash or two of Tabasco or hot chili sauce. I thinned the dressing down some – it was too thick. The recipe just calls for “buttermilk,” and you use your own judgment . . . about 1-2 tablespoons should be sufficient. You want the dressing to be more like pouring quality, so I did have to add something. Since I didn’t have buttermilk on hand, I used some milk instead.

The salad is easy. It’s definitely GOOD. This isn’t a “wow” kind of recipe – just simple, delicious homey food. Next time I might add just a touch of sour cream to the dressing, just to see if it would be a good addition.

Iceberg Wedge with Warm Bacon and Blue Cheese Dressing
Recipe By: Bon Appetit, January 2006
Serving Size: 6
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise — can use fat-free
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 cup blue cheese — coarsely crumbled [or Gorgonzola]
1 tablespoon buttermilk — optional
1/2 pound thick-sliced bacon — cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 head iceberg lettuce — cut into 6 wedges, each with some core attached, or Romaine
1/2 red onion — very thinly sliced [or green onions]
1. Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add blue cheese and stir until well blended. If too thick, thin with buttermilk by tablespoonfuls to desired consistency. Can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.
2. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until golden brown and beginning to crisp. Arrange lettuce on plates. Spoon dressing over. Using slotted spoon, transfer warm bacon from skillet onto salads, dividing equally. Garnish with onion. NOTES : You don’t use all the dressing, so the calorie count is way off.
Per Serving (not correct per serving): 700 Calories; 71g Fat (87.7% calories from fat); 17g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 66mg Cholesterol; 1212mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
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The other night I fixed a nice dinner for friends. And the best part was the friends brought an appetizer and dessert (thanks again, Jenny), so really I only had to think about the main dish and whatever would go with it. As I perused my recipe collection, I went through category after category thinking “what shall I fix?” And what kept nagging at me was . . . I’ve got to make something that I haven’t already blogged about. You see, as a blogger, (and likely most food bloggers agree) I feel the need to continually bring you, my loyal readers, new and interesting recipes. Not something I prepared 2 weeks ago, or 2 months ago that I’ve blogged about already. With those parameters, my possibilities were whittled down, big time.

You see, after blogging for nearly a year, I’m finally getting down to the last hundred or so recipes from my own personal collection. Sure, I’ve blogged about other recipes now and then, ones I’ve found on other blog sites or cookbooks, and I truly do still have lots of recipes to share with you. And it isn’t as if I don’t ever fix dishes more than once. I do. I just don’t blog about it when I do. But the pressure is there to post – or try to post – a new recipe and story every day. Some days I don’t . . . like everyone, I get busy, we have leftovers, or I just don’t have any “great idea” about something I choose to make or blog about. Or, I fix something new and don’t like it much, so surely I’m not going to blog about that!

So, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, we can move on to the recipe. I finally decided to prepare a grilled salmon salad that is one of our family favorites. My DH has been asking me to make this for several months. I hadn’t made it for a long time because I blogged about it last summer, when I was confined to writing, rather than cooking, when I fractured my foot and couldn’t walk or stand for nearly 3+ months. Back then I wrote up posts on some of my favorite recipes, but didn’t have pictures of them. This is one of those recipes. So now I have a picture.

But, since this one is so awfully good, I decided I’d re-post about it. It’s one of my top ten favorite recipes. And it’s one of my go-to recipes when I don’t have a whole lot of time to prepare a company-geared menu. This dish is a meal in one – a protein (salmon fillet), a salad (watercress and perhaps other greens), and vegetables (onions grilled, as well as some red and yellow peppers). Back when I was still a working woman, this was a meal I could shop for and prepare in a reasonable time after I left work, and still put a “company” meal on the table.

Here’s the gist of the recipe: it’s a large salmon fillet (we normally buy them at Costco) that’s sprayed with olive oil spray, placed on a piece of sprayed heavy-duty foil, edges rolled up to surround the fish. That sort-off foil plant is grilled on a moderately hot barbecue. Along with some red and yellow bell pepper strips too, if you’d like.  Meanwhile, you prepare a simple Asian-style salad dressing with fresh ginger in it, and you mix up a big mound of watercress (I added spinach to the watercress this time because I had a bag of baby spinach on hand) with some thinly sliced red onions. I also toasted some sesame seeds too. That’s really all there is to it. You toss the dressing on the greens, carefully slide the hot, bubbling salmon fillet on top of the salad, then garnish with the red onions, grilled peppers and sesame seeds. I also drizzle a bit more dressing on top of the fish. Serve.

Cook’s Notes: you can use other vegetables (quartered red onions, asparagus, both grilled, or some steamed green beans – left whole, stems trimmed – and tossed with rice wine vinegar) but our preference is for the bell peppers and onions. Sometimes I add some halved cherry tomatoes to the salad too.

I’m not going to insert the full recipe again – just give you the link to go check out my first posting of it HERE last July.

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It’s been about 6-12 months ago that I first read about the No-Knead Bread. It’s made the rounds of bloggers around the world. Not too long after I read about it I tried it. And was positively amazed how good it was. And how easy it was. It’s just that it requires about 18-24 hours of time (very little of it with any work, though) to make. The dough develops a sourdough kind of flavor, and is baked in a heavy Le Crueset-type pan, with a lid. The pan creates its own hotter-than-heck oven, within the oven. Gives the bread a great crispy crust like the artisan loaves you may buy at your local bakery.

Some other blogger mentioned a book out there – Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I ordered the book, have read parts of it, and decided I’d have to try this recipe last weekend. The prep and baking method is very similar to the no-knead bread, although maybe easier since this one requires only a two-hour rise to start the batter.

The bread is a cinch to make, i.e., don’t be intimidated by the long list of instructions . . . they’re just wordy and very thorough. You can do everything by hand if you choose, but I utilized my stand mixer (with dough hook) to perform the harder work for me. This dough does not require kneading at all. In fact the recipe indicates you do not knead it. The less you mix it, the more of those wonderfully big holey holes you’ll get in the loaf.

The steps include:
(1) mixing up the dry stuff, the wet stuff and combining the two
(2) letting the dough rest for 2 hours
(3) refrigerating the dough to bake at a later time (up to 7 days later)
(4) shaping the loaves (takes about 3-4 minutes) and allowing them to rise
(5) baking in a 450 oven, on a pizza stone

I’ve only made one recipe so far, from this new book. But if this bread is any indication of the others, I’ll be making more of them in the future. Next time I am going to try using hard wheat flour too, and do my best to do less kneading. This version doesn’t have quite the sourdough flavor the no-knead (18-24 hour) bread does, but it’s certainly a worthy competitor. 

Cook’s Notes: be sure to use ample cornmeal under the formed loaves so they don’t stick to the pizza peel. A pizza peel is ideal. Most peels are made of wood, but mine is a lightweight metal with a plastic edge (the peel is a big, wide, flat kind of spatula the pizza makers use to slide pizza off of onto the hot oven floor), but you could also use a cookie sheet that has no lip.

Vermont Cheddar Cheese Bread
Recipe By: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day — Hertzberg & Francois
Serving Size: 24
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast — granulated type
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese — sharp, or New York
1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast, salt and sugar with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
2. Mix the dry ingredients and the cheese, without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment) or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook). If you’re using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately two hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next seven days.
5. On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a grapefruit-sized piece (if baking one loaf). Alternately, weigh the entire amount and divide into 4 equal portions, about 1 3/4 pounds each. Dust the pieces with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Allow to rest and rise uncovered on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for one hour (or just 40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).
6. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with a baking stone placed on the lowest rack. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising bread.
7. Sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash a cross, a scallop, or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated bread knife. Leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before eating.
8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. If it sticks, gently coax it off the pizza peel. Pour one cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments to baking time.
9. Allow to cool on a rack before slicing or eating. Makes 4 approximately one pound loaves.
Per Serving: 147 Calories; 2g Fat (12.0% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 5mg Cholesterol; 430mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates
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You’d think . . . a scalloped potato . . . is a scalloped potato. But I’m here to tell you that not all scalloped potato recipes are created equal. This one is definitely different – it uses Monterey jack cheese, for one. And that may be about the only thing that’s truly unusual about it, although this version also requires you to make a cream sauce – one made with cornstarch and milk and cream.

The recipe came from a woman who used to work for me, in the ad agency I used to own. Occasionally, usually around the holidays, we’d have a potluck, and as years went by, it was just accepted fact that Kathy would bring her scalloped potatoes. These are just so incredibly good, and I’ve never – ever – made another kind since she introduced me to them. I’ve changed her recipe just a little over the years (adding salt and pepper, and cooking the onions before starting to layer the potatoes). And I’ve altered the ratio of milk and half and half depending on what I have on hand. Kathy’s original recipe called for all half and half, but I changed it some years ago to half milk, and maybe just a touch of heavy cream if I happen to have it.

Cook’s Notes: be sure to use Monterey jack cheese – it is what makes this recipe. And don’t skimp on the baking time – it does require a full 90 minutes of baking. I salt and pepper the cream sauce to suit my taste (making it saltier than you’d make a sauce because after all, it has to salt the entire dish). If you have it, substitute a bit of heavy cream for an equal quantity of half and half.

Monterey Scalloped Potatoes

Recipe By: Kathy S, a former employee

Serving Size : 8

5 large Idaho potatoes

10 ounces Monterey jack cheese — sliced

1 whole onion — sliced thinly

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 1/2 cups milk

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 ounces butter

1 teaspoon salt — or to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper — or to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Select a 3-quart baking dish with lid.  Spray the dish with vegetable spray. 

2.  Slice onion and place in a microwave-proof dish.  Cover with plastic wrap and cook for about 4 minutes, until onions are just barely tender.  Remove from microwave, discard plastic wrap, drain and allow to cool to a handling temperature. 

3.  Slice potatoes (with or without skins) to fill halfway up the dish.  Cover with half of the slices of cheese and half of the onion.  Repeat potato layer, cheese and onions, until dish is filled.

4.  Make white sauce with half and half, milk, cornstarch and butter.  Heat until somewhat thickened and pour over the potatoes.  Place lid on potatoes.  Bake for 90 minutes, removing lid during last 20-30 minutes. 

Per Serving: 348 Calories; 23g Fat (59.7% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 70mg Cholesterol; 561mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat.

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My mother used to make a simple applesauce spice cake, so when I ran across this recipe (from Gourmet, December, 2005) it took me back to my childhood. Reminded me of coming home from school and the house would be perfumed with spices. Those apple-pie kind of spices. I don’t have my mother’s recipe, so this offered an opportunity to try a similar one. I think my mother used to add chopped apples and raisins to hers. They would be an easy addition, even to this recipe.

This is a simple cake to make, including the frosting. Once you get all the ingredients together in one place, it’s quite simple to mix up and pour into a greased springform pan to bake. Once the cake is cool, it’s frosted with an easy cooked frosting flavored with rum. The cake has a couple of teaspoons of rum in it too (you could easily use rum flavoring instead). If you go onto epicurious, you can read reviews of the cake. By and large, everyone who made it enjoyed it. A couple of cooks thought it needed more spices, and a couple of people thought the frosting was too thin, so I added a bit more powdered sugar than was called for. You pour the frosting all over the cake and let it drip down the sides.

My family went absolutely nutso over this recipe. I believe more than one piece was consumed the next day with breakfast (ah, I am guilty, your honor). It was that good. But, having read some of the reviews on epicurious, my supposition is that the frosting makes the cake. It’s not a normal frosting – but kind of a cross between a frosting and a caramel sauce. And maybe it’s the turbinado sugar too that makes such a difference too, although turbinado can be interchanged with brown sugar.  

Cook’s Notes: use your own choice of spices, but what’s in the recipe gives the cake a pleasant, light spicy flavor. Add more if you like a highly spiced cake. The recipe calls for turbinado sugar (which I had), but you can substitute brown sugar. I added about a tablespoon more powdered sugar to the icing.

Applesauce Spice Cake

Recipe By: Gourmet, December 2005

Serving Size: 10

CAKE:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg — freshly grated, if possible

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup turbinado sugar [or brown sugar]

1 stick unsalted butter  – (1/2 cup) softened

2 teaspoons light rum

1 large egg

1 cup unsweetened applesauce — plus 1 tablespoon

ICING:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup turbinado sugar [or brown sugar]

6 tablespoons evaporated milk — canned

1 teaspoon light rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon

1.  CAKE: Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter pan and set aside.  Whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl.

2.  Beat together sugar, butter, and rum with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until combined well, then add egg and beat until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes with a stand mixer or 5 to 6 minutes with a handheld.  Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients, mixing until combined well.  Add applesauce and mix until combined well.  Spread batter evenly in springform pan and bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.  Start testing the cake at 25 minutes so you make sure you don’t overbake it.

3.  Cool cake in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then remove side of pan and cool completely.

4.  ICING: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then add sugar and evaporated milk and simmer, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved, about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in rum, vanilla, salt, and remaining tablespoon butter, then whisk in confectioners sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.  Cool to warm, about 20 minutes, then spread over cooled cake. 

Per Serving: 374 Calories; 14g Fat (33.4% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 60g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 226mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 1/2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

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When I first started watching the TV Food Network, in its infancy, I really enjoyed David Rosegarten. He had a half-hour show every day around noontime, and regularly I tuned in while I had my salad or half a sandwich. He no longer has his own gig, although I guess he’s still a guest on some of the other Food Network shows. He’s moved on to bigger and better things, I suppose. He had a monthly food (mailed) news magazine, but now it’s an e-zine (The Rosegarten Report - available for a fee online). But you can subscribe (free) to his e-newsletter called Tastings, which arrives in your inbox every week. He scours the hills and dales of the world for the best food things, whether it’s caviar, olive oil, or in this case, ham. His endeavors tend toward the very high end, and I’ve reluctantly deleted most of the e-newsletters because of the costs.

But the story behind this ham was different. It hit a strong note with me. I’ve been, just like David Rosengarten, very unhappy with the state of the ham industry in the last 20+ years. Once the processors began injecting hams with water, I knew we, as consumers, were on a downhill spiral toward something that really isn’t ham anymore. I kept looking, but everywhere it was injected with water (with salt, surely, or sometime sugar too). Hams tended to be excessively salty – to me, at least. And yes, I’ve bought Honey Baked Ham multiple times. It’s okay if you like a really sweet ham. Somehow I think the sweet – the sugar and spices – just masks whatever taste there is underneath. And with my DH being a Type 1 diabetic (60+ years and counting), pouring sweet sauces or glazes on a ham make it very undesirable for him.

So, when I got David Rosengarten’s epistle recently, about ham, my ears (so to speak) perked up. I read avidly through the article about ham. Got to the bottom line and found that one ham, a half ham at that, was $100.00 plus shipping. Once again, I was ready to delete the message. $100 for a half ham? You’ve got to be kidding? But somehow my fingers just couldn’t press the delete button. I decided to think about it.

David Rosengarten was disappointed in the ham industry too. He kept seeking out hams everywhere he could find them. He read up about the pig farmers around our nation. He called and spoke to some of them. He bought hams everywhere from small farmers, hoping to find that elusive taste he remembers from his childhood. Nothing. But he kept working at it, and finally decided 3 years ago to go into business with a pig/hog farmer in Idaho called Snake River Farms, willing to raise the animals with his specific standards. I don’t now remember all the details, but it’s back to the basics, grass feed, no additives whatsoever, no hormones, butchered differently, smoked differently, but fresh, always fresh. Here’s what David Rosengarten’s e-zine had to say about this Kurobuta pig:

• About Kurobuta Ham: The breed actually arose in England, where it’s called “Berkshire” pork. But the English, in the 19th century, sent off a shipment of Berkshire hogs as a gift to Japanese diplomats—and the Japanese really flipped out. They gave the breed the name “Kurobuta,” meaning “black pig” (its coat is basically black), and developed an international reputation for Kurobuta pork, much as they did for Kobe beef. And Why Are These Porkers Superior? As you might expect, Kurobuta pigs yield meat that is indeed fattier than American supermarket pork. But—here’s the really cool thing—Kurobuta, though richly endowed with intramuscular fat, is not among the fattiest of breeds, which means that you never get a fatty, greasy taste when eating the pork. Instead, the real distinction of Kurobuta pork is a shorter, rounder muscle fiber—which, incredibly, leads to a much higher retention of moisture in the meat.

A week or so went by and I conferred with my DH about splurging on a special ham. He liked the story I conveyed about David Rosengarten’s Kurobuta hams too. So, I did splurge and buy one of these babies. It arrived on Thursday and into the refrigerator it went, where it sat until Easter Sunday.

Included in the box was a brochure with some of David Rosengarten’s favorite holiday recipes (to serve with a ham), and details about how to prepare this ham, this very special ham. My daughter, Dana, made the mustard sauce on Saturday – a very easy preparation, although it does have to be cooked. It thickens some once it cools off, but it’s best served warm. There’s nothing unusual in it at all – dry mustard, sugar, vinegar, cream and egg yolks. It was just delicious. David Rosengarten’s recipe came from his grandmother-in-law, Mrs. Hitchcock, so I continued with the name. Need to give proper credit here, where it’s due.

The ham, well, what can I say. It was absolutely wonderful. Worth $100? Yes, it was. Certainly more expensive than a whole chicken for Easter Dinner. We paid upwards of this amount for our kosher turkey just before Christmas, so spending $100 for the ham doesn’t seem quite so exorbitant. But yes, it was expensive. Too bad all the pig producers don’t learn a lesson from this, but their greed for more poundage and speed to market, means we’ll never have pigs like this unless someone like David Rosegarten produces them. Will I order it again? A resounding YES. The family is clamoring for leftovers.

Cook’s Notes: This combo – ham and mustard sauce – is pretty straightforward. The ham is nothing but easy. It’s heated in a 275 degree oven for several hours. That’s one of the “secrets” to the pork – you don’t want to heat it in a hot oven. Slowly, you bring it up to 135 degree internal temp and that’s it. No added seasoning. No glaze. How much simpler could it be?

David Rosengarten’s Kurobuta Ham with Mustard Sauce

1 half or whole Kurobuta ham

Grandma Hitchcock’s Mustard Sauce

Recipe By: David Rosegarten’s grandmother-in-law

Serving Size: 12 [this is just a guess, no servings were shown on the recipe, although it makes 2 cups]

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup dry mustard — Colman’s preferably

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

WET INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 cups heavy cream

4 whole egg yolks — beaten

1.  Combine the dry ingredients in a saucepan.

2.  Whisk in the vinegar, cream and egg yolks (beaten), blending well to combine.  Place over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth.  Serve warm.

Per Serving: 197 Calories; 17g Fat (74.9% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 125mg Cholesterol; 331mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

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I read the most interesting article in the March 2008 issue of Cooking Light. Written by David Bonom, a chef, it’s about the four groups of tastes that comprise the food we eat. And why it’s important. He tells the tale that when he was in culinary school he presented to the instructor a creamy broccoli soup for review. The teacher, Chef Pardus, tasted it and said “Good. “Now take it back to your station and put a drop of white wine vinegar in a spoonful and taste. Compare the two.” Bonom says that lesson was a lightning moment for him. He did as Pardus suggested and said the soup just tasted . . . better. He couldn’t taste the vinegar, but there was a difference. He said the components (cream, broccoli, shallots) became more distinct. It taught him to consider the effect of acid, and that familiarity is how we learn to balance dishes.

Actually, the experts have added a fifth taste beyond the sweet, sour, salty and bitter. It’s called umami, best described as savoriness. Umami is what happens when you add a touch of sugar to a vinaigrette, and when you slow roast onions.

The instructor recently prepared a sandwich for the author - and commented that it had good balance. He said it’s “the sweetness of the basil, saltiness of the ham, the acid in the tomato and pickled jalapeno, the umami in the bread, tomato and ham.

The article went on to give examples of how to flavor dishes we make with the different components. Here’s the Cooking Light list:

• Salty: soy sauce, fish sauce, cured meats such as bacon, pancetta or prosciutto, anchovies, olives, mustard, capers, bring or aged cheese such as feta or Parmesan.

• Sour: vinegar, lemon and lime juice, wine, sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt, tamarind, rhubarb, pickles, cranberries, mustard, lemongrass.

• Bitter: radicchio, endive, watercress, cabbage, kale, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, dark chocolate, campari, brussels sprouts, grapefruit, coffee, walnuts, black pepper.

• Sweet: sugar, honey, maple syrup, fruit juice, molasses, many fruits, chocolate, ketchup, caramelized onions, roasted bell peppers, hoisin sauce.

• Umami: aged cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, vine-ripened tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, cured pork such as prosciutto or serrano ham, smoked or cured fish, shellfish, asian fish sauce, soy sauce, miso.

The article included several recipes, which you can read online, demonstrating these combinations of tastes. It also listed a short cheat sheet, of sorts, for what to consider when you’re preparing something and know it needs SOMETHING, but you don’t quite know what. Bonom says it’s a nuanced skill. Sour likes sweet. Salt is constant. Bitter tastes should not dominate and can be balanced with salt and fat. Here are his strategies:

• Too sour? Add sugar, honey, or another sweet ingredient.

• Too sweet? Try a dash of vinegar, lemon juice or another sour ingredient. Salt will also tone down sweetness.

• Too bitter? Add salt, if possible. Fats can also take the edge off bitter ingredients.

• Too bland? Start with salt. A touch of an acidic ingredient also brightens flat flavors. Even a pinch of sugar might help round out the taste.

So, there’s your culinary school lesson for the day. I clipped out this article and plan to tape it to the inside of a cupboard door near my range, so when I’m contemplating “what’s missing,” I’ll have a reference.

When I saw this recipe I was very skeptical. Beef stew with currant jelly? And cream in the sauce? But Cherrie, my friend, had just raved about this dish, said she and her husband both craved seconds, and leftovers. So finally, I got around to trying it. And yes indeed, it is very good.

Apparently it’s a Wolfgang Puck recipe. And if you’re not of the school that likes all those soft, soggy vegetables that usually accompany stew, then this version will float your boat. There are no carrots sticks or celery pieces, nor potato cubes either. There is, however, a mirapoix (that’s French for the mixture of finely minced onions, celery and carrots) that’s part of the flavoring agents used in much of French cooking. And, it happens, that Trader Joe’s (at least in our area) is now selling a quart container of fresh mirapoix. That’s what I used for this, and it made the prep work on it so very easy. In this case, the beef stew meat is marinated in wine and herbs (overnight, preferably), then you quickly sear the beef and mirepoix in some oil to bring out that wonderful fond flavor (the brown stuff that sticks to the bottom of the pan). Then you add a bit of flour to help thicken the sauce, and add broth and the marinade before simmering for a couple of hours.

Since this didn’t have any veggies, to speak of, I should have added some mushrooms. I think they would have made a nice addition. And I served it on a bed of linguine. Probably not traditional, but was very good with the wine gravy. This recipe is a keeper.

Cook’s Notes: Allow the beef to marinate overnight if at all possible (I gave it about 7 hours). You can use any kind of red wine, although I wouldn’t use anything sweet, since the gravy is sweet enough with the addition of the currant jelly. Be sure to bring the stew JUST up to a simmer and let it bubble very slowly (below a simmer) for the rest of the cooking time (otherwise the meat will dry out). And next time I’ll be adding some small button mushrooms toward the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Beef Stew with Currant Jelly & Cream

Recipe By: Cherrie S.’s adapted from Wolfgang Puck, via Our House cooking school in San Juan Capistrano.

Serving Size: 8

BEEF & MARINADE:

4 pounds beef chuck — cubed 1-inch

6 ribs celery — coarsely chopped

6 large carrot — coarsely chopped

3 medium onion — coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

2 whole bay leaves

1 tablespoon rosemary — chopped

1 tablespoon thyme — chopped

STEW:

1/4 cup peanut oil

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 quart beef stock

2 cups button mushroom — cleaned & trimmed [my addition]

6 tablespoons currant jelly — red type

1/2 cup heavy cream salt and pepper — to taste

1.  THE NIGHT BEFORE: In a large bowl, toss together beef, celery, carrots, onions, wine, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, stirring a few times.

2.  THE NEXT DAY: Drain meat & vegetables and save marinade and set aside.  In a large, enameled cast-iron pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering, add meat & vegetables in batches and cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned on bottom, transfer to large bowl.  Repeat with remaining oil and meat/veggies.  Return meat and veggies to pot, stir in flour and cook, stirring about 2 minutes.  Add red wine vinegar and scrape up browned bits, add reserved marinade, tomato paste and simmer about 2 minutes.  Add stock and red currant jelly, season stew and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally about 2 - 21/2 hours until meat is very tender.

3.  Ten minutes before serving add the mushrooms.  Just before serving, stir in heavy cream, season and simmer for just a minute to heat through.

Per Serving: 738 Calories; 48g Fat (61.7% calories from fat); 39g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 152mg Cholesterol; 1327mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 5 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 6 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

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