I recently watched a show where Christina Tossi, from Milk Bar in NYC, made a cake and she inspireed me to make Heather a birthday cake. I tole her I am going to make her a chocolate cake. She smiled and said, “Nobody ever made a cake for me for my birthday.” So, I decided to go all out. I made a 4 layer cake with icing and oreo and chocolate crunch in every layer along with a rum soak, and rum flavored icing. Naturally, she was quite impressed!
There are times when you want to put together an inexpensive and tasty dish that is easy to prepare. Shepards pie is that dish
It’s super easy and super delicious
Ingredients:
I Love Japanese food. There is so much technical skill involved in preparing Japanese food correctly, and I realize I do not have those skills, but, that does not stop me from trying to improve my skills.This is one of my favorite brekfast dishes. Lightly sweet yet savory, Tamagoyaki (Japanese Rolled Omelette) is flavored with dashi stock and makes a delightful Japanese breakfast or side dish for bento lunches. Primarily enjoyed in the Kansai (Osaka) region, this tamagoyaki is a dashi-forward Dashimaki Tamago.
Ingredients:
I used to live around the corner from Hoagies Corner, a prominent convenience store and deli chain in the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s and 1980s, famous for its signature “Cheesy British” sandwich. One of the things I loved, and was new for me, was the idea of building a sandwich that they would make for you on the spot. Recently arrived from South Africa, this was not a thing I was familair with. The sandwhich I built became an instant favorite. Let’s call it “the accidental favorite”. Why accidental you ask? Because having built the sandwhich that first day, the server asked me if I wanted it heated, and I said, “W,hy yes, please!” assuming that he had a press or some other mechanism to heat it. He did not. He wrapped it and put it in the microwave. I took the sandwich home (a couple of block away on my bike), and dived right in. It was alchemy.
So the sandwhich is
It has to be a hot sandwich. And, its best if its wrapped in wax paper and heated in the microwave. Every time I have one of these sandwiches, I am transported back in time to the day where I introduced this bite to my friend Will, who worked with me at the Nursery when we were pretty darn stoned. He said, “That is the best thing I have ever tasted!” and I feel that way every time I make the sandwhich and bite into it. Now that I have created that San Francisco sour taste, I cannot wait to try it!
Having made a great loaf of Rye Bread, we chose to make the Ultimate Rueben sandwich. It started out early in the morning when we went to the store to find the ingrtedients we needed as soon as the deli opened. We found great pastrami, and had it sliced paper thin. Most Rueben’s fall flat with the Russian Dressing. I chose not to!
Mix:
And let it sit 15–30 min in order to wake up.
Next, the Sourkraut. Most people ruin Reubens here.
Not me!
To get it warm, and slightly toasty—not wet and sour sludge.
Next, the meat.
Game changer:
Hot + moist = sandwich magic
Finally, build it right
On my excellent rye bread:
Cheese on both sides = glue + melt
Looking for deep golden, slow melt
Not rushed. Not burnt
It is an absolutely brilliant sandwhich!
I LOVE biscotti with my coffee in the morning. I used to get one at the little coffee card outside my office back in the day. When I sold my office and moved, I sort of missed out on that biscotti fix. All the ones I tried were not as good as the one she had at that cart. After my divirce, I resolved to make the perfect biscotti.I tried several recipies till I found this one, Nona’s Biscotti, in Gourmet, and have never looked back.
Ingredients
Step 1
Stir 1 cup (200 g) sugar, ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, 3 Tbsp. brandy, 2 tsp. pure almond extract, and 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract with a wooden spoon in a large bowl to combine. Add 1 cup whole almonds with skin, lightly toasted, cooled, and coarsely chopped, and 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, and stir vigorously to combine. Sift in 2¾ (344 g) cups all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp. baking powder, and ¼ tsp. kosher salt and stir until just combined and no floury streaks remain. Chill dough, covered, 30 minutes
Step 2
Place rack in center of oven; preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 3
Using moistened hands, divide chilled dough in half and form 2 (16×2″) loaves on an ungreased large baking sheet. Bake until pale golden, about 30 minutes. Carefully transfer loaves to a rack and cool 15 minutes.
Step 4
Cut loaves into ¾” slices with a serrated knife. Arrange biscotti, with a cut side down, on a clean baking sheet and bake until golden, 20–25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.Â
Do ahead: Biscotti improve in flavor if made 1–2 days ahead. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature.
Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in the January 2009 issue of ‘Gourmet’ as Nonna’s Biscotti.
Naan is easy to make and really great when fresh. Soft, puyffy and blistered. It’s such a simple bread. Naturally, we do not have a tandoori oven, but we do have a griddle.
Ingredients:
You mix it all together once the yeast is activated, (about 10 mintues). With the mixer on medium low speed, mix till the dough is sticky ball that pulls away from the sides. Shape it into a ball and cover, then into the proofer for about an hour looking for a doubling. Once thats done, you roll out a circle and and cut into about 8 pieces then roll each one out into an oval about a 1.4 inch thick. Drop that on the hot griddle while the next one is rolled out. When the dough begins to bubble, and the bottom starts to get golden brown, flip it and add the next one. After about a minute take th first one off and and the third one, then flip the second one and so on. As they come off coat them lightly with garlic paste, a pinch of salt and some chopped cilantro. Serve warm and enjoy!
One of my go to Indian dishes when I eat out is Butter Chiken. It’s a classic INdian dish made with marinate and grilled chicken (Tandoori chiccken), simmered in a creamy tomato gravy (curry). The sauce is super silky, buttery, aromatic and mildly spicey. It’s such a beautifully balanced and tasty dish that is a favorite of Indian food lovers all over the world. It’s a dish that layers in flavors. One of the things I learend about Indian cooking is the ginger garlic sauce. You blitz fresh ginger with garlic and olive oil to get a nice paste that is used in so many dishes that many Indians keep a jar of it in the firdge.
The dish begins its flaovor journey with chicken marinating in lemon juice, Kashmiri chili poweder and a lttle salt as its first 20 minute marination, in preparation for the second marination which includes greek yogurt, the gardlic ginger poaste, garu masala, cumin, coriander, kasuri metha (dried cilantro), and tumeric. This marinade should go from 12 to 48 hours.
Next you start with the gravy. First, you let chashews hydrate in water in anticipation of blitzing them in the blender along with tomatoes. Not all butter chicken dishes use onion, but the recipe I used did so. You slice ontions and brown them before adding them to the blender with the finely blitzed cashews and the fresh tomatoes.
Next, while the sauce is blitzing, I put the chicken onto a sheet pan under the grill to par cook.
to make the sauce itself you start with the spices. A stick of Cinnamon, cloves and cardemom pods along with the sliced green chilles (I use sorrano). You cook these in butter for a few mintes before adding garum masala, paprika and more chili powder. Next you add the garlic ginger paste and cook it all making sure not to burn it. Then its time to get the blend into the pan, and you can do this through a strainer if its not smooth. enough. Then its time to get this going on medium high heat (avoid the splattering.) You parttially cover it and let it boil for around 10 -15 minutes stirring often till the mix is nice and thick. You add a couple of cups of hot water, and make sure its beginging to come together.
You rpepare to add the chicken from the grill. To finish the chicken in the grill, you want it browned, but not burned. Before you add the chicken, remove the whole psices and discard. Once you add the chicken, you can add a little more more water to get the consistency you desire. Let it cook for another 10 minutes or so. Adjust salt, sugar and add cilantor, and a tablespoon of butter. Take it off the heat, then temper a 1/3rd of a cup of heavy cream and add that to the mixture, and serve it over basmati rice.
We made our rice with saffron and I also made garlic naan. It is such a great dish. A fair bit of work, but great.
I absolutely LOVE this dish. LOVE it! it’s best with fresh clams, but failing that, canned clams, whole and chopped, are necessary. Now with that out of the way, you have to make fresh pasta.
There really is not anything in the world as good as outstanding fresh pasta.
The ingredients I used for the sauce wete:
To start out, I slowly cooked the anchovies in olive oil till they had melted. Then I added first the shallots and the red pepper flakes, then as they softened, I added the garlic, olives and the lemon zest. I deglazed the pan with the wine and cooked it down till about half the cup had evaporated. I added the clams and clam juice then dropped the pasta into the salted boiling water. while the clam sauce was developing I added a little pasta water. When the pasta was floating and just before I added it to the sauce pan, I added the parsley and the lemon juice. I added the butter then the noodles and mixed the noodles with the sauce. I added a little more pasta water till the sauce was nice and silkly.
I served the pasta with fresh made breadsticks and aCeasar Salad along with the rest of the bottle of wine. It was a masterful meal! Heathere said, “That is the best version of this dish you have ever made!”
This is a great dish. Midway though the meal, Heather said, “This goes into regular rotation for sure!” It’s an interesting way to make a wonderful chicken dish for sure, but, let me warn you, it’s HOT! How hot you ask? The kind of hot where your hair sweats. Your shirt sweats. There is sweat pouring down your face, and even so, you just cannot wait to take another bite!
The secret is in the marinade.
Jerk Marinade
Blend everything into a thick paste. Slash bone in chicken, we used thighs, and massage the spice into the chicken. The outer limit for the marinade is 3 days, but one day will suffice. To prepare for cooking, I used a 12 inch pan, and carefully wiped the bulk of the marinade off the chicken, leaving a thin layer. I let it rest out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking to allow it to come to temperature and tighten up a bit. I baked it for about 40 minutes at 375 before putting the chicken on a grid and painting it with the finishing glaze of hot honey, lime juice and a pi9nch of freshly ground allspice, then caramelized the chicken under the broiler, turning and basting it often for the next few minutes till it began to turn.
I let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving it over rice. I used the time to reduce the sauce that was in the bottom of the roasting pan and poured it over the rice.
Again, an absolutely delicious meal.
My Life: A Memoir 