The Global Kitchen

It's a chilly rainy day and the Julie and Julia DVD is going to be released on Tuesday. A perfect day to make Boeuf Bourguignon.

I am thisclose to being moved to my new hut and will start cooking more consistently in January. At least that's the plan.

I've never been a big beef stew fan but I do like this. It makes the house smell great and it's easy. This dish is even better the next day!

I used THIS version from the September 1999 issue of Bon Appetit. I didn't use shiitake mushrooms. I used cremini. And I thought I had sage left over from Thanksgiving but apparently I used it all so that was left out as well. Nobody commented that it could have used sage or should have had shiitake's.

I served it over mashed potatoes and with sauteed brussels sprouts.

I do suggest making the recipe over 2 days if you can. This recipe uses a lot of pots and pans. More when you make sides. I hate washing pots and pans.






 

Another Bittman recipe from Runners World.

Also very popular. I'll be making this again. And as it's a one pot meal you don't have to worry about sides.

He says it serves four but those are very generous servings. I stretched it to six.

For the meat I used half lean turkey sausage and half boneless skinless chicken thighs. I also used leeks instead of onions.

By Mark Bittman
From the October 2009 issue of Runner's World

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage, bone-in pork chops, duck breasts, or chicken legs, or 1 pound of a combination of meats
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 leeks or onions, washed and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch lengths
3 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium zucchinis, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups canned tomatoes (and juice), chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
4 cups canned white beans, drained and liquid reserved in case needed
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add meat and cook, turning until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain off all but two tablespoons of fat. Turn heat to medium, add garlic, leeks or onions, carrots, celery, and zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook five minutes, or until softened. Add tomatoes and juice, meat, and herbs. Bring to a boil. Add beans and boil again, stirring occasionally; reduce heat so mixture bubbles gently. Cook for 20 minutes, adding stock or bean liquid when mixture gets thick. Fish out meat; remove bones and skin and chop into chunks. Return to pot and add cayenne. Warm through. Serves four.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 580
CARBS: 82 G
PROTEIN: 40 G
FAT: 11 G

Like everyone who saw the movie Ratatouille I immediately wanted to make the showcase dish.

It took me a couple of years to finally get around to it but here it is. I have made ratatouille before but it was more of a stew-y side dish. Not half as pretty as this dish which is actually a confit byaldi developed by chef Thomas Keller for the movie. The dish is actually a play on the Turkish Imam Byaldi which I have made many times and is featured on this blog.

You can find Keller's recipe HERE but when I was searching I came across Smitten Kitchen's Version which is the one I actually made.

I served it as a main course with some crusty bread. We were't very hungry so this really hit the spot. It is delicious and a definite repeater. Easy too when you have a mandoline although my mandoline wanted to shred my eggplant for some reason so I had to slice that by hand.

Next time "I will try Keller's version.

It's STILL 100+ degrees so I'm just unable to get into the fall cooking spirit. And I'm definitely out of the summer cooking mood. So most nights I just don't cook at all.

So what I've been doing is thinking about fall/winter dishes. And in doing that I realized there are a lot of countries that aren't represented on this blog. So I'm coming up with a game plan to remedy that. My first foray will be into Indian food. I know people are wondering why it hasn't made an appearance here and the fact is I'm not a fan based on the Indian food I've had. Indian cuisine is so diverse I can't imagine I wouldn't like something.

I'd also like to try my hand at Japanese and Korean food. So when it finally cools down things will get interesting in my kitchen. I hope.

Now on to the souffle. I've never made one and it seems like it should be something in every good cook's repertoire. I love garlic. I love cheese. So this looked like the perfect souffle for me. It's a bit labor intensive but I got my garlic roasted the night before and set up my mis-en-place in the morning.

My big fear was the dreaded fallen souffle. Mine puffed up quite nicely then deflated a bit as I was setting up for my picture. No worries though as the end result was delicious. And very garlicky. No vampires will visit me tonight.



Roasted-Garlic Souffle
Gourmet | March 2008
Paul Grimes

3 large heads garlic, left whole, plus 3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 medium onion, sliced
3 large thyme sprigs plus 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 California bay leaf or 2 Turkish
1 whole clove
1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, separated, plus 4 additional egg whites
1 1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3/4 cup grated Gruyère (2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

Trim 1/4 inch from tops of whole heads of garlic, then put heads on a large sheet
of foil and drizzle each with 1 teaspoon oil. Wrap heads together in foil and roast until very tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool to warm, then squeeze garlic from skins.

Meanwhile, bring milk, smashed garlic cloves, onion, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, clove, and peppercorns just to a boil in a medium saucepan, then remove from heat and cover.
Let steep 30 minutes.

Butter a 12-inch oval (2-quart) gratin dish with 1 tablespoon butter, then sprinkle bottom and side with bread crumbs and chill until ready to use.

Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a heavy medium saucepan and whisk in flour.
Cook roux over low heat, whisking constantly, 5 minutes.

Strain milk mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, then add to roux, whisking until smooth.

Bring to a boil, whisking, then simmer béchamel, whisking, 3 minutes. Remove from heat and vigorously whisk in yolks 1 at a time. Whisk in roasted garlic, parmesan, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and transfer to a bowl.

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt using an electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks, then stir one third of egg whites into yolk mixture.
Fold in Gruyère, then remaining whites. Transfer mixture to gratin dish, smoothing top, and sprinkle with thyme leaves.

Bake soufflé until set and browned on top, 20 to 25 minutes.

Cooks' notes:
•Garlic heads can be roasted 2 days ahead, then chilled in foil. Squeeze from skins just before using.
•Béchamel can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, its surface covered with buttered wax paper. Reheat (uncovered) before proceeding with recipe.

Summer to me means lots and lots of salads. It gets so darn hot I absolutely hate turning on the oven.

We painted walls over the weekend so the air wasn't on. I discovered my breaking point is 105 degrees. Today it was 110. It seems to early in the year for this and Mother Nature must agree as it's going to be back down in the 70's on Thursday. Go figure.

Today I have three salads, two I've never made before and one old favorite. What's great about these is that I usually have most if not all the ingredients on hand.

Salad #1 is Grilled Asian Flank Steak with Sweet Slaw from the June 2008 issue of Bon Appetit.

This was excellent although I must have had a turbo charged jalepeno. It was green since Fry's didn't have red. When I cut it open I could tell it would be strong so I used one half of one jalepeno seeded. The dressing was still a little too spicy and I am not a wimp to spice.

I also like that this is incredibly easy and you can chop the veggies and prep the dressing while the steak is marinating.



Grilled Asian Flank Steak with Sweet Slaw


1/4 cup soy sauce
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1 1/2-pound flank steak
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 red jalapeños, thinly sliced into rounds
5 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage (about 9 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Mix soy sauce, oil, 3 teaspoons ginger, and garlic in resealable plastic bag. Add flank steak and seal bag; turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Stir sugar and vinegar in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves; remove from heat. Add jalapeños and remaining 2 teaspoons ginger. Place cabbage and 1/2 cup green onions in medium bowl.

Pour vinegar mixture over and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand while grilling steak, tossing occasionally.

Grill steak until cooked to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to work surface. Let rest 10 minutes. Slice steak thinly against grain. Sprinkle 1/4 cup green onions over slaw.

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The following night I made Grilled Chicken and Romaine with Caper Dressing. I love grilled radicchio and was intrigued by the grilled romaine. I would say this is a salad that is good but needs some tweaking. I liked the grilled lettuce and the dressing is very similar to my standard home made vinaigrette but it needed more veggies. Grilled veggies!



Grilled Chicken and Romaine with Caper Dressing Bon Appetit, March 2008

3 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 pounds)
2 hearts of romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise, core left intact
Shaved Manchego or Parmesan cheese

Preheat barbecue (medium-high heat). Puree vinegar and next 4 ingredients in small processor until almost smooth. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Combine chicken and 1/4 cup dressing in medium bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Place romaine, cut side up, on baking sheet. Drizzle with 1/4 cup dressing; turn to coat. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Grill romaine until charred and slightly wilted on all sides, about 2 minutes.

Transfer 1 chicken breast and 1 romaine spear to each of 4 plates. Drizzle chicken with remaining dressing, sprinkle generously with cheese, and serve.
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And finally we come to the classic Nicoise Salad which I've been making from memory for quite some time. The best Nicoise salad I ever had was in Nice of course. Mine will never be as good but that's ok.

And yes I know I have to turn on the oven for this one but it's worth it!



Unfortunately I don't measure when I make this. I just eyeball it until it looks right. Generally I use one egg, one small red potato and one 3 oz can of water packed tuna and a tablespoon of dressing per salad.

I use my basic vinaigrette dressing which is 1/4 cup olive oil and 3 tbs white wine vinegar whirled in a blender to emulsify. I then add some rough chopped shallot and dijon mustard, salt and pepper and whirl again, adjusting ingredients to taste. I keep this in a jar in my pantry.

For the salad make sure you have a hard boiled egg. You can also roast the green beans and red potato ahead of time. Just toss with olive oil salt and pepper and roast at 450. I start the potato first then turn at about 8 minutes, add the beans to the pan and roast another 8 minutes or so.

The salad consists of greens (I use romaine or whatever other greens are in the fridge), chopped hard cooked egg, canned tuna, capers, kalamata olives, and the roasted green beans and potato.

I love pomegranates, pistachios, prosciutto and persimmons so I HAD to make this salad. It was very little work and the outcome was wonderful! And it's such a pretty presentation for company.

For a special occasion I might spring for the pomegranate vinegar but it was delicious with the sherry vinegar. I bet you could use white wine or champagne vinegar with success too.

If you've never had persimmons you must get the Fuyus! the other kind, Hachiyas, are really meant to be cooked.




Prosciutto with Persimmon, Pomegranate, and Arugula
Bon Appétit December 2006

Makes 8 servings.

Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier

ingredients
16 thin slices prosciutto (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
1 large Fuyu persimmon, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 ounces baby arugula
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
Extra-virgin olive oil
Pomegranate vinegar* (pomegranate vinegar is $12.00. I used sherry vinegar I had on hand)

*Available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

preparation
Arrange 2 prosciutto slices on each plate. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over. Arrange persimmon next to prosciutto. Mound arugula atop prosciutto. Scatter pistachios over. Sprinkle with pepper; drizzle with oil and vinegar.


Yes it's another fab fricassee! This one has no garlic. I served it with roasted cauliflower (toss with a little olive oil salt and pepper. Spread on a foil lined cookie sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes turning every 10 minutes).

I was a bit confused on the cooking instructions as the times don't jibe with the other fricassee recipe. I included my modification.

For the wine I used Viognier because it's my favorite white wine.



Fricassee of Chicken with white Wine Capers and Olives

1 3-4 lb chicken cut into 8 serving pieces
Sea Salt
Finely ground white pepper
3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cups white wine
2 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled seeded cored and chopped
1 cup Picholine olives, pitted, or pimento stuffed olives(I found Picholines at the olive bar)
1/4 cup capers in vinegar, drained.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Brown chicken for 5 minutes on each side. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to low and add onions and cover pan. Sweat onions of 3 minutes. Add chicken back to pan and add remaining ingredients. Cover pan and simmer on low until chicken ins done. Recipe says 1 hour. I brought sauce to boil, reduced to low and simmered for 30 minutes.

These recipes come from The Provence Cookbook by Patricia Wells.

One of my favorite trips ever was to Provence and some of the recipes from this book took me right back.




Broccoli, Avocado and Pistachios With Pistachio Oil( Brocoli, Avocat, Pistaches et Huile de Pistache)

This salad is filling enough to have as a meal. It was incredibly easy to put together too. I used olive oil because I didn't want to spring for pistachio oil. However, I think this will be much better with pistachio oil and since I'm planning on making it again, I will splurge on the oil.

1 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 cup pistachio oil, pine nut oil, almond oil, or extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs course sea salt
8 oz broccoli florets(about 2 cups)
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup salted pistachios coarsely chopped

Thoroughly blend lemon juice, fine sea salt and oil.

Prepare a large bowl of ice water

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add the coarse sea salt and broccoli and boil until the broccoli is crisp tender about 3-4 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge into ice water to cool.

Halve peel and slice the avocado. Arrange a mound of broccoli in the center of a serving plate. Arrange the avocado slices around the broccoli. Sprinkle with the pistachios and drizzle wit the lemon/oil mixture. Season with salt and pepper and let infuse 3-4 minutes before serving.



The chicken dish was fantabulous and it went together in no time at all. I made the confit a day ahead. Now you would think this would leave you reeking of garlic but the confit is actually sweet and the garlic that cooked with the chicken is mellow. No strong garlic taste at all, although, I haven't seen any vampires lurking about. Instead of a whole chicken I cut the recipe in half and used four thighs. I did have some sauce left over so I spooned it over bread. The leftovers are also excellent as the flavors really meld.

Sweet Garlic Confit (Confit d'Ail Doux)
4 plump heads of garlic =, cloves separated and peeled
1 qt whole milk

Place garlic cloves in a saucepan and cover with 2 cups of the milk. Bring to a simmer and drain, discarding the milk.
Simmer the cloves in remaining 2 cups of milk over low heat until soft, about 20 minutes. Cool cloves in milk. Drain, discarding milk. Keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Fricasee of Chicken with Garlic and Sweet Garlic Confit (Fricassee de Poulet a Ail et a L'Ail Confit)

1 farm fresh chicken cut into 8 serving pieces at room temperature
Fine sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 tbs unsalted butter
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
20 plump cloves garlic peeled and halved
1 recipe Sweet Garlic Confit
1 1/2 White Wine(Viognier suggested)

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chicken skin side down and brown 5 minutes on each side. Use tongs to turn.
When all pieces are browned remove them and transfer to a platter.
Add halved garlic cloves to fat in the skillet. Reduce the heat to low, add the chicken and cook covered for approximately 20 minutes, turning the chicken once or twice until cooked through.

Remove the chicken and garlic from the pan and place on a platter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tent with foil.

Discard the fat from the pan. Return the skillet to high heat and add the garlic confit. Once hot, carefully pour the wine over the garlic and deglaze, carefully scraping up any bits that cling to the bottom of the skillet. Continue to cook over high heat, smashing the garlic to a puree(I used a potato masher). Spoon the puree over the chicken and serve.