Archive | August, 2009

Top Chef- Part 2 (The Results)

28 Aug

I know… the anticipation is killing you.

I was nervous about a few things going into the competition.  First, I had the insane plan to cook pasta in a microwave.  Luckily it was fresh pasta which cooks pretty well just by soaking in water, however, I was afraid the texture would be terrible or it just wouldn’t work at all.  Second, there weren’t any real guidelines for setting up, prepping, etc. So I’d have to wing it.  And wing it I did!

I went down early to claim a spot at a table (I thought I was first in line for the judges but wound up being last… Oh well!)  When I went to say hello to our host, I noticed he was speaking with someone vaguely familiar.  It turns out it was Lisa Fernandes, runner up of Top Chef Season 4, who was going to be our guest judge!  How exciting!  This is where my dorky excitement for TV chefs came out.

It took a very long time to heat the water for the pasta in the microwave, and when I saw steam, I gave up on the notion of waiting for boiling.  I threw the pasta in and in less than 2 minutes it was done.  I strained it into the hallways sink and it actually tasted quite good!  I knew it was going to get gummy quickly, however, but I decided it was worth the risk.

I set up the chocolate peanut butter bars in a plate tower and they looked quite lovely.

(the flash gave this a very ethereal shot)

At noon on the dot, people started coming up for food.  I was “plating” my pasta and crab cakes with beurre blanc sauce like a mad woman! I decided to put them all into golden cupcake cups.  It made for a nice, cheap little serving bowl!

As the tasting went on, people started spreading the word and before I knew it, I was almost out of everything!  I had to make a little corner reserve for the judges and thank goodness I did.  I was out within 20 minutes. 

There were about 20 other cooks around the room, however, I was so busy serving that I didn’t get to see, photograph, or try any of the other food.  Shame!

Judge’s Table was pretty intense.  There was a lot of hush hush discussion going on.  Have I mentioned yet that I am incredibly competitive?  I was quite anxious waiting for the announcement.

First they announced the top dishes for audience choice.  My chocolate peanut butter bars tied for first!  So exciting.

Then they announced the top three judges picks.  They named the dates wrapped in bacon, the sweet dumplings, and…. MY CRAB CAKES!  After some more discussion, Lisa chose the winner…

*********ME!***********

She said that my sauce was great and the “perceived effort” (a judging point) was deemed high.  She mentioned that she was impressed that I cooked the pasta in the microwave and that she had never done that herself.  I was awarded my grand prize of a BBQ set from a publisher (which is funny since I do not have a BBQ and have received more publisher shwag than most anyone).  My ego boost was the big prize though. 🙂  Ok… ok… the real winner was the charity.  We raised $600 for Big Brothers/Big Sisters (it was $10 a person to “sample.”)

Anyway… back to me winning!

It was a proud moment.  A proud moment indeed!

On a personal note, this will post just about the time that I get out of gallbladder surgery on Friday morning.  Unfortunately, the next few weeks will probably be slow in terms of food (since I won’t be eating much, and especially not anything interesting), so I have decided to leave you with a high note for now.  I hope to return hungry and ready to nom soon.  Stay tuned!

Top Chef- Part 1 (Prep Phase)

27 Aug

My company decided to host our very own Top Chef competition in our office to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  Of course, I jumped at the chance to cook AND compete (two of my favorite past times).  We were informed there would be a “guest judge” and we could cook whatever we wanted and we could enter more than one dish.  I quickly decided that one of my dishes would be my famous chocolate peanut butter bars.  I have posted the recipe in the past as one of my favorites.

It took me a few days to decide that I wanted to make a beurre blanc sauce (always a crowd pleaser).  At the time and throughout preparation, I didn’t know that you’re not supposed to reheat a beurre blanc sauce (it separates) but I still took my chances.  I was originally going to put it over fresh pasta and lump crab meat.  I was a bit concerned about cooking pasta in a microwave (my only heating tool), however, I figured I’d take my chances (especially since all you really have to do is soak fresh pasta in water and it works).

I took a journey to Whole Foods to get all of my ingredients.  I got home and immediately set to making the beurre blanc sauce. 

Side tangent:  It has become cliche to talk about Julia Child at this time.  Between the book and movie, there is an instant judgement on the subject (especially by other food bloggers!  So judgemental! WOW!)  Now I, for one, loved the book AND the movie (a rarity to love both).  I completely related to Julie’s humble beginnings in the blog world as well as her theatre background and clumsy nature.  While reading the book, there were a number of times that I felt that I could relate ALL too well.  I have also always had a fond respect for Julia Child, especially when it comes to butter.  While I think most of her recipes will never, ever apply to me, I always trust Julia Child when it comes to butter.  Therefore, I decided it was time to check out her recipe.  Low and behold, it is exactly the same as the recipe I’ve been using.  I found myself even more inspired.  /side tangent

My first step was taking 3 bars of GOOD butter and chopping it into small pieces (about a half in slices seems to work well).  It’s also important to keep it cold. (More on that later)

I love shallots and believe in using many and not straining them out.  Therefore I added a LOT of shallots.  Speaking of shallots, I took a cooking class a few months ago and learned a great cooking tip for how to cut up a shallot.  He instructed us to cut off the tip but LEAVE THE BASE (which holds it all together).  First cut it horizontally, parallel with your surface.  Then cut it from tip to base in vertical lines without cutting through the base.  Lastly, starting parallel to the base at the tip, start cutting it into small pieces.  Here is my visual collage of the steps:

Works like a charm! 

Now usually I would never be the kind of cook that would use mise en place bowls.   Unfortunately in the very few seconds it took me to chop the shallots, the butter began to melt and I had to do a quick exchange of putting the prepped ingredients into a lovely little ramekin so I could stick the butter back in the fridge.  (Oh the joys of cooking in the middle of August).

Then I mixed the vinegar and white wine in a pot until boiled.  Then I added the shallots, salt and pepper and lowered the heat to a simmer to reduce the liquid. 

Everyone says the key to beurre blanc is to whisk in one cube of COLD butter at a time.  I diligently did so.

I soon realized, however, that my whisk was ready for a much later stage.  SO it was my mini whisk to the rescue! (I knew it would come in handy some day)

It all went perfectly and I had a beautiful creamy yellow sauce in just a few minutes.

It was at this point that I began to debate… “Do I really want to serve this great sauce over simple lump crab meat?  Isn’t there something interesting I can do with the crab?”  While I mulled this over, I started on the chocolate peanut butter bars.

The combination of peanut butter, melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, and powdered sugar makes an amazing fudgy like bottom.

I have made a double boiler and melted chocolate many, many times.  I’m not sure what happened this time, however, but my chocolate seized.  It has never happened to me before!  I’m not sure if the chocolate was old or the steam hit it too much… it was strange.  I had to start anew.  Take 2 worked like a charm!

Back to crab… I did a quick search for crab cake recipes and decided to go with making a simple mini lump crab cake.  I used panko bread crumbs instead of regular and it was DELICIOUS. 

I was feeling confident as we taste tested that night.

So how did it all turn out? Who won? How did I do? Where did my food rank? Was it a fight to the finish? Who was judging?

Tune in tomorrow for the results.

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RECIPES:

I’m quoting this from the posting from Saveur:

Julia Child’s Beurre Blanc Sauce

“Butter is essentially a smooth mixture of fat and water. The secret to making beurre blanc is to preserve its makeup by allowing each addition of butter to melt smoothly into the sauce, as you whisk it, before adding the next piece of butter. Also, never let the sauce come to a boil once the butter is added; that will cause it to separate. Some restaurant cooks add a little heavy cream to the wine reduction before whisking in the butter, to ensure a smooth and stable sauce. This recipe is based on one in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck (Knopf, 1977).”

3 sticks cold unsalted butter (24 tbsp.), cut into chunks
1⁄4 cup dry white wine
1⁄4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. minced shallots
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch of white pepper
1⁄2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1. Have butter ready. Bring wine and vinegar to a boil in a saucepan; add shallots, salt, and pepper. Lower heat to a simmer; cook until most of the liquid has evaporated- reduced to ~1.5 tbsp. (If reduced too far, add 1 tbsp. water to remoisten.)

2. Remove pan from heat; whisk 2 pieces of butter into the reduction. Set pan over low heat and continue whisking butter into sauce a chunk at a time, allowing each piece to melt into sauce before adding more.

3. Remove sauce from heat; whisk in lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, then strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Serve with fish, poultry, or vegetables.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #109

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Mini Baked Crab Cakes

(My recipe made about 36 crab cakes with my melon baller scoop)

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh lump crab meat (I got mine at Whole Foods for $12!)
  • 3 shallots, finely minced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • Salt and black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. 

  1. Mix crab, shallots, garlic, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and mayonnaise.  
  2. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Using a melon scooper (or teaspoon), shape mixture into about 20-30 walnut-sized balls.
  4. Spread remaining breadcrumbs onto a plate and roll balls lightly in crumbs to evenly coat.
  5. Slightly flatten crab cakes. 
  6. Place on a greased baking sheet (or Silpat). 
  7. Bake crab cakes until crisp and golden, about 12-15 minutes.  (since I used panko, mine didn’t get too gold, however, the crispness was good)

Add enough bread crumbs to bind, about 2-4 tablespoons.

Plummy Pork

25 Aug

When I was at the Union Square Market with Mike, I saw mini plums and couldn’t resist. I used to get them at the Farmer’s Market in Ithaca, and they were some of the best fruit I had ever had. These were good, but not that good.

When trying to determine what to make for dinner on Sunday, Mike suggested making a plum sauce. A quick google later, and we found a recipe that sounded very good without the use of fats. We supplemented the mini plums with pluots (half plums, half apricots) to make for enough substance in the sauce. The recipe was a bit hard to figure out, however, we took some liberties and the recipe turned out incredibly well. The pork was tender and the plum sauce was tart and sweet and tasted incredible. It was quite pretty in color and when you cut it open, and the wine it was cooked in really brought out a great flavor in the fruit. I’d put it in the top five of the recipes we’ve made.  And I think it was pretty healthy!

I actually didn’t have cooking string to tie up the pork to wrap it, however, I did have some wire. I was concerned that the wire would do something funny, so we made a backup version of just the pounded pork with the fruit on top. The wrapped pork in wire wound up working, and the flattened ones were a bit drier, so I recommend the wrapping.

We paired the pork with brown basmati rice mixed simply with mushrooms as well as artichokes we bought for the sole purpose of using the artichoke cookers I got for my birthday from my friend and old college roommate, Kim (she also got me my very own NYC Nom Nom apron, that is adorable and awesome). They are very smart with a stand that allows the artichokes to steam upright. Unfortunately the artichokes we got were too big and didn’t have the flavor that they should have. The stems were also too woody. I look forward to trying the cookers again with regular artichokes.

Artichokes steaming:

Cooking down the plum sauce that goes on top:

Cooking the cherries in the wine (apples were added later):

Browning the wrapped pork in shallots:

Putting the pounded flat pork in the dish with fruit on top:

Browned rolled pork wrapped with wire:

A finished archie:

The finished plate:

Cut open rolled pork:

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Pork with Plum Sauce

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup dried cherries (or cranberries)
  • ½ green apple, diced
  • 3 Tbl. sugar
  • Red wine (I’m sure good wine would be better, but we used “Four Buck Chuck” aka Charles Shaw, and it was still fabulous)
  • 8 ripe black plums (or red, or pluots, which is what we used)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice
  • Pork chops, pounded thin
  • Shallots
  • High heat PAM

Directions:

  1. In saucepan, mix 1/3 cup of wine with 2-3 Tbl. of sugar until sweet to the taste. Add dried cherries and put over low heat. You don’t want to cook them, you just want to reconstitute them. Add apples to soften (I just let this cook on very low heat until I was ready for the next step)
  2. Cut the plums into a separate sauce pan. You don’t have to peel them. Recipe said to just cut chunks the size of your thumb off until you’re down to the pit. Add wine to a depth of about 1 inch. Add enough sugar that the wine is sweet to the taste (though not too sweet). Add salt and lemon juice. Cook over a medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until the plums soften, about 40 minutes. Mixture should be thick like applesauce.
  3. Preheat oven to 325°
  4. In the meantime, place cooking string or wire under each thinly pounded pork chop so you will be able to roll and tie it up, about 1.5 to 2 inches apart (I used 3 per chop). Spoon the cherry/apple mixture into the pork and then roll up the sides and tie up. (You can also stuff a pork loin if you prefer)
  5. Brown shallots in a pan and then brown all sides of the pork (use tongs to rotate)
  6. Spray casserole dish with PAM high heat spray. Place pork in the baking dish. Cook at 325° until done, about 50 min. Set pork on platter to rest.
  7. Pour pan juices into the plum sauce and boil 1 minute (I guess I cooked too long since there were no juices and just some solidified stickiness on the bottom, but it still tasted great).
  8. Untie/cut/untwist wire/ties and either serve as a roll or slice the pork into 1/2 inch slices to reveal the center. Serve with plum sauce over the top.