ProfessionalHobbit

Just got back from adult Disneyland (aka Las Vegas). Tonight, we had deep dish pizza -- sorry, no pic. Here are pix of last night's blowout extravaganza: Foie gras, bourbon bread pudding, orange cherry salad Steak tartare, worcestershire-dijon aioli, crumbled egg, grilled bread Filet mignon, bearnaise Porterhouse steak for two, with onions and carrots Haricot verts with mushrooms and crispy shallots In the background is a baked potato served with Earth Balance. One of our party was lactose intolerant. Brown butter cake, blueberry compote, corn ice cream, Meyer lemon curd I'll post the rest of my pix eventually -- have 300+ photos to sort through. Stay tuned...

5 cups cold water, 1 quart cranberry beans, a couple of sprigs each of summer savory and chervil, a glug of extra-virgin olive oil, and a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a bare simmer. Cook for 35-40 minutes or until beans are tender. 40 minutes later. These beans will cool in their broth. Half will be used tonight, and the remainder throughout the week. 2 lbs. mussels. Clean them under cold running water by pulling off their beards. Set aside. In a heavy-bottomed pot, combine 1 cup white wine and mussels. Cover. Steam until mussels open, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer mussels to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Discard any mussels that didn't open. Remove mussel meat from shells and set aside. Strain mussel broth from the pot through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Reserve broth. You should have approx. 1 1/2 cups mussel broth. Clockwise from lower right: 3 flat-leaf parsley sprigs; kosher salt; 3 thinly-sliced garlic cloves; 1/2 bunch parsley, minced; 1 1/2 cups mussel broth; 1/4 cup pinot grigio; 1/4 cup dry sherry. About 1 quart cooked cranberry beans. I ended up using 3/4 of this amount. Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium low heat. Add garlic to the cold oil -- garlic will infuse oil as the oil warms. Fry garlic until it turns opaque or off-white, about 30 seconds. Add parsley sprigs. Fry until it wilts, about 15-20 seconds. Add white wine and sherry. Simmer so that the alcohol evaporates, about 1-2 minutes. Add the cranberry beans and the mussel broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, then add the mussel meat and about 3/4 of the minced parsley. Return pan to stove and warm mussels over medium-low heat so that you don't overcook them. Overcooked mussels are tough, like edible rubber. Don't do it. Ladle mussel stew into bowls. Taste for salt. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, top with the remaining parsley, then serve immediately. Mussel stew with cranberry beans, adapted from "The Basque Book" by Alexandra Raij with Eder Montero, page 151. Original recipe uses white beans such as pochas. Our vegetable side consisted of broccoli rabe cooked with garlic and peperoncini. Dessert was a slice of peach and nectarine galette. The walkthrough for this was posted in the Breakfast! thread earlier today. B remarked that it was "perfect", especially the buttery, flaky pastry. It looks like my next foray will be a savory version but such will have to wait until after next week's trip to the magical kingdom of Las Vegas (better known as "Disneyland for adults").

Padrón peppers, heirloom tomato, extra-virgin olive oil, Maldon sea salt. Insalata caprese. Not a completely egg-less breakfast. There was a four-egg omelette which B and I split between us. As a bonus, I started on prep for tonight's dinner. (In case you haven't noticed, I rarely cook during the week mostly because I typically don't get home from work until 8 or 9 pm. That's why you almost never see pix. B knows to leave me alone in the kitchen on weekends because cooking is my therapy.) 5 cups cold water, 1 quart cranberry beans, a couple of sprigs each of summer savory and chervil, a glug of extra-virgin olive oil, and a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper. 40 minutes later. These beans will cool in their broth. Half will be used tonight, and the remainder throughout the week. I also made dessert for tonight. Technically the effort was begun last night for reasons you will see below. 1 stick butter cut into cubes. Freeze for 10 minutes. In a food processor or stand mixer, combine 1 cup AP flour, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1 1/2 tbsp. sugar and butter. With the motor running and if you're in a humid climate, add 2 tbsp. ice water. If not, add 3 tbsp. Process until flour resembles coarse cornmeal. This is about right. Turn out flour-butter mixture on a floured board. Dough will eventually cohere. Form into a disk like so: Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or preferably overnight. Clockwise from left: 4 tbsp. AP flour, 2 tbsp. sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 beaten egg, 1 tbsp. grated lemon zest, 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Pre-heat oven to 400 F (204 C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper. If you don't have parchment paper, grease the tray with unsalted butter. 1 lb. assorted stone fruit (nectarines, peaches) that was peeled, pitted and then coarsely diced. To peel fruit: make an x on the bottom of each fruit as shown above. Place in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, then lift out with a slotted spoon and plunge in a bowl of ice water. Peel will slip right off. Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon zest and a pinch of kosher salt in a large bowl. Add fruit and lemon juice. Mix well. Set aside. Take out the dough from the fridge and place on a lightly-floured board. Lightly flour your rolling pin too. Roll out the dough until it's about 12"-13" across. Transfer the dough by rolling it up on your rolling pin, and then unroll on the parchment paper lined tray. I like to smear the bottom of the galette with jam. This helps punch up any fruit flavor. 2 tbsp. nectarine conserve from http://junetaylorjams.com Spoon fruit in the center, making sure to leave at least a 2" rim around. Fold crust over, making sure to overlap every so often. Brush crust with beaten egg. Sprinkle 2 tbsp. sugar over the egg wash. Bake in a pre-heated 400 F oven for 45-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Remove tray from oven and cool. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Stone fruit galette.

today: lamb sausage, assorted cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, pluots, Romano beans, cranberry beans, broccoli rabe, mussels, butter, herbs (summer savory, basil, flat-leaf parsley), Padrón peppers, cheese and a baguette.

Zucchine al tegame. Basically, zucchini cooked in garlic-infused olive oil and a very minimal amount of water until the zucchini is soft, extremely tender and "creamy". We served that with a few slices of mozzarella cheese and some Italian bread. Cranberry beans with lamb sausage and heirloom tomato. Contains a base of onion fried in olive oil for 35 minutes. Sausage cooked in olive oil in a separate pan, deglazed with white wine. Added onions to the sausage, then the diced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, cooked cranberry beans. Minced parsley to finish.

Looks awesome. I need one now...been ages since I had a good shrimp or lobster roll.

Another winner from this cookbook. I haven't turned to the desserts yet but maybe I will soon. A work colleague of mine brought over some brioche bread pudding with Meyer lemon glaze on Friday so now I have to seriously consider teaching myself how to bake cake. There's a ricotta and lemon cake on page 335 that's calling my name. But I digress... Tonight's dinner: 4 chicken legs and 4 chicken thighs. The book calls for 2 3/4 lbs. chicken but we prefer dark meat at Casa Hobbit, hence why you never see breast meat. Clockwise from bottom: 2 tbsp. chopped oregano (subbed for rosemary which the book calls for but which we didn't have); 1/2 cup pinot grigio; 2 tbsp. sliced guanciale; 1 can crushed San Marzano tomatoes; 1 crushed garlic clove. Not shown are two sweet red peppers that were julienned. Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, then add guanciale. Book calls for pancetta but this is what we had on hand, plus I prefer guanciale to pancetta nearly all the time. Cook until fat is rendered and guanciale begins to crisp. Add chicken skin side down. Fry until chicken develops a nice golden crust. This step absolutely cannot be rushed. It will take about 20 minutes or so. Once the chicken has browned, add the wine and let it evaporate. Season with salt and liberal grindings of black pepper. Be sure to season the chicken on both sides. Add the garlic, oregano (or rosemary, if using) and the crushed tomatoes. Book calls for either canned plum tomatoes with juice or fresh tomatoes. Go with whatever you like. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Check every so often that the chicken isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot. Eventually, chicken will come to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partly cover and cook for an additional 45-50 minutes or until sauce has become dense and rich. You might want to check the pot every so often; if the sauce seems like it's too thick, add some water. Meanwhile, cook your peppers. The book has you oven-roast them but I elected to fry them in olive oil, seasoned with a pinch of salt. I fried the peppers until they were nice and soft, then added them to the chicken. Pollo alla romana con peperoni ("chicken with tomato and sweet peppers"), pages 192-195.

Padrón peppers, extra-virgin olive oil, Maldon sea salt. I call it "pepper roulette" because one can be explosively spicy or sweet. Life is like a bowl of peppers to paraphrase Forrest Gump. Zucchine con acciughe e capperi. Sliced zucchini sautéed in olive oil along with garlic and anchovy until caramelized, then added some capers and mint. Pollo alla romana con peperoni ("chicken with tomatoes and sweet peppers"). I'll post the walkthrough in the My Kitchen in Rome thread in a minute.

Definitely an underappreciated and underrated vegetable.

I use them in stock and also in salsa. I usually go easy on them because they can be bitter.

Thyme and chervil along with 1 cup shelled cranberry beans, 3 cups cold water, a glug of extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.

Pan-roasted baby artichokes. Cranberry beans with guanciale and tomato. I'm taking a page from @rarerollingobject and making egg-less breakfasts more often. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as the saying goes.

They're mussels. Thanks luv.

Roasted cherry tomato crostini with crème fraîche and basil. Zuppa di cozze, from "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan, pages 123-124.

today: strawberries, assorted cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, peaches, Little Gem lettuces, zucchini, mussels, herbs (oregano, parsley, basil), sourdough bread, eggs, baby artichokes, Padrón peppers, cheese.

4 slices sourdough bread, cut into cubes and tossed with 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Spread bread cubes onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until croutons are golden brown. Remove sheet from oven and cool. Clockwise from left: 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar; 1 clove garlic, minced; 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; 2 anchovy fillets; pinch of kosher salt. Mash garlic in a mortar and pestle along with a scant pinch of salt until you obtain a smooth paste. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can do the same thing with either a fork and a bowl. This is about right. Transfer paste to a bowl. Repeat with the anchovies. Transfer resulting paste to a bowl. To the garlic paste, whisk in the anchovy paste and red wine vinegar. Taste for salt. Whisk in the olive oil, then set dressing aside. Salt-and-pepper croutons. Tear apart Little Gem lettuce leaves (or if you don't have any, romaine lettuce is fine) and place in a bowl. Add croutons. Toss lettuce and croutons along with anchovy dressing. Transfer lettuce and croutons atop a salad plate. Top with an egg fried in butter, then shave some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over. Serve immediately. Deconstructed Caesar's salad. 4 zucchini, sliced; 1 large onion, sliced into half-moons. 5 ripe heirloom tomatoes, diced. Warm olive oil in a pan over medium heat, then add the onion. Cook until onion is translucent and limp, about 15 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes. Season with salt and black pepper, and some chopped fresh oregano. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Tomatoes will eventually break down and form a loose sauce. In a separate pan, warm 2-3 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat, then add zucchini. Season with salt and black pepper. Sauté until zucchini becomes golden brown. Transfer zucchini to tomato sauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer zucchini, partly covered, for 45 minutes. About 15 minutes before the zucchini are ready, add a generous handful of basil to the pan. Stir a few times. Once zucchini are done, stir in a pat of unsalted butter. Taste for salt and black pepper, then serve. Stufato di zucchine.

It could have been nuoc cham. It was at some restaurant a block from the office.

Rice noodles with roast chicken, pickled carrots, scallion, crispy shallots and nuoc mam sauce At top left is a plate of shrimp dumplings.

Zazie is supposed to be a San Francisco classic. Well, I wasn't feeling it tonight. Maybe we ordered wrong...but I doubt it. Mediterranean roasted vegetable plate with basil, feta and aioli. Clockwise from left: spiced mushrooms, roasted peppers, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese + aioli, eggplant, garlicky green beans, roasted potatoes. Charcuterie plate. Clockwise from center: mixed olives, prosciutto, toast points, mixed green salad, pâté, salmon rillettes, cornichons, mustard. The pâté tasted like nothing mixed with cream and the salmon could have come out of a can. Everything else was "fine". Wild Coho salmon, pesto Parmesan crust, toybox tomatoes, sugar snap peas and cauliflower purée. This is a very good example of a kitchen that doesn't understand "less is more". Why put a crust on a fish that doesn't need it? For $29. Bourride. Easily the best thing we had all night. This version had sea bass, clams, mussels, leeks, fennel and tomatoes. Can't really go wrong with fish stew. No aioli which is the traditional accompaniment. Brebis des Pyrénées, figs poached in port wine, walnut levain. Worst version of tarte tatin ever, served with crème fraîche. I couldn't help but compare this to what I had at Buvette in NYC (see the next pic) with each and every bite. Barely caramelized apples and not very buttery puff pastry which was more of a vol-au-vent, come to think of it. This is more along the lines of what I was expecting. Pity. I might not have been so harsh above were it not for the fact that we were forgotten about for nearly 10-15 minutes after having been deposited at our table. Getting the check was equally as difficult, as if we were at the dentist and having our teeth pulled. I now see why Zazie is recommended for brunch, not so much for other meals. Zazie 941 Cole Street (Parnassus Avenue) Cole Valley San Francisco

It's basically a vegetable braise. Saute the vegetables over medium heat, then add tomatoes and reduce heat to low and cover. The idea is to cook the vegetables in their own juices while adding a minimal amount of liquid so that they concentrate their flavor and retain their color. Towards the end, you have the choice of reducing the liquid in the pot or not. The vegetables get added in a certain order. I typically begin with a battuto of celery, carrot and onion cooked in olive oil with or without cured pork product (guanciale, pancetta, bacon, 'nduja, prosciutto or ham), then add hard vegetables (i.e., zucchini, chard stems, potatoes, cauliflower), then any beans (string beans, wax beans, Romano beans) and finally the tomatoes. Sometimes pork gets replaced by olives and anchovies. Sometimes lard instead of olive oil.

@Anna N -- raw is ok, but not crisp-tender. I'm also ready for that term to be eliminated from the English language, along with "healthy eating" (*gag*) and "foodie". Wish I had some radishes, with butter and salt.

Zucchini/summer squash, same thing really.

I'm not really a fan of crunchy vegetables. I personally believe that they're suitable for rabbit food. Maybe you like them that way. If so, more for you. I particularly like them cooked in the Italian manner -- simmered or braised over low heat and slowly cooked in their own juices so that when they emerge from the pot, they're nearly falling apart and their texture is like silk. Life is too short to eat rabbit food. Clockwise from lower left: Approx. 2 1/2 oz. guanciale, diced; 3 celery stalks with leaves, diced; 1 yellow onion, diced; 3 carrots, diced. You can omit the guanciale, or if substitute either pancetta or bacon, or prosciutto or ham. Guanciale is cured spiced pork jowl and can be obtained at any Italian specialty food store or online from http://eataly.com/ 4 Early Girl tomatoes, diced. If you don't have Early Girl tomatoes, regular tomatoes are ok. Just make sure they're ripe. If you don't have any good tomatoes, canned tomatoes are fine. If I'm getting canned tomatoes, I usually try to buy canned San Marzano tomatoes (there's a preferred brand I like but I can't quite recall what it is right now) or Pomi brand if possible. If they're canned whole plum tomatoes, crush them by hand and place in a bowl. Reserve half of the juice and use the other half for another dish. Warm olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, add guanciale. Cook until fat has been rendered and the guanciale starts to crisp. Add onion, cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrot and celery, plus salt and black pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are softened and fragrant. Next add 2-3 medium zucchini, sliced. Sauté until zucchini has softened and has started to caramelize. Next, add 2-3 sweet bell peppers that have been sliced. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook until the peppers have softened slightly. Next, add the tomatoes (and if you're using canned tomatoes, add the reserved juices) and 1/2 lb. yellow wax beans that have been trimmed. If you don't have yellow beans, string beans are fine. Or any vegetables you have on hand. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour or until the vegetables have softened and their texture is like silk. The beans in particular should be nearly falling apart. Towards the last 20 minutes of cooking, uncover pot and raise heat slightly to medium-low. Reduce liquid until only a few tablespoons are left in the pot. (Or if you like a soupier stufato, leave the pot covered.) You may have to add a tablespoon or two of water to prevent the vegetables from scorching. The idea is to cook the vegetables in their own juices without the addition of any liquid. About 10 minutes prior to serving, I added a handful of shredded basil and 1 cup cooked fava beans. Taste once more for salt and black pepper, then drizzle each serving with extra-virgin olive oil and top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese if desired. Stufato di verdure ("vegetable stew").

Clockwise from center: 2 tbsp. minced chervil; Maldon sea salt; 3 anchovy fillets; 1 tbsp. capers, chopped; 2 tbsp. thinly sliced red onion, minced; 2 tbsp. flat-leaf parsley; 1 tsp. kosher salt mixed with 1/2 tsp. black pepper; 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar. Not shown is a bowl with 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil. 5 La Ratte fingerling potatoes that were boiled whole in heavily salted water for 20 minutes until fork-tender, then cooled and peeled. Slice into coins, about 1/2" thick. If you don't have any fingerling potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes are a fine substitute. La Ratte fingerlings have a buttery flavor that lends itself well to potato salads; they're my preferred variety for something like this. Combine potatoes with 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large bowl. Season with 1 tsp. kosher salt and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar over the potatoes. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 1 hour at room temperature. Boil green beans (or as you see here, haricot vert) in lightly salted water for 2-3 minutes, then lift out and shock in ice water. Drain, then place in a bowl. Add red onion, capers, chervil, flat-leaf parsley. Mix well. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside. When you're ready to assemble the salad, combine potato mixture with green bean mixture. Toss a few times. Plate potatoes and green beans. Top with hard-cooked egg and anchovy fillets. Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt; drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Serve. Potato and haricot vert salad, with egg and anchovy. Good morning!

Haricot verts. Not cheap at $8/lb. and always worth the expense. Baby artichokes. I knew within 2 seconds of taking this shot that this stand should have been my first stop this morning. Unfortunately I had a few other things on my list and no room for a splurge. Fresh bay leaves. I wish you could smell these. They're awesome. Part of this morning's haul. Her jams are always worth it. We're huge fans of her San Marzano tomato paste. http://junetaylorjams.com/index.htm today: celery, carrots, haricot verts, yellow wax beans, strawberries, peaches, jams, herbs (basil, chives, fresh bay leaves), zucchini, Early Girl tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cranberry beans, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, red onion, regular onions, La Ratte fingerling potatoes, eggs.