Parmesan Herb Crackers

December 1, 2010    |    Print Print

Holiday entertaining is already underway and these savory crackers are always delicious as part of your party buffet.   The dough can be made ahead and then baked off as needed.  Include them as as part of a cheese tray or with a slice of smoked salmon and a dollop of sour cream or crème fraîche.  Makes 30 – 40 crackers

1 cup (2 ½ ounces) Parmesan cheese, cut into 1” pieces
¾ cup (3 ¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch of ground white pepper
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary or thyme
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut in ¼” pieces
5 tablespoons (2 ½ ounces) sour cream or crème fraîche

In bowl of food processor, using metal S blade, finely chop Parmesan cheese.  Add flour, salt, pepper and herb pulsing to combine.  Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add sour cream or crème fraîche and process until dough comes together into a ball.

Transfer dough to large piece of parchment paper and shape into a 1 ½” wide log.  Wrap tightly in paper and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. After logs are cold they can be wrapped in food film and frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost in refrigerator overnight before proceeding with recipe.

Heat oven to 325º F.  Slice well-chilled log into 1/8” thick coins.  Transfer slices to parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake immediately, turned coins over and rotating sheets halfway through cooking, until centers are firm to the touch, about 25-30 minutes.  Watch carefully so as not to burn.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container, at room temperature, 3 to 4 days.

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Buttercup Squash, Sage, and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce

November 19, 2010    |    Print Print

Yield: Makes 15 – 30 ravioli, serving 6 generously

This recipe if perfect for using the abundance of squashes available at the market this time of year. If you cannot find buttercup squash, use butternut. Also, if making your own pasta dough, you will either need to cut this recipe in half or double the pasta dough recipe. Use wonton wrappers or make your own dough from the recipe that I posted for pasta dough.

For filling
1 ¼ pound buttercup squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
4 – 5 medium shallots, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 ounces chèvre, room temperature
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pasta dough or 60 wonton wrappers
½ cup chicken stock or water
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
½ cup hazelnuts, sliced or slivered almonds
½ cup dried cherries or craisins
Flour or cornmeal for dusting sheet pans
Fried Sage Leaves for garnish
Aged Balsamic vinegar for garnish

Preheat oven to 375°F and lightly grease a baking sheet or line baking sheet with a Silpat.

Make filling:
Put squash halves, flesh sides down, on a baking sheet and roast in middle of oven for about 45 minutes, or until flesh is tender when pierced with the point of a paring knife. When squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh into a bowl and discard skin and seeds. Mash squash with a fork or potato masher until smooth. (Can be done one day ahead and refrigerated.)

While squash is roasting, in a skillet cook shallots and chopped sage in butter with salt and pepper to taste over moderate heat, stirring about 5 minutes, or until shallots are translucent. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring an additional minute.

Cool shallot mixture slightly and add to squash. Add goat cheese and stir to combine well. Do not wash pan it will be deglazed later and used for the sauce.

Put 1 won ton wrapper on a lightly floured surface, keeping remaining wrappers in plastic wrap, and mound about a 1 tablespoon filling in center. Lightly brush edges of wrapper with water and put a second wrapper over first, pressing down around filling to force out air and seal edges well. If desired, trim excess dough with a round cutter or sharp knife.

Transfer ravioli to a sheet pan dusted with flour or corn meal. Make more ravioli with remaining wrappers and filling in same manner, transferring as formed to dusted sheet pan. In a 6-quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to a gentle boil for ravioli.

Deglaze pan used to sauté the shallot garlic mixture with water and add the cherries to rehydrate. After all the water has evaporated add the butter and hazelnuts over moderate heat until butter begins to brown, about 3 minutes, and immediately remove from heat (nuts will continue to cook). Season hazelnut butter with salt and pepper and keep warm, covered.

Cook ravioli in 3 batches in gently boiling eater 6 minutes, or until they rise to surface and are tender (do not let water boil vigorously once ravioli have been added). Carefully transfer ravioli as they are cooked with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl and toss with a little of the browned butter to keep ravioli from sticking to each other.

Transfer ravioli with a spoon to 6 soup plates and top with cherry hazelnut brown-butter sauce. Drizzle with an aged balsamic vinegar and serve.

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Pasta Dough for Ravioli

November 13, 2010    |    Print Print

Adapted from Thomas Keller’s “The French Laundry”
One times the recipe makes about 15 – 2 ½ inch Ravioli

1 ¾ cups (8 oz) all-purpose flour
6 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon milk

Mound the flour on a board or other hard surface such as a granite or marble counter-top.  Create a well in the center, pushing the flour to all sides, making a ring with sides about 1 inch wide. Make sure that the well is wide enough to hold all the eggs, milk and olive oil without spilling over the sides.

Pour the egg yolks, egg, salt, oil and milk into the well. Use your fingers to break up the eggs.  Still using your fingers begin turning the eggs in a circular motion, keeping them within the well. This circular motion allows the eggs to gradually pull in flour from the sides of the well; it is important that the flour not be incorporated too rapidly, or your dough will be lumpy. Keep moving the eggs while slowly incorporating the flour.  Using a pastry scraper, occasionally push the flour towards the eggs; the flour should be moved only enough to maintain the gradual incorporation of the flour, and the eggs should continue to be contained within the well. The mixture will thicken and eventually get to tight to keep turning with your fingers.

When the dough begins thickening and starts lifting itself from the board, begin incorporating the remaining flour with the pastry scraper by lifting the flour up and over the dough that’s beginning to form and cutting it into the dough. When the remaining flour from the sides of the well has been cut into the dough, the dough will still look shaggy. Bring the dough together with the palms of your hands and form it into a ball. It will look flaky but will hold together.  Note:  if the time of year is very dry all of the flour may not be incorporated.

Knead the dough by pressing it, bit by bit, in a forward motion with the heels of your hands rather than folding it over on itself as you would with bread dough. Re-form the dough into a ball and repeat the process several times. The dough should feel moist but not sticky. Let the dough rest for a few minutes while you clean the work surface with the pastry scraper.

Dust the clean work surface with a little flour. Knead the dough by pushing against it in a forward motion with the heels of your hands. Form the dough into a ball again and knead it again.  Keep kneading in this forward motion until the dough becomes silky-smooth.  The dough is ready when you can pull your finger through it and the dough wants to snap back into place. The kneading process can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. Even if you think you are finished kneading, knead it for an extra 10 minutes, you cannot overknead this dough. It is important to work the dough long enough to pass the pull test; otherwise, when it rests, it will collapse.

Double-wrap the dough in plastic wrap to ensure that it does not dry out. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour before rolling it through a pasta machine. The dough can be made a day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Roll pasta and make ravioli:
Cut pasta dough into 4 pieces, then flatten each piece into a rough rectangle and cover rectangles with an inverted large bowl. Set rollers of pasta machine on widest setting.

Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed through rollers. (Keep remaining rectangles under bowl.)

Fold rectangle in half and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 more times, folding it in half each time and feeding folded end through. Dust with flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through rollers once at each setting, without folding, until you reach one dial prior to the narrowest setting. Dough will be a smooth sheet (about 24 inches long and 4 inches wide).

Put sheet of dough on a floured work surface and drop  5 to 6 (1 ½ teaspoon) mounds of filling 1 ½ inches apart in a row down center of one half of sheet. Brush egg wash around each mound, and then fold other half of sheet over filling. Press down firmly around each mound, forcing out air. (Air pockets increase the chance that ravioli will break during cooking.)  Cut pasta (between mounds) with a cookie cutter into 2 ½ -inch rounds or cut squares using a pasta cutter or sharp knife.

Dust a large shallow baking pan with flour or cornmeal, arranging ravioli in 1 layer in it. Make more ravioli with remaining pasta dough, 1 sheet at a time, and remaining filling, transferring ravioli to flour dusted pan.

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Travail, The wonder child of Robbinsdale?

October 28, 2010    |    Print Print

Last spring, we were having dinner at Victory 44. Our waiter was touting this new restaurant concept of which he would be a part.  The name would be Travail.  I had some idea what the word travail meant, but looking it up in the dictionary confirmed my suspicions — travail: work, especially of a painful or laborious nature; toil.  (That sounds like restaurant work to me.)  The waiter went on to say that those cooking on the line would also be serving the food.  Forget the front of the house staff.  Who would know better what would be served than those cooking it?  I thought it seemed like an interesting concept.

Now the restaurant is open:  Travail Kitchen & Amusements and it’s been getting rave reviews.  I’ve seen it written, “best restaurant of the decade,” “ranked number 3 of restaurants in the Twin Cities, ” and “I’ve never had a better meal.”  With these accolades, I wondered why it had taken us so long to get up to Robbinsdale to check out this new wonder child of a place.  Four of us, finally made it and arrived on a recent Wednesday evening about 6:30 PM.  We had called ahead, but they don’t take reservations.  It’s come one, come all!

The half hour wait passed quickly as we were chatting amongst ourselves as well as conversing with two lovely ladies sitting near the door who were just finishing their dinner.  They live in the neighborhood and eat there quite often.  We finally made it to the top of the wait list and a high-top opened up.   We were escorted to the back of the dining room where we found several bean-bag toss games and what looked like a table-top shuffleboard game.  I guess that is the “Amusements” part of the name.

We pondered the menu on the chalkboard and my head was saying, “Okay get the fish and chips and a beer and get the heck out of here.”  Somehow my mouth spurted out, “let’s get the 10 course tasting menu!”  The other couple in our party decided on the tasting menu as well, so twenty plates were about to come out of the kitchen.  I would come to regret  that decision.  Once again I should have trusted my gut!

Unfortunately, our experience quickly plummeted, and it wasn’t necessarily due to what came out of the kitchen – well except for the 9th course.  The line cook/server was very good explaining to us in detail what we would be served.  When he finished giving us all the details, I asked him if he would mind repeating it as I couldn’t hear a word he said as the noise level was so loud.  Asking if the music could be turned down, he said, “Well not much as that is part of the shtick!”  I was about to spend upwards of $50 for a dinner that was going to make my stomach churn because of the noise.

For about half of the courses, the previous plates were not cleared before the new course came out.  Therefore the “waiter” would be holding the “new” course in one hand and would clear the dirty plates with the other hand.  It made for a very interesting juggling act.

The courses preceded, some faster than others.  As we were waiting between course eight and nine, I was watching the line and mentioned to Jon, that only one of the cooks is wearing a hat.  Shouldn’t every cook being wearing something on their head?   It was a fleeting thought and I let it go.

Course No. 9 arrived which was their version of steak and potatoes.  It was tasty enough, but as I was finishing the last bite — yes you guessed it, a strand of black hair was staring back me.  With my silver mane and Jon’s head being shaved, I knew it wasn’t ours.  When mentioning it to our server, his response was, “Well it’s not mine either ‘cause I’m not cooking this evening.”

In a nutshell, here’s my take on Travail Restaurants & Amusements.  If one, you like lot’s of noise with patrons yelling at each other to carry on a conversation and if one doesn’t mind having the back of the house, doing the job of the front of the house and if one wants to potentially drop a lot of dough for the experience, by all means check out Travail.  If I was to go back, I’d order the fish and chips and a beer, spend 45 minutes and be on my way.

If I want a to enjoy a relaxing tasting menu, whether it be 3 courses or 10, I’ll go to Saffron Restaurant & Lounge, Vincent’s, a Restaurant, or the Corner Table. The reason is because the experience is also part of why I enjoy dining out.  As good as the food was at Travail, that  2½ hour experience is not one I’d want to repeat.

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Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

October 24, 2010    |    Print Print

Someone from work wanted a recipe for a fresh tomato bruschetta.  I thought tomato season was a little past its prime, but you sure wouldn’t have known it based on the many varieties at the Saint Paul Farmer’s Market yesterday.  Here’s the recipe if you can still find a local heirloom or two.

8 ripe plum or heirloom tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh tarragon or thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/8 cup salt packed capers, rinsed and chopped (optional)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 baguettes, cut in 1/2-inch-thick slices
Olive oil for brushing bread slices
6 cloves garlic, cut in half
Fresh Mozzarella, thinly sliced

In a bowl, mix all ingredients except bread, olive oil for brushing, garlic cloves and mozzarella. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, unrefrigerated, for up to 3 hours.

Heat oven to 350°F.  Brush bread slices with a little olive oil and toast both sides of the bread on a baking sheet until lightly browned.  Rub cut side of garlic on each slice of toasted bread.

Add one slice of mozzarella on each baguette slice and top with tablespoon of the tomato mixture.  Broil until cheese melts or skip that and serve room temperature.  Garnish with small basil leaf on each if desired.

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Mac and Cheese with Swiss Chard and Leeks

October 18, 2010    |    Print Print

There’s still Swiss chard and leeks in the garden, so I bet they can be found at the farmer’s market and your local grocery.  With a nip in the air, it’s a perfect time for some comfort food so check out my recipe for Mac and Cheese with Swiss Chard and Leeks.  It was posted on the PastureLand website a while back.

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Where’s that Thai restaurant again?

October 1, 2010    |    Print Print

Friends arrived first and waved us down street-side, otherwise we would have driven right past our destination, the Bangkok Thai Deli.  This delightful little hole in the wall at 315 University Avenue West, Saint Paul MN, is a restaurant that is attached to a small grocery store.  Walking through the store, we made our way to a brightly light room with various sized tables and booths.  The four of us first sat at a booth, but were coaxed to move to a much larger table to handle all the anticipated plates that we were about to order.

A friendly waiter with a great sense of humor took our order and within what seemed like minutes, started bringing out the plates one after the other.  I thought to myself, “Did we really order all this food?  Who ordered all this food?  Oh wait, we did.”

First to come out was an order of piping hot egg rolls stuffed with sliver thread noodles, onions, carrots, cabbage, ground pork and ground chicken $3.  On its heels was the Hoi Jor, a combination of scallops, shrimp and pork, ground and formed into a pillow/fritter, lightly breaded and deep fried $7.

Shortly after the appetizers came the Bangkok Thai fried rice with pineapple and chicken $7, Shrimp Pad-Thai $9 a Green Curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, green curry paste, eggplant, sweet basil and beef $8 and the Papaya Salad $7.  I’m no wimp when it comes to heat, but wowzer, even the medium heat broke me out in a sweat!  However, me sweating should not come to a surprise of anyone.

After passing around the platters, probably one too many times, we all decided enough was enough and to go boxes were packed up with what would fit.  Before heading out though, Carolyn produced a little box of goodies.  Either the restaurant didn’t mind or we didn’t tell them, but four cupcakes emerged from Sweet Bakeshop.  They were a Tiramisu, Snowball, (i.e., coconut), Triple Chocolate, and Peanut Butter cup each sitting in their own little collar under the lid.  Candles were lit and Happy Birthday was sung, in harmony no less.  Each was somehow divided into threes and fours depending on who wanted to taste which flavor, with the Birthday girl choosing first of course.  Unfortunately, the little cakes were not quite as good tasting as they were good looking.  There are always more flavors though from which to choose at Sweet Bakeshop, 2042 Marshall Avenue, Saint Paul.

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Headed to Points South

September 22, 2010    |    Print Print

You have to love a tailwind when you’re at 30,000 feet; it often puts you at your destination earlier than anticipated. Recently for us, it meant landing in Saint Louis a half hour ahead of schedule.  After grabbing our luggage and boarding one of those lovely shuttle buses for a ride to Hertz, we found our Toyota was waiting for us. I was a little hesitant riding in a Camry due to all the recent publicity about unexpected acceleration, but we survived the car and Jon’s aka JT’s driving (just kidding, he actually does quite well.). For the most part, Hertz Never Lost (which I often refer to as Ever Lost for the amount of time sitting on the side of the road, trying to make sense of where “Madge” was taking us) directed us where we needed to go including Festus, Potosi, and Crystal Lake Park, all the big cities around Saint Louis.

The downstream effect of gaining time allows one unexpected opportunities.  In our case, arriving early at Rigazzi’s gave us a chance to teach our waiter and bartender the fine art of making the cocktail called the Sidecar.   There are many recipes for a Sidecar, but here’s the one that we gave them with the hope that something similar would come back to our table.  Add ice cubes to a cocktail shaker, filling ¾ full.  Add equal parts freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, either Cointreau or Grand Marnier, and Hennessey or another premium brandy.  Shake and serve “up” in sugared rim martini glass.

According to our green-behind-the-gills waiter, there wasn’t a lemon in the house.  I wondered how there could be no lemons when every glass I saw had a wedge. Reluctantly, we conceded and limes were squeezed. The next ingredient was simple syrup.  “Simple what?” we were asked.  You know — equal parts sugar and water, bring to a boil, simmer until sugar dissolves, and then cool.  They had all the necessary alcohol in the house, so we were in good shape there, it was just a matter of making the simple syrup and squeezing (in our case) some limes.

I have to say that after the 15 minute wait, the outcome was not horrible, but not great, either.  Most disappointing was the fact that it came out in a miniature lowball glass.  It did have a sugared rim, but also had floating in it an eighth of a lime.   The size of the lime wedge would have been more suited as part of a bowl of freshly-made guacamole.  I was grateful for the valiant effort and I hope that the bartender was inspired to keep experimenting.

I won’t go into details about the menu, but feel free to check out their website.  I will say they can accommodate a large crowd and were attentive to our group of 11 people the night we were there for dinner.

After dinner, Jon and I headed to Bad Dog Bar & Grill for some country western dancing.  I was beginning to wonder if Missouri was really part of the south, as there was a seeming lack of southern hospitality, i.e. not one soul said hello.  Although I’m Mr. Introvert, I made the first move and asked the line dance instructor for a spin around the floor.  Shortly afterwards, however, Missouri’s southern hospitality was redeemed as new friends Robb and Greg said hello to us. With the hour getting later and later, we said our goodbyes and headed south to Festus to visit Jon’s parents.

Saturday’s drive south to Potosi was lovely as we traveled through the rolling hills of southeast Missouri.  We were headed to Boo’s Market for lunch and a mini high school reunion with Jon’s classmates.  Then we returned to Festus for dinner with JT’s parents and niece at the Country Café.

Sunday, we enjoyed a delightful lunch with Jon’s family which included an unbelievable array of desserts including an Angel Food Cake, Coconut Cream Pie, a Four Layer Dessert and Jon’s favorite Lemon Ice Box Pudding.

Early Monday morning, we headed to Crystal Lake Park to meet up with Robb and Greg for breakfast at City Diner on South Grand.  It was an excellent breakfast joint with friendly, attentive service.  I think it’s a place that Jane and Michael Stern should visit.  After our leisurely breakfast, we headed to the botanical gardens.  The gardens were hosting a Japanese Festival over the Labor Day weekend.  What a fabulous sanctuary in the heart of Saint Louis!  After walking around for more than three hours, we had seen less than half of what there was to explore.  I took particular note of the fact that they host cooking classes there and have a space for outdoor grilling classes.

Realizing we were all hungry, we headed to the Soulard neighborhood with the hope that the vendors would still be open.  According to JT, there is a terrific spice shop that would put Penzey’s to shame.  I’d have to see it to believe it as Penzey’s is a pretty awesome place to purchase spices, dried herbs, peppermills, etc.

The spice shop in Soulard is just one more place that will have to wait until next time as they had already closed.  However, since we were in the neighborhood anyway, we grabbed some lunch at Chavas.  With such a gorgeous afternoon, we really had no option but to enjoy it outside with a rather large pitcher of margaritas.

The point of all this rambling is that I’ve heard for years, mainly from JT, how much there is to see and do in Saint Louis. There’s supposed to be some fantastic food in the fair city to our south.   It will definitely require a trip back, if not two or three, to see and eat our way through the gateway to the west.  Then there is always the ride up the arch.  Maybe we’ll do that before lunch.

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