Archive for January, 2009

I came across a short, yet interesting story about fish soup.

The year? 1978. The place? Venice, Italy.

The owner returned in about half an hour with a huge fish overlapping both sides of the basket, which also contained a mass of greens and several bags of clams and shrimp and other things. This he took to the kitchen, and soon the most wonderful smell wafted out to the diners. The owner’s sons (one of them the chess player) and wife all hovered at the kitchen door, cooing sounds of delight.

Veal chops are tasty. There’s likely a hundred ways to dress a nice cut like this. For me, I chose a very simple preparation. Like many steaks or chops, I began by searing the outside in EVOO after it had enjoyed ample time “getting the chill off” out of the refrigerator, coated in ample amounts of salt and pepper.

The sauce took some time: first caramelize some onions in butter, salt, and pepper. Then I added the re-hydrated porcini and most of the porcini “liquor.” Tonight’s wine was a little Beaujolais.

Meanwhile, in another pan, Yukon gold potatoes slowly browned in sage-scented butter with garlic. For spice, Aleppo pepper added a reddish hue.

Below, the finished plate:

Tonight in search for a delicious dinner, it was once again Ina’s newest book, Back to Basics, where we turned. We again were not disappointed.

Menu

• Parmesan Roasted Broccoli with Pine Nuts
• Mustard-Cream Robed Fish with Capers
• Garlic Ciabatta

Dessert came later in the form of espresso-enhanced hot cocoa. Ina recommends the addition of flavorings to “perk” chocolate.

We picked up several of the ingredients at Whole Foods.

I detail the preparation of the main components in this video:

And for finished masterpieces:

This looks almost exactly as it does in the cookbook. The secret was a little use of the broiler at the end for the “brown” bits.

Everything was delicious! Thanks for reading.

I had planned doing a recipe earlier this week from Ina Garten for roasted leek and potato soup. I ended up changing her recipe some, based on what I did and didn’t have. It was delicious, despite the modifications.

I started with some applewood-smoked bacon. Once rendered of fat, it was set aside. With fried crispy onions, it became a soup topper at the end.

Into the bacon fat went the shallots and garlic. They got a little color before deglazing the pot with white wine. Chicken stock was added and brought to a simmer, covered.

Leeks and yukon gold potatoes had been roasting at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. These got added with vegetable broth in the blender, in batches.

The puréed mixture was added to the pot, and then tasted for reasoning.

More salt, pepper, and then Cholula hot sauce. I also at this point added the heavy cream and Asiago cheese. Stirred it all, and bought it up to a light simmer.

Soon, it was time to eat.

The center of each bowl was topped with the bacon-onion mixture, and only pleasure followed.

Chinese in the know know (say that a few times, why don’t you?) that the better food nowadays is in other areas of Washington, D.C., not Chinatown. Rockville, Maryland, typically is cited as the best place for “authentic” and “excellent” Chinese cuisine.

Yet, somehow we ended up trying Szechuan Gallery Restaurant, which is, squarely, in Chinatown. They were offering dim sum selections.

The place is not big; the dining room is divided into a “front” and “back” area, each one holds about 8 tables. Dim sum items come and go as they are prepared in the kitchen, and pretty much represented typical fare: steamed buns (sweet and savory), turnip cake, scallion pancakes, shumai, the so-called “sho long bao” or soupy dumplings.

Service was friendly, but not terribly efficient. Not one of their dim sum offerings was stellar. Aside from soy sauce, no other condiments are offered.

A mixture of Chinese and white patrons filled the dining room. Perhaps their menu is more appealing; we waived the right to order off the menu, in search of the dim sum. Better luck next time.