Sangria

Made some yummy Sangria for a spontaneous bbq at R's house! In typical fashion, I read some recipes, then made it up as I went along! Turned out well, so here's hoping it can be recreated!!

Sangria


1 large orange, sliced
2 limes, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
1 1/2 bottles spanish red wine
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup rum
1/4 cup Licor 43
1/4-1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup cranberrry pomegranate juice
1 cup club soda

put sliced fruit in pitcher. dissolve sugar in little bit of wine.
pour rum over fruit, mash around a little. add sugar/wine mixture, remaining wine and Licor 43. Let sit in fridge for a couple hours for flavors to develop. Add juices to taste.
Add club soda just before serving.

After 35 years, finally a fish dish I love!

OK, I'm not a big fan of fish. Like really not a big fan, I usually like tuna and the occasional halibut, but I've never been known to rave about a fish dish. There's a first time for everything. This was absolutely the best fish I've ever had.  And Ina Garten's Sauteed Broccolini was a perfect side.

The Vinaigrette was delicious, but very rich. Don't use too much of it or it will overwhelm the taste of the fish. I think next time I would maybe use even less of the vinaigrette, and double up the amount of the spice rub on the fish.

There were several other olive oil poached fish recipes in this month's Fine Cooking. I think we'll try the halibut next!

Olive Oil Poached Tuna with Caper and Olive Vinaigrette
from Fine Cooking Magazine

The olive oil poaching technique gives the tuna an incredibly tender, silky texture. It's important to let the fish sit at room temperature for about an hour before poaching; straight-from-the-fridge tuna will dramatically lower the temperature of the oil and throw off the cooking time.

For the tuna
1 clove garlic
Kosher salt
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 to 6 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Four 1-inch-thick tuna steaks (6- to 7-oz. each)

For the vinaigrette
1/3 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. capers, rinsed and drained
4 Kalamata olives, pitted
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, as needed

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Poach the tuna
Peel and smash the garlic clove and a pinch of salt to a paste, either with a mortar and pestle or by mincing and then mashing it with the side of a chef’s knife. Combine the garlic paste, rosemary, 1 tsp. salt, and the pepper in a small bowl. Add just enough oil to turn the spice mixture into a smooth paste, about 1/2 tsp. Rub the paste over the tuna—it will be sparse. Let the tuna sit at room temperature for about an hour.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 225°F.

Measure the thickness of the tuna steaks and add the same depth of oil to a 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan. Heat over low heat until the oil reaches 120°F, 2 to 3 minutes. Put the tuna steaks in the oil in a single layer and immediately transfer the pan to the oven. Poach until a few small whitish droplets rise to the surface of the tuna and the center of the fish is rosy, 25 minutes.

Make the vinaigrette
While the fish poaches, combine the parsley, capers, olives, garlic, vinegar, and sugar in a blender and blend to a coarse purée. With the motor running, pour the olive oil through the hole in the blender’s lid and purée until incorporated. Taste for salt (it may not need any) and set aside.

Transfer the tuna to a wire rack to drain for a few minutes. Serve with the vinaigrette spooned over each steak.

nutrition information (per serving):
Calories (kcal): 500; Fat (kcal): 36; Fat Calories (g): 320; Saturated Fat (g): 6; Protein (g): 40; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 23; Carbohydrates (g): 2; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 5; Sodium (mg): 540; Cholesterol (mg): 65; Fiber (g): 0;

From Fine Cooking 104, pp. 81

March 4, 2010

It's all about the Pici (well, actually the Bucatini)

You all saw the last post, yes? Doing the happy dance over finding fresh Pici? Well, actually what I bought was Bucatini. It's really really similar to Pici, close enough I don't really care that much about the difference.
(Pici is from the Tuscany/Siena area, Bucatini from Rome. Bucatini has a hole in the center, and Pici is hand rolled)

Both the pasta and marinara were incredible. And EASY!! Most labor intensive part of the meal was grating some Pecorino to throw on top!
MJ and I both agreed it was outstanding. The pasta was perfect and the Homemade Marinara was just amazingly flavorful and bursting with fresh tomato-y goodness.

I specifically went to the Manhattan Beach farmers market on Tuesday because I had to have more and couldn't wait until Saturday when they would be back at the Torrance Market.

I highly highly recommend you check out this wonderfulness. The company is Domenico's Foods. If you aren't near either farmer's market, all the products are carried at The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, and available on their website.
Domenico's Foods

Not only love the products, but the guys that run the booths at the farmers markets have been so very nice. They even gave me one of their ice packs on Tuesday to keep the sauce cold because I wasn't going home right away.

Pici! Pici! Pici!!!

THEY HAVE FRESH PICI PASTA AT THE TORRANCE FARMERS MARKET!!!!!!!

So excited, it had to be shouted in all caps.
I fell in love with this pasta when we were in Siena a few years ago. It's kind of like a really fat spaghetti. Chewy, yummy, carb addict heaven.

I'd never seen it anywhere in LA, then several months ago found a mail order company for the dried Pici. Which was awesome, but expensive. And the fresh pasta is so much better.

What a happy way to start the day! Can't wait for dinner tonight!!!!

Healthy (er) Mashed Potatoes

Emotional Eater doesn't even come close to expressing how much a yummy starchy, buttery dish can improve my day. It's been a "need some mashed potatoes NOW!" kind of week. However, I also have to head home in a few weeks and fit into a dress to meet about 150 of my mother's friends at a reception for her. So, I didn't feel it was a great idea to whip up my usual mashed potato recipe. (boil potatoes, add multiple sticks of butter, then add some more butter, then some cream, and salt. )

Now, I know there are those of you who have convinced yourself that substituting veggies for yummy stuff is JUST as satisfying because they are the same general color or shape. Spaghetti squash with marinara is the same as pasta!! Pureed cauliflower tastes just like mashed potatoes. um, yeah, no.

So, inspired by Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious (which I haven't actually read, but BFF and my lovely cousin have both told me some basics) I came up with a compromise.

I started with some Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut and boiled them. (about 3-4 cups of cut potatoes)

Steamed a head of cauliflower, then pureed it with a little of the steaming water.

After draining potatoes, I added about 3 Tablespoons of butter and started mashing. Then added the pureed cauliflower and kept blending. The moisture of the cauliflower was perfect for replacing the cream.

Pretty good at this point, but a little bland. I REALLY wanted to add more butter, but that would kind of defeat the purpose. So, a little salt, some Parisien Bonnes Herbes from Penzey's, and some olive oil. (the costco brand is amazingly tasty - fragrant and fruity!)

I'm not a fan of cauliflower and felt like these just tasted like potatoes. And MJ - who hates cauliflower couldn't even tell it was in there.  The texture was a little gelatinous on day 2 however.

The moral of the story. If I cook like one would for a 3 year old, maybe I'll actually learn to eat my veggies.

Scones

With all the marmalade now in my house, I need something yummy to put it on, yes? So, scones.
I love scones. Adore them.  I have tried many many many recipes. ( I've thrown a lot of baby shower teas over the past few years!) This is by far, hands down, absolutely my favorite recipe. It's also absurdly easy, and I have successfully changed it to make many different varieties of scones.

The original recipe from Gourmet is Dried Fruit Cream Scones and includes dried fruit and raisins. You can check out the link for the original. This is the base recipe I use.

2 cups all purpose flour (I also use white wheat flour, a little healthier that way)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl, stirring with a fork to mix well. 

Still using a fork, stir in the cream. I find the dough to be a little dry at this point, I usually add a little extra cream in, then use my hands to work all the dry ingredients in.  I don't bother to knead it on a floured board, I just work it in the bowl until it's a malleable dough.

Then I shape it into a roughly 1 inch thick circle and cut it into whatever shape I want the scones to be. Sometimes I use glaze like in the original recipe. (brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar before baking.) Sometimes I don't.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

They are great plain like this, or with dried fruit added.

To make savory scones (rosemary cheddar is one of my favorites!), I reduce the amount of sugar to a teaspoon or 2, then just mix in the herbs/cheese/whatever until it looks right.  ( you can brush these with melted butter before baking, without then sprinkling sugar on)

Marmalade Obsession

I may have mentioned I have a teeny tiny tendency to get carried away when I embark upon a new project. So, I'm a little obsessed with marmalade right. BSE (best sister-in-law ever) came up with the idea of making meyer lemon marmalade and was talking about it when we made the tangerine a few weeks ago. When I ventured into the backyard this weekend and saw a nice little crop of meyers just begging to be picked, I decided it was fate and I had to make some marmalade. I used the same Alton Brown Recipe that I talk about below, just substituting the lemons in for the tangerines. It turned out quite well, but didn't set up quite as nicely as the tangerine did.

In my googling for info on lemon marmalade, I came across a few things that have me off and running. First, is this wonderful article on Preserving Citrus. It has lots of interesting info on different techniques, but what I took away from it is that for a basic marmalade, you just need equal parts (by weight) of fruit, liquid and sugar. Second was the recipe for Spicy Balsamic Basil Orange Marmalade.
For my version I used tangerines from the tree, basalmic, fresh basil, tangerine juice and sugar.

Here's how I did it:
Cut tangerines into thin slices, then cut slices into 2 or 3 pieces.

Weigh the fruit and put into a large stockpot. (my fruit weighed about 600 grams)

I used a small bottle of good basalmic vinegar, then added enough fresh squeezed tangerine juice to make the liquid equal 600 grams. It didn't seem to me to be quite enough liquid to cover the fruit, so i added just a little bit of water.

Put the whole mess on the stove and boil until the fruit is very soft.

Then add 600 grams of sugar, and I put in a few dashes of hot sauce to give it just a little kick on the finish.
Boil until it reaches 222 degrees.

Then proceed with the canning process that I describe in the tangerine marmalade post.

It set up beautifully and now I am brainstorming all kinds of ideas. Sangria Marmalade is next!

I took pictures to show more of the process, but can't seem to upload them. I will keep trying!!