Magic Viniagrette

 

This is an all purpose vinaigrette that I’ve used in many diverse dishes with such positive results that I called it “Magic Vinaigrette”. 

Besides normal use on vegetables and salads it can be a gentle addition to a piece of plainly cooked seafood. It’s excellent as a marinade. And…..it’s magic! 

Here’s the magic potion: 

-  It uses 50/50 olive oil and canola oil, which dilutes the olive oil to a more subtle flavor.

-  Then it uses a 50/50 mix of white wine vinegar and sherry vinegar. High quality sherry vinegar is divine, but can be quite strong on its own. So again, subtlety is added by blending with the ww vinegar.

-  The proportions are 4 parts oils to 1 part vinegars. It gets finished with an optional squeeze of lemon juice and S&P. 

The ingredient selections are critical: 

-  A robust, high quality extra virgin olive oil is needed

-  Use high quality Sherry vinegar from Spain. Mass-produced sherry vinegars from the grocery store are not really a good substitute, as they tend to have just the slightest flavor of sherry and are often harsh. 

-  Rather an ordinary white wine vinegar, I use rice wine vinegar from China. Pearl River Bridge products (including their great soy sauces) are beginning to show up in large US supermarkets over the past year or two. 

The two vinegars themselves and the 50/50 split of the oils and vinegars are the magic. 

Magic Vinaigrette

 

 

	Small	Regular	Large
Extra Virgin Olive oil	1/4 C	1/2 C	1 C
Canola oil	1/4 C	1/2 C	1 C
Spanish Sherry vinegar	1 T	2 T	1/4 C
Rice Wine vinegar	1 T	2 T	1/4 C
Lemon, juiced (optional)	1/2	1	2

 

• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Combine in a jar and shake well
• Keeps 4 weeks or longer

Broccoli Salad for Your Labor Day Picnic

As many of you know, I’ve been dealing with cancer for the past few years. Blogging fell low on my list. Many people have kindly asked that I share my advice, menus and recipes again. If you’re one of them - thank you. It’s meant a lot to me that you found this useful.  

Sending my love, Tom

If you’re cooking this weekend this is a nice version of broccoli salad, because of its use of Asian flavors instead of the regular suburban mayo, ranch, bacon, etc. 

Broccoli Salad

Dressing

 

½ cup raisins

½ red onion, finely sliced

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

4 tsp sugar

1 tsp Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

• Combine and let rest for 10 min

 

3 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs sesame oil

• Add to mixture and stir

 

Salad

 

1½ pounds broccoli, chopped into  ½” pieces

1 apple, cut into ½” cubes

2 scallions, sliced

½ cup toasted almonds

1 cup red or green grapes, cut in half

• Toss with dressing

 

 

Notes: 

• Include the broccoli stalks: cut into small, thin, bites sized pieces, excluding the toughest woody parts
• If desired, blanch broccoli for less than 1 minute and cool in an ice bath
• To toast almonds: roast at 300 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes

Adapted from New York Times Cooking subscribe here. 

Bacon, Corn and Cheddar Gougeres (cheese puffs)

This recipe has become a staple on our holiday and major
 celebration menus. The kids love them A LOT - adults devour them too.

 

6 slices flavorful bacon (hickory smoked or applewood)
2 ears of fresh corn
1 cup water
1 stick butter (1/4 pound) - if unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated extra sharp Cheddar
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
2 tablespoons chopped chives

1. Cook bacon, cool, chop into very small inch pieces.
2. Scrape kernels from corn and sauté in a small amount of leftover bacon fat until slightly browned. For the best technique on cutting corn, see the article here,
3. Preheat over to 375 degrees.
4. In a large sauce pan combine water and butter, heat until butter melts.
5. Remove pan from heat and add flour, mix until thoroughly combined. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
6.  Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each egg into the batter before adding the next. Helpful tip: use a fork to mix the egg into the batter. A whisk is too flexible and a wooden spoon doesn't incorporate the egg into the mixture fast enough.
7. Add bacon, cheeses, chives and a generous grinding of fresh black pepper.
8. Use two teaspoons to place small mounds of the mixture onto 2 baking pans lined with a silicon mats. The batter yields about 40 pieces.
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until gougeres are lightly browned on the bottom and golden atop.

Alternately, you can put the batter into a gallon sized ziplock bag. The dough holds well for a day or two in the fridge. Snip a corner of the zip lock bag and squeeze batter out the tip, like a pastry bag.

Tips:

• Use a fork for mixing the dough.
• Use high quality, extra sharp cheddar. This recipe will be bland if you don't.
• Use high quality Parmigiano. Same thing - it will be bland otherwise.
• Frozen corn can be substituted for fresh with minimal loss of flavor.

Secret Ingredient for Turkey Soup

Turkey Soup with Ancini de Pepe Pasta
Notice the stray tarragon leaf that escaped
from the bundle of herbs.

A few years ago I hit upon the idea to add some depth to historically bland day-after-Thanksgiving turkey soup. A generous dose of Spanish sherry added a nice undertone.

This year there was no sherry in the house, so Marsala wine was used. Terrific. It's worth going so far as to now call either of these a secret ingredient.

Here's a link to the original recipe:  Leftover Turkey Soup.

These are some of the other choices / techniques which helped make this year's version a success:

• Use chopped fresh fennel in addition to onion, celery and carrots.
• All my rich stock was used up on Thanksgiving day, so this stock was make simply from simmering the turkey carcass for a few hours, then adding onion, celery and carrot for the last hour. Strain and reserve just the liquid.  
• About 2/3 cup of Marsala - more than original recipe calls for. 
• Ancini de pepe pasta - little balls the same size as peppercorns. Cook separately, and under cook by about two minutes from the suggested cooking time - about 6 minutes total for mine. 
• A bouquet garni of fresh tarragon and thyme - removed before serving. 

A bouquet garni is simply a small bundle of herbs, tied together with kitchen twine, which allows one to remove the herbs easily. If dried spices or seeds are used, the ingredients can be put into small cheesecloth bags made especially for this purpose. 

Gently Seasoned Lamb Burgers + Minty Cucumber Yogurt

Sometimes it's too hot to cook outside. This weekend after a Saturday swim meet, followed by a late afternoon at the pool; then Sunday golf in 100+ heat index - there were not going to be burgers on the grill.

Yet most methods for indoor grilling / broiling are ineffective, or messy or both - accompanied by average or below average result, such as lack of that char that is the whole point of grilling.

So if you're committed to indoor cooking, and know it's going to be a little "softer", why not soften up the ingredients too.

Lamb burgers are not unusual, but typically are loaded up with herbs, spices and garlic, especially to match the intensiveness of high-heat grilling.

In this recipe, I soften up the burgers by using very few seasonings, and soften up the lamb by mixing 50/50 lamb and pork. THEN, we let the vegetables and Tzatziki (cucumber yogurt sauce) take over to set the cool, fresh tone.

I also like theo crispiness of grilled Chiabatta rolls. That adds back in a little of the traditional outdoor grilling style.

The burgers are on the very small side - which allows them to be cooked quickly in a ridged grill pan, get browned, but also not make an incredible indoor mess. Each burger was served on half a grilled Chiabatta rolled, cut diagonally into a triangle.


Gently Seasoned Lamb Burgers

4 crusty Chiabatta rolls
2-3 plum tomatoes
1 large cucumber
A few handfuls of mixed greens
1 pound ground lamb
1 pound ground pork
1.5 teaspoons garlic, very finely chopped
Juice of one lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Optional: Add one medjool date, finely chopped, for each patty, prior to cooking. 

1. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a ridged grill pan over medium high heat.
2. Slice Chiabatta rolls and grill cut side down until lightly browned. Flip and allow outside to be heated slightly - a few seconds or so is all. Cut rolls diagonally. 
3. Slice tomatos, cucumbers and rinse greens. 
4. Combine remaining ingredients to form 9 or 10 small balls. Gently press each ball into a small patty. 
5. Over medium high heat, grill 4 or 5 patties at a time, up to 4 minutes per side. Reduce heat slightly once there is some good brown color on the patty. 

Minty Cucumber Yogurt Sauce - Tzatziki

1/2 cup of cucumber, mostly peeled, cut into very small pieces
2/3 cup of plain greek yogurt
6-8 leaves of fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
Juice of half a small lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients. If you have time, salt the cucumber pieces and let drain in a strainer for 20-30 minutes.