Cooking Extravaganza #2

....for lack of a better name.

We were over at our friends Sara and Matt's tonight and decided that we needed to have another night of cooking like we did on New Year's Eve. Last time, B and I served up courses 1 and 2 and Sara and Matt (I really want to abbreviate this to S & M for ease of typing but I think I shall refrain) had 3 and 4, the latter being dessert. This time we decided that Sara and I would be a "team", although we're not calling them teams because we are not competing, and Bill and Matt will cook together. We then drew numbers 1-4 because we didn't want to assume the ladies would be making the dessert. As it turns out, I drew #4 so it didn't matter. We also drew #2 so the boys are up 1st and 3rd. Next we drew proteins. Course #1 will be poultry, #2 beef and #3 lamb. We skipped a protein for dessert. Now I've seen bacon ice cream on Iron Chef America (and think it would probably be AWESOME - said in a sing-songy voice), but I'm not Morimoto and choose to leave some things to the professionals. The last rule is that the price cap for the protein is $15. Since the portions will be smaller I think this is doable. The extravaganza is next Saturday at M and S's (doesn't quite have the same ring) so we have a week to prepare. As always, there will be pics to follow.

Type A Tip of the Day

Organize your grocery shopping list based on store layout.

If you're anything like us, you dread grocery shopping and want to make the trip as quick and painless as possible. You already know that we limit our weekly shopping to once a week by writing our list based on what we're eating for that week. What I also do is organize our list based on how we shop the store (I say "we" because both B and I go together. Since we both hate grocery shopping so much, why should only one person suffer?). For instance, we always start in the produce section and move our way through the store, ending in the dairy/frozen area. Produce items go at the top of my list, meats/condiments/bread/beer in the middle and dairy and frozen products at the end. There's nothing worse than thinking you're done shopping and then realizing you forgot something all the way on the other side of the store. It also saves you time from having to continually scan your list to see if there's anything else to get in the area you're in. This method isn't completely infallible. I've forgotten to write down items before or when writing the list, I don't leave enough room and need to add items at the bottom. 99% of the time though, it's worked very well. Having a pen to cross off items is also helpful.

Happy shopping!

Odds and Ends

I have been MIA lately because, let's be honest, I'm boring. We did eat some really good meals since I've talked to you last. We ate quail for the first time. The recipe actually called for squab but I called around and couldn't find any. A friendly neighborhood butcher recommended quail so we bought some. Those are some tiny little birds. Very tasty though and we were pleasantly surprised. I'll be interested in trying the recipe again with sqaub though. On a good note, while buying the quail, we noticed the store also had super cheap duck legs which of course we bought. We've only ever made duck breast so we're excited. We also noted that they sold whole pheasants and ducks. That may be too much food for just me and B but I can pack it away with the best of 'em.

Our good friends Sara and Matt were over for dinner early last week and we made Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranate Sauce. It was excellent and I've included the recipe below, courtesy of the Wine Lover's Cookbook by Sid Goldstein. If you're a faithful follower of this blog (HA! Who am I kidding, although if you've stuck with me this long, I'm grateful) you've heard this mentioned a couple of times and know it's on my list of Favorite Food Things. I believe that I have gotten at least 4 people to buy it - a co-worker as recently as this past Friday - and I can't recommend it enough. It's also where the above squab/quail recipe came from, this weekend we're making Grilled Lamb with Rustic Porcini Sauce and next week (I'm cheating on roulette) I've already chosen Grilled Flank Steak with Roasted Corn-Pancetta Salsa. Now if I could just find a good supplier for veal we'd be set for another handful of the book's recipes.

Sara and Matt are going to be our 1/4 of a cow buddies. Sara is trying to get us the hook up. I'm also hoping to get a 1/4-1/2 of a pig and 1/2 of a lamb. I think our deep freezer will readily step up to the challenge. Speaking of pig, I can't remember if I mentioned this after B's parent's were here but I had pork belly for the first time when we all went out to dinner. Holy God Almighty YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sent my compliments to the chef because I was loving this stuff. It was served with scallops and maybe some fruity type sauce? Honestly, all I really remember was the fatty bacon-like pork belly and it was all I could do to keep myself from picking the pieces up with my hands and licking my fingers. I think I have a new obsession.

On to the important stuff.....the WLCB (get it, Wine Lover's Cookbook? I love it!) said to serve this with couscous. Not being big couscous fans (B calls it crapcrap) we made a creamy risotto instead and think it was a great match. The only thing missing was a vegetable. Maybe serve with a wedge salad? Chunky blue cheese dressing, diced tomatoes and bacon bits.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranate Sauce
Recommended wine: Pinot Noir
Marinade:

• 1/3 c red wine
• 3/4 T olive oil
• 1 T crushed star anise pods
• 2 T chopped shallots
• 1/4 t ground allspice
• 1/3 t ground black pepper

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 1/2 lbs)
Sauce:

• 2 T chopped shallots
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 c Pinot Noir
• 1/2 c port
• 2 T raspberry vinegar
• 1/4 t whole mixed peppercorns
• 1/4 c pomegranate concentrate (look in the health food aisle, that's where I found it)
• 1/2 c orange juice
• 1 1/2 c chicken stock
• 3 whole star anise pods
• 1 t honey
• 2 tablespoons room temp butter
• salt and pepper

garnish: mint sprigs

To make marinade, combine all ingredients in a large, sealable plastic bag and mix thoroughly. Add pork. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Remove pork and pat dry. Reserve marinade for basting.

To make sauce, in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat, saute shallots in oil for 2-3 minutes. Do not brown. Add the wine, port, vinegar and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half. Add pomegranate concentrate, orange juice, stock and anise and continue simmering until reduced by half again. Add honey. Remove from heat, remove anise and swirl in butter. Season to taste and keep warm.

Sear pork on hot grill for 3 minutes per side (we did 2 sides, not 4 and closed the lid the whole time) and then place in indirect heat (warming rack if your grill has one, if not, turn off one or two burners and move the meat to that side of the grill) until a thermometer reads 150 degrees, again closing the lid. Baste occasionally. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice.

To serve, plate risotto and place pork slices on top. Top with sauce and garnish with mint sprigs. Serves 4.

Risotto

• 1 1/2 c risotto
• 2 T chopped shallots
• 3/4 c white wine
• 2 T butter
• 5-6 c chicken stock (room temperature or hot)
• 2 handfuls parmeggiano-reggiano

In a large sauce pot over medium to medium high heat, melt butter. Add shallots and saute 3-4 minutes. Don't brown. Add risotto and roast 4 mintues. Add wine (this may steam up) and stir until absorbed. Turn heat up to high to bring to a boil. In 1/2 cup increments, add chicken stock and stir until absorbed. Keep doing so until risotto is creamy and sticky and not crunchy if you try a piece. Once ready, stir in cheese. This process takes about 30 minutes.

The Dingo Ate My Baby!

The Australian wine tasting we held was a huge success. We've been part of this group for a year now and I believe that Australia, surprisingly, produced the best wines we've tasted so far. I actually didn't even want to do Australia but Bill talked me into it. We did steer people away from Yellow Tail by quoting the statistic that YT is the #1 import in the US (which I'm still shocked by). We were also surprised that no one brought any Rosemont Estates or Penfolds.

We always provide a sheet for taking notes but due to confusion over my notes, B and I had to devise a new method. Before, as the night would go on, my notes - for the same wine - would be: "Just okay. Yummy! Good. Great!" Obviously when reading these the next day, you had no idea what I really thought as I apparently didn't either. The note "pretty good" has also caused problems. There's "pretty good" as in "Eh, it's pretty good." and then there's "pretty good" as in "Wow! That's pretty good!". This time, we decided to go with "buy/no buy" because that's really all it should come down to - would you want to drink it again or not.

While I did stick to the plan so my notes were much less ambiguous, I did start to lose some descriptive adjectives towards the end. Here are some of the standouts from the night.

• 2006 The Innocent Viognier - Sweeter than most viogniers; medium bodied (Side note: By dumb luck, we were able to try The Guilty Shiraz the very next night. It's a buy. They also make The Verdict Cabernet which I'd really like to try.)
• 2007 Brujeria blend - smelled and tasted like BBQ; would def buy
• 2006 Schist Rock Shiraz - like!
• 2006 St. Hallett Faith Shiraz - yum!
• First Class Shiraz - yum!

Aside from the standard assorted cheeses, we made two hot plates that were very, very good. The mushrooms are supposed to be served as a side dish but we served it with toast points instead.

Southwestern Mushroom Casserole
Courtesy Rachael Ray

• 2 8-oz. packages sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 c. beef broth
• 1 T. flour
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 c. breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 2 T. butter, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place mushrooms in a 9x9 baking dish
3. In a medium, microwaveable bowl, combine broth and flour. Microwave on low until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the cream and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over mushrooms.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Sprinkle on top of the mushrooms, top with butter and bake until browned, about 45 minutes.  Serves 6.

Aromatic Lamb Meatballs
Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons semolina
• 2 eggs
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions
Put the lamb into a bowl and add the scallions. Sprinkle over the spices, salt, and semolina, and then beat the egg adding to the bowl. Work everything together thoroughly with your hands, and then cover with plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for half an hour.Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and scoop out about one tablespoon of the mixture. Roll in your hands to form the meatball and place on the lined baking sheet. Have a bowl of cold water beside you to dampen your hands with; this helps them not get too sticky for rolling the meatballs.

When you are ready to cook them, heat about 1/2-inch of oil in a frying pan. Line another baking sheet with kitchen towel, and when the oil is hot, fry the meatballs in batches without overcrowding the pan. Cook them for 2 minutes a side.  Makes approximately 40 meatballs.

Lent

Lent is upon us and being Catholic, we are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays. You're also not supposed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday which kicks off this whole shindig. So far we're 0-2 and will be eating meat again this Friday. See, we've made an agreement with God that as long as we sacrifice meat one day a week we're cool, so we've just been swaping our meat-free days. I can feel the heat from hell now, however, we've had good excuses. On Ash Wednesday, we had invited friends over to watch the Top Chef finale. You can't watch the most amazing food contest show on earth without cooking some yummy food so I whipped out a Bobby Flay pork recipe (a castaway from my V-Day selections). It was good eats, let me tell you. On Friday, we went out to celebrate Bill's grant being funded. His lab took him out for chicken wings and beer. I don't think I need to explain myself on that one. This Friday, we're hosting a wine tasting at our house. We're part of a group that has a tasting once a month. The host picks the region and then everyone must bring a bottle from that region. Our theme is Australia and while we could serve meat and restrain ourselves from eating it, a wine tasting without good food pairings is just silly. We have a recipe for lamb already picked out. Hopefully we'll get back on schedule next week so I don't have to worry about lightening striking down.

On an exciting note, Bill's parents were in town this weekend and brought us homemade egg rolls. His mom watched me put them into the freezer and was shocked at how full it was and how many things were falling out of it. If you're not quick, you're getting a frozen solid pound of ground beef smashed on your toes. Anyway, I mentioned to her that we were eyeing a deep freezer at Sam's to alleviate the problem and she said that they would take us to Sam's and buy it for us!!!! On Sunday we all jumped in their minivan and went and got the freezer. An exciting time in our lives. Really we're just excited because we've been wanting to buy a quarter of a cow but never had the space for it until now. Makes me giddy!