cheese

On the (Herb-crusted) Lamb with Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding

January 2, 2013 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Herb-crusted lamb with mushroom and leek bread pudding – fast friends that seemed so natural together after just one encounter. The herb-crusted lamb isn’t anything revolutionary (just luscious) but a savory bread pudding?! Totally revolutionary. Inspired by Ina Garten, I actually followed the recipe (!) and it turned out beautifully.

Herb-crusted rack of lamb

adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine

2 racks of lamb, about 1-1/4 lb. each, chine bones removed, rib bones frenched, and meat trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 cup soft fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 475°F. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Combine the garlic, parsley, thyme, and breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Moisten the mixture with enough olive oil to make the mixture hold together.

Heat a large dry skillet over high heat. Put the lamb, meat side down, in the skillet. With tongs, hold the lamb against the skillet for a minute to give it a nice brown crust. Turn the meat to sear it on all sides for a total of 4 minutes. Remove the meat from the skillet and paint the meaty side of the rack with the mustard. Roll the meat in the herb mixture to coat it. Sear and coat the second rack in the same way.

Transfer the racks to a roasting pan just large enough to hold them. Cover the rib bones with strips of foil so they don’t burn and roast until medium rare, 20 to 25 minutes (120-140°F internal temperature). (I forgot cover the bones and smoked out the whole kitchen). If you want a crispier crust, finish cooking under the broiler for 2 minutes. Let the racks rest for 5 minutes before carving.

Use a carving knife to cut between the rib bones. Arrange the chops on warm serving plates. Serve hot. (The chops will cool quickly, so the best strategy is to carve the racks at the table.)

Ina Garten’s Mushroom and Leek Bread pudding

6 cups (1/2-inch-diced) bread cubes from a rustic country loaf, crusts removed
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, small-diced (optional)
4 cups sliced leeks, white and light green parts (4 leeks)
1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and 1/4-inch-sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1/4 cup medium or dry sherry
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (6 ounces), divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the leeks and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Stir in the mushrooms, tarragon, sherry, 1 tablespoon salt and 11/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, chicken stock and 1 cup of the Gruyere. Add the bread cubes and mushroom mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid. Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2-to-3-quart gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. Serve hot.

Flipping the Script: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Pears and Stilton

December 28, 2012 by Eva Louise 3 Comments

Fine Cooking Magazine – to me, the mother of all cooking magazines. Filled with consistently delicious recipes (minus this culinary abomination. Starfruit + chicken? *dry heave*), many with an exciting but not obnoxious level of difficulty, it really is my main source of inspiration. In addition to receiving the hard copy in the mail, I also signed up for the “Make it Tonight” emails, offering instant inspiration for dinner that night. I highly recommend it.

Last week this Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Pears and Stilton recipe popped into my inbox, so I decided to add it to my Christmas Eve Dinner plans. It’s a simple winter salad over a bed of escarole with vinaigrette. I flipped the script and made it more substantial by putting the roasted butternut squash, prosciutto (recipes calls for bacon) and Stilton (blue cheese) into puff pastry. I baked it at 400 for about 25 minutes and served it with the escarole and pears and it was honestly slammin’. While I bow down to the mouth-watering Fine Cooking Magazine, I think I might have outdone them on this one.

A serious bouche-amuser: Crispy Polenta and Garlic Shrimp

December 26, 2012 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

…because everyone has a food model handy.

In order to understand the above picture, you need to understand my family around Christmas time. We’re Jewish, with a Catholic dad. This means– thankfully–we are not subjected to the Chinese Food + TBS movie on Christmas Eve cliché, but we’re not exactly celebrating Jesus’ birthday either. So, naturally, we do as any other family in a similar situation does… put on a series of elaborate Christmas dinners, where the five of us take an imaginary adventure to some other time/place in bizarre costumes and toast to each other with bad accents, acting in line with offensive and/or inaccurate stereotypes. (Some gems from years past are below).

This year, I was passed the baton and was charged with taking my family on a culinary journey on Christmas Eve. Equipped with a sous-chef (my little brother), I, Frau Lulu, countess of a small Swiss village, served my esteemed guests an elaborate four-course meal in my modest country home. First on the menu, presented above ever so elegantly by one of my guests, the internationally recognized singer-model Ze Frau Emilie, was the amuse-bouche: polenta discs with garlic shrimp, marinara sauce and goat cheese.

Serves about 14 discs, 2-3 per person

1 tube pre-cooked polenta (in the pasta aisle)
12 shrimp, raw, de-shelled and de-veined
garlic
marinara sauce, preferably homemade
goat cheese
S/P
Italian seasoning

1) slice the polenta into about 12-14 even slices. Season them each with S/P and Italian seasoning

2) heat a large skillet with olive oil to medium-high heat and saute the polenta. About 10 mins

3) While polenta cooks, heat another skillet. Mix shrimp with 2 T olive oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves in a small bowl. Season with S/P and place gently into skillet. Once the shrimp hit the pan, do not flip them for 2 minutes to ensure they get good color. Turn off heat once they are pink and seared.

4) Once the polenta are crispy, place them on a large ungreased cookie sheet. Place 1 shrimp on each polenta disc, then add 1 teaspoon of marinara. Crumble an ample amount of goat cheese on top of each disk.

5) place in the oven and broil for about 5 minutes. Watch constantly to make sure nothing burns.

6) wait about 5 minutes before transferring to a pretty plate. Serve and enjoy!

Here are some of those gems mentioned above:

Disco Christmas 2010

“Arabian Nights”…yea, this happened too. Christmas 2011

Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli

December 23, 2012 by Eva Louise 3 Comments

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Infused Olive Oil

Christmas is coming and one of the nice things about this time of year is, of course, gathering with family. There are several of my recipes that I reserve especially for these times, so I can take advantage of the extra man-power. Homemade butternut squash raviolis definitely fall into this category. A simple but labor-intensive dish, these raviolis are a great way to incorporate the whole family so everyone feels like they are part of the meal.

I adapted my recipe from Emril Lagasse’s and used wonton papers instead of fresh pasta dough. For my sauce, I used olive oil simmered with rosemary and sage, instead of the butter that Emril’s recipe calls for. One trick I use to finish this dish is to purposely allow the starchy pasta water to drip into the serving dish when I transfer the raviolis. This makes the sauce sauce-ier and more delicious.

Butternut squash and Parmigiano-Reggiano are the stars of this dish, but they could be easily substituted with different combos like crispy prosciutto and ricotta, goat cheese and mushrooms, salmon and chives (with a cream sauce instead). You could even do sweet raviolis with cinnamon-apples and mascarpone with a caramel sauce…mmm.

Cubes of squash are simmered with chicken broth and herbs while onions are softened. Their powers combine in the Cuisinart to make the filling.

A little Ecuadorian princess delicately folds the wonton papers filled with sweet and savory squash into perfect raviolis

Bosc Pear and Goat Cheese Tart

November 22, 2012 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Sometimes we spend so much time obsessing about the main course, we forget about the appetizer. Last night, Mom was busy baking her homemade lasagna. Starving, I scrounged around and found a quart of gorgeous Bosc pears and 3 (yes, 3) logs of goat cheese, so I made myself useful and put together a simple goat cheese and pear tart. Here’s what I did:

I rolled out a sheet of puff pastry (thawed) and placed it on a cookie sheet.
Crumbled a log of goat cheese on the bottom of the pastry dough, then placed thinly sliced pear slices on top.
I drizzled it with raw honey and popped it in the oven at 400 for 25-30 mins.
I made the crust extra brown by brushing with an egg wash before placing in oven.
I let it cool 5 mins before transferring to cutting board, drizzled again with honey and served.

Tofino Time: What’d you do with all those chanterelles?

August 17, 2012 by Eva Louise 1 Comment

After picking a heap of chanterelles the other morning, I was sort of at a loss on what to do with them (although thank you to my friends for the inspiration!). But then, two amazing things happened 1) we went for a beach hike and found mussels, (Lie. Dad yanked them off the rocks while Emily and I napped on a log); 2) we went to an amazing ocean front farm and bought fresh goat cheese. With those deliciously serendipitous run-ins, I decided on Mussels with Fennel, Tomatoes and Chanterelles in White Wine and a simple Goat Cheese and Chanterelle Tart (recipe from old post, here).

Summer Entertaining Cooking Class

June 23, 2012 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables

Stingray and I took a “Couples Summer Entertaining” cooking class at Culinaerie, back when we were living in Washington. Despite our food snob status, neither of us had taken an actual cooking class, so this was a real treat (thanks, Mom!). Dressed for date night we marched to the front of the class kitchen (again, food snobs) to ensure optimal viewing and instruction by the school’s co-founder Susan Holt. On the menu was a Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart, Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables and a Brulee of Summer Fruits. The menu was straightforward and accessible, but impressive enough that I was eager to add to our repertoire. I would even argue it could be easily adapted for the winter months by swapping out seasonal vegetables in the ratatouille and replacing the lamb with beef.

The class was extremely well done with plenty of support staff, great instruction and endless wine. We were obviously the most experienced couple, starring multiple times as the “example table.” Although, I suppose…upon further reflection we spent just as much time sizing up the competition as we did chopping mushrooms. DC friends–try their classes and steal more delicious recipes for me!

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Exotic Mushroom and Chevre Tart

Mushroom and Chevre Tart

Ingredients

(Serves 8 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course)

1 ½ cups exotic mushrooms, such as shiitake, crimini, Portobello, or oyster
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or tarragon
1 package frozen puff pastry dough, slightly defrosted
8 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cloves fresh garlic, very finely minced

Brush the mushrooms free of any dirt and trim rough parts of the stems; cut into ½” slices. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, add half the oil, then add half the mushrooms. Sauté about 3 minutes, with very limited stirring, until mushrooms are golden brown; repeat with remaining oil and mushrooms. Season cooked mushrooms with salt and pepper and add herbs.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out pastry into a rough circle, about 14” in diameter, and place on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread goat cheese over surface, stopping two inches short of the edge. Distribute mushroom mixture evenly over top, then bring extra pastry over mushrooms to form a border.

Combine butter with garlic; using pastry brush, paint or drizzle the garlic butter on top of the mushrooms. Bake in center of oven for approximately 30 minutes, until pastry is golden brown on top and bottom. Allow to cool slightly then cut into wedges.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables

Seared Lamb

Ratatouille Vegetables

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

1 – 1½ pounds boneless lamb leg
1 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), cut in 1” cubes
1 medium red or yellow onion, cut in 1” cubes
2 plum tomatoes or 1 heirloom tomato, quartered
1 red pepper, cut in medium dice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of minced fresh basil leaves and/or 2 tablespoons good quality pesto
4 – 5 Calamata or French Nyons olives, pitted and halved
2 ounces Gruyere, grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season lamb leg with salt and pepper, place on a rack over a sheet pan fat side up, and roast for 45 minutes. Remove from oven.

Toss together the zucchini, onion, tomatoes, pepper, olive oil, salt, sugar and lemon juice. Roast in a large sauté pan for 15 – 20 minutes until vegetables start to soften and brown. Remove from oven and stir in basil and/or pesto and olives. Top with gruyere and return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove and serve with thinly sliced lamb.

Brulee of Summer Fruits

Brulee of Summer Fruits

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, sliced peaches
2 tablespoons demerara, turbinado or brown sugar

Beat the cream with a whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar very slowly and continue beating until sugar is dissolved and the cream forms stiff peaks.

Gently fold in the fruit. Transfer raspberries to 2 individual shallow oven-proof dishes, such as brulee dishes and sprinkle the demerara sugar over them. Place dish under the oven broiler on the top rack on high and cook just until some of the sugar caramelizes (this will only take 30 seconds or so). Alternately, use a blowtorch with cautious abandon. Serve immediately.

Notice all the fearful eyes around me…