It's been too long sorry readers...

I know I am long overdue for a blog post and I have no excuse, but don't worry it doesn't mean I haven't been cooking. Actually, It's been quite the opposite. I have been so busy with the catering that I have hardly had time to focus on my own cooking.

One thing that I love about food is its ability to bring back past memories as well as create new ones. While growing up on the east coast, summertime was always about fresh seafood, gorgeous lemons, and sweet corn (of course as an adult, wine and beer are also part of those memories). I remember the first time I ever had lobster. It is one of my favorite things to eat in the summer. Though, now that I live on the west coast I am no longer exposed to it since I try to eat local seafood. Every summer my family spends some time up in Maine. The resort that we used to stay at is on a beautiful lake and when my grandparents were alive it was one of there favorite spots to relax. But what I remember the most about this place is the food.

Every morning at breakfast you got to choose what you wanted for lunch and dinner. At the age of 5 I wasn't much of a foodie yet, but I did love to eat and I also loved to make my own choices, so this was the ultimate highlight of my day. Once during the week they had lobster night. I had never had lobster before, and the idea of having a plate with the entire animal on it was daunting. This was not the case for my Grandfather. He always ordered the lobster on lobster night and soon I would follow in his footsteps. Now, my Grandmother was kosher, so no shellfish for her. But as long as my grandfather was not under her roof he could eat shellfish. That night was the first time I have ever had lobster and to this day it is one of my favorite things to eat. I only eat it during the summer and I only eat it on the east coast, preferably Maine. Every time it brings back that same memory of my Grandfather carefully pulling the fresh meat out of the shell, dipping it in butter, and setting it on my plate.

In a few weeks I will return to Maine and eat lobster for the first time this year. Hopefully you can read about those new memories. Even though San Francisco does not have lobster it does have a wide variety of fresh seafood, especially in the summer. A few weeks back Mike and I went to a local restaurant called Range. We had an amazing meal, but my favorite was the appetizer I ordered. It was steamed clams...simple, delicate, and delicious. The clams were in a simple butter and white wine sauce with crispy pancetta and topped with fresh parsley. I decided to try and recreate this dish at home using bacon instead of pancetta because thats what I had in the fridge. Recipe follows:

Steamed Clams

1 dozen clams

1 shallot chopped

3 cloves of garlic chopped

handful of chopped parsley

2 lemons

1 cup of white wine

3 pieces of bacon chopped

1 tbl. butter

EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

The first thing that I did was wash the clams in cold water. You really have to scrub these so that the dish does not taste gritty. Once the clams were washed I browned the bacon in some olive oil in a heavy pot.

When the bacon was done browning I removed it and sautéed the shallots and garlic in the bacon fat that was left. I then added the butter and let it melt. Next the clams went in with the wine, 1 lemon juiced, and the bacon was put back in the pot. I covered it and let them steam for about 10 minutes or until all of the clams have opened.

To serve, I poured the clams into a large bowl sprinkled with fresh parsley and squeezed the other lemon on top. I recommend having a baguette with this dish to soak up all the liquid after the clams have been eaten (my favorite part).

This was of course just an appetizer so for the second course. I stayed within my seafood theme and made this lovely salmon recipe that I found in my Food and Wine magazine. In this dish the salmon was poached which really brings out the flavor and gives it a great texture. Poaching is really easy, but there is a hard part in removing the skin from the salmon if you forget to ask your fish guy to do it for you.

Poached Salmon with Corn and White Wine Butter Sauce

serves 4

Ingredients

4 medium zucchini

Salt

3 shallots 2 finely chopped 1 halved

2 3/4 cup of dry white wine

1 1/2 cups of fresh corn off the cob

2 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

4 6 ounce salmon fillets with skin removed

1 stick of cold butter cut into 8 tablespoons

1/4 cup of thinly sliced basil leaves

The first thing I did was prepare the corn and zucchini slaw. In order to get the slaw the right texture you have to take the moisture out of the zucchini. In order to do this I grated the zucchini into a colander and sprinkled it with salt. I then let it drain for 20 minutes and squeezed it to get out any extra water.

In a large, non-reactive skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the corn and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook until the corn is tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.

In a large, nonreactive saucepan, combine 2 cups of the wine with the thyme, bay leaf, the halved shallot and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt, add the fillets to the saucepan and cook at a bare simmer over low heat, turning once, about 6 minutes.

Transfer the salmon to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the poaching liquid.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt. Stir the basil into the vegetables and transfer to plates. Nestle the salmon into the vegetables, top with the butter sauce and serve.

I recently took this class called pie in a jar threw workshop SF www.workshopsf.org/. It was a really neat class where we learned how to bake pies in a jar. I wanted to share two of the pies that I made because I thought it was a really cool idea and they came out looking so cute.

I hope I didn't loose any readers during my absence and I hope you enjoyed reading some fun summer recipes. I am going to be better about my blogging hopefully no long gaps again! Enjoy the fresh food that summer brings!

Cooking with and Drinking Belgian Beer

On a recent trip to New York, while staying with my aunt and uncle I discovered an article in Bon Appetit about Belgian beer in New York City. My uncle Alan loves Belgian beer. He has quite the collection of glasses, as the type and shape of a glass is an important aspect of drinking Belgian beer. So it was very appropriate that I found this article, and while I was there I got to sample some Belgian beer called Leffe. This reminded me of the braised short ribs that my mother once made using Belgian beer, a recipe Alan had passed along to her. I decided to cook these short ribs last night. They were delicious and tender, the meat falling right off the bone. When I emailed Alan about my success he told me that the recipe was a variation of Tom Valenti’s standard short ribs made with beef broth. The Belgian beer in this variation gives such a nice flavor. At our supermarket in San Francisco they did not have Leffe beer, but after a quick consultation with Alan I chose a Chimay.

Alan’s Belgian Beer Braised Short Ribs

6 pounds short ribs (about 6 pieces)

coarse salt

freshly ground black pepper

garlic powder

¼ cup olive oil

1 medium Spanish onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 sticks celery, coarsely chopped

1 carrot peeled and coarsely chopped

8 cloves garlic smashed and peeled

2 cups Belgian Beer (Leffe)

9 cups store bought beef broth

3 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

*original recipe but I only made 4 short ribs so I reduced everything a little plus I used my dutch oven instead of a roasting pan.

The day before cooking, season the ribs with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cover with saran and refrigerate overnight (not absolutely necessary if you don’t have the time the day before but does taste better.)

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Heat the olive oil in a large roasting pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the ribs and brown them on all sides, about 1 minute per side (usually takes a little longer.) Remove from pan and set aside.

Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. (If butcher does a good job, you won’t have anything to discard) Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring often until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.

Add the beer, broth, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Return the ribs to the pan, cover with aluminum foil and braise in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the aluminum foil and cook for 3 more hours or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone.

To serve, remove the ribs from the braising liquid and divide among 6 warm shallow bowls or plates. (leave the bone, it makes for a dramatic presentation.) Strain the braising liquid, discarding the solids. Skim off and discard the fat from the liquid and pass as a sauce at the table.

I served the short ribs on top of egg noodles mixed with some butter, salt, and pepper. The noodles absorbed the gravy very nicely and I thought it was a good pairing. I also think they would go well with mashed or roasted potatoes. I know they take a long time to cook, but they are so worth it!

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I kept my eyebrows

I recently received a lovely crème brulee set from Mike’s parents John and Joan Hession. I could not wait to try it out since crème brulee is one of my favorite desserts. I found a recipe in my Ina Garten cookbook Barefoot in Paris, where she claims that if you make this dessert for a guy he will “follow you anywhere.” It was then clear that this was the recipe to use.

Crème Brulee

1 extra-large egg

4 extra large egg yolks

½ cup of sugar plus a little extra for the top

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 cups of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

Serves 5-6

The first thing I did was mix the egg, egg yolks, and ½ cup of sugar together with my hand help mixer until they were combined. While I was mixing those ingredients Mike tended to the heavy cream. It is important to heat the cream in a heavy saucepan until it is scalded but not boiling. Once the heavy cream was scalded, Mike added it to the egg mixture very slowly while I held the mixer on a low speed until the cream and egg mixture were fully combined. The last step was to add the vanilla and Grand Marnier and stir it together. The mixture is then ready to be poured into the ramekins.

My crème brulee set came with a pan and a ramekin holder, which is very convenient, but not necessary. Once the mixture was poured into the ramekins until almost full, I placed them in a baking pan and poured boiling water in until filled halfway up the ramekins. I carefully put the pan into the oven and baked for 35- 40 minutes, until the custards were set. After baking, I removed the ramekins from their bath and let them cool to room temperature. Once cooled, I put them in the fridge until they were completely firm. The next step was the most fun because it involved a torch. I just used a torch that I bought at the hardware store which only cost $15.00. Some of the fancy cook ones which range from $35-50. It was a little hard to light, but once we got it lit it was a blast to use. I spread a little bit of sugar on top of the brulee in an even, thin coating. Then, starting at one side, torched the sugar so it was a medium brown color and the sugar was caramelized. They were delicious and really fun to make.

The advice I would give is to not use too much sugar because then it burns and does not caramelize easily. I can’t wait to make it again!

Thanks to the Hessions for a great gift!

Poor Cook's Paella

Paella is one of my favorite things to make and eat. It has everything that I would ever want in a dish; tons of seafood, chicken, and sausage. The last time I made paella I made it with my father on Mother’s Day. It came out really great with a ton of flavor and ingredients. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I was craving a nice summer meal so I decided to make some bruschetta and paella. Since I have 3 part time jobs, it is not really in my budget to buy lobsters and all the wonderful seafood that traditionally goes into making paella. I decided to cut it down and just do shrimp and sausage paella. It came out really tasty and was pretty simple to make. It may look like a lot of ingredients but most of them are spices.

Paella

1 box of rice pilaf

3 Sausages (I mixed a few different kinds)

20 Shrimp

½ yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic

olive oil

1-1 ½ cups of frozen peas (depends on how much you like peas)

¼ cup homemade tomato sauce (jar is also fine)

pinch of saffron

Spices

-chili powder

-cayenne pepper

-paprika

-cumin

-pinch of curry powder

-salt

-pepper

I decided that it would be nice to grill the sausage and shrimp to add a smoky flavor to the dish. So I threw the sausages on the grill while I put the pot of rice pilaf on the stove.

While they cooked, I chopped the onion and garlic, then seasoned the shrimp. I used all of the spices that are listed above and just sprinkled them over both sides of the shrimp.

When the sausages were almost done, I grilled the shrimp briefly on both sides. I didn’t want to cook them all the way through, because I knew I would be adding them to the pot and they would continue to cook.

I then used a heavy pot to sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil. Once the onions were translucent, I added the rice, tomato sauce, pinch of saffron, cut-up sausage, and shrimp to the pot and covered it for 5-10 minutes. I then added the frozen peas and covered for another 5 minutes. I was not sure how much flavor I was going to be able to incorporate without all the ingredients of traditional paella, but it came out delicious. This served 3 and the leftovers were quite good cold the next day for lunch!

Bruschetta

1 French baguette sliced thin

3 chopped tomatoes

1 garlic clove finely chopped

½ shallot finely chopped

6 basil leaves chopped

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. Olive Oil

sprinkle of salt

4 grinds of pepper

Mix together all of the ingredients and spoon onto fresh bread. If fresh bread is not available toasting it is a good alternative.

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Sunday Morning Muffins

What’s better than waking up on a Sunday morning having a glass of orange juice and a hot muffin right out of the oven? In my mind not much, especially when you have friends to share them with and help make them. That is exactly what I did this morning. It is one of those perfect mornings in San Francisco where the sun is shining on the hill behind my house and the sound of happy children fill the air from a neighboring yard. When you top that with the smell of banana crunch muffins all your worries for the week to come are put behind and you can focus on true Sunday morning relaxation. The recipe that I used for the banana crunch muffins is an Ina Garten, but I made a few adjustments to the recipe. The recipe that follows is the one with my adjustments made to it for the original recipe you can go to www.foodnetwork.com.

Banana Crunch Muffins

3 cups of flour

2 cups of sugar

2 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

½ pound unsalted butter (2 sticks) melted and cooled *

2 extra large eggs

¾ cup of lactaid milk but you may use regular

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of almond extract

1 cup mashed bananas (2 bananas)

1 cup granola

1 cup of sweetened shredded coconut

½ cup of chocolate chips

* the reason why the butter needs to cool is so when it is mixed with the egg it does not scramble it instead it just mixes with the egg.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

First Mike sifted the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. While he siftted I melted the butter in a pan and then let it cool before mixing it into the dry sifted ingredients.

In a separate bowl we mixed together the eggs, milk, vanilla, almond, and mashed bananas. Once those ingredients were combined we mixed them into the flour-and-butter mixture.

Once both of those were well combined but not over mixed I folded in the granola, coconut, and chocolate chips. I then carefully spooned the batter into the muffin tin that was lined with paper. I only had one pan to I put the extra batter into a loaf pan, which worked out perfectly.

The muffins baked for 25 to 30 minutes until the tops were brown and a toothpick came out clean. The loaf stayed in for about 5 minutes more.

The muffins came out really well and not too sweet, which I like. An additional thing that you might serve with the muffins is a butter marmalade. All one would do for this is whip together some unsalted butter and whatever flavor marmalade you enjoy (I would use apricot). Once the butter and marmalade or jam are combined put it in a little dish and serve alongside these delish' muffins.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as we did. Happy Sunday!

Don't PASS it OVER

When thinking about Passover and Jewish holidays in general, food seems to be a major theme. Maybe it's because Jews love to eat or maybe because food is a way of coping with hardship. The story of Passover is told with food. The Seder is the retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Eating certain dishes represents the hardships that the Jewish people went through. Parsley is dipped in salt water to represent the tears. Haroset is eaten to represent the cement used to the lay the bricks that the Jews used to build pyramids. Unleavened bread or matzah is eaten because the Jews had no time to let their bread rise.

There are many more foods and dishes that are served throughout the dinner that are traditional to eat in many Jewish households. It has become a tradition in my family that my mother and I prepare all the dishes together and my father organizes and leads the Seder.

We have been having a Seder at our home for as long as I remember. It has only been in the recent years that I have taken over cooking some of the dishes on my own. The two main dishes that I prepared were the brisket and the chicken. I have changed the recipes slightly so they are not exactly how my grandmother used to prepare them. I slow cooked the brisket with onions, carrots, celery, and tomato juice and it came out very tender. My uncle Alan, who has been in charge of slicing the brisket for many years, said it was the easiest brisket to slice. He even let me try slicing some with his very special knife that seemed longer than I am tall (an exaggeration, but it is the longest knife I have ever used).

The chicken I made was a new recipe that I had never tried before, and I was very pleased with its outcome. So pleased in fact that I am making it again tonight, and that is where the photos came from. There was not much time for photography on Passover, with the chaos of cooking and entertaining 28 people.

The chicken recipe is as follows (for one chicken):

I chicken cut into 10 pieces

6 cloves of garlic

½ Jar of apricot preserves (6 oz.)

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

¼ cup of olive oil plus a little extra

10 sage leaves

a few pinches of salt

10 grinds of black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Lay the chicken in a pan skin side up and pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the chicken for 30 to 40 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

For dessert I made coconut macaroons. I used Ina Garten’s recipe. She is my all time favorite, and I am slowly trying to make it through her French cookbook. The macaroons were so easy to make and people seemed to really enjoy them.

Ina’s Macaroons

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325. Then mix together the shredded coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Then in an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and the salt until they form very stiff peaks. Gently fold in the egg whites so they are dispersed into the coconut and condensed milk mixture. It is very important to not over stir, unless you want hard smushed cookies. I use an ice cream scoop to form the cookies and then dropped them on a sheet pan that was covered with parchment paper. Bake the macaroons for 25 to 30 minutes or until brown. This should make 15 to 20 cookies depending on how large of a scoop is being used.

The other dish that I made for dessert was poached pears. I poached them in a sweet wine called Moscato. I mixed the wine with a vanilla bean, honey, cinnamon sticks, and ginger. When the pears were done poaching I reduced the liquid to make a syrup that was poured over the pears. They were also really easy to make and I made them a day ahead of serving, which saved some time.

Passover was a great success and many people helped my mother and me prepare. I would like to thank Karen my aunt for slicing many potatoes so early in the morning and keeping up with the dirty dishes that my mother and I were creating at a steady pace. Also, we couldn’t have done it without the help of my best friend Emily. She had the longest list of tasks and completed all of them even though the matzah might have almost gone out too early. Hope you’re all ready for next year!

Bitter but Sweet

I arrived in Boston yesterday evening and woke up this morning to my mother cutting up horseradish root. The Michael/Brown family is all about tradition, and many members of my family do not take well to change. Even with all the stress that the beginning of this year brought, my family is still holding our annual Passover Seder. We are having 28 guests for dinner…that’s right, I typed 28, and I’m not joking. We will all be gathering on March 30 in my parents’ home in Brookline, MA, where my mother and I will have been food slaves for several days prior. In fact, she is already crying. The tears are not from stress or sadness but instead from the root that I mentioned earlier. The reason we eat this bitter herb that induces tears upon hitting our tongues is to remind us (Jews) of the bitterness of slavery, and all those who are not free in any way.

The recipe that we use is from my grandfather. It is written in his handwriting and something that he always used to prepare and bring for Passover night. He would make warning labels on the computer and print them out so that everybody would know how strong it is. If anyone didn’t listen (like his oldest son Bob and his granddaughter Wendy) they found out the hard way.

Horseradish is quite simple to make besides the crying and pain that one goes through when making it.

Add:

Peeled and chopped root to a food processor

Vinegar

Sugar

Let me warn you to only try a little. I have seen what happens when too much is taken, and it is not pretty.

For the next few days I will be blogging about all the food my mom and I are preparing for Passover. I will explain why we prepare each dish and so on.

Bowls or Mugs

Tonight over dinner we discussed eating ice cream out of a bowl verses a mug. People seemed to enjoy mugs more. So, I am asking you... bowl or mug?

SANDwiches

70 degrees and sunny in San Francisco. Who could say no to playing hooky? That’s what my roommates and I did. Last night we all came to the conclusion that going to the beach would be the best way to spend our Tuesday. Of course I decided to make sandwiches. This morning I went out and bought lovely Ciabatta bread freshly baked. My good friend Claire is a sandwich genius and every time I make one I try and channel what she would do. This is what I came up with.

I am sure Claire would have made it better I am still learning.

I spread olive tapenade and Saint Andrea cheese over the bread, then placed prosciutto, tomatoes, and basil on top. Finally, it is Drizzled with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Ready with a cooler packed full of sandwiches, grapes, and tangerines, we were ready for a spectacular day at Baker Beach.

The view was amazing, the sun was warm, and our lunch was perfect. All in all it was a wonderful day in San Francisco. I would suggest spending some time in the sun with a delicious lunch whenever possible. I hope you all enjoyed reading about my day and the lovely sandwiches I enjoyed with friends!

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BTW, I won a game of Bocce Ball…another plus of the afternoon, considering I am very competitive!

Starting off with some family favorites

I am a firm believer in starting the week off with a delicious, comforting meal and a few glasses of wine, especially when it can be shared with friends and family. Lately I have been trying to cook new dishes and widen the array of food that I am comfortable preparing. But last night I wanted to make two dishes that I have been eating for as long as I can remember. My grandfather always used to grow rhubarb in the garden at my grandparents' house on Long Island. I remember him bringing in the pretty red stalks, which reminded me of celery, and giving them to my grandmother who would created fabulous deserts with the bitter vegetable. One of the things she would always make was strawberry rhubarb sauce. This is where I got my inspiration to make strawberry rhubarb pie yesterday afternoon.

I started with a simple pie crust and mixed together:

2 1/2 cups of chopped rhubarb

2 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries

1 tbsp. lemon zest tbsp

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp. instant tapioca

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

After mixing together all of the ingredients I was ready to fill my pie crust.

After filling the crust, I broke up 2 tablespoons of butter and dropped them over the top. I was then ready to cover the pie with the second crust and pinch the sides, sealing in the delicious filling. I cut two slits in the middle of the top crust and brushed it with egg white.

I put the pie in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then, I lowered the oven to 375 and baked it for another 40 minutes until the inside was bubbling.

By 4 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon I had finished baking a pie, almost won a game of Scrabble, and had marinated my mother's famous Chicken with Capers and Olives. It is a rendition on Chicken Marbella from the staple Silver Palate cook book. I have never even looked at the original recipe, I only know it from watching my mother prepare it at least once a month for many years. She doesn't measure a thing but simply mixes all the ingredients together and allows the chicken to marinate for several hours before baking. The ingredients that are mixed together with the chicken. They are as follows:

Olive Oil

Red wine vinegar

lots of Oregeno

Dry white wine

salt

pepper

Bay leaves

Pitted green Spanish olives (my family loves them so we use a ton)

Capers (my family also loves these so we put a lot in)

After the chicken marinated for a few hours, I arranged it in a roasting pan with all of the olives and marinade. I then added 1 cup of dry white wine and topped each piece of chicken with a spoonful of brown sugar. The dish was placed in a 375 degree oven for an hour and a half--until cooked through and browned on top.

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I served this dish with some simple rice pilaf and a green salad for dinner. Then my guests and I had the strawberry rhubarb pie accompanied by vanilla ice cream! It was a very delicious way to end the weekend and prepare for the busy week ahead.

My first blog entry is now complete, which I am very proud of because the idea of having a blog scared me. I was able to write about dinner last night while eating the leftover chicken and pie for lunch today. I now see how easy it is for me to blog and I hope you all enjoy reading about my food adventures!