We couldn't believe how outrageously yummy these halibut skewers are. Crusty Italian bread and halibut are seasoned with fresh rosemary, then woven with pancetta and grilled until golden.
We all need a great beef stew in our cooking back pocket, and this one’s mine. It’s fairly classic in its preparation — the meat is browned, then piled into a sturdy pot and slow-roasted with a lot of red wine, a splash of brandy, and some onions, garlic, carrots, and a little herb bouquet to keep it company. It finishes spoon-tender, sweet and winey through and through, and burnished the color of great-grandma’s armoire.
The Chinese tradition of smoking foods over tea instead of wood has become popular in this country, especially as more home cooks have learned how simple it can be. Done right on the stovetop, it makes no mess. The smoking ingredients - a mixture of dried black tea leaves and spices - are put in a foil-lined wok. The food is placed on a rack above the mixture and covered until the distinctively flavored smoke cooks the scallops. A simple soy, ginger and cilantro marinade gives a delicate lift to big sea scallops. The light, slightly sweet smoke cooks them to silky perfection. After chilling, we serve them with a creamy mustard sauce. You might also want to slice the smoked scallops and serve them on endive spears, garnished with a dollop of the sauce.
Some soups demand a fireside, others require a summer afternoon. This soup defies seasons, and tastes just as delicious in the spring as in the winter. Perfect for dipping into with a hunk of brown bread or satisfying alone. The addition of whole peas and pecorino at the end makes for a satisfying sweet/salty finish. Plus, even Daniel made it through half a bowl before realizing Split Peas are still peas.
Figure on 3/4 to 1 pound of chicken per person. I make this using the Spanek Vertical Roaster, www.spanek.com.
From Sheryl Crow: I love it when this is on the menu because it appeases any craving I might have for chocolate. And you would never have guessed that Chuck used avocado to thicken the mousse and that it would make it so delicious. Avocados are mild and sweet enough to blend seamlessly with the chocolate. This is super-healthful: no eggs, no cream, no white sugar in this mousse, and yet it's absolutely glorious.
Asparagus take to the easiest kind of cooking. A few minutes in boiling water turns them tender with a little crispness still intact, then it's a case of how you want to flavor them.
I have made cauliflower every which way: I’ve blanched it, sautéed, boiled it, mashed it, deep-fried it, and eaten it raw. Until I read about it on eGullet.org, though, I never knew I could roast it. This recipe really brings out the richness of the cauliflower and matches it perfectly with the robustness of the spices. I use my fennel rub along with a few other spices. If you have sea salt, it works really well with this recipe. The cauliflower tends to shrink when roasted, so one head of cauliflower is about right for 2 servings.
It's a pleasure to sink your fork into during brunch, lunch, or dinner.
From The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen by Michael Ruhlman (Scribner, 2007). Copyright 2007 by Michael Ruhlman.