Creamed corn - a Graham favorite

This is a Thomas Keller recipe that I stole from someone who stole it from Tom himself.
























3 ears of in-season, fresh sweet corn (yellow or white)
2 tablespoons butter
Juice from 1/2 lime
Zest from 1/2 lime
1/2 cup heavy cream
Small pinch of cayenne pepper (this gives a surprising amount of heat - Sarah will love it)
1 tablespoon minced chives (I forgot the chives - never made it out to the garden)
Salt to taste


Remove the husks and as much of the silks from the corn as possible. Hold the each corn upright, with the bottom of the cob flat on a cutting board, and use a large chef's knife to slice vertically down down the cob towards the cutting board to remove all the kernels. Use the back of a knife to scrape the corn cobs to collect any last kernels and remaining corn 'milk' into the medium bowl. The milk will spray all over the place so do this in an empty area.


Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the corn and lime juice, stirring to combine well. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed by the corn, about 15 minutes. Add the cream, lime zest, and cayenne pepper, and cook for another 6-8 minutes, stirring, until the corn has absorbed the cream. Add the minced chives, and salt to taste. Stir well and serve immediately. We had salmon with a panko dressing on top. This is heart attack stuff.

Baby Bok Choy

We grabbed some Baby Bok Choy at Uwajimaya, the Asian Market in downtown Seattle. Too cute to resist. A couple of nights later we attacked them and wrestled them into a frying pan. We trimmed just a bit off the bottom of each BBC and removed any torn or evil looking leaves. Next we cut each one right down the middle exposing their innards. A wash under the tap and a shake to dry and they were then dumped into a frying pan with hot olive oil. One half of a red bell pepper was added for a burst of color. A quick stir to distribute the oil and then some vegetable broth was added and stirring continued as the BBC steamed in the broth. Spices were added - salt, pepper, some paprika and after about 5 to 8 minutes they became tender. Before plating, we added one quarter cup of sweet chili sauce for heat and flavor. That's it.
















Delicious!

Easy eggplant

Mise en place


Bittman's column the other day had a guest author write up an easy approach to Eggplant Parm. We tried it tonight and we both enjoyed it - give it a try. It is much easier than dipping slices of eggplant, breading them and then layering them with cheese and sauce.

Bread crumbs -
1/2 cup grated cheese, I used romano
1 cup panko, I mixed panko and regular seasoned crumbs
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
3 T olive oil
2 t parsley

Eggplant -
1 cup red grape tomatoes and 1 cup yellow grape tomatoes
14 basil leaves
1/4 red pepper flakes
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 and 1/4 cups tomato puree, I used diced tomatoes
5 large cloves garlic - thinly sliced
2 pounds eggplant, peeled and cubed into 1 inch chunks (I used two medium eggplants)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh mozzarella

Approach - in a medium bowl, combine grated cheese, crumbs, salt, pepper, olive oil and parsley. Mix well until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. For the eggplant, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine both tomatoes, basil, pepper flakes, salt, pepper, tomato puree, garlic, eggplant and 1/3 cup olive oil. Add half the breading mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish and top with remaining crumbs and then placed sliced mozzarella on top. Cook uncovered until top is lightly browned, about one hour. Let rest and serve. Drizzle a bit of extra oil on top as you serve.

A bit on the gross side - but fun.

We made fun cupcakes tonight. Sarah's copy of What's New, Cupcake provided the inspiration for two cupcakes and one munchie. Sarah, Graham and I actually had the courage to consume a cupcake.

Webster Deep Dish Pizza

This one is a cinch - preheat oven to 500 degrees and start with basic pizza dough. After it has risen, roll it flat, throw it (show off!) or simply press it into the bottom of a cast iron frying pan, go right up the sides. Then add your goodies. I put in the pizza for 10 minutes at 500 before turning the oven down to 400 degrees. I pulled the pie once the crust on the top edge was nice and brown. It was in for an additional 15 minutes after I turned it down to 400. I let it set on the cutting board for about ten minutes before cutting to let it set up a bit. I regret the strength of the onions, they needed a bit of advance cooking to tone them down. They could have been in the pan with the mushrooms while those were frying up with a tablespoon of butter. It really has everything but the kitchen sink in it as you can see - mozzarella, ricotta, goat cheese, peppers, onions (whew), pepperoni, mushrooms, artichokes and tomato sauce. A cold beer is all you need to be good to go. That's a damn big piece of pizza by the way. Addendum - we made a Seattle version that included a top crust with a filling including black beans. Woot.

Beet hummus

We hit the market this morning (man, it was cold)
and bought some beets for this dish. I roasted the beets in some foil for an hour or a bit more until they were tender (400 degrees). I reserved two of them for a salad for tomorrow's dinner and then peeled and chunked the remaining two (last time the food processor missed one piece so I wanted to begin with the pieces a little smaller this time.

Roasted Beet Hummus

from www.erinsfoodfiles.com (with a couple of minor adjustments)

Ingredients:

1-2 medium beets
1 can of chickpeas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow or white onion, chopped finely
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup tahini or sesame paste
1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

The onions can be sauteed first, but I added them raw.

Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl.

In a food processor, chop the beets, onions, garlic, and chickpeas together until smooth. Add the tahini and cumin, and process again. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then replace the lid. While the blades are running, slowly add the lemon juice and olive oil mixture until the hummus is at your desired consistency.

Makes 2-3 cups hummus - excellent stuff.

Real men eat quiche - they really really do.

OK, I cheated on this one - this has crab meat in it. But that is easy to swap out if your wife chooses to eat dinner with you. Possible fillings include: mushroom and spinach, asparagus and fake bacon (some weird soy type product), broccoli and roasted red pepper - infinite choices.

Begin with a real crust - whoa, people will be impressed. Most folks consider that to be an art form that is more mystical than they are prepared for, so they do a store bought crust. Boo. Make your own and then in the middle of the meal, just briefly mention how easily the crust came together - "Must be the humidity." People will swoon at your talents.
The crust is Better Homes and Gardens all the way:

1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 shortening
5 tablespoons ice water

Sift dry, cut in shortening with pastry blender and add water one Tb. at a time tossing with fork. Form into a ball and roll with floured rolling pin or empty wine bottle (emptying it while cooking adds to the excitement). I do enjoy doing the fluted edge with one index finger pushing between the other index finger and thumb. It is artwork. The key is cutting the crust an inch too big around the edges and then folding that excess under to create a thick edge that allows the fluting to occur without breaking the crust during the process.
Once your dough is in the pie plate create your quiche and its filling.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayo ------- 1 cup filling (again we used crab meat)
2 Tb. flour ----------- 1 cup diced swiss cheese
2 beaten eggs-------- 1/2 chopped green onion
1/2 cup milk

Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crab-Quiche-I/Detail.aspx, thanks to ChristyJ.

Beat eggs first then add mayo, flour, and milk and continuing the beating and lastly stir in the filling, cheese and onions. Dump into uncooked pie crust.Bake 50 minutes to one hour or until tester comes out clean.

A glass of chardonnay and you are ready to go.