Cooking San Francisco

Marinated Steak with Madeira Cream Sauce

This recipe comes from The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook by Anna Pump
To make this ahead of time I coat the meat with the marinade (without the Madeira wine) and freeze it for later use.  The night before the dinner party I take the steak out of the freezer add the one cup of Madeira wine and let it defrost in the refrigerator.

 
Marinate

4 TBSP (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 TBSP curry powder
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 boneless 2-pound steaks, such as London broil 
1 cup Madeira wine

Sauce

2 TBSP butter
1/4 cup peeled and chopped shallots
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 1/2cups sour cream ( used only 1 cup sour cream)

Chopped parsley (for garnish)

Mix the softened butter, mustard, curry powder,Worcesshire sauce, salt, and pepper until blended. Slather this ceamy mixture on the steak, spreading it over the sides, too.  Place the steak in a noncorrosive dish. Pour the Madeira over the steak. Refrigerate for 8 hours or more.

Preheat the broiler to high heat.

Reserving the marinade, transfer the meat to a broiler for 3 minutes on each side.
Transfer the steaks to a warm platter. Keep warm.

To make the sauce, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small, heavy saucepan.  Add the shallots and garlic and saute over low heat for about 3 minutes until transparent.  Add the sour cream and stir to blend.

Add the Madeira marinade to the broiler pan and scrape up all the brown bits.  Pour this into the shallots and sour cream mixture.  Heat the sauce, stirring constantly, until hot, but not boiling.

Transfer the meat to a cuttting board.  Slice thinly on the diagonal.  Transfer back to the serving platter, pour the sauce over the steak, and garnish with chopped parsley.

Yields: 8 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes (excluding marinating time) 

 

Oven Fried Chicken

 

 

As much as we love fried chicken, we rarely make it at home. Many recipes use quite a bit of oil, which we oppose from a health and waste standpoint (we have a hard time using multiple cups of oil to make one meal) and makes a huge mess of the stove to boot. A classic version of fried chicken involves chicken pieces that are fried after being dredged in flour, rather than batter. We liked the simplicity of this approach, and by using whole wheat flour together with cornmeal, our chicken came out of the oven sporting golden brown skin and a flavorful crunch. While we are always looking for short cuts, we think it's worth it to allow the chicken to have a nice, long buttermilk bath. The result is a tangy taste and moist texture underneath a crispy exterior.

3 to 4 pounds chicken pieces
2 cups buttermilk
1 to 2 teaspoon hot sauce
2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Pour buttermilk and hot sauce into a glass or plastic container with a cover (we used a large Tupperware container specifically designed for marinating meat). Place chicken in container and refrigerate either all day or overnight, or up to 24 hours.

   

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3. In a pie pan or bowl, combine flour, corn meal, paprika, salt and pepper. Remove one piece of chicken from the buttermilk mixture and let excess buttermilk drip off. Dredge the chicken in the flour/corn meal mixture, making sure to coat the entire piece. Place chicken on a plate or tray. Repeat the dredging with the rest of the chicken pieces.

 
4. Put butter and oil in a shallow roasting pan and place in oven to melt, about 3 minutes. When butter is melted, arrange chicken in the baking pan in a single layer, skin side down.

5. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn each piece of chicken over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes longer, or until chicken is tender and reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.

Serves 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes, plus 8 to 24 hours marinating time

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes, plus 8 to 24 hours marinating time

 

Roasted Salmon with Potatoes, Crispy Leeks and Lemon Vinaigrette

 

The idea for serving fish at a holiday meal was inspired by the Italian -American tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. If you go to several family celebrations as we do, this oven-roasted salmon served with a merry and bright lemon vinaigrette offers a nice break from roast beef and ham.

Step 1: Make the vinaigrette
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Whisk first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Slowly add the olive oil to the lemon mixture while whisking the vinaigrette. Set aside.

Step 2: Prepare the potatoes
2 pounds yellow potatoes, small to medium sized, quartered
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced, white and light green parts only
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until the potatoes and leeks are evenly coated with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

2. Set bowl aside until fish is prepared.

Step 3: Prepare the salmon
2 to 3 pound piece of whole salmon, spine removed and butterflied (see note)
5 sprigs of parsley
2 lemons, thinly sliced
salt
freshly ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Place a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper that is longer than the salmon on the kitchen counter.  Remove salmon from packaging and rinse with cold water in the sink. Put salmon on the paper and dry inside and out with paper towels.

3. Open salmon up and sprinkle inside with salt and pepper. Arrange lemon slices and parsley evenly inside salmon. Drizzle with olive oil. Close salmon and set aside.

Step 4: Roast Potatoes and Salmon
1. Arrange potato and leeks on a large sheet pan covered with parchment paper, leaving room in the middle to place the fish.  Roast potatoes in preheated oven (without the fish on the pan) for 15 minutes.

2. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a heatproof surface. Carefully place the salmon in the middle of the pan, surrounded by the potatoes and leeks. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper over the salmon and potatoes

3. Put the pan back in the oven and roast for 25 minutes, or until the salmon is just cooked through and potatoes and leeks are crispy.  (This method worked in our kitchen, but everyone has a different oven, so it's a good idea to start checking the salmon after 20 minutes of roasting. You want to avoid overcooking the salmon and undercooking the potatoes, so it's OK to take the salmon out and put it on the serving platter, covered with foil, and let the potatoes cook a few minutes longer.)

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour, 10 minutes

Serves 6 generously

Spiced Roasted Chicken

“You can't judge a book by its cover.”

“Those who assume the most; know the least.”

These quotes came to mind after I had the opportunity to meet Ruth Reichl last May. Ruth Reichl, as many of you know was the editor of Gourmet Magazine from 1999 until its shuttering just over a year ago.

What I thought I knew about Ruth: elite New Yorker; pretentious foodie; better than the rest of us, epicurially-speaking. (I was still very excited to meet her, mind you.)

What I learned from reading her memoirs and meeting her in person: Californian at heart; down to earth, curious food adventurer; likes Negronis and a cupcake-making iPhone app.

When we found out that I would be meeting Ruth in person, Kerrie dared me to ask her for a favorite family-friendly recipe. When an opportunity in the conversation presented itself, I mentioned that I had a food blog and asked her if she could recommend an easy to prepare recipe from the then-new Gourmet Today cookbook (the one I had just excitedly asked her to autograph.). She quickly flipped to this Spiced Chicken, which originally appeared in the April 2000 issue of Gourmet Magazine.  We tested it ourselves and delighted in the spice combination-full of fall flavors -and the simple preparation. It pairs very well with our Lemon Couscous with Apricots and Pine Nuts and a simple green salad.

-Daphne

Cooks Notes:

• We used very large chicken breasts, which took about 30 minutes to cook through. As always, we recommend that you determine doneness by temperature not time. Poultry should reach at least 165 degrees.
• We love this high heat cooking method, as it leaves the chicken skin brown and crispy and the meat exceptionally moist.

4 chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons grapeseed or other vegetable oil, divided
4 tablespoons water

1. Remove chicken from its packaging, pour off any juices and dry off the chicken with a paper towel. Combine spices, salt, and 1 tablespoon oil and rub evenly all over chicken.

2. Allow the chicken to sit at room temperature while you preheat the oven to 450°F. When the oven is ready, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in an ovenproof, heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Place all four chicken breasts in the hot skillet, skin side down. Brown the chicken for about 3 minutes or until skin starts to crisp. Flip the chicken and brown for 3 minutes more.

3. Carefully transfer skillet to middle rack of preheated oven and roast chicken, (which should be skin side up still), until just cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees (18 to 20 minutes for small breasts and 25 to 30 minutes for larger pieces).

4. Remove skillet from the oven and transfer chicken to a plate. Put the pan back to the stovetop and over high heat add the water to the pan and deglaze, scraping up brown bits off the sides. Pour pan juices over chicken and serve.

Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

 

Turkish Pizza

Kerrie, along with family and friends, had the great fortune to visit Turkey this summer. It was a memorable trip not just for the hospitality of Turkish people and their rich history, mounds of ancient treasures, and the Aegean blue seas, but for the uncomplicated and inviting cuisine.  One of the favorite culinary finds was the ubiquitous Lahmacun and, let's face it, finding a simple, inexpensive and appealing meal is just about the best thing that can happen to a person while traveling in a foreign land.

This Turkish “pizza,” is widely enjoyed in Istanbul and has a very thin crust topped with minced meat, usually beef or lamb, which is mixed with a few spices and a hint of tomato.  The dish is served on wooden cutting boards topped with shredded romaine lettuce and a lemon wedge and the traditional way to enjoy this aromatic treat is to squeeze lemon juice over the greens, and fold the pizza in half before eating.

Of course we had to try this foreign delight at home, so we started by combining our favorite ingredients from two different recipes to create something similar to the original Turkish product. We used lamb, but beef would be just as good. To match the consistency of a Turkish pizza ask your butcher for the finest grind possible, otherwise, make sure that you separate and crumble the ground meat as much as possible while it's browning. Ideally, the topping will be as smooth as possible so that it won't tumble off the crust when you fold it.

We used Whole Foods fresh pizza dough and it was airy, smooth and once cooked, crisped nicely.  We recommend allowing the dough to come to room temperature before working with it. We also gently stretched the dough pieces  with our fingers before rolling them, which seemed to help them keep their shape.

This recipe is very easy to pull together but you can save time during the crazy dinner hour by making the meat topping in advance and refrigerating it in a covered container (it will keep for a day or two) until its time to make the pizzas. You can also double the recipe and serve leftovers over pasta or creamy polenta with goat cheese crumbled over the top. This recipe is worth a little extra time and effort and is a great way to introduce the family palate to flavor combinations that are new, yet presented in a familiar package.

Finally, do take a moment to savor the beautiful photographs Kerrie shot in Turkey. They are at the end of the post.

1 package fresh pizza dough (approximately 12 ounces)
1 pound ground lamb or beef
2  cloves garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, finely chopped (or 1 cup canned tomatoes whole and chopped, or crushed)
1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped, 2 tablespoons reserved
1/4 bunch of mint, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon reserved
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 head of romaine lettuce, washed, dried and chopped
1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ground meat, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, mint, spices, pine nuts, salt and pepper.

3. Cook slowly, uncovered, for 10 minutes. With the back of a spoon, break the meat and tomatoes up into small pieces. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Set aside.

4. Divide pizza dough in to four equal pieces (use a knife or pastry blender). Using your fingers, stretch one piece of dough as thin as you can, without tearing the dough. Place on a floured surface and roll out to an oval shape with a rolling pin. It is important to try and get the dough as thin as possible. Repeat with remaining three pieces of dough.

6. Slide dough onto baking sheet (you may need 2) that are either oiled or lined with parchment paper. Thinly spread the meat topping on the dough. Put the baking sheet(s) in the top half of the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust is browned.  (Alternatively, you can bake the pizzas on your oven's convection setting at 450 for 10 minutes.)

7. Remove pizzas from the oven and set aside until just cool enough to handle.  Sprinkle the pizza with the romaine lettuce, and reserved parsley and mint and serve with lemon wedges on the side. Just before eating, squeeze lemon juice over the greens and fold the pizza in half

 

Serves 4

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

 

Pizza in a Pinch

Most parents know that the last month of the school is one of the most hectic times of the year.  It's part obstacle course, part roller coaster; participants dashing and darting from a vast array of meetings and celebrations, all the while attempting to process the bittersweet emotions that come from closing out one chapter of our lives and moving on to the next.

With all the goings on it's easy for our regular home life to get off track, and the casualties of this chaotic time period have been: 1) carefully planned meals and 2) new Cooking SF posts (we will definitely plan ahead next year).

As such, we are turning to quick fixes like this almost-homemade pizza crafted with readily available ingredients. Both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's sell fresh pizza dough, pizza sauce (The Tomato, Butter and Onion Sauce is also wonderful used on pizza) and grated mozzarella cheese, the latter store offering a very tasty whole wheat version. We buy two meals-worth of ingredients at a time and freeze them together in ziplock bag. Pull them out in the morning and everything will be defrosted by dinner time.

At this point, you may be thinking that an even easier way to obtain "pizza in a pinch" would be to simply pick up the phone and order pizza to be delivered in 45 minutes or less. And yes, we definitely go that route from time to time, but given that we are obsessive label-checkers, we prefer to select our own ingredients and often times our home baked pizza arrives sooner and is piping hot to boot.

 

There isn't really a recipe here, as you should follow the directions on the pizza dough package, but here are a few tips:

1. If you don't have a pizza stone you can use a heavy bottomed baking sheet. If you don't t have a pizza board, use a well-floured large cutting board.

2. Place the pizza stone in the oven on the bottom rack while you preheat the oven.

3. The dough is easier to work with if you take it out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you roll it out.

4. Sprinkle corn meal on the bottom of the pizza board/cutting board and pizza stone/baking sheet to help the pizza move around more easily and to add a nice crunch to the crust.

5. Add pizza sauce starting in the center of the dough and moving out.  Make sure you leave the edges clean so the pizza won't stick to the board.

6. Let baked pizza sit for a couple of minutes before cutting.

7. We love to sprinkle a few handfuls of fresh arugula on top of the cooked pizza and then drizzle the whole thing with extra virgin olive oil.

 

 

Marcella Hazan's Simple Tomato Sauce

For those who think that some of the best recipes are also the simplest, this time-honored, classic tomato sauce is for you. It's thick, rich, sweet and is the product of just one of the many authentic Italian recipes brought to us by Marcella Hazan. Mrs. Hazan began publishing cookbooks in the 1970s, with the updated compilation, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking , hitting the shelves in 1992.  Over the last few years Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter has hit the blogosphere (see smitten kitchen and orangette to name just two).

So far we've used this sauce on homemade gnocchi, penne pasta, and as a pizza sauce and it's fabulous in a variety of situations. We doubled the recipe so that we would have leftovers to freeze and added a little less butter than the original recipe stated. You can use whatever canned tomatoes you prefer. Generally, we use organic whole tomatoes that we pour directly into the stockpot and crush with our hands to get the desired level of chunkiness. Some family members prefer a smoother sauce so we've also been known to use one can of whole tomatoes and one can of pure tomato sauce.

Marinated London Broil

 

This delightfully uncomplicated recipe comes from our friend Alicia's stepfather Barry. The marinade combines salty and bold (Worcestershire and garlic) with fresh and bright (parsley and lemon) to pack a powerful punch of flavor to the beef. Technically, London Broil is a preparation method not a cut of meat, and meat labeled London Broil is usually top round roast or flank steak. If you use these cuts, be sure to slice the cooked meat thinly and against the grain. We often use Chateaubriand or other large boneless sirloin steaks for this recipe because it is a bit more tender but still has great flavor. It can be more expensive, so if you use a cheaper cut of meat, you can pound it slightly with the flat edge of a meat tenderizer. Also, we find it helpful take the meat out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking so it will cook more evenly. 

Baked Risotto with Parmesan Cheese

In the dead of winter (yes, even a 50 degrees-with-a-chance-of-rain San Francisco winter) it's hard to beat the creamy, yet chewy nuggets of Arborio rice that have absorbed flavorful chicken broth like
little sponges. We don't make risotto as much as we used to; the small children and their inevitable interruptions have made it challenging (at best) to stand over a stove and carefully stir the risotto until perfect broth absorption is achieved. Which is why we were thrilled to find this recipe in Donna Hay's Instant Entertaining. We discovered this gem of a recipe over the holidays and served it to a crowd on Christmas Eve about an hour after the cat jumped over a lit Duraflame log and ran up the chimney, but that's a story for another day. (He was heroically rescued and survived without a scratch.)

Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup

The original recipe found in the December 1996 issue of Bon Appétit magazine explains, “In France, this soup would be prepared with a baking pumpkin. A mixture of butternut and acorn squashes mimics the French pumpkin's exceptional taste and texture.” It's true; the flavor of the two squashes simmered together with fresh herbs produces a great soup. However, we won't lie; peeling and cutting the squash is a bit of a pain. To make things much easier, though slightly more expensive, you can purchase 8 cups of pre-cut and packaged butternut squash at Whole Foods (as much as we love Trader Joe's for many grocery items, we don't recommend their pre-cut, bagged squash) and omit the acorn squash. You might not end up with the aforementioned perfect French pumpkin flavor, but you will still have a satisfying and healthy winter soup. Alternatively, you could bake the acorn squash beforehand and scoop it out when it is tender (see baking instructions below).

Also, we omitted the sugar in the original recipe and substituted yogurt for whipping cream and we preferred both the taste difference and the health benefits. The croutons are a nice crunchy, salty addition, but we have served the soup without them when pressed for time.

Soup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
5 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
4  cups 1-inch pieces peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
4  cups 1-inch pieces peeled acorn squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh sage

1/4  cup thick, 2% fat Greek yogurt

Croutons
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
24 1/4 inch-thick baguette bread slices
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, all squash and herbs; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and puree soup with a hand blender. (Alternatively, working in small batches and being careful not to fill the container too full, puree soup in the blender. Return soup to same pot.) Whisk in the yogurt and bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill. Reheat over medium heat before serving.)

For croutons:

While soup is simmering, preheat broiler. Butter 1 side of each bread slice. Arrange bread, buttered side up, on baking sheet. Broil until golden, about 1 minute. Turn over. Sprinkle cheese, then thyme and sage over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until cheese melts, about 1 minute. Ladle soup into bowls. Top each with croutons and serve.

Variation: Baking acorn squash
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve squash and remove seeds.  Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until tender.

Serves 8

Prep Time: 30 minutes to 45 minutes (if cutting and peeling squash yourself and making croutons)
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes