Recipes Revisted 2012

To look at Phoebe, my 9-year-old Viszla, you’d think the holidays were pure torture around my house. But don’t worry about Phoebe. Her bed is plush, her blanket cozy and she got plenty of snacks over the course of the holiday weekend, some stolen (sneaky garbage raid), some generously given (table scraps that included a smokey sweet, honey-glazed ham, a garlic and rosemary roasted leg of lamb given to my son as a gift from a purveyor for his restaurant, and a 10-hour pot roast made with beef from his girlfriend’s family farm.) So, don’t feel bad for her that she was forced to pose as a pathetic reindeer for the comic benefit of all. If you know anything about Viszlas, you know that any form of attention is welcome, even if it involves hokey headgear.

To keep a Christmas promise, three random readers who left comments were chosen to receive the Cuisinart Metallic Series, Elite Collection, 4-Cup Chopper and they have been notified by email already. I’m new to this give-away thing so it was hard to think of only being able to make a few of you happy this time around, but there will be more give-aways in the coming year, so stay tuned! I enjoyed all the comments and thank you for sharing your plans for the holiday with me.

Two days ago I had foot surgery that I’ve been putting off for two years, so I’ll be basically immobile for the next week while I allow the foot to begin it’s long healing process. By next week I’ll be wearing a walking boot that will allow me some time on my feet in the kitchen, but for today I thought I’d just remind you of some of the best and most popular recipes posted here over the last year.

The Spicy Roasted Shrimp Cocktail would make a great appetizer for a New Year’s Eve party…

As would this easy to make Deep Dish Spanikopita, with spinach, onions, feta, nuts and crispy phyllo…

For the new year, why not stock your fridge with some basic building blocks for the coming months of soups, and stews and other savory comforts by making some garlic, tomato, onion and onion/fennel confits

Two soups that will get me through what I believe is going to be a bear of a winter, are easy to make and bone-deep satisfying…Vegetarian Borscht and Sausage Escarole

 

Slow cooked meats that fall off the bone are always welcome on a cold winter night and if you haven’t tried these recipes yet you are in for a treat…

Fennel Chicken with Orange and Honey

and my simple yet amazing method for Melting Ribs

Two last recipes would elevate any afternoon of football beyond the level of chips and dips to real food…

The Charcuterie Burger with Sauce Gribiche

and this Crispy Kale, Farro and Coconut Salad

I wish you all the happiest of new years. May 2013 be filled with great food, loving friends and family, great memories and wishes fulfilled!  Thanks for reading and being a part of one of my wishes fulfilled—the chance to do what I love to do—write, cook, inspire and share my passion with you all.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake (and Giveaway!)

I’ve got a million things to do before my family descends on Sunday, so this may be brief, but it will be festive because I am going to do my Santa Claus thing and give away not one, but two of these gorgeous Cuisinart™ Christmas Red, Elite Collection™ Metallic Series, 4-Cup Mini Chopper-Grinders. All you have to do to be in the running for one of these kick-butt, powerhouse of a mini food processor (Power Lock Blade, Auto-Reversing, Smart-Power Blade ™)  is to (of course) read the post, discover what day yours truly is going to be on Good Morning America, and then leave a comment telling me something about how you are going to spend that day!!

Here’s one desert I am making for the descending family. It’s my one desert answer to three other deserts, with two-thirds less work. It combines the spicy holiday flavors of pumpking pie and gingerbread cookies, with the creamy New York cheesecake heaven that everyone around here loves. I made a version of this for Good Morning America and brought it to the set on the day of taping (it was a pre-taped episode that will air on Christmas morning.) for everyone to taste. Don’t blink you may miss it as it whizzes by, but the recipe will be posted on the GMA Food Page on abcnews.com. Here I am with the anchors, and guest host Mario Batali (thrilled!). They are holding up T-shirts I designed and gave them …but that is the subject for another post, since I couldn’t get them ordered in quantity in time for the holidays. So but more about those (there are three fun designs I’m dying to tell you about) in the future!

The segment I was in for the show highlighted winners of the National Gingerbread Competition that takes place at the gorgeous Grove Park Inn located in beautiful Asheville, NC. I was an invited judge for the competition and had the privilege to introduce the winning entrees on GMA. Then Mario Batali and I acted as “judges” for a quickie gingerbread decorating contest between the GMA anchors which was quite hilarious. Again, don’t blink. I was grateful for the opportunity to be included in the segment and to meet Iron Chef Batali.

Now back to the cheesecake. Here’s one I made at home as a test and test away we did!

That may look like an everyday graham cracker crust, but it is NOT! It’s made from these lovely ginger cookies, getting ready to be pulverized by the sturdy RED workhorse of a mini-chop. (Secret: I used Mi-Del Gluten-Free Gingersnaps for my personal cake, not the GMA one…and sustituted King Arthur All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Mix for the flour so I could FULLY enjoy it…but you go ahead and use regular gingerbread cookies, or gingersnaps and add the flour if Gluten is not your personal nemesis.) Can I just say here that I am not being asked or paid to promote these GF products. I am just saying what I used, to save myself from answering emails about it later! I will say that, for gluten-free, these gingersnaps have a lovely crumbly texture and a satisfying pop of ginger, that makes me slightly addicted to them.

The final cheesecake is lighter and fluffier than the denser NJ Diner Cheesecake I’ve posted in the past. This is due to the addition of the pumpkin, and the sour cream, which mitigates that palate hugging quality you get with all-cream-cheese cakes. Cooling this at room temperature, then in the fridge for at least 6 hours will let it set up well before serving. Otherwise you may end up with a too loose interior…so keep that in mind when planning how far ahead to make this. Even a couple of days ahead would be fine. Just cover it tightly with plastic wrap so it doesn’t take on the flavor of your leftovers.

You can’t tell from the top, but on inside you get this really dreamy, marble-ized look if you don’t over mix the white batter with the pumpkin batter…

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday week sharing stories and food and love across many tables, and through many delicious meals. xoxo Rachel

PS. Don’t forget to leave a comment below to enter the giveaway! Two people will be selected at random from the comments list to get this shiny present!

ingredients

For the crust:
3 cups of gingerbread cookie crumbs (use whole cookies and grind to fine crumb in food processor)
9 tablespoons of butter, melted

For the filling:
1 cup plain pumpkin puree
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature (5 block packages)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs

Special equipment: Springform Pan (10-inch would be optimal. Smaller than that and you’ll have batter left over.) Hand or stand mixer. Regular or mini food processor.

directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring two quarts of water to a simmer in tea kettle or other pot that will be easy to pour from. Make the crust: Combine the cookie crumbs with the melted butter. Place the crumb mixture inside the spring form pan and with your fingertips, gently and evenly press the crumbs down onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan to form a crust. Take care to make the thickness of the crust as even as possible.

  • Make the filling:  Place 1 cup of the pumpkin puree in a medium bowl. Stir in cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. Reserve.

  • Place the spring form pan on top of two layers of foil and tightly wrap the exterior of the pan. Put the cream cheese into the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a clean paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and flour, mixing until smooth and stopping to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl to fully incorporate cream cheese that may get stuck on the bottom. Mix in sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, until just combined; try not to over mix and liquefy batter.

  • Stir 2 cups of the cream cheese mixture into spice pumpkin mixture; set aside. Pour remaining cream cheese mixture into prepared pan on top of the crust. Drop dollops of squash-cream cheese mixture on top. Gently swirl with a butter knife creating a “marble effect”.

  • Set the pan in a large, shallow roasting pan. Transfer to oven. Carefully pour enough of the simmering water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cheesecake. Bake until cake is set but still slightly wobbly in center, about 60 minutes (start checking at around 50 minutes, ovens and pans may vary cooking time). Turn off oven; let stand in oven with door slightly ajar 1 hour. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Run a knife around sides of cake; unmold. When serving, have a sharp knife and a deep bowl of very hot water ready. Dip the knife in the water, wipe with a dry cloth, cut a slice. Then repeat that process with each cut and you will have cleanly sliced pieces.

Olive, Artichoke and Heart of Palm Tapenade and A Very Special Oil

I’ve heard it said about fine olive oils, that they are as varied and nuanced as fine wines. So it’s fitting that the olive oil I used in this simple yet impressive appetizer was given to me by my good friends who are in the wine business. And, it is equally fitting that this oil is produced by the same estate in Italy that produces an exquisite Brunello that is rated 94 points by Robert Parker and 97 points by James Suckling. If you are like me and rely on the expertise of more knowledgable friends for wine advice, and have no idea who Mr. Parker and Mr. Suckling are, suffice it to say that those ratings, from those people, are just as hard to come by as a similar grade was for me in high school physics. My friends are featuring this pure, fruity, complex, richly satisfying, damn-near drinkable extra-virgin oil, Siro Pacente on their website WiredForWine. (See links below.)


Another thing I’ve heard said, this time about cooking, is that your food will ultimately be as good as the ingredients you choose. This could not be truer than when you are combining just a few ingredients and doing very little to them, as is the case with this tapenade. The Siro Pacenti oil takes what is already salty, savory, and lip-smacking to the level of finger-sucking and counter-licking, (should you, like me, spill some and can’t bear to lose a drop.) I remember once meeting an older Italian chef who was slim, trim, and still flirty, who I thought was about 55 years old, but turned out to be 72. He told me his secret to his youthful look and attitude was the shot of extra-virgin olive oil he drank down each morning. The flavor of the Siro Pacenti makes me think of adopting this habit myself now. If you are thinking of doing the same, you can go to WiredForWine.com and get some Siro Pacenti and some of that Brunello and use this code when you check out and get a $10 discount off your order: DCFF

Now, back to the recipe at hand. Here are the ingredients, neatly assembled, many of which you may already have in your fridge and pantry. The heart of palm is one of my favorite delicacies, and if you’ve never had any, you should try some just sliced in a salad. It has a wonderful flavor and texture, not unlike artichoke hearts, but silkier and a little more refined. You’ll find them usually in cans, right near the artichoke hearts in any major grocery store. If you can’t find them, then use all artichoke hearts instead. I employed my newest favorite gadget, a wonderful Cuisinart Mini-Chop in my newest favorite color, FoodFix Kitchen RED (stay tuned to next post for a GIVEAWAY of one of these lovely toys perfectly colored for Christmas.)

Note the texture here…you don’t want a puree…you want to see that it’s bits of two different types of olives (those flecs of red are the pimentos from the green olives I had on hand, but you can use just plain old green olives too.)

The same goes for the other ingredients, just use the pulse control on the food processor so you can control the texture and distinguish bits of basil and artichoke and heart of palm. Now all there is for you to do is combine all, and mound artfully on a plate, then drizzle away with your Siro Pacenti, or other high-quality, extra-virgin olive oil.

Then prepare a crusty crostini, perhaps dotted with a little pesto and toasted with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. This is one of my desert island dishes (if you were stranded on a desert island, what few dishes would you want to be able to have?) It has everything my palate loves: briny saltiness of the two kinds of olives, the acid and brightness from the lemon and zest, and almost buttery quality of the hearts of palm and artichoke…all atop the crispy crunch of a good quality rustic bread. Try not to eat half of it before your guest arrive. And make enough to have leftovers to put on sandwiches, to throw on pasta, to put on top of a white flaky fish and bake, to have as a condiment for grilled or roasted chicken, to dollop on feta cheese and bake for a warm appetizer…I could go on, but will stop here so you can start making this!

Remember, you can click on one or the other link to order your own bottle of Siro Pacenti or  some of that fine Brunello, and don’t forget to use this code when you check out and get a $10 discount off your order: DCFF

 

ingredients

One 13 3/4-ounce can artichoke hearts, well drained (gently squeeze each heart to extract as much liquid as possible)
1/4 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
10 large brine-cured green olives, pitted
15 large calamata olives, pitted
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 of teaspoon grated lemon peel
5-6 whole fresh basil leaves (medium in size, less if really large)
3-4 whole fresh basil leaves rolled up and slices crosswise into ribbons (chiffonade)
2 cloves of garlic peeled and rough chopped (large dice)
2 tablespoon high quality extra-virgin olive oil for the tapenade, plus more for drizzling

directions
  • Over medium heat, warm the olive oil, but do not overheat. Add the garlic cloves and allow the garlic to “sweat” and soften and infuse the oil with flavor for 2-3 minutes, without browning. Remove from heat and set aside.

  • Place the first 5 ingredients on the list in the food processor, pulsing to chop. Add whole basil leaves and the garlic and oil you warmed it in and continue to pulse, chopping until textured coarse paste forms. Do not over process. You do not want a monochromatic puree. You want a somewhat fine, but still textured spread in which you can discern the separate ingredients (as pictured). Season with salt and pepper, to taste, but keep in mind the olives will be salty to begin with.

  • Transfer to the center of a large flat bowl or plate.  Garnish with sliced basil. Drizzle with additional oil to create a pool of oil around the “mound” of tapenade.  (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. (Bring to room temperature before serving.) Serve with cut up pita bread, crackers or crostini (see note below).

  • Pictured crositini: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Thinly slice a baguette or other crusty, rustic bread. Spread a small amount of prepared pesto or extra virgin olive oil on one side of each slice, place the bread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle a bit of grated parmesan on each slice. Bake until lightly toasted. Serve immediately with tapenade.

The World’s Fluffiest Potato Pancakes Video

You put a Jewish mother on Chopped, in a drama-filled Holiday episode, and what is she going to make? Oh yeah, you know…Latkes. That’s potato pancakes. And she (meaning me) doesn’t just make a regular, blue/gray, greasy, half raw hockey puck of a latke. No. She makes the world’s best, fluffiest one ever, using a method that had the judges and Ted Allen saying “what is she doing throwing all that stuff in a blender?”

So, this could be somewhat overblown, you are thinking. The woman has allowed all the adrenaline from being on TV go to her head and inflate her culinary ego. This may or may not be true, (but think about it…I have a teenage daughter and a 24 year-old son who cooks in a 3-Michelin star restaurant, so can’t you imagine that I’m pretty much kept in my place?) Still, I stand behind my claim: these will be the best potato pancakes you have ever made, and possibly tasted. And they will be the easiest. By far. No grating. No squeezing the grated potato in cheesecloth or a dishtowel, no racing against the clock to get them cooked before they turn 50 shades of grey. No half raw or over burnt strands of potato. Just big, fluffy, moist, flavorful, golden latkes. And they can be made ahead and reheated and they will still be wonderful. For at least 8 days. It’s a true Hanukah miracle!

In honor of Hanukah, (starting tomorrow), this recipe and it’s awesomeness, I present to you this fun, short video of my latke-making process. Shot and edited by a talented young videographer, Emily Julka, in my messy home kitchen (I could have fixed my hair a bit, in hindsight, too).

And so you don’t have to scribble down the recipe from the video, get it from here instead.

Watch My Winning Chopped Episode: Panetone Bread Pudding

This little bite of blended holiday heaven was the happy result of intrigue, sabotage and an adrenaline-addled brain the day I competed on Food Network’s Chopped. 

I made it through the appetizer round through a combination of my own stubborn perseverance and the mistakes of the other chefs. I’d more than survived the entree round. No one was more surprised than me to hear Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian say about my stone crab broth “I would serve this in my restaurant, it’s that good.” But on Chopped, you are only as good as your next round. It was round three, the dessert “battle” of the Holiday episode of Food Network’s Chopped that I was in the midst of waging against my fellow competitors. I began to believe that I had a better chance of winning now, than when I’d arrived that morning at 6 am, praying I wouldn’t embarrass myself, my family and particularly my son, the chef,  by getting eliminated for a stupid reason in round one. By the time round three started, it was nearly 8 pm and the only thing keeping me standing was that the adrenaline was still pumping strong.

A burly chef, hailing from the DC area, whose shoulder chip began to waver by this third and decisive round, decided that winning fair and square was too much of a risk. As we waited in the chef’s holding area to be called back on set for the final cook-off, Chef Will asked me “what are you going to do for dessert? Do you think you’ll make an ice cream?” I replied that I had practiced ice creams and if the yet unknown mystery basket ingredients lent itself to that, I might go for it. “What are you going to do?” I asked in return. “Well, whatever I do, I know it won’t be ice cream. I have a pastry chef at my restaurant. I don’t do ice cream.  I haven’t made an ice cream since culinary school, so I know I’m not doing that.”  It was a friendly conversation. We wished each other well and headed out to complete the game.

“Chefs, open your baskets,” Ted Allen instructed us. I saw Eggnog, Panettone Bread, Pomegranate Molasses and Hanukah Gelt.

That jug of eggnog said “ice cream” to me, but first I wanted to get some butter and sugar creaming in a stand mixer because I was determined to serve my eggnog ice cream with a big festive chocolate chip (or Hanukah Gelt) cookie as an homage to Santa’s traditional Christmas Eve repast. With that done I ran over to the fridge to get a dozen eggs—two I’d need for the cookie, and another five to make the ice cream base. When I got there—NO EGGS—where there would normally be two dozen.

I saw Will with a dozen carton open on his station and asked him if he could spare some. “No, I need ‘em all.” Really? A dozen eggs for ice cream? (Maybe for an army, but enough for 4 plates? Five or six would have been enough.) OK, I could see how this was unfolding. There are two routes chefs can take on competition shows: the Team Player: confident in his/her skills, plays well with others, is humble and generous knowing that the best chef would win regardless; the other is: The There-Are-Two-I’s-And-No-U’s-In-Winning Player who will do anything from bare-faced lying to egg-hoarding to make sure he/she wins. Seems like Will took that second road that day.

Then something mysterious happened that had nothing to do with those mystery baskets. “Check the fridge again,” Will told me, “I think there are more eggs in there.” Did Will replace a dozen of the hoarded eggs when I wasn’t looking, when a pang of conscience got the best of him, or did they appear out of nowhere, like a Chopped version of the Chanukah miracle…with eggs multiplying instead of the supply of holy oil? I’ll never know. I just grabbed them and ran back to my station to finish my cookie, get it in the oven and start my ice cream. As I was making the “anglaise” custard needed, Ted Allen came over and informed me that Chef Will already had an ice cream churning in the one an only ice cream machine on set. “Oh really?” I said. I turned to face Will to my left, his look somewhat sheepish, yet defiant. “You told me you weren’t going to make an ice cream,” I said, and added another sentence that contained an expletive I don’t need to repeat here, but that made the show, bleep included. “It’s a competition,” he threw back and shrugged.

What happened next was another miracle. Instead of being flustered by this act of slimy sabotage, I turned to my station, saw the gorgeous Panettone bread and pomegranate molasses and knew in an instant what I would do. I worked fast and confidently to cube the giant, fragrant bread, divided it up among four ramekins, and soaked them with the eggnog-laced custard that would have been my ice cream had Will not bogarted the machine. I popped those in the oven and prayed they’d rise up and be gorgeous in the remaining minutes on the clock. The pomegranate molasses, when added to red wine, bay leaves, cinnamon and vanilla I knew would reduce down to a beautiful holiday-inspired syrup that would tartly compliment the sweet heaviness of the pudding. When the puddings came out of the oven, I spontaneously decided to unwrap more of the Chanukah gelt and submerge one coin in each of the hot, steaming puddings for another sweet holiday surprise, and a nod to the blended Judeo/Christian family I am a part of.

How did my competitor’s ice cream stand up to my bread pudding? Well, call it Karma, lousy luck or poor judgment, but that ice cream, topped with the hot donut he made, left him with more of a soup than a frozen confection. Though his ice cream was warm, in the end his behavior left the majority of the judges cold.

Watch the results for yourself when the Holiday episode of Chopped repeats on 12/4 at 10 PM on Food Network. Leave your comments about the episode on Food Network’s Facebook page…and here too! I want to know what you think!

Here’s an easier (no sabotage or change of direction needed) version of this delicious holiday-worthy recipe. Enjoy!

This account was originally published on ABCNEWS.COM/BLOGS, on November, 28, 2012

Image credit for Chopped photos: David Lang

ingredients

For the bread pudding:
5 cups Panetone bread, crusts removed, cut into 1-inch cubes (approx. half of one large Panettone bread)
½ cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups eggnog
5 eggs, beaten
¾ teaspoon freshly nutmeg, grated
Large Chocolate Coins (Chanukah Gelt) or large chocolate discs or chips

For the syrup:
½ cup pomegranate molasses
2 cups fruity red wine (pinot noir)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or half a fresh vanilla bean, split down the middle, lengthwise
1 large cinnamon stick.

Equipment: Lightly buttered 9×13 deep baking dish, or 8-12 individual ramekins or stand-alone cupcake cups.

 

directions
  • Place the pomegranate molasses, red wine, cinnamon, bay leaf, vanilla and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat and stir to combine well and dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat so that the mixture continues to simmer briskly and reduce, but not boil hard. Keep and eye on this to make sure it doesn’t over-reduce and burn. Total cooking time approximately 12 minutes, and the overall volume will be ¾ of the original volume. When done, the bubbles should look small and tight and the consistency of the liquid is somewhat syrupy. It will be a thin syrup while hot, but will thicken as it cools.

  • While the syrup is reducing, place the eggnog, grated nutmeg, bread cubes, eggs, vanilla, sugar and butter in a large bowl. Gently toss so that bread is fully coated. Allow to sit for 30 minutes or until bread cubes seem sufficiently soaked with the egg mixture.

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the bread mixture evenly into the individual ramekins, or muffin tin or cupcake holders or pour it all into one appropriately sized baking dish.

  • If using individual bowls, place them on a parchment or foil lined baking pan, and bake for 20 minutes or until the pudding gets puffy and the center is firmly set. (You can also use individual cupcake forms or a muffin pan.) If using a baking dish, bake for 30-40 minutes or until it gets puffy and the center is firmly set. Begin checking for doneness early as oven temperatures vary and since the egg mixture is already “cooked” this won’t take as long as a bread pudding that starts with raw eggs.

  • Unwrap one chocolate coin for each ramekin (or 8-12 for large dish).When the puddings are done, remove from oven. Take the chocolate coins and push one coin per individual bowl, down into the center of the hot pudding. (Or use large chocolate discs or chocolate chips here too.) If using a baking dish, place a coin down into the pudding at even intervals so that each serving has a hidden melted coin in it.

    Serve warm, drizzled with the pomegranate/red wine syrup.