Thanks to the DVR, Steve and I watched this past Monday's episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Thanks to notices on Facebook, I knew that Monday's episode was a special titled, "Disappearing Manhattan." I had to watch this episode. The old places in NY are what make NY the city that it is. They are cathedrals to the old way of doing things where people took time to do things the right, careful, perfect, and proud way. I couldn't wait to see what places Bourdain deemed worthy of praise and the spotlight on his show.
I was tickled pink to see that out of the eleven places he visited, I've been to three - Katz's Delicatessen, Heidelberg, and Eisenberg's Sandwiches. If you recall, I recently had the pleasure of eating at Eisenberg's for the first time last week. I found a clip of the show on YouTube that includes the Eisenberg's segment. Coincidentally, this clip also includes the segments for Katz's and Heidelberg. The Eisenberg section starts at the 3:40 mark of the video. Take a peek and see what I got to enjoy last week.
Tony also visited several places I know about but haven't been able to get myself to yet such as Russ & Daughters and Manganaro's. I agree with Tony and hope that places like these don't disappear from NYC. While I love shopping at Trader Joe's, I also visit the locally owned foodstores in my neighborhood because they provide the flavor and without them, Brooklyn really would be a cookie-cutter suburb instead of the unique urban suburb (can it be both?) that it is.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Mac & Cheese: All the cheesy details
I previously posted on Facebook and here about a four cheese mac & cheese by Pithy & Cleaver. Well, last night I made this delectable and sinful comfort food. It took a while to prep my mise en place - I won't be winning any timed Top Chef-style challenges, that's for sure - but once everything was set in little prep bowls, the cooking didn't take too long and went smoothly.
The P&C recipe was easy enough to follow, but I found it needed some proofreading (a couple ingredients weren't mentioned in the step-by-step instructions) and additional cooking details. Overall, it was a complete, straightforward recipe which ended in a delicious result. I neglected to take a photo of my result, but let me describe it - dense, noodle-y, saucy, cheesy, crumbly crisp topping, and steamin' hot. I also have *a lot* of leftovers since it makes enough to feed about eight. Or two college football players.
During the cooking process, I began to get a little worried that everything would fit in my skillet. The recipe says to use a "large skillet." I was using my 12-inch All-Clad, which is the largest one I have. Everything is done in the skillet. It's really a one-skillet recipe if you don't count the boiling of the pasta in another pot. The final step in the cooking process is to add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce in the skillet. Um, my cheese sauce was already flirting with the edge of the pan, and I didn't think it could hold a pound of cooked celentani. The suspense was killing me! I took the dare laid down by P&C, and poured the pasta in. All the pasta fit! Ta da! It was like a little magic pan, that All-Clad. I very carefully folded the pasta with the cheese until everything was coated.
I did need Steve's help when it came to pouring the luscious, gooey mix into the baking pan as I needed two hands covered in hot pads to lift the skillet. Steve scraped the innards out into the dish while I tipped them in. [Side note: I had an afterthought once the mac & cheese was baking - did I need to put it in the baking dish at all? My skillet can go directly in the oven. Anyone know if baking mac & cheese in an All-Clad skillet changes baking time, sticking-to-the-pan factor, etc? If it doesn't need to go in the baking dish, then this is one step closer to being a one skillet dish. Of course, the leftovers would still need to be transferred to something, and my leftovers are still in the baking dish, for which I have a snap on lid.]
After 20 minutes in the oven, the topping was golden brown and the sauce was bubbling. I dished it up right away and we dug in. Yum, yum, yum. This is not an every day or every week mac & cheese. It's far to full of fat and cholesterol to make often.
Good thing this mac & cheese was good since we now get to eat it all weekend. Except for Saturday night when Steve and I are dining with other members of TNTE club at Buttermilk Channel. Looking forward to some chicken and waffles!
The P&C recipe was easy enough to follow, but I found it needed some proofreading (a couple ingredients weren't mentioned in the step-by-step instructions) and additional cooking details. Overall, it was a complete, straightforward recipe which ended in a delicious result. I neglected to take a photo of my result, but let me describe it - dense, noodle-y, saucy, cheesy, crumbly crisp topping, and steamin' hot. I also have *a lot* of leftovers since it makes enough to feed about eight. Or two college football players.
During the cooking process, I began to get a little worried that everything would fit in my skillet. The recipe says to use a "large skillet." I was using my 12-inch All-Clad, which is the largest one I have. Everything is done in the skillet. It's really a one-skillet recipe if you don't count the boiling of the pasta in another pot. The final step in the cooking process is to add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce in the skillet. Um, my cheese sauce was already flirting with the edge of the pan, and I didn't think it could hold a pound of cooked celentani. The suspense was killing me! I took the dare laid down by P&C, and poured the pasta in. All the pasta fit! Ta da! It was like a little magic pan, that All-Clad. I very carefully folded the pasta with the cheese until everything was coated.
I did need Steve's help when it came to pouring the luscious, gooey mix into the baking pan as I needed two hands covered in hot pads to lift the skillet. Steve scraped the innards out into the dish while I tipped them in. [Side note: I had an afterthought once the mac & cheese was baking - did I need to put it in the baking dish at all? My skillet can go directly in the oven. Anyone know if baking mac & cheese in an All-Clad skillet changes baking time, sticking-to-the-pan factor, etc? If it doesn't need to go in the baking dish, then this is one step closer to being a one skillet dish. Of course, the leftovers would still need to be transferred to something, and my leftovers are still in the baking dish, for which I have a snap on lid.]
After 20 minutes in the oven, the topping was golden brown and the sauce was bubbling. I dished it up right away and we dug in. Yum, yum, yum. This is not an every day or every week mac & cheese. It's far to full of fat and cholesterol to make often.
Good thing this mac & cheese was good since we now get to eat it all weekend. Except for Saturday night when Steve and I are dining with other members of TNTE club at Buttermilk Channel. Looking forward to some chicken and waffles!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ice cream in February
I love ice cream and am very happy to see this wonderful sounding recipe for maple pecan ice cream at Chocolate & Zucchini today. I am so making this. Too bad Steve doesn't like pecans - more for me!
Ice cream is actually pretty simple to make. Granted, I've only made it once, but it's really not that difficult. I received the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment for Christmas, and I've used it to make French vanilla. As long as I followed the manufacturer's instructions for how to prepare the special, insulated, freezer bowl, the ice cream turned out beautifully. I had read some consumer complaints that the bowl doesn't work and the ice cream is essentially ice cream soup.
These complaining consumers must not have done exactly what they were instructed to do because I had no problems. Yes, when it's done churning, the ice cream is on the soft side but it's thick. My ice cream churned so thick, that the mixer/churner didn't want to turn anymore. When that happened, I figured the ice cream was done.
After I transferred the ice cream from the freezer bowl to individual storage containers (plastic Chinese take-out soup containers work beautifully!) and froze it a while, it was the consistency and hardness of regular, store bought premium ice cream. And tasted great.
Ice cream is actually pretty simple to make. Granted, I've only made it once, but it's really not that difficult. I received the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment for Christmas, and I've used it to make French vanilla. As long as I followed the manufacturer's instructions for how to prepare the special, insulated, freezer bowl, the ice cream turned out beautifully. I had read some consumer complaints that the bowl doesn't work and the ice cream is essentially ice cream soup.
These complaining consumers must not have done exactly what they were instructed to do because I had no problems. Yes, when it's done churning, the ice cream is on the soft side but it's thick. My ice cream churned so thick, that the mixer/churner didn't want to turn anymore. When that happened, I figured the ice cream was done.
After I transferred the ice cream from the freezer bowl to individual storage containers (plastic Chinese take-out soup containers work beautifully!) and froze it a while, it was the consistency and hardness of regular, store bought premium ice cream. And tasted great.
Pork tenderloin en croute
Last night, I tried something that my dad has wanted to try - a pork tenderloin "wellington." It came out pretty well and I'd do it again with a few experiments. Basically, we had something that didn't really resemble the classic beef wellington, but rather pork wrapped in puff pastry with some herbs. But it was full of flavor and the pork turned out to be cooked just about right. Here is what I did more or less:
Pork Tenderloin en Croute
Serves 4
1 whole pork tenderloin (I figure it was about a pound or a little more)
shallots
garlic
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
beer
salt
pepper
jack cheese, shredded (I think I used about a cup)
olive oil
1 sheet of puff pastry
egg
water
flour
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thaw out the puff pastry according to box. It should be thawed by the time you are ready for it.
Prepare the pork by patting dry, slashing a few cuts in the top, and rubbing all over with a liberal amount of salt and pepper.
Finely mince as much shallot and garlic as you would like. I used one small shallot (would use more next time) and about five cloves of garlic.
Wash and pat dry several sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary. Remove rosemary leaves and finely chop. I didn't bother removing the leaves from the thyme stems.
Over low heat, warm up a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Raise heat to medium, and brown the pork tenderloin on all sides until internal temp reads 140 degrees. The pork won't be fully cooked at this point, but will finish in the oven and carry over when it rests. When done, set aside on a plate and allow it to cool for a little bit.
In the same skillet, pour in a little more olive oil, if needed, and add shallot and garlic, and a little salt, and cook until aromatic and slightly soft, but not burned. Add thyme and rosemary. Cook until aromatic. Remove from heat and put this mix in a small bowl and set aside. Remove thyme sprigs and save for use later in the sauce.
Once puff pastry is thawed, roll it out on a floured surface to a rectangle large enough to generously envelope the pork loin.
Spoon half of the shallot and herb mix on the center of the pastry. Layer about half the cheese on top of that. Then center the pork loin on top. Repeat layering the shallot mix and cheese on the top of the pork loin.
Wrap the pork in the pastry by bring sides together to form a seam. Use some water or egg wash to seal and pinch the seams. When all sealed up, put seam side down on a greased (or parchment paper covered) rimmed baking sheet. Brush egg wash all over the surface of the pastry.
Bake for about 35 minutes, give or take. The pastry should be a nice golden brown when it's done. When I pulled the pork from the oven, the internal temp was still below 160 (FDA recommended cooking time for pork) but as it rested it rose to 160. Let pork rest before cutting and serving.
Steve helped with the sauce. While the pork is finishing cooking and resting, in the same skillet, deglaze the pan by pouring in about 3/4 of a cup of beer. (Steve chose Sam Adams White Ale.) Add the saved thyme sprigs, salt, pepper, water if needed, and flour/cornstarch if you want a thicker sauce. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the fond off the pan and stir until sauce reduces to a taste and consistency you like. Remove thyme sprigs once again and serve over slices of pork.
I served this with mashed potatoes and asparagus.
Notes on how to make this better:
Use a more flavorful cheese. The jack in this recipe really only served to keep the pork moist during the baking process. We hardly noticed any cheese while we ate. I was originally going to use something like Gorgonzola, but then had second thoughts. Will either try Gorgonzola next time, or maybe use slices of provolone to wrap as a layer around the pork before wrapping in the pastry.
Maybe instead of cheese, use the traditional wellington filling of herbed mushrooms.
Use a fruity red wine to make the sauce. I am without an everyday red right now, so that's why we used beer, which turned out really well. But I'd like to try other liquids for the sauce just for experiment's sake.
Pork Tenderloin en Croute
Serves 4
1 whole pork tenderloin (I figure it was about a pound or a little more)
shallots
garlic
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
beer
salt
pepper
jack cheese, shredded (I think I used about a cup)
olive oil
1 sheet of puff pastry
egg
water
flour
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thaw out the puff pastry according to box. It should be thawed by the time you are ready for it.
Prepare the pork by patting dry, slashing a few cuts in the top, and rubbing all over with a liberal amount of salt and pepper.
Finely mince as much shallot and garlic as you would like. I used one small shallot (would use more next time) and about five cloves of garlic.
Wash and pat dry several sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary. Remove rosemary leaves and finely chop. I didn't bother removing the leaves from the thyme stems.
Over low heat, warm up a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Raise heat to medium, and brown the pork tenderloin on all sides until internal temp reads 140 degrees. The pork won't be fully cooked at this point, but will finish in the oven and carry over when it rests. When done, set aside on a plate and allow it to cool for a little bit.
In the same skillet, pour in a little more olive oil, if needed, and add shallot and garlic, and a little salt, and cook until aromatic and slightly soft, but not burned. Add thyme and rosemary. Cook until aromatic. Remove from heat and put this mix in a small bowl and set aside. Remove thyme sprigs and save for use later in the sauce.
Once puff pastry is thawed, roll it out on a floured surface to a rectangle large enough to generously envelope the pork loin.
Spoon half of the shallot and herb mix on the center of the pastry. Layer about half the cheese on top of that. Then center the pork loin on top. Repeat layering the shallot mix and cheese on the top of the pork loin.
Wrap the pork in the pastry by bring sides together to form a seam. Use some water or egg wash to seal and pinch the seams. When all sealed up, put seam side down on a greased (or parchment paper covered) rimmed baking sheet. Brush egg wash all over the surface of the pastry.
Bake for about 35 minutes, give or take. The pastry should be a nice golden brown when it's done. When I pulled the pork from the oven, the internal temp was still below 160 (FDA recommended cooking time for pork) but as it rested it rose to 160. Let pork rest before cutting and serving.
Steve helped with the sauce. While the pork is finishing cooking and resting, in the same skillet, deglaze the pan by pouring in about 3/4 of a cup of beer. (Steve chose Sam Adams White Ale.) Add the saved thyme sprigs, salt, pepper, water if needed, and flour/cornstarch if you want a thicker sauce. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the fond off the pan and stir until sauce reduces to a taste and consistency you like. Remove thyme sprigs once again and serve over slices of pork.
I served this with mashed potatoes and asparagus.
Notes on how to make this better:
Use a more flavorful cheese. The jack in this recipe really only served to keep the pork moist during the baking process. We hardly noticed any cheese while we ate. I was originally going to use something like Gorgonzola, but then had second thoughts. Will either try Gorgonzola next time, or maybe use slices of provolone to wrap as a layer around the pork before wrapping in the pastry.
Maybe instead of cheese, use the traditional wellington filling of herbed mushrooms.
Use a fruity red wine to make the sauce. I am without an everyday red right now, so that's why we used beer, which turned out really well. But I'd like to try other liquids for the sauce just for experiment's sake.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Goin' to the Mardi Gras
King Cakes 2009 are here!
I did use the Southern Living recipe as a guideline for these cakes. I pulled the one off of All Recipes, and even though I've made this before, I had forgotten that not everything in that recipe adds up. For instance, the amount of sugar called for in the ingredient list does not match up to the amount in the step-by-step directions. Since I only make this once a year, I had forgotten about these little discrepancies and I have no idea what I did in previous years to make it come out okay. So, based on that Southern Living recipe, and adding filling, the following recipe I came out with this year. This dough is super easy to work with as it rolls out very easily and doesn't rip. The image above is both baked cakes. The decorated cake on the left is the filled cake. The one on the right, is not filled nor have I decorated it yet because I might freeze it.
King Cake
based on a recipe from Southern Living
Makes 2 cakes
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 egg
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, softened, divided
water for sealing dough
Filling
2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Icing
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk
lemon zest
Colored sugars
3/4 cup sugar
green food color
yellow food color
red food color
blue food color
1. Cook first four ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continually, until butter melts. Cool mixture to 100-110 degrees.
2. Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl (I warmed up my mixer bowl and used that); let stand 5 minutes or until frothy. Add butter & sour cream mixture, egg, and 2 cups of flour; beat at medium speed with mixer about 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually add in the remaining flour until a soft dough ball is formed.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic about 10 minutes. Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease entire surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
4. For the filling, first stir together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix until smooth the cream cheese and 1 cup confectioners' sugar.
5. Punch dough down and divide in half. Turn one portion out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 28-x 10-inch rectangle. Sprinkle half of the sugar & cinnamon mix over the dough. Top with half of the softened butter. Next, spread half the cream cheese mix down the center of the dough. Roll dough, jellyroll style, starting at long side. Place dough seam side down on a lightly greased RIMMED baking sheet (or pizza pan). Bring ends together to form a ring. Using your fingers or a brush, coat the seams with with water, and pinch edges together to seal. (I swear you can't seal the thing enough because something is bound to seep out, which is why a rimmed baking sheet is best and will save your oven from oozing filling.) Repeat with remaining half of dough, sugar & cinnamon mix, butter, and cream cheese mix.
6. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Let cool completely before decorating with icing and sprinkles.
9. For icing - stir together confectioners' sugar and melted butter. Add milk until desired consistency for drizzling or spreading is reached. Stir in vanilla and lemon zest.
10. For colored sugars - In three separate zipper-top bags, place 1/4 cup sugar. Add green to one bag, yellow to another, and red and blue (to make purple) to the last. Shake and squeeze each bag to mix color and sugar. I find that two drops of each makes passable colors. Purple is the hardest one to achieve and mine usually is a grayish-lavender color.
11. When cakes are cool, divide the icing in half and drizzle/pour/brush/spread it on top of each. Sprinkle the colored sugars on top in either bands of each or sprinkle all together in a great mish-mash of Mardi Gras colors.
12. Before serving, hide a plastic baby charm in the cake by pushing it into the bottom. The person who has the baby in their slice of cake has to buy or make the next King Cake!
I did use the Southern Living recipe as a guideline for these cakes. I pulled the one off of All Recipes, and even though I've made this before, I had forgotten that not everything in that recipe adds up. For instance, the amount of sugar called for in the ingredient list does not match up to the amount in the step-by-step directions. Since I only make this once a year, I had forgotten about these little discrepancies and I have no idea what I did in previous years to make it come out okay. So, based on that Southern Living recipe, and adding filling, the following recipe I came out with this year. This dough is super easy to work with as it rolls out very easily and doesn't rip. The image above is both baked cakes. The decorated cake on the left is the filled cake. The one on the right, is not filled nor have I decorated it yet because I might freeze it.
King Cake
based on a recipe from Southern Living
Makes 2 cakes
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces sour cream
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 egg
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, softened, divided
water for sealing dough
Filling
2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Icing
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk
lemon zest
Colored sugars
3/4 cup sugar
green food color
yellow food color
red food color
blue food color
1. Cook first four ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring continually, until butter melts. Cool mixture to 100-110 degrees.
2. Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl (I warmed up my mixer bowl and used that); let stand 5 minutes or until frothy. Add butter & sour cream mixture, egg, and 2 cups of flour; beat at medium speed with mixer about 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually add in the remaining flour until a soft dough ball is formed.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic about 10 minutes. Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease entire surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
4. For the filling, first stir together 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix until smooth the cream cheese and 1 cup confectioners' sugar.
5. Punch dough down and divide in half. Turn one portion out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to 28-x 10-inch rectangle. Sprinkle half of the sugar & cinnamon mix over the dough. Top with half of the softened butter. Next, spread half the cream cheese mix down the center of the dough. Roll dough, jellyroll style, starting at long side. Place dough seam side down on a lightly greased RIMMED baking sheet (or pizza pan). Bring ends together to form a ring. Using your fingers or a brush, coat the seams with with water, and pinch edges together to seal. (I swear you can't seal the thing enough because something is bound to seep out, which is why a rimmed baking sheet is best and will save your oven from oozing filling.) Repeat with remaining half of dough, sugar & cinnamon mix, butter, and cream cheese mix.
6. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Let cool completely before decorating with icing and sprinkles.
9. For icing - stir together confectioners' sugar and melted butter. Add milk until desired consistency for drizzling or spreading is reached. Stir in vanilla and lemon zest.
10. For colored sugars - In three separate zipper-top bags, place 1/4 cup sugar. Add green to one bag, yellow to another, and red and blue (to make purple) to the last. Shake and squeeze each bag to mix color and sugar. I find that two drops of each makes passable colors. Purple is the hardest one to achieve and mine usually is a grayish-lavender color.
11. When cakes are cool, divide the icing in half and drizzle/pour/brush/spread it on top of each. Sprinkle the colored sugars on top in either bands of each or sprinkle all together in a great mish-mash of Mardi Gras colors.
12. Before serving, hide a plastic baby charm in the cake by pushing it into the bottom. The person who has the baby in their slice of cake has to buy or make the next King Cake!
One-up mushroom cookie anyone?
Saw this on a children's lit blog, and thought it ought to be shared here, too.
Have a need for some Mario Bros. mushroom shaped cookies? Look no further than Snack or Die Video Game Cookies. Really.
Or maybe you're needing instructions on how to make a Super Mario Bros. 2 Phanto Sugar Cookie. Or a PacMan cookie. Or a Super Monkey Ball cupcake. They are all there. With good step-by-step pictures to guide you along.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Heavy lunch, light dinner
I met Steve for lunch yesterday. He works in the Flatiron building, and we stuck to the neighborhood - we went right across the street. Despite working in the vicinity five years ago, I had never even noticed Eisenberg's. And no wonder. It's a hole-in-the-wall place no more than 20 feet wide and four times that deep. Narrow and skinny. However, the food is not skinny food. As the hard-working countermen's t-shirts say, "Eisneberg Sandwiches, raising the cholesterol of New York since 1929." I don't think much has changed since 1929. The wooden counter and back bar look authentic. So do the round red-topped counter stools. Some small tables are squeezed in the back but you don't get the show if you sit back there. We had a good time watching that show - the countermen are never still as they bark out orders and fill orders for the counter and tables. I didn't see any written tickets except for take-out orders. We were sitting in front of the grill station where one man worked the omelet pans, grill, and flat top, in addition to serving up soups (lots of Matzo ball today) and fries.
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Steve had a pastrami on rye and I had a cheeseburger deluxe. The pastrami smelled delicious and tasted great. The cheeseburger was just ordinary so next time I'll get something from the long sandwich list. The woman next to me had egg salad with bacon that looked wonderful. I was also amazed that there were no checks here. The counterman told us to just tell the cashier what we had and he'd ring us up. The honor system seems alive and well at Eisenberg's. A real throw back.
So since lunch was heavy, we ate light for dinner. I planned to have warm olives, salad, and the Tarte d'Alsace from Trader Joe's for dinner, but it turns out the only thing we wanted was the olives. Those are a favorite of ours. We ate almost all of them up with a demi-loaf of warm French bread. And that was dinner.
Warm Olives
2 cups mixed unpitted olives, drained (although I usually just use a jar of Kalamata)
1/2 cup E.V.O.
3 cloves minimum of garlic, minced (I used five last night because a couple cloves were scrawny)
Orange zest (I usually use one whole orange)
Lemon zest (I usually use one whole lemon, but you can add as much or as little as you'd like of both zests)
6-8 sprigs fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley, or oregano), divided
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 -1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients (but leave out a few herb sprigs). Place in a baking dish and bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from oven and let sit several hours to meld flavors. Or just dive right in like we do. Cooling, schmooling. Remove charred herbs or stems and replace with fresh sprigs. Reheat just before serving or serve at room temp with bread and goat cheese.
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Steve had a pastrami on rye and I had a cheeseburger deluxe. The pastrami smelled delicious and tasted great. The cheeseburger was just ordinary so next time I'll get something from the long sandwich list. The woman next to me had egg salad with bacon that looked wonderful. I was also amazed that there were no checks here. The counterman told us to just tell the cashier what we had and he'd ring us up. The honor system seems alive and well at Eisenberg's. A real throw back. So since lunch was heavy, we ate light for dinner. I planned to have warm olives, salad, and the Tarte d'Alsace from Trader Joe's for dinner, but it turns out the only thing we wanted was the olives. Those are a favorite of ours. We ate almost all of them up with a demi-loaf of warm French bread. And that was dinner.
Warm Olives
2 cups mixed unpitted olives, drained (although I usually just use a jar of Kalamata)
1/2 cup E.V.O.
3 cloves minimum of garlic, minced (I used five last night because a couple cloves were scrawny)
Orange zest (I usually use one whole orange)
Lemon zest (I usually use one whole lemon, but you can add as much or as little as you'd like of both zests)
6-8 sprigs fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley, or oregano), divided
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 -1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients (but leave out a few herb sprigs). Place in a baking dish and bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from oven and let sit several hours to meld flavors. Or just dive right in like we do. Cooling, schmooling. Remove charred herbs or stems and replace with fresh sprigs. Reheat just before serving or serve at room temp with bread and goat cheese.
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