i’m a book buyer. which doesn’t necessarily mean that i’m always a book reader. of course each book is carefully chosen with varying degrees of hope, excitement and promise, and the contents of my cyber cart are always just one quick click away from being all mine… but then the books arrive only to be relegated to any number of stacks or shelves throughout my home. and from there the books taunt me, filling me with guilt, making me once again realize that they have yet to fulfill their destiny. and destiny is big….
so yesterday morning the latest book hit my doorstep. i don’t recall how or even why i’d heard about this one, but i had, for some good reason, sought it out - and now here we were, together. but this time, instead of adding it to the closest pile, i immediately opened to a random page and began to flip through, until my eyes rested upon what was to become - dinner. smiling, i grabbed the scallops and bacon from the freezer and jotted down the word ‘watercress’ on my days shopping list. this was going to be magically delicious and made in 15 minutes - tops.
the book is called ’secret ingredients - the magical process of combining flavors’ by michael roberts. and the more i read about mr. roberts, who died an untimely death 3 years ago, the more i like him. in his ny times obituary he is noted as "a restaurateur and chef whose playful and astonishingly successful marriages of preposterous ingredients helped forge the California culinary revolution of the 1980’s". he was a risk taker when it came to flavor. and i happen to like that in a guy. he writes of flavor marriages as in ’sherry and brandy’ and ‘chili and curry’, and of flavor oppositions such as ‘apples and cheese’ and ’salt and sugar’ or ’sugar and vinegar’, and from there he discusses flavor juxtaposition - as in garlic masking the bitterness of rosemary but allowing the herbalness to come through. or cocktail sauce, unfolding in layers, first the tomato and then the horseradish - married by the lemon…
i haven’t read a novel in too long because lately, i just get lost in this kind of thing. when i’m reading about food i am focused. pennies drop. i proverbially clap out loud and gasp and nod and moan and laugh. food just entertains the hell outa me. better than fast cars, heroin or sky diving, i suppose.
warm scallop and watercress salad with bacon vinaigrette adapted from ’secret ingredients’ by michael roberts
i opted to not leave the bacon fat in the dish and reflected this in my adaptation. it just seemed so pointless, but it’s your life and you can drink bacon grease all day long. choosing longevity, i decided to use more grapeseed oil and drain the pig fat. i also upped the apple slices just because..
2 bunches of watercress
1 medium granny smith apple
lemon juice to keep the apple slices from oxidizing
1/2 cup salad oil (i like grapeseed for this)
3/4 lb bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb sea scallops
2 T finely minced shallots
2/3 cup sherry vinegar
mound the watercress leaves onto 4 plates
core the apple without peeling, cut into quarters and slice thin
sprinkle with the lemon juice
arrange the apples around the watercress - set aside
add bacon to a 9 or 10 inch cold skillet - sauté over medium heat 4 minutes
drain most of the bacon fat from the pan and add scallops, searing until brown on each side
be sure they stay rare in the center
add the shallots and vinegar and cook for a minute longer
remove from heat and add the oil
then drizzle with the remaining dressing in the pan
portion the scallops and bacon onto the plates
there is something so very sexy, even powerful about being able to whip out a solid dish with very little effort… especially when it’s this good.
here it is…the epitome of springtime… could this not be a more restaurant worthy presentation? i mean, if this was put down in front of you, wouldn’t you have high expectations? a yolky fettuccine dressed with creme fraiche… the waft of truffle hitting your nose… yes, this is going to be just incredibly….
awful
dear readers, let’s just make this clear… it pretty much sucked. it just did. and it was altogether my own fault. because each ingredient on it’s own was perfectly lovely. i just didn’t know when to leave well enough alone… and my pasta - as you might imagine - was freshly homemade, making it sting just a touch more. ..
pretty pasta (that you should never make) anonymous
a container of creme fraiche
2 entire ounces of very expensive white truffle oil
fresh chives
fresh parsley
black pepper
ok, had i stopped here, i’d have had my usual winner of a simple pasta dish… but nooooo..
toasted pine nuts (borderline error)
about a solid cup of grated parmigiano (first major mistake)
very young broccolini, chopped and left raw (second major mistake)
lemon infused olive oil (i must have been on crack - seriously)
broccolini flowers to garnish (whateva)
toss, eat, gag, toss
mourn over your beautiful wasted fettuccine, truffle oil and creme fraiche
so like, this is me failing miserably.
i am humbled in the face of fine cuisine.
i repent to the god of all things culinary.
final note: i served this to 4 people at a business meeting.
i just read that ‘nothing piques the passion of the seasonally obsessed chef like ramps‘. they have a short season and a cult following, and rightly so. these baby wild leeks boast a sweet but complex taste that falls somewhere between onions and garlic only much better. much much better…
and hey, lest i digress… could someone out there explain the whole fiddlehead fern phenomenon. like what is the big deal? i’ve had them prepared numerous ways by those in the know, and in a word? meh. with a capitol, meh. so when ff’s show up, the only real good news is that then it must also be ramp season. and that right there? that is something to get excited about. so much so that i hereby declare ramps the new black. that’s how much i love them. which is a lot.
while some of you are out there foraging for your ramps, nettles, morels and ff’s, let it be known that i am sans poison ivy and tick free. i’m home drinking a glass of wine and clicking the ’buy it now’ button on ebay where i am declared a winner of 50 freshly harvested ramps, and ebay sincerely congratulates me. i toast my good fortune to the food gods and put up my feet, pleased that ebay recognizes my winning ways. it may be true that i’ve just spent $11 and increased my carbon footprint, wheras the foragers got both their ramps and their lyme disease for free… but i’m ok with all of this. because first and foremost i am a winner.
so thank you seller camper750. they were just beautiful…
see? ramp perfection… at my door in no time flat. the bowl was ebayed too, but from last year.
the plan was to make a perfect risotto. i came across a ny magazine recipe from 2005 of famed chef scott conant, from when he was at l’empero in nyc. i immediately knew that this was what i was looking for.
i doubled this recipe and it worked out beautifully. i used carnaroli rice but i am sure any risotto rice would work fine. i substituted my veal stock for the chicken and well, i highly recommend this if you can…
5 T extra-virgin olive oil
10 ramps
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 t of red-pepper flakes
1 cup vialone nano rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth, simmering in separate pot on stove
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
salt to taste
in a wide, heavy-bottom saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.
finely chop ramp greens and stalks, reserving greens for later. add shallot, ramp stalks, and pepper flakes, and stir until the shallot is translucent, about two minutes. add rice to pot and cook over medium heat for two minutes, stirring to coat rice with oil.
pour in 1/4 cup of the wine and boil until almost absorbed; a little liquid should remain on top of the rice. add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of hot broth at a time, stirring the rice constantly until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. add another 1/4 cup of stock, the remaining wine, and a tablespoon of olive oil, continuing to stir.
add the ramp greens and more stock as needed and continue cooking and stirring until the risotto looks creamy but is still al dente, about 20 minutes. remove from heat and let the risotto stand for about 30 seconds. add a drizzle of olive oil, butter, and cheese; stir until well combined. season with salt. makes 4 first-course portions.
to serve with the risotto, i roasted a chicken alla ‘zuni cafe’ style, except i stuffed the cavity with lemon and limes, something i’d never done before. i think the citrus caused some steam in an otherwise very dry oven environment, making the chicken perhaps less crisp but amazingly flavorful. i buy only small chickens - no more than 3.25 lbs - and roast at 475 f for 45 minutes.
the trussing technique was "unique" and could not be repeated for any price. but you can rest assured that bird wasn’t going anywhere.
this risotto was a first class wow. to be honest, we kind of couldn’t get over just how good it was. throughout the day it was eaten by 5 people and it greatly influenced their opinion of me. ramps are an impressive ingredient. they’re so many things all at once. if you missed them this year, try to make it a point for next.
although i do believe camper750 still has some available. act fast and you too could be a winner…
this pasta is everything that is wonderful about italian cooking. a short ingredient list with a big result - and all in about 15 minutes, including the 2 or 3 that it takes to boil the fresh pasta. of course, being that i am now an ace pasta maker, i am forcing the stuff down the throat of everyone i know, and so far no one is complaining - although it’s bound to happen soon. but not with this particular dish. this one is all mario and as one might expect, he knocks it out of the park.
the pasta dough took about 1 lb. of flour and 5 eggs. i can’t stress emphatically enough how much i love these 3 kitchenaid rollers. i am making my own freakin’ pasta and it is so very not hard to do. i even really kinda get off on the whole process. it feels good. it’s meditative, even cathartic. if you regularly make pasta - and why wouldn’t you, you can then cancel your weekly therapist appointment. and that right there will save you a ton of cash that you can now put towards buying the KA rollers, working out your ‘issues’ by kneading the dough, with feeling - elongating not only the gluten fibers, but possibly your very own existence. so, just make pasta. it will improve your life in more ways then you could ever imagine. just look at all it has done for me.
and then when your pasta is rolled and ready - then make this recipe right away. because it is a smashing dish that will surprise the hell out of you, and whoever’s expecting dinner that night.
fettuccine with oyster mushrooms, sweet garlic and arugula lightly adapted from mario batali’s molte italiano
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
15 cloves garlic
2/3 cup cinzano rossi or any sweet red vermouth
10 ounces oyster mushrooms = trimmed
4 T unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch arugula, stemmed, washed and dried
1/3 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese
bring 6 qts of water and 2 T salt to a boil in a large pot
meanwhile, in a 10 - 12" sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until almost smoking. add the garlic and sauté until lightly browned on all sides. remove from heat and add the vermouth. replace the pan onto the burner, add the mushrooms and butter, and bring to a boil. reduce by half then remove from the heat and keep warm.
cook the pasta until tender and then drain. add to the mushrooms and stir gently over medium heat for about 1 minute to coat the noodles. add the arugula and toss until wilted. transfer to serving dish and toss with the cheese.
this is one of those dishes where everyone will think you are a brilliant and talented cook. but in reality it really wasn’t you at all…
but in this instance, who cares? not me, that’s who. it was a run-of-the-mill chop from ‘the fresh market’, and personally, i can always take or leave these kind of pork chops. cary’s a fan, so i pick some up on occasion. but those beans? you’d have to fight me for those beans.. rancho gordo - all the way… yellow eyes cooked with sweet potatoes, fresh thyme and a solid lb. of tennessee’s finest - salty, smoky ‘benton’s bacon’. it is the burgundy of bacon’s… a straight forward cure of brown sugar, salt and pepper - with a heavy-handed hickory smoke. on a BLT it would be sheer perfection. i’m keeping a package in the freezer in anticipation of summer tomatoes. so don’t even waste your time trying to sweet talk me out of it…
the yellow eyes are a creamy, dense bean. and totally cool looking. if this bean were a man, i’d do him in a ny minute.
not that i like dense men… because i don’t.
(from rg’s site, i present to you the pulchritudinous and dense-in-a-good-way, yellow eye bean…)
the salad was on another plate. sorry to deprive you of the much needed greenness. i kinda wasn’t thinking. it happens. a lot. but so you know, it was a simple toss of romaine and radicchio with toasted walnut oil and guerande salt.
