Lemon Meringue Pie

Believe it or not, I’ve got It’s a Wonderful Life on in the background (yes, I realize it’s technically a Christmas movie, but I like watching it when I need a little encouragement), and sipping Primitivo (after some Stoli tonight).

Recently for our 4th of July barbecue, I made my first lemon meringue pie.  I love pie, especially these days when I make them at home.  This was, I believe, my fifth pie.  My signature pie is key lime, but I also enjoy making blueberry, banana cream, pecan, and now lemon meringue.

When you make it from scratch, it’s a little less simple than buying a pie crust and the pie filling.  I make a basic pie crust - flour, water, shortening, salt.  I make it very thin, and when it comes to pie crust, practice makes perfect - or near perfect, at least.

The filling isn’t difficult, but you’ve got to plan correctly because you’ve got to keep on whisking it by hand and you’ve got to keep an eye on it.  Milk, egg yolks, lemon, sugar, butter - just pure golden deliciousness.

And the meringue - well, that’s egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar, and just a pinch of salt I believe.  For the meringue, I used the stand mixer with the whisk attachment.  Once they’re whipped into stiff peaks, they’re done.  A hint - add the sugar once it’s started forming into a foamy texture, and add it very slowly!

To assemble - bake the pie crust a bit - first with rice or pie weights in the pie shell on with a sheet of wax or parchment paper in between, and then again a few more minutes until it’s turning slightly golden and firm, and then once it’s cooled a bit, pour in the lemon pie filling.  Then, top it with the meringue, and form it into peaks with a spoon or a butter knife.  Let it set a while, and enjoy it.

It’s fairly simple, and worth doing it from scratch.

Chicken Paprikash

I probably told you in my goulash blog post (I did write up the goulash, didn’t I?) - anyway, I’m always mentioning that I’m Sicilian.  I don’t often mention that I’m also Hungarian (or a I like to call it, Magyar, which is just another term for an ethnic Hungarian).  Only recently have I been experimenting with Hungarian cooking and wine (the wines I love - a nice sparkling white from Torley, and some Furmint - both dry and sweet - and Kekfrankos - which is Hungary’s Blaufrankisch grape).

And wait until I make the poppyseed strudel again - there’s a fun Magyar dish!  (A little difficult, too.)  It was my grandpa’s favorite.

So last night I finally attempted chicken paprikash.  And I’m happy to report that it’s delicious and quite easy to make, and relatively inexpensive, compared to most things I make.  (We’re also fortunate to have a dear Hungarian friend who sent me a package of authentic Hungarian paprika a little while back, so that certainly helps!)

There are very few ingredients - chicken thighs, sea salt, black pepper, sour cream, cayenne pepper, paprika, chicken stock, unsalted butter, onions, and mushrooms.  If you have a spaetzle machine, by all means, make the spaetzle (or as Hungarians call it, nokedli) - I don’t have such a machine yet, or else I’d make nokedli from scratch.  So for now, I used egg noodles.  And as for wine, I chose the 2006 La Pommeraie de Brown, the 2nd label of Chateau Brown in the Pessac-Leognan part of Bordeaux (just over half Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot), and Peter chose the 2006 Val Sotillo Crianza Ribera del Duero.  Both were very good matches for the dish - for weight I’d go for the Bordeaux, and for flavor match I’d go for the Ribera del Duero, but either way it was delightful.

The whole thing was pretty easy - I asked the local butcher to leave the skin on the chicken thighs.  I patted them dry and seasoned with plenty of sea salt and black pepper, and the melted some unsalted butter in the Le Creuset pot (recipes generally called for a saute pan but I don’t have a real saute pan that’s big enough - the cast iron enamel pot was perfect anyway) - anyway, once the butter was melted (and smelling gloriously), I browned the chicken in the butter, and then I browned some thinly sliced crimini mushrooms, and once I removed them, I cooked the sliced onions in the browning butter, as they began to caramelize, I added plenty of sea salt, a touch of cayenne pepper, and lots of Hungarian paprika (I can still smell the sweet smoky aromas today).  Once the onions were cooked down a bit, I put the mushrooms back in, and poured in some chicken stock.  After all ingredients were incorporated, I put the chicken back in, and cooked it (recipes generally called for 20-25 minutes, but I think I left it simmering for close to 50 minutes), until the sauce had thickened and the chicken thighs were cooked thoroughly.  I removed the chicken pieces briefly, and then stirred in a bit more salt and sour cream, put the chicken back in, and when it was ready to be served, the macaroni gets cooked and the paprikash gets heated again, and placed atop the macaroni.  It’s that easy.  And delicious!

Paella

Paella - the finished product

So I stepped out of my culinary comfort zone again last week - to make a Spanish paella.  It wasn’t quite as easy as I thought, especially since recipes found online rarely are accurate, if ever.  It’s why I prefer cooking by instinct (Italian cooking) or by reading recipes in books written by celebrated food experts like Julia Child and Jacques Pepin that were written long before any idiot could contribute to online recipes.  And most regrettably, a great many of the inaccurate recipes are posted by “celebrity chefs” that people have come to rely on over the past decade or so.  It isn’t fair to those who really don’t have a natural feel for what’s going on in their kitchens, because they put their faith in these so called experts and their recipes and instructions, and end up with disasters - which translate to inedible dishes, lost time and energy, expensive ingredients ruined, and damaged confidence in the kitchen.  It’s precisely why, when I post a request to my facebook wall asking for a recipe, I specifically ask for recipes you use at home, that are tried and true - NOT internet recipes.

Chicken with dry rub

I’ve had paella lots of times, and I love it.  It’s great any time of the year, but I especially love it in the summer, my favorite time for eating shellfish.  Rice, I’ll be perfectly honest, isn’t my thing, and I only eat it when I make risotto.  But this time I’d eat it, since it was a huge part of the paella.  And believe it or not, the rice ended up being the tricky part, both flavor and texture - thanks to what I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty, is a faulty online recipe from a celebrated chef.  Lucky thing I know textures well enough to fix it, at least as well as I possibly could.  The rice was short grain Spanish rice and I cooked it with dry Spanish white wine and chicken stock.  Basically, you’ve got to add liquid ingredients to rice gradually when making that style of rice, at least I think so, otherwise you don’t really know exactly how much you’ll need to get the proper texture.  And that recipe didn’t call for nearly enough salt - when I began tasting it, I decided it had almost no flavor at all.  You be the judge when you’re cooking - you decide how much you need to season something with salt (or black pepper, within reason) - that’s why I love when a recipe tells us to season something “to taste” - only you know your own taste and the tastes of those for whom you’ve prepared the dish - so trust yourself!

Rice cooking with vegetables

Anyway, good chorizo sausage went into it, as did some crazy good chicken (I only buy chicken from the local butcher now, as supermarket chicken has gotten increasingly disgusting and I see no excuse for poor quality chicken in my dishes) - I seasoned it with a dry rub of sea salt, black pepper, oregano, and paprika.  After letting the flavors work together for a while, I sauteed it.  Outrageously good.  The seafood was sauteed shrimp (again, the recipe didn’t call for seasoning of the shrimp, which to me is flat out nonsense), mussels, and clams (all from the local fish monger - please don’t buy the fish at supermarkets - you’ll thank me once you’ve become accustomed to buying at a small shop that has better control over where the fish comes from and how they’re stored, etc.)  Other ingredients included fresh lemon, garlic, onion, peas, parsley, and tomato - and of course, saffron, my favorite Spanish flavor.  Im pretty sure that’s all there was to it.  I also decided I need a paella pan to make this dish next time (and many more times), as I think it’ll be easier than making it in 2 large-but-not-large-enough pans.

White Rioja - oxidized Viura

My advice?  Find someone who has some experience with this dish and ask that person for his/her recipe.  Don’t follow some internet recipe if Spanish cooking isn’t within your comfort zone.

Now, for the wine.  I chose a Spanish wine of course.  When you think of Spanish whites, if you think of them at all, you probably think of Albarino.  And I do enjoy a fresh young Albarino with shellfish.  But this time I wanted something with a little (read: a lot) more depth.  So I chose the R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Gravonia - it’s a controlled oxidized white made from 100% Viura grapes, from Rioja.  And it’s one of my favorite Spanish wines.  This one was vintage 2002.  Funky, salty, stony, and mature, it’s a perfect pairing for many chicken or fish dishes (this dish being both) - plus some fun Spanish cheeses - Mahon and Drunken Goat.  Perfect.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I don’t think I’ve written this one up yet, so here it is - a fun alternative to typical Italian sauces, I love making roasted red pepper sauce.  (And I can assure you, after you read the ingredients, you’ll see that it’s no less Italian than a standard marinara Sunday sauce - in fact, today is Sunday, and I’m making roasted red pepper sauce for our family dinner.)

And perhaps you’ve noticed I’m writing more often lately - instead of finding time, I’m making time.  I love writing and I love food and wine (no kidding, right?) and writing on my wine blog takes longer generally as I add a lot of philosophy to it and tasting notes, thoughts on terroir, comparison of vintages, etc. - so it takes more effort, whereas most of my recipes and food thoughts are always fresh in my mind and blogging is fun and easy!  And I like sharing my recipes with you - perhaps you’ll comment if you have any experiences with similar dishes and leave your notes, suggestions, or - if you ever try any of my recipes, will you let me know please?  I’d appreciate it so much!

Anyway, the roasted red pepper sauce is fun, and it’s versatile for most red wines, including those from Tuscany (Sangiovese), Sicily (Nero d’Avola or Nerello Mascalese), Piemonte (usually Dolcetto or Barbera), or some of the fun, earthy, fruity reds from southern France (e.g., Languedoc or Cotes du Rhone), or even some New World examples like reds from California or Chile (Cabernet/Merlot).  I like serving it with a fun shaped macaroni, usually farfalle or campanelle, but anything will do, especially penne.  Just boil the macaroni while the sauce is cooking.

For the sauce - in a medium sized pot, heat some olive oil (as nearly all of my recipes begin - heat some olive oil, it seems to be the answer to everything) - and saute a chopped onion.  Once the onion is softened, add a clove of finely chopped garlic and continue to saute.  Add a medium sized jar of red roasted peppers (believe it or not, I actually don’t know how many ounces those jars are, as I’ve never checked, but it’s not the small one that’s the size of your fist - it’s the next size up), anyway, add that and cook about 5 minutes, on low to medium heat, stirring and making sure it doesn’t burn the onions and garlic.  Add about 1 can (again, I don’t know the exact size of the can but it’s the small can) of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Season with plenty of kosher salt and a touch of black pepper.  Finally, add a large handful of fresh basil leaves, and cook another 5 minutes or so.

Now, here’s the part where you have an option.  Do you have an immersion blender?  It’s the wand sort of thing with a fan type blade at the end, either battery or electric - you can put it in your sauces etc. and blend them that way.  So that’s what I do at this point.  If not, just transfer the sauce (be careful, it’s hot!) into a regular blender and puree it.  (And then go out and buy an immersion blender - I guarantee it will make your culinary life much easier!)

Now that the sauce is pureed, leave it/put it back in the pot and stir in some cream.  I use fat free half and half usually, but you can use regular half and half or heavy cream - just a small amount, enough to make it a little creamy and smooth, and you’ll know you added enough when the sauce turns a slightly salmon-pink color (it’s a reddish orange before the cream) after you’re stirred in the cream, so add it conservatively until you’ve got that color.  Now, heat it up again as the cream should be chilled before adding it to the sauce.  Once it’s back to a near boiling point, turn off the heat, and your macaroni should be done by now (cooked, drained, etc.) - so in a large serving bowl, combine the macaroni and enough sauce to reach all macaroni.

I like plating it on separate dishes, topping it with a little more sauce, and then a basil leaf or two and some grated cheese (for me, it’s parmigiano reggiano, but if you prefer pecorino romano or asiago, it’s your call), and that’s it.  I usually serve with a clean salad.  (Tonight’s salad is organic baby spring greens, a hint of finely chopped shallot, crumbled feta cheese, and chopped walnuts, with a balsamic vinaigrette.)  Remember, you can also add pieces of chicken breast to it if you want some lean protein.

If it sounds easy, that’s because it is.  The whole process takes me probably around 20 minutes from getting onions from my vegetable drawer to grating the cheese over the plated macaroni.  Now, go find your corkscrew, open a fun red wine, pour yourself a glass, turn on some Claudio Villa, and try this easy, healthy, delicious recipe!

Moules Provencale

Shellfish - it’s one of my favorite things to have all summer.  So I decided to try something new last night.

Moules Provencale is a mussel dish prepared (I guess) a sort of Provencale way - which indicated to me that a rose from Provence was absolutely necessary for pairing with dinner, and truthfully, any excuse I have to drink rose in the warmer months is a bonus for me.

The fresh mussels were cleaned and then steamed in a large pot with white wine.

In a separate pot, I heated some olive oil, and sauteed chopped onions, then added finely chopped garlic, and then deglazed with a bit more white wine.  After stirring, I added about a tablespoon of tomato paste, and then about 14 oz of canned plum tomatoes which I rough chopped, and the tomato juice from the can.  Give it another stir, and then I added plenty of kosher salt, black pepper, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and lots of fresh chopped parsley.  I then let it cook down a bit on simmer, stirring often.

A few moments later, the mussels were opened and cooked nicely, and the sauce was done.  The mussels get placed in a bowl or on a plate, and topped with some of the sauce.  It’s that easy.  Just add some crusty bread and chilled rose and you’re good to go - a quick, easy, inexpensive, delicious, healthy summer dinner!

Veal Osso Buco, Gremolata, & THE BEST Wines

I haven’t yet decided what it’ll be tonight in terms of wine - but I’m leaning California, either Pinot Noir or Cabernet.  It’ll be paired with good quality burgers and undoubtedly fun toppings.  And I’m thinking about tomorrow’s dinner to start the weekend - I think it’ll be mussels cooked in a nice sauce of white wine, onions, garlic, herbs, and tomato, with crusty Italian bread.  And paired with Provence rose.

But last night - oh my.

I love taking requests for dinners, especially of the challenging nature.  And so when my boyfriend requested veal osso buco, I realized I had never actually made it before, even though I’d had it in restaurants a few times.  After some basic research and fortunately some common sense and kitchen know-how, I was ready.  (Bear in mind, there are lots of ways to prepare lots of dishes, even classics can vary - for example, I pulled ingredient ideas from several recipes, and decided to place it on top of fettuccine, although I’d have preferred a heavier macaroni but didn’t have time to get to the Italian store before dinner, but it could just as easily be placed on mashed potatoes, polenta, or risotto - your choice!)

I went to the local butcher and got 2 veal shanks, each about 2 inches thick.  I seasoned them on both sides with kosher salt and black pepper, and then dredged them in flour, before braising them (browning on each side in heated olive oil in the dutch oven on high heat for about 8 minutes per side). I removed them from the pot, lowered the heat a bit, added a bit more oil, and in went 2 chopped yellow onions, 1 peeled and chopped carrot, and one chopped celery stalk.  Once they cooked down for about 5 minutes, I added finely chopped garlic (several cloves) and about 3 tbsp tomato paste, and stirred it in for a moment.  I then added about 2 cups of dry white wine (please remember to use something decent - not expensive, but not something you wouldn’t drink - bear in mind, all “cooking” wine should be drinking wine as well), and used the wooden spoon to scrape the drippings.  I added more kosher salt and black pepper, 1 sprig fresh rosemary, 3 large sprigs fresh thyme, about 14 oz rough chopped plum tomatoes from the can, and about 3 cups of chicken stock.  Once they were stirred together and cooked for a few minutes back on high heat and brought to a boil, I returned the veal to the pot, submerged them in the liquid, covered it, and put it in the oven (preheated to about 350 degrees F), and cooked it for a good 2 1/2 hours.

In the meantime, it’s a good opportunity to boil the water for the macaroni and made a gremolata.  What’s a gremolata, you ask?  Basically, it’s almost pureed (I chop very finely by hand) herbs - I use parsley usually, with some kosher salt, black pepper, garlic, and I also use lemon zest (it’s I believe gremolata Milanese), and then add some olive oil.  It’s that easy.  I like to let it sit an hour or 2 so the flavors come together, and then add a bit more oil to loosen it up.  The fresh brightness of the gremolata is great for picking up the osso buco, I decided, and it just works, plus it’s gorgeous on the plate.

Once the 2 1/2 hours are up, remove the dutch oven from the oven and if the sauce is a bit loose, which it probably will be since we had the pot covered in the oven, remove the lid and bring it to a boil on the stove, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, until the sauce reduces a bit.

Boil the macaroni, drain it, plate it in a fairly deep dish (individual serving plates), carefully top with the veal shank (I was going to use tongs but when I saw how it could fall apart if I did that, I used a large spatula instead - that worked well), and then ladle with some of the sauce.  I then topped with about 2 teaspoons of the gremolata.  And that’s it.  It sounds like a lot of work, but it isn’t, really.  It’s more about doing your homework and executing your recipe decisions fearlessly and confidently.

So - osso buco is a big deal, with big flavors and textures (especially when that glorious cooked marrow comes out of the bone (my dad once bought me an antique marrow spoon - there’s the perfect tool for that part of dinner!), but this means we need a fairly big wine with complexity and presence.

My boyfriend was in charge of the wine selection - and he picked the perfect bottle (and wisely suggested decanting - I recommend a good hour for this one).  It was the 2011 Quinta do Vale Meao, a very traditional dry Portuguese red from Douro made from native Portuguese red grapes (mainly Touriga Nacional, which shows lots of dark, ripe fruit characteristics and floral notes of purple blossoms including violet and lilac), and it was quite the elegant and expressive wine, with plenty of mineral, a clean but rich feel, and an incredible finish.  What a glorious pairing!

A little surprise came while dinner was near ready for consumption though - we decided to open a white just spur of the moment.  I chose something fun and on the luxurious side - the 2000 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Gewurztraminer from Alsace.  Yes, that’s right, a 14 year old Gewurztraminer, from one of my favorite Alsatian producers.  And it was probably the best Gewurztraminer I’ve ever had, which is saying a lot considering Gewurz is my favorite white grape and I’ve tasted plenty of good ones.  The color was a rich gold with hints of orange, and it was somewhat different from what I anticipated, due to its age.  It aged very gracefully indeed, and while the acidity had softened quite a bit and the expected lychee notes weren’t there, it was all about apricot, canned peaches, rich orchard fruit, some mango, pineapple and tropical fruits, honeysuckle and white blossoms, and even some savory herbs, with white mineral and a wonderful finish - well, we had our last glasses of it after dinner as the Yankees won, so it was the aperitif and digestif as well, and it was perfect.

As my boyfriend remarked, “we’re going all top shelf tonight.”

Indeed.

Sea Scallops et al.

Back to back posts - imagine that!  (I must be feeling inspired.)

In the spirit of quick, easy, delicious recipes, here’s one I did last night, which could not have taken me more than 20 minutes total, and that’s no exaggeration.  Granted, if you’re not familiar with it and you’re working from a recipe it could take a bit longer, but still I’d say no longer than 30 minutes, and that’s the truth.

I was grocery shopping with my mom and had a seafood crave (nothing new there, as I usually crave seafood).  We stopped by the fish monger and the sea scallops were so fresh, there was no resisting them.  What to do?  Well, last time I made sea scallops, I added a side of lemon risotto.  But risotto takes a while, even if you’re working as quickly as I generally do.  (This may come as a surprise to some who know me, as I tend to move very slowly even for rather a young person, but in the kitchen I’m sort of supersonic - go figure.  Mom and I call it “going into the zone” and that’s how it is.)

I patted the sea scallops dry (note: sea scallops are the larger ones, not the tiny pearl sized bay scallops which for those of us on Long Island who eat the Peconic bay scallops, harvest season is in autumn, so the rest of the year we eat sea scallops), and heated some olive oil and a pat of unsalted butter in a large skillet.  I seasoned the scallops on both sides with kosher salt and black pepper and seared them on both sides, no more than 3 minutes per side (I often cook even less than that but my dad likes fish cooked a bit more thoroughly so I gave it an extra minute), and then placed the scallops on plates with a lemon wedge and a sprinkling of fresh finely chopped thyme leaves.

I set aside the pan drippings and poured it into a small bowl, hit it with a few drops of fresh lemon juice and a touch of thyme, and that was the dipping sauce for a fresh loaf of ciabatta bread.

The side salad was baby kale (I rarely eat kale as it seems to be one of those trendy things and I tend to avoid trendy items) but the baby kale was organic and beautifully irresistible and so that was the leaf of choice, with tiny yellow tomatoes, and a lemon and shallot vinaigrette dressing.

I chose an organic Sancerre rose to pair with it.  It’s becoming rose season now, with the warm weather upon us at last.  (Remember, Sancerre is a region, not a grape - so if you’re thinking, I thought Sancerre is white, it is, but only when it’s made with Sauvignon Blanc.  If it’s red or rose, it’s Pinot Noir.  And Sancerre is AOC in the Loire Valley of France.)  The crisp bright acidity and clean texture of the wine, with notes of barely ripened strawberry and red fruit, a touch of cranberry, white citrus fruit, and stony mineral, made for a perfect pairing.

So there’s a healthy, easy dinner and wine pairing best suited for the warmer months, in just around 20 minutes including prep and cook time.  Enjoy!