April | 2015 | culinary flights of fancy

April 22, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Salt Cod Fritters with Spicy Pimenton and Roasted Garlic Aioli

Salt Cod combined with potatoes, onion, and parsley

Fritters are fried at 350 degrees in safflower oil. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil.

Salt cod is a rare treat around here. In fact, I don’t think I had cooked with it since culinary school. Salt cod, as the name implies, is simply cod that has been heavily salted and dried. It can then be rehydrated and used in a number of dishes including traditional fritters from both Portugal and Spain. Another favorite is a salt cod and potato dip or sorts called brandade that is also extremely good. Anyway, you can find salt cod on the Internet available for order or I’m sure you can ask your local butcher shop to order it if you prefer to go that route. Either way, I would definitely recommend giving this a try at some point. It’s great for a Saturday night with the family or a few friends.

One thing of note: when frying, use a pan big enough to accommodate the amount of oil called for in the recipe while still having plenty of room left in the pan because the oil will bubble up. That’s a good thing. It’s a bad thing if it bubbles up and the pan isn’t big enough because it will bubble over and, best case, cause a mess and, worse, cause a really bad burn.

Another note and this is sort of a pain, but you have to plan ahead with this as the rehyrdation process involves soaking it for a 12-48 hours depending on just how salty it is. Plan on a full 48 hours just to be safe!

Pimenton is simply a smoked paprika from Spain. It really is something special and definitely worth getting. it imparts a really unique flavor that isn’t captured by other smoked paprikas. Of course, if you need to, feel free to substitute smoked paprika or regular paprika in the aioli. It will be tasty either way. Trust me, though…get the pimenton. You won’t be disappointed!

The recipe for the salt cod fritters can be found here.

The aioli can be made by making a basic mayonnaise. I used a whole egg and one egg yolk as the whole egg gives it a creaminess that is better suited for dips. Otherwise, it’s pretty straight forward. The recipe for the aioli follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 22, 2015
by Craig 1 Comment

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Piment D’Espelette

A whole roasted cauliflower is easy and tasty and makes a beautiful presentation as a side dish.

Cauliflower is really popular right now in restaurants everywhere. You might even say it’s trendy right now. I’ve seen whole roasted cauliflower in multiple forms all over the Internet and decided I wanted to try it. We often roast cauliflower but I usually break it apart into individual pieces prior to roasting. The main difference between that method and roasting it whole ultimately lies in the fact that roasting it whole preserves some of the crunch while still delivering roasted flavor and color.

Piment D’Espelette is simply a French red pepper flake of sorts with the consistency of a very coarse paprika. If you don’t have it and don’t want to purchase it, you can certainly use red pepper flakes, paprika, or sumac in it’s place. Herbs would great with this as well. Otherwise, this is very simple and very good. Give it a try…you’ll be right on trend and beyond that, and more importantly, it’s a beautiful, tasty vegetable dish that doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to make! Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 15, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Pan Seared Veal Chop with Fresh Fava Beans and Peas

Veal chop, glazed with a veal stock and white wine reduction, served with a variety of simply prepared spring vegetables.

Cooked and raw vegetables mingle together to create different textures and flavors.

Happy spring! We are finally having a seasonally appropriate week here in Jerz and I am more than happy about it. I also received the first tomatoes of the new season yesterday. They are local farm greenhouse tomatoes but they look and smell as they should and they are making me excited about all the produce coming in the near future!

I made this dish for a special occasion to celebrate a milestone with my wife and I wanted to make something that celebrated the season as well. Veal is almost a perfect meat to go with spring vegetables as the milder flavor doesn’t overpower the more delicate flavors of the spring vegetables. Here, fresh fava beans and peas take center stage. The softer textures of those lightly blanched vegetables are balanced out with carrots and green onions that are just cooked through and thinly sliced raw radish adds color and a touch of spiciness. The whole thing is brought together with just a touch of veal stock and white wine reduction drizzled over the top of the veal chop, creating an almost glaze like glisten and sheen that provides additional depths of flavor with a touch of acidity.

Both fava beans and peas are available right now fresh in the produce section of most grocery stores. However, if you can’t find them, both can be found in the frozen food section as well. Simply unthaw them and add them at the end…no need to cook them as they are blanched and then frozen. So, as long as they are thawed, just toss them in the pan at the end to warm them through for a few seconds.

I found the microgreens used as a garnish at Wegman’s market. If you can’t find them at your store, chopped Italian parsley would work well too.

The veal chop pictured is pretty large and can easily feed two. If you have your butcher cut them thick, plan on one chop per two people or adjust as needed. Recipe and another picture follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 14, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Linguini with Green Onions, Lemon, and Pecorino Cheese

Green onions take center stage in this simple pasta dish that celebrates the bounty of spring.

We don’t eat a whole lot of pasta at our house. It’s not that we don’t care for it or anything. In fact, I really like it. I think my wife is probably a little more ambivalent about it than me but she still likes it fairly well too. However, the fact remains, we just don’t eat it that often. I’ve posted a few pasta recipes here and there over the past year but I often feel sort of guilty about it as pasta is really so common, is it really necessary to give yet another pasta recipe? I don’t know…I go back and forth but here we are discussing a new pasta recipe. The great thing about pasta is that there are so many approaches and the flavor profiles of individual dishes can range from very complex with lots of ingredients to very simple with just a few. This dish definitely falls into the latter category and really has just a few ingredients. I chose linguini because that’s what we had at home, so feel free to adapt and change the type of pasta to suit your tastes and what you have on hand. I do think that the general linguini, spaghetti, angel hair pasta shape works well with this dish. I used very large green onions. In fact, they almost bordered more on the spring onion size. If you can find spring onions, definitely use those! However, if you can’t, try to find the largest green onions/scallions that you can for this recipe. Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 11, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Desserts: Lemon Polenta Cake with Lavender and Tuscan Chestnut Cake

Lemon polenta cake with lavender and Tuscan chestnut cake.

Over the Easter holiday, I made a couple of different desserts and both were great in their own way. The lemon polenta cake with lavender was a nicely sweet and moist cake that had a lovely crunch and texture from the medium ground polenta.

The Tuscan chestnut cake was only slightly sweet and only calls for a couple of tablespoons of sugar for the entire cake. The chestnut flour added a nice nutty taste and earthiness to the mix, while the walnuts, pine nuts, and golden raisins provided a beautiful contrast in textures. This cake is dense and as such, very filling. A little of it goes a long way but I really loved the unique flavor combinations and the rosemary in the cake adds a nice woodsy herb flavor.

All in all, both were great and neither were very difficult to make. So, if you are looking for a dessert that is a little bit different than your usual fare, give one of these a whirl. I definitely can recommend both recipes.

Both of these recipes came from Food 52. It’s a great site and one that I frequent regularly. I’ve tried a number of different recipes from this site and each and every one of them has exceeded expectations. So, if you are so inclined and have the time, I definitely recommend going there and taking a look at the site.

The recipe for the lemon polenta cake with lavender can be found here.

The recipe for the Tuscan chestnut cake can be found here.

April 10, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Classic Croque Madame

Ham, gruyere cheese, bechamel, and a fried egg with crispy, crusty bread…what could be better!?!

Classic Croque Madame:

This is a definitely a ‘go-to’ sandwich we love. I love to use leftover fresh ham for this but any smoked and cured ham will do. Likewise, prosciutto works well with this dish. I think the key with the ham component is to use any that you like as long as you stay away from sweetly glazed or cured hams. I think it is much better using a simple smoked and cured ham instead. Otherwise, how could this not be great? It’s ham, gruyere cheese, crusty bread, and a fried egg with béchamel sauce! I mean, come on…it’s going to be pretty great. Sometimes, we make these without the béchamel because we want something less heavy but let’s face it…it really is better with the béchamel. Also, classically this sandwich is made with two pieces of bread with the fried egg over the top. However, we often serve them open-faced with one piece of bread. So, do as you prefer…

This is a pretty heavy, filling sandwich so we usually serve this with a large, simple salad with lots of greens and veggies. Hint…eat a large salad first and then tackle the sandwich as it will fill you up more quickly and ensure you eat something healthy first before partaking in the less healthy sandwich. Then if you end up eating the entire sandwich after that, then at least you can feel good about eating a decent amount of vegetables along with it!

Oh, just in case…béchamel is a French Mother sauce and their version of a white sauce. It’s not made with cream, however. Instead, you make a roux with flour and butter and then slowly add milk until a sauce is formed. Season it with salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and some freshly grated nutmeg and you are good to go. It’s really great and a handy and fairly easy sauce to pull together for all sorts of things including a pretty incredible macaroni and cheese! Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 9, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Vegetable Hash with Fresh Cranberry Beans, Greens, Mixed Vegetables, and Lardons

For a heartier dinner, add an egg, either poached or fried, over the top. It will add a nice creaminess to the vegetables.

Laronds add a nice smoky flavor and a meaty texture to this otherwise vegetable oriented dish. Skip them if you want to keep it completely vegetable based.

Lardons add a nice smoky flavor and a meaty texture to this otherwise vegetable oriented dish. Skip them if you want to keep it completely vegetable based.

A while back I wrote a recipe for corned beef hash that had a number of different vegetables in addition to the usual suspects present in a hash. In that post, I mentioned that hash is great with just vegetables or almost all vegetables. Here, hash is lightened up with a mix of potatoes including sweet potatoes, fresh cranberry beans (which are in season right now), Tuscan kale, and a myriad of other vegetables all brought together with a bit of lardons and topped with a fried egg. This is an easy ‘go-to’ dinner that Tara and I have not too infrequently. It’s filling and fairly quick as it takes just under an hour or so to pull together. I didn’t make this with an egg but usually will serve this with either a poached egg or fried egg on top. I can’t remember why we decided against the egg the night I made this…we probably figured the hash was enough. However, we love eggs and love eggs for dinner and this dish is a perfect canvas with which to use eggs. So, it works for us on a number of levels…eggs or not! Couple all the vegetables with the high fiber and protein of the fresh beans and this dish really packs a lot of nutritional punch. Really, you can just look at the picture of the dish with all the various colored vegetables and you know it’s at least somewhat good for you. They say eating the rainbow is the best way to get all of the various nutritional elements needed in your diet. This dish succeeds in that regard.

If you are wondering what lardons are, it’s simply slab bacon that is sliced thick and then the thick slices are cut into thick matchstick-like shapes. They are sweated over low heat, releasing the fat from the bacon. They shouldn’t be overcooked and turned into little bacon bits. Rather, they should be slightly chewy with some of the fat remaining on the inside while still having an ever so slight crunch on the outside. They are very tasty and classically, they are used in frisee salads with a poached egg in French cuisine (and in other classic dishes as well). If you can’t find slab bacon (unsliced), skip it. There’s not need to use regular bacon here. Just use grapeseed oil or some other vegetable oil. Likewise, if you prefer to keep the hash completely vegetable based, just skip the lardons. It will be great either way.

P.S.- Parboiled means partially boiled and for potatoes, typically that takes between 15-20 minutes. Bring the water to a boil, place the potatoes in the boiling water and cook 15-20 minutes or until you can put a fork into the potato easy but still meet some resistance in the middle.

Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 8, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Pea Pesto with Toasted Walnuts, Pecorino Cheese, and Mint

Use pea pesto as a dip or as you would in any dish that calls for traditional pesto.

Nothing says spring like fresh peas. Beyond simply enjoying peas cooked quickly on their own or tossed into salads, etc. peas also make a great pesto. The sweet earthiness of the peas really complement the saltiness of the cheese and they blend beautifully. Mint pairs nicely with peas as well to round everything out. Enjoy this easy dish as a dip with bread or crackers or toss it into pasta as you would a classic basil pesto. You won’t be disappointed either way! Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →

April 1, 2015
by Craig Leave a comment

Easter Celebration Menu: Fresh ham with Provencal Herbs and basted in French wine

culinary flights of fancy

Try this for your Easter celebration on Sunday. It’s very easy, feeds a crowd, and is unbelievably good. I used a red wine here but a good French wine will work just as well. I plan to make a Swiss chard gratin, salad, bread, and some other sort of vegetable dish to be determined. I haven’t sorted out dessert yet either but will post the full menu once I figure it out. Until then, check this recipe out and give it a try! PS- this is a recipe from last summer. I’m reposting it because this is the dish we landed on for Easter this year…my Italian Easter Pie idea was nixed (boo!).

I don’t have a lot of experience with fresh ham. This is actually only the second time I’ve cooked one, though it’s such a massive piece of meat, you can adapt all sorts of recipes for leftovers…

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April 1, 2015
by Craig 1 Comment

Lavender, Honey, and Sherry Braised Short Ribs

Lavender, honey, and sherry short ribs with risotto style farro and wilted greens.

Raw thinly sliced radishes and spring onions add an earthiness and slight spiciness to the sweetness of the lavender honey sherry reduction. Balance the whole dish with a very small drizzle of sherry vinegar.

This is another seasonal transition dish that marries hearty braised short ribs with some liter, more spring-like flavors. I paired the short ribs with risotto style farro, wilted greens, and the braising vegetables and garnished it with thinly sliced radishes and spring onions. This dish would be great with any rice or grain. You can also skip it completely and serve it simply with vegetables and maybe some crusty bread to soak up the beautiful sherry and veal stock reduction that’s scented with lavender and honey. Here I used a sweet sherry and, coupled with the honey, was almost too sweet. So, if you prefer your main meals more on the savory side of the spectrum, simply use a dry sherry instead. It will be great either way. However, if you do use a sweet sherry, the extra sweetness added a nice balance to the earthiness of the farro, greens, radishes, and onions. If you don’t have sherry, feel free to use a good quality white wine…it will turn out just as great. Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →