The Weekend

It's rare that I go through an entire weekend without cooking. Friday, Kitty and I met up with Monte and Amy at El Charro. We gave Zak and Dak a table for themselves and enjoyed a semi-adult evening.  Monte and I had been working on a top secret video project for a couple of days and really needed a break. The girls were all to happy to oblige an we decided on Mexican food. I had a few margaritas and the carnitas. They were pretty good, but a bit on the dry side. They had plenty of flavor, but were overcooked. Next time, I'll try something different.

Saturday evening was the Saint Andrew's Capitol City Dinner Dance. This event is put on by the EYC at our church, Saint Andrew's Cathedral, in Downtown Jackson. We met up there with Monte and Amy (two nights in a row with the cool kids) and had a choice of salmon or beef tenderloin. Kitty, Monte and I had the beef. Amy had the Salmon. All of it was great. I don't know who cooked the salmon, but it was tasty. My friend and fellow parishioner Bobby Lacoste cooked the beef tenderloins and knocked it out of the park. Despite the fact that Amy spilled her wine and I got blamed for it, the evening was a smashing success. Afterwards, we all went together to Underground 119 for a night-cap.
Since I didn't do the cooking, there are no recipes in this entry. Stay tuned...I have a special recipe that I'll put up on Tuesday for my first self avowed "fan."
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Breakfast for Supper

It was one of those nights...lots of homework, kids going in every different direction, pantry needs restocking and I forgot to thaw anything when I got going this morning. Luckily, when Kitty was looking for something in the freezer earlier this week, she got out a package of heads and tails from a whole beef fillet. They were thawed, but there wasn't enough to feed all five of us. No problem, we had eggs and some leftover red and yellow bell peppers and the herb garden (now that it is not frozen) was full of newly sprouted green onions. So, omelettes it was! We were in a bit of a hurry to get everyone fed, homework checked and the little one in the tub so I didn't even take the time to sprinkle my omnipresent paprika and parsley over the plated dish. Anyway, here is an action shot of Kitty with her eggy-goodness.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Dinner at Walker's

Scott and I had a lobbying client in town from Chicago most of this week. The client, who is also a good friend, is a true foodie and lover of all things delicious, except for pork (his loss). For our last dinner together on this trip, we went to Walker's Drive-In in the burgeoning Fondren Arts District in Jackson, Mississippi.
When I was asked to write some of the "Best of Jackson" articles for the Jackson Free Press, I was thrilled to see that Walker's had won Best Restaurant and that I got to write the review. It read:

If this were a question on the SAT, it might read: "Andre Previn is to the orchestra pit as Derek Emerson is to the (a) kitchen, (b) dining room, (c) menu, (d) all of the above." The answer would, of course, be "d." In order to be the best restaurant in Jackson, you must get it all right. You can't just rely on your food to make up for service and atmosphere.

Lucky for Walker's, they don't have to worry about that scenario. I have traveled my way across multiple continents and dined in the places you read about in the national press, and I can say without a doubt that Walker's Drive In is on par with some of the best restaurants in which I've ever lifted a fork. So it is no wonder that Derek and his crew also brought home the trophy for where to take your date. The service is impeccable, and the laid-back atmosphere allows you to relax, sit back, and concentrate on your date without hassling with chasing down a waiter to fill your water glass or bring another bottle of wine. Although the menu is varied and enticing, I prefer to randomly pick one of the nightly specials, knowing that it will live up to my already high expectations. - Tom Ramsey

 The food was so good that I completely forgot to take pictures of the dishes. Suffice it to say, they looked yummy. I had a Scallops, followed by a Ribeye, Scott had the Fennel Soup, followed by the Scallops and Ben had the Asian Three Way Salad followed by Everything Crusted Tuna. Next time, I promise to get pictures.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

How I Love New Orleans

New Orleans is one of the greatest places on this big Earth. I've been coming down here since before I can remember and it never ceases to be special. Last night I got to be part of something that I will never forget. My good friend and business associate, Ben Goren, met me in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton and we hatched a plan to watch the Saints/Vikings game at that venerable bastion of all things New Orleans, the Acme Oyster House. The line was mercifully short and we were seated in time for the kickoff. Over the next three hours, we consumed uncountable quantities of grilled oysters, raw oysters and Abita Turbo Dog. The atmosphere was electric and the feeling of community made me feel like part of one big, happy, oyster-eating, beer-drinking, Saints-loving family. At the end of the game, as the Saint's field goal unit took the field, the whole place was silent and holding it's collective breath. Grills were unmanned, the kitchen was empty, tables went un-bussed and a waitress and I held pinkies. When the ball split the uprights the place went mad. The Saints made it to the Super Bowl!  We were having so much fun eating and drinking that I didn't get any pictures of the food. But here are some shots of the "family."

Another Practice Run

Here are the photos of the plating Dan Blumenthal and I tried last night, and a couple of the head shots I'll be taking with me to the audition.
Wish me luck!
~Tom

Practicing for the Audition

Last night Kitty and I had a couple of my oldest and best friends over to critique my "Audition" dish. Ken and Will are good enough friends that they can be honest without the risk of hurting my tender little feelings. I was planning to just cook the andouille stuffed tenderloin for the audition although I had been toying with the idea of also including Boudin as a tenderloin-stuffer. Ken brought a pound of Boudin and I decided to give it a shot. After all, who wants good Boudin to go to waste. It was a hit. I now feel certain that I should prepare both the boudin and the andouille stuffed pork. After we were about half way through the meal, I noticed that the hot spices in the boudin worked well with the sweetness of the fig gastrique. To keep this consistient throughout the dish, I went back in the kitchen and added some Indian chili powder to the gastrique. It worked so well that I have decided to add that to the audition recipe. I have also decided to forgo the chived basmati rice in favor of a dish that I call Grits Cochon. Essentially, the grits are cooked in a mixture of milk and ham stock and seasoned with a bit of pork fat and chopped green onion. So without further ado, here is the completed dish of Boudin and Andouille Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Fig Gastrique over Grits Cochon .
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Why I Love "Poor People Food"

In any part of the world you can find some of the best dishes in the poorest of kitchens. Food writers like to dress it up and call it "Rustic" or "Country" cooking. What they mean is "Poor People Food." Usually there are some common threads that include a cheap cut of meat, a few aromatic vegetables, lots of spices and herbs and some form of inexpensive starch. The ingredients are usually cooked in a single pot over low heat for a long time. This allows all of the ingredients to do their magic and turn that cheap cut of meat into a soft flavorful thing of beauty. One of my favorites is White Beans with Pork. 
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

White Beans with Pork

1 lb. bag navy beans

1 lb. bag great northern beans

1 lb. cooked pork (ham, shoulder, tenderloin etc.)

4 stalks celery

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch parsley

4 carrots

2 medium yellow onions

1 whole garlic pod

3 qt. ham stock*

1 Tbsp. ground thyme

1 Tbsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. bacon grease

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Chop celery, carrots and onions. Finely chop green onions and parsley. Slice ¼ inch through the top of the garlic pod, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap tightly in foil. Chop cooked pork into small cubes, no larger than ½ inch. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook

Place foil wrapped garlic in the hot oven and roast for at least 20 minutes. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Put olive oil and bacon grease in hot pot until bacon grease is fully dissolved and sizzling. Add chopped yellow onions and cook until translucent. Add celery, carrots thyme and oregano. Cook until celery begins to soften. Add cooked pork and cook until meat is hot, stirring constantly. Drain and add beans and enough ham stock to cover all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Remove roasted garlic from oven and squeeze pods into simmering liquid. Stir frequently and add liquid as it reduces. Cook for at least 2 hours. Stir aggressively and taste broth. Add salt and pepper as required. About ten minutes before serving, add chopped green onions and stir.

Plate

Serve with hot bread in a shallow bowl. Garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 10)

* there are several good commercial brands. I use Better than Bouillon.

Just Another Sunday Omelette

After-church brunch today was omelettes with super-hammy grits. Everyone ordered something different in their omelettes, but they got to choose from ham, cheese (cheddar and some thing called "cougar cheese" that is awesome), green onions and bell peppers. If you don't have my can't-fail omelette recipe, just shoot me an email (tom@tomramsey.com) and I'll send it to you. For the super-hammy grits, just cook as usual, but substitute ham stock for the water.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Dinner with Deborah

Our friend Deborah joined us at home for dinner last night. We had a great visit and from the pictures below, I think you can tell that Deborah enjoyed the meal. I made Flatiron Steak with a Wine Reduction Pan Sauce, Lobster Whipped Potatoes and for Kitty, Gluten-free Broccoli Au Gratin. Before dinner we cracked a bottle of Castle Rock Pinot from California's Central Coast and with the meal, we uncorked a Parados Malbec from Argentina. 
I had never attempted to make any dishes "au gratin" with gluten-free baking mix before last night. I figured that with a small gathering, if I bombed with it, I could always throw some Fordhooks in the microwave and no one would be the wiser. As it turns out, you can use the stuff pretty much like flour when making a bechamel sauce.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Marinated Flat Iron Steak with Pan Sauce

1 Flatiron steak (2-3 lbs.)

2 cans pilsner beer

½ cup Dales Steak Seasoning

1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3  cup good red wine

½ cup rich beef stock

Fresh ground black pepper

6 green onions

1 bunch parsley   

Prep

Marinate steak in beer and Dales Seasoning for at least three hours before cooking. Remove from marinade and pat dry. Allow meat to come to room temperature and rub thoroughly with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub. Finely chop parsley and green onions. Turn on broiler and allow it to become very hot.

Cook

Heat a large iron skillet over high heat until it is very hot. Add 2 Tbsp. butter to the hot skillet and as soon as it melts and foams, add steak and cook for one minute on each side. Transfer skillet to broiler and add 1 more Tbsp. butter. Broil for seven minutes and transfer from broiler back to stovetop over medium heat. Remove the steak and allow it to rest in a bowl covered loosely in foil while the sauce is prepared. Turn off the broiler and place a large platter in the oven to warm. With the pan on the stovetop over medium heat, deglaze the pan with wine and allow it to reduce to 1/3 of its original volume. Add beef stock and continue reducing until it is ½ of its original volume. Turn heat to low and add any liquid that has pooled in the bowl beneath the steak and remaining butter. Stir in butter until it is completely emulsified and add ½ of the green onions. Add black pepper to taste.

Plate

Slice steak at an angle, place on warm platter, fan the meat and top with pan sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley and remaining green onions.

(Serves 4)

Lobster Whipped Potatoes

4 large russet potatoes

1 Tbsp. lobster base*

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup whole milk

4 green onions

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Peel and cube potatoes. Set milk out and allow it to come to room temperature. Finely chop green onions.

Cook

In a large saucepan or medium stock pot, cover potatoes with cold water, add 1 tsp. salt and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until potatoes are tender enough for a knife to pass through them with little resistance. This should take about 12-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Drain all but ¼ cup of water from the potatoes and return the pot to the stove. If you can’t determine this amount by “eyeballing” the liquid, remove ¼ cup of the hot water, set aside and then drain the potatoes completely and return the reserved water to the pot. With a potato masher or ricer, mash the potatoes until all the lumps are gone. Add lobster base and butter and stir thoroughly. Slowly add the milk, a little bit at a time and whip with a wand mixer while the milk is added. You may not use all of the milk before the desired consistency is reached. When the potatoes are velvety and completely lump-free, add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate

Serve hot and top with chopped green onions.

(Serves 6)

*I recommend a brand called Better than Bouillon.

Gluten-free Broccoli Au Gratin

6 heads fresh broccoli

4 Tbsp. gluten-free baking mix

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup shredded jack cheese

¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 cup whole milk

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 whole pod garlic

1 tsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Ingredient

Prep

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut broccoli florets from the stalks and place in a microwave and oven safe dish, season lightly with salt and pepper. Make a ¼ inch slice through the top of the garlic pod. Drizzle garlic with salt and pepper and wrap in foil. Allow the milk to come to room temperature.

Cook

Place the foil-wrapped garlic in the hot oven and roast for 15 minutes. Add 3 Tbsp. water and cover the dish containing the broccoli with plastic wrap, cut several holes in the wrap and microwave for three minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap and allow the broccoli to cool while you make the sauce.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the baking mix. Whisk together until velvety. Slowly add milk and whisk constantly (this sauce is now called a béchamel). Remove the garlic from the oven and squeeze the roasted cloves into the béchamel and continue to whisk until the garlic is fully emulsified. Pour the sauce over the broccoli and add ¾ of the cheese. Mix thoroughly but gently so as not to break up the florets. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and the sauce is set. Finish under the broiler for 2 or 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

Plate

Serve hot.

(Serves 6)

 Before...

After...

Quick Lunch

This was the result of wanting something hot, hearty and quick. It was like heaven, only cheesier.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Practice...Practice...Practice

To help get ready for my January 23rd audition for the new Gordon Ramsay show "Masterchef," I cooked one of my favorite dishes for one of my favorite priests. I figure, this guys has great beer, is bound by heaven to give me an honest opinion and besides, he and his wife are a blast to hang out with. Kitty and I went to the home of Bryan and Julie Owen and had dinner with them, the kids, the dog and the cats (who were terrified of me for some reason). Julie made a great salad with mixed greens, feta cheese and tart fruit. I did my go-to dish of Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Andouille Sausage, served with a Fig Gastrique.
Next Saturday, I will be making this dish for Gordon Ramsay. I picked this recipe because I don't know how long I will have to wait, with my food in a hotbox. The gastrique and the roasted pork will hold up well to the long wait. I think I will also serve Ramsay a Chived Rice Timbale and some Steamed Green Beans with my secret weapon seasoning. Here is a photo from last night. I'll post the recipe later.
Thanks to Bryan, Julie and the kids for a great night and an honest critique.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Practicing What I Preach (sort-of)

Last night I grabbed a $1 cheeseburger at McDonald's on my way home from a speaking engagement in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I won't bore you with the pictures. Suffice it to say that the burger was mediocre at best. I was not however disappointed since it tasted exactly how I expected and provided me with enough energy to get home and go to sleep.
Wednesday night I took my own advice from the day's blog entry and whipped up a chicken breast without any notion of a recipe. I had some chicken in the freezer, some cream in the fridge and some chicken stock in the pantry (didn't feel like thawing out the homemade stuff). I put that together with a pouch of frozen butter beans and some basmati rice. It wasn't haute cuisine, but everyone was happy, the sauce was rich and it went nicely with the leftover bottle of Parados Malbec that was sitting on the dining room table in the cool  chef-thingy I got for Christmas from my in-laws. Despite the fact that I didn't use a recipe to cook the dish, I did remember what went into it and even took the time to write it down. here is my recipe for no-recipe chicken. If you want to get all fussy and go lower-cal, you could substitute milk for cream. It just won't taste as good. Instead, I would recommend just pouring a little less sauce on the chicken and none on the rice. That stuff tastes great without any sauce. Or you could hide your TV remote and chase the kids around the yard for a while to burn off the extra calories from the cream. Or you could just not worry about it and cook something extra light the next night. Or you could eat cream with every meal and just COMPLETELY stop snacking on junk between meals. Wow - I'm preachy tonight. Sorry about that.
Bon Appetit!

~Tom
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts with Cream Pan Sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend

¼ cup chicken stock

¼ cup heavy cream 

2 green onions

Prep

Liberally season chicken breasts with Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend. Chop green onions. Set stock out and allow it to come to room temperature while cooking the chicken.

Cook

Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. butter and olive oil to skillet. When the butter foams and begins to brown, add chicken smooth side down first and cook until done, turning only once. This should take about 5 minutes for each side. Remove the chicken from the heat and either wrap in foil or place in a bowl, covered with foil. Deglaze the pan with ¼ cup chicken stock, loosening any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When stock is reduced by ½ of its original volume, add cream and reduce by ½. Reduce heat to low and add to the sauce any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl or foil pouch of cooked chicken breasts plus the remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter. Stir with a spoon or whisk until the butter is completely incorporated in the sauce.

Plate

Place the cooked breasts over a starch (rice, potatoes etc.) in the center of the plate and drizzle over the top with the sauce. Garnish with chopped green onions.

(Serves 6)

Cooking Without Recipes

At the last meeting of the Belhaven Garden Club, I put on a demonstration detailing how to cook without recipes. They bought a load of groceries and hid them under a towel in the kitchen. When the class started, they pulled back the towel and I had to come up with multiple recipes for what I found there on the counter. It was lots of fun and I had some very attentive students. Since then, I have received several requests for the recipes of the dishes I prepared. In the spirit of the class, I will now give you the instructions on how to cook several different dishes without a specific recipe. So...this is not a recipe.

Step One – Things you need to always have in your kitchen.

There are certain staples that you should keep on hand at all times if you want to be able to cook without recipes. Having these items around will allow you to shop opportunistically and take advantage of meats and other items when they are on sale or marked down as a “manager’s special” (which usually means they are right up against the “sell by” date.

1.      Olive Oil

2.      Butter (not fake butter)

3.      Decent red and white wine (NOT cooking wine)

4.      A variety of herbs

5.      Chicken and beef stock (I use Better than Bouillon)

6.      Milk

7.      All Purpose Flour

8.      Pasta

9.      Rice (even the expensive Basmati is cheap and it’s worth the difference)

With the items above, you will never find yourself in a panic over what to cook.

Step Two – Shop like you are broke

Some type of meat is ALWAYS on sale. When the price looks right, buy a bunch of it and stick it in the freezer. Most every grocery store has a partition in the meat department where they have dramatically marked down the meat that is nearing the “sell by” date. Buy it. Freeze it. When frozen vegetables are marked down to under $1 per package, buy a freezer full of them.

Step Three – Cook like a restaurant chef (that is about attitude, not skill)

When a restaurant sees that it has too much of something, they create a “special.” When the waiter comes out and goes through a list of specials, he/she could just as easily say, “We have way too much spinach and our flounder needs to be cooked before we have to throw it away. With this in mind, our chef came up with a flounder/spinach dish that is not usually on our menu. Next week, we won’t have this particular problem so the dish will not exist. The Founder Florentine is served with a mixture of vegetables that we usually don’t serve together, but alas they are at the end of their shelf-life also.” Don’t get me wrong on this. Restaurant chefs are not trying to pass off old food on patrons as a special. They just know when they have too much of something and try to use it all up BEFORE they have to get rid of it. Generally, the special is the best thing on the menu because the chef have given careful thought to making regular ingredients in the kitchen sound even more appetizing than the rest of the menu. You need to think like that.

Step four – Don’t Panic, think ahead

When you are cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, take a look in the freezer and see what meats you have. Take out a package and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. The next evening you will have a meat that is ready to cook. This will serve as the “base” of your meal. Since you already have pasta, rice and perhaps potatoes (your starch), not to mention a freezer full of frozen vegetables, you only have to think about what meat you want to cook and how. Then you just think, “Would I rather have pasta, rice or potatoes to go with that _______ (insert meat name here)?” You can even ask the kids, “Do y’all want butterbeans, peas or green beans with your ____________ (meat) and _____________ (starch).”

Now you have your menu. The starch can be cooked in about 15 minutes and the vegetables take 4 minutes in the microwave. That leaves only the meat and its sauce to think about.

Pick an herb or two (oregano, thyme, rosemary) and get them out of the cabinet. If you want, pick a base note (onion, garlic, leeks) and chop them. Or you can just use a seasoning blend.

Now you have a meat and its flavors (herbs and base note). Pick a stock that matches your meat (chicken stock for lighter meats, beef stock for red meats). Pick a second liquid that you are interested in having that night (milk, cream, wine, beer etc.), this is not mandatory, but will add more flavor. Get out some butter and cut a few pats.

Decide if you want gravy or a sauce. If you want gravy, get out some flour.

Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat on the stovetop. Add a bit of fat (olive oil, canola oil, whatever oil, butter, bacon grease etc.). If you are using garlic or onion, put it in now. If you put in onions or garlic, let them cook for a bit before adding meat. When you add the meat, let it cook until well browned on one side and then turn it over only once and let it finish cooking on the other side. Remove the meat from the pan and set it aside, wrapped in foil or in a bowl, covered in foil.

Now make the sauce or gravy. If you want gravy, add a little more fat to the pan and a bit of flour. Stir them together until they look like a thin paste. Add liquids. If using multiple liquids, start thin and work to thick. In other words, stock or wine before milk or cream. If making a sauce, start with wine or beer and then add stock. You can also add jams, jellies or preserves to get a sweet sauce. You might want to play with different mixtures as you build confidence. As a rule of thumb, use the following guidelines

Fat+flour+stock+milk+butter=savory gravy

Fat+flour+stock+wine+butter=wine cream sauce

Stock+wine+butter=wine pan sacue

Stock+butter=au jus pan sauce

Stock+fruit+butter=sweet sauce

When you add the liquids, allow each one to reduce by ½ before adding the next one. When you add the butter at the end, turn down the heat and stir it around just before serving. When you are making the sauce, taste it and see if it needs more of the same seasoning you put on the meat.

Just before you serve the meal, take the bowl or foil pouch that holds the meat and add any juices back to the sauce and stir.

This may all sound complex, but the whole process is just a few steps with multiple choices. Essentially you: (1) pick a meat (2) pick your spices (3) pick a liquid that will become your sauce (4) cook your meat (5) deglaze your pan to make your sauce.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me or schedule a class. In a small group, this concept is much easier to learn.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

www.ivyanddevine.com

Ole!

I spotted a big hunk of Flank Steak in the freezer this morning and set it in the fridge to thaw. I had the whole day to think of what to do with it but my brain shut down after meetings with PR folk, calls with attorneys and trying to get some of my "real job" accomplished. With no fresh ideas in my head for this slab of beef, I turned to an old standard that is quick and easy. When I got to the house from entertaining some Senators and Representatives at Hal & Mal's (who were one of the few places open, due to the water shortage), I hit the kitchen at a full charge and had the fajitas ready when Kitty got home. I couldn't find any black beans, so I cooked black-eyed-peas with a bit of cumin and chopped onion alongside some basmati rice. Here's the recipe for the fajitas. The rest of it is easy to figure out without me having to type it up.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Fajitas
1 1½-2 lb. flank steak
1 medium yellow onion

1 medium red onion

2 bell peppers (any color)

1 jalapeño pepper

1 bunch green onions

1 cup diced tomatoes (canned)

4 cloves garlic

1 bottle Mexican beer

1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

1 tsp. Mexican chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. olive oil

8 flour tortillas

6 oz. sour cream

1 jar high quality salsa

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Prep

Slice yellow onions, red onions and bell peppers. Roughly chop jalapeño peppers, green onions and garlic. Slice the flank (across the grain) steak into ½ inch strips. Season the meat and vegetables with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Cook

Put dining plates into the oven to warm while cooking the fajitas. Heat a large iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add olive oil to hot skillet and when it begins to smoke, add yellow onions, red onions, bell peppers, garlic, one half of the jalapeño peppers and one half of the green onions. Cook until onions are translucent and peppers begin to soften. Remove vegetables and place them in a mixing bowl. Cover with foil. If the skillet is too dry, add a bit more oil. Add meat to the hot skillet (but don’t crowd the pan) and cook for two minutes on each side. As the meat is done, add it to the mixing bowl of vegetables. When all of the meat is cooked, add all of the meat and vegetables from the mixing bowl into the hot skillet and increase heat to high. When the pan begins to really sizzle, add the tomatoes and about one quarter of the beer. Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds, depending on the strength of your microwave oven.

Plate

Serve family style by placing the hot skillet on the table on a trivet with the cheese, sour cream, salsa, and remaining jalapeño peppers and green onions in small bowls.

(Serves 4)

Quick Veal and Pan Sauce

With the boil water notice, the water mains leaking like the Iraqi Navy and a full day of writing, I really didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking tonight. Veal was an easy choice. Veal + butter + heat = yum. Sorry for the blah picture. I tried something new with the Blackberry camera and got this muddled garbage.

Veal Scaloppini with Pan Sauce

8 thin veal fillets

4 Tbsp. butter

2 green onions

¼ cup dry white wine

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup beef stock

½ tsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Finely chop green onions. Dry veal fillets with a paper towel and allow them to come to room temperature. Lightly season with salt, pepper and seasoning blend.

Cook

Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. butter to hot skillet and when it foams and brown add veal. Cook for 1 minute on each side. Remove veal from pan and set aside in a bowl. Cover cooked veal with foil. Deglaze pan with wine and reduce to ½ original volume. Add stock and continue reducing until the liquid remains separated when a spatula is drawn across the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and add cream plus any liquid in the bowl of resting veal. When cream is fully incorporated reduce heat and add 3 Tbsp. butter (in three pats). Swirl butter until it is fully incorporated.

Plate

Serve with sauce on the top and garnish with green onions.

(Serves 4)

Dinner with Rose and Peter

Part of what inspired me to start Ivy & Devine is the long-standing, weekend tradition of cooking at Rose and Peter's house. They love to eat and I love to cook. In this tradition, there are generally three ways of determining the evening's dishes. Either (a) Rose has a hankering for something specific, (b) I have a new dish that I want to try out, or (c) Peter and I just wander around the grocery store until something strikes our fancy. Saturday night was definitely picked from column "c." The night before they had dined at Bon Ami. Peter had a steak and Rose had veal, so beef was out. We debated chicken (not fancy enough for Peter), fish (just too cold out to do fish), pork (just didn't sound right) and then spotted the lamb chops...decision made! Kroger had the succulent, 1 1/2" t-bone chops that had our name on them. With the protein in hand we buzzed around the rest of the store making snap decisions about the greens, the starch and the dessert. Here is the menu we created in the isles of the I-55 Kroger:

Rosemary and Sea Salt Crusted Lamb Chops

Asparagus-Shiitake Risotto

Mixed Green Salad with Avocado Buttermilk Dressing

Frangelico Cherry Bread Pudding

Please tell me your mouth is watering. 

We also got a chance to play with some new gadgets, Peter's new video camera and his new home coffee roaster. I'll try to post the video as soon as we can figure out how to get the movie-pictures from the camera onto the "internets," as my mother would say.

Here are the recipes and the photos to go along with them. As you can see, we stayed up so late eating, drinking and roasting coffee that Mr. Pudgems (the world's most laid back cat) fell asleep on us.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Sea Salt and Rosemary Crusted Lamb Chops

12 thick-cut lamb chops (t-bone chops)

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

½ cup red wine

½ cup rich beef stock

1 bunch parsley

Coarse sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Prep

Finely chop parsley and rosemary. Allow chops to rest until they reach room temperature. Liberally season chops with salt, pepper and rosemary. Press the seasoning (with your fingers) into the flesh of the chops. Preheat oven to 225 degrees and warm the dinner plates while prepping and cooking.

Cook

Heat 2 large iron skillets* over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. butter to each and when it foams and begins to color, add the 6 chops to each skillet with the bone side of the chops pointed toward the center of the pan. Cook until medium rare (turning only once) and set aside, wrapped in foil. Raise heat to high and deglaze the pans with the red wine. When the liquid is reduced to ¼ of the original volume, transfer the reduced wine into a single pan and add the beef stock. Continue reducing until all liquid is reduced to ½ the original volume. Add any liquid that is in the foil, under the chops and cook for one minute. Turn off the heat and add remaining butter. Swirl the pan to incorporate all of the butter as it melts. Add 1 Tbsp. of chopped parsley.

Plate

Lean cooked chop against whatever starch you are serving, with one chop standing on end with the “t” portion of the bone resting on the bottom of the plate. Pour sauce the top of the chops. Garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 6)

*If you only have one skillet, transfer the chops to the warm oven and wrap them in foil while the other chops are being cooked. You may want to transfer them just before they are done because they will continue cooking in the warm oven.

Frangelico Cherry Bread Pudding

For the Pudding

1 loaf crusty French bread
1 loaf ciabatta bread

1 qt. whole milk

1 6 oz. bag dried cherries

½ cup Frangelico Liqueur

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

6 large eggs

¼ tsp. salt

For the Sauce

1 cup Frangelico

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter

Prep

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Break the bread into 1” cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Melt 2 sticks of butter in a large glass bowl. To the melted butter add; brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and Frangelico. Mix thoroughly until sugar is dissolved. Add sugar mixture and eggs to the bread and blend with your hands until evenly distributed. Add enough milk to moisten all of the bread and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add cherries and pecans and mix again until the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed. Add more milk until all of the bread is wet but no milk is standing in the bowl. This last part is tricky, but trust your instincts and practice. Too much milk is less of a disaster than too much, so err or the heavy side. Spoon the mixture into a greased roasting pan or high-side baking dish and spread evenly around the pan. Cut the butter into ten or twelve pats and place evenly on the top of the mixture. Sprinkle the mixture with ½ of the confectioner’s sugar.

Cook-Pudding

Bake in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Cook-Sauce

In a small saucepan, heat Frangelico until barely simmering. Add sugar and cook until completely dissolved. Add Butter and cook until all is incorporated.

Plate

Cut the pudding into squares and place in a shallow bowl. Top with Frangelico Sauce and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

(Serves 12)

This contraption is Peter's home coffee roaster. We stuck in some fancy Sumatran green coffee and fired it up. About twenty minutes later we had some of the darkest, oiliest fresh roasted beans I've ever seen. We were too chicken to brew any last night and opted instead for a great bottle of Port.
When I had to get up at first light this morning and cook for a bunch of kids, I appreciated the strength of that coffee. I can't wait to experiment more.

Dinner with Friends

Tonight, Kitty and I were lucky enough to be invited to dine with Mandy, Sid, Amy and Monte at Mandy and Sid's home. Monte and Amy brought a fantastic salad prepared from our good friends at Broad Street Baking Company. Sid and Amy picked up ice cream and Kitty and I brought v1.0 of a new soup that I am working to develop. The recipe below is v1.2, but the pictures are of the prototype. See if you can figure out the changes. If you can get them right, I'll award yo with a sample of my new Ivy & Devine Seafood Seasoning Blend, which is yet to hit the shelves.
The nexus of this soup derives from that last bite of steak on your plate at Char or Tico's or Shappley's. You know the one...when you use the one remaining sliver of beef to Zamboni around your plate and pick up the last smear of mashed potatoes, the last leaves of creamed spinach and the last drops of mushroom sauce. In one perfect morsel on the end of your fork you get the melding of the entire steakhouse experience.
Since I've been messing around with deconstructions lately, I wanted to see if I could create a dish that gave the diner this exact experience over and over again. The only thing I could come up with was soup. so give it a try and let me know if it lives up to the mark.

The dessert was featured in today's Jackson Free Press. They were doing a story on the Muppets' creator, Jim Henson (a fine Mississippi boy from Leland, way up in the Delta) and asked me for an appropriate dish. What I came up with was Ice Cream Sandwiches for Grover. You can get the recipe here, or wait a week and come back to this blog (publishing rights and what-not). At our dinner gathering, Amy, who had read the article today, kiddingly asked if we were having this dish for dessert. After a quick survey of Sid and Mandy's kitchen, the answer was YES (with only one short trip to McDade's).
Bon Appetit!
~Tom
Steakhouse Soup

2 large yellow onions

2 whole garlic pods

2 leeks

6 large Yukon gold potatoes

1 6 oz. bag fresh spinach

1 flatiron steak

1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Creole Seasoning Blend

2 Tbsp. mushroom base*

4 Tbsp. Dales Steak Seasoning

1 qt. heavy cream

2 qt. beef stock

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch parsley

4 Tbsp. olive oil

½ stick butter

1 baguette French bread

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Roughly chop onions and leek bottoms. Cut potatoes into 1” cubes. Chiffonade spinach. Finely chop parsley. Season steak liberally with Ivy & Devine Creole Seasoning Blend. Slice through the tops of the garlic (about ¼ inch cut), drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and butter, then wrap individually in foil. Slice Baguette into ½ in crostini. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook

Toast crostini in hot oven until gold around the edges. Remove and set aside. Place foil wrapped garlic pods in hot oven. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and then add 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Allow the oil to heat and then add onions and leeks. Cook until onions are translucent. Add 1 qt. beef stock and simmer. Remove garlic from foil and squeeze out the roasted cloves into the stock pot. Heat a large iron skillet and add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add steak and cook until medium rare (approximately 5 minutes per side). Remove steak and deglaze with equal parts water and Dales Seasoning. Allow meat to rest and add deglazing liquid to the stock pot. Add spinach, mushroom base and remaining beef stock. In a separate large pot combine potatoes with enough water to cover. Add 1 tsp. salt to the water and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat to a light boil and cook for ten minutes. Drain water and mash potatoes with ½ stick of butter. Finish potatoes by whipping with an immersion blender until creamy and completely free of lumps. Add potatoes to stock pot. When meat is fully rested, cut into cubes and set aside. Add any liquids remaining on cutting board to the soup mixture. Add cream and allow mixture to come to a simmer. Remove from heat and add steak and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste.

Plate

Serve immediately in a large, shallow bowl. Top with toasted crostini and garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 8-10)

*I recommend a brand called Better than Bouillon.