Holiday Meal #2 - Stuffed Portabellos & Chocolate Mousse

When I got the call on a very rainy day in November that a family wanted a couple of meals over the holiday, I got very excited. I had the pleasure of cooking for this family once in the summer and had a blast in their incredible kitchen. I got even more excited when I was given free rein on the menu.

App: 
Gorgonzola & Pear Crostini

Main: 
Mustard-Dill Flank Steak
http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/mustard-dill-skirt-steak.html
Pearl Cous Cous w/ Arugula
Stuffed Portabellos (recipe to follow)
Grilled Rosemary Bread


Dessert: 
Chocolate Mousse w/ Grand Marnier Whipped Cream

Stuffed Portabellos:
1 Red Onion, diced
1 Granny smith apple, diced into strips
1 bag of baby spinach
1/3 cup of bread crumbs
1 - egg
3 oz of Smoked Mozzerella
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Parmesan Cheese Shavings
6 Portabellos


In a pan, heat olive oil and add onions. Cook till soft. Add in a couple dashes of balsamic. Add apples and cook till soft.  Once soft, add spinach. Cook till wilted. Add beaten egg & bread crumbs then transfer to a mixing bowl.  Add mozerella, and mix till all combined.  Transfer to mushrooms and bake at 350 until mushrooms are cooked.  You can also pre-cook the mushrooms for 10 min to speed up process and not dry out stuffing.


This recipe turned out a lot cooler than I expcected.  The red onions and smoked mozerella gave the apperance and smell of bacon. A little trick on the eater, but equally as delicious!

And for dessert, all the credit goes to my amazing Soux Chef, Amanda Adams.  She took this menu and provided an incredible treat. A 60& Cocoa (Ghiridelli) Chocolate Mousse, with Grand Marneir Whipped cream.  All I did was assemble in martini glasses, but this dessert was absolutely devine!! Thanks Pants!!

Christmas Cioppino

For the first time, I was an orphan for Christmas. Not to fear, I had the Pollock family near by and armed with, as Darcy put it, "The Sea."

The idea came up over dinner a few weeks ago with some of the Pollock clan.  Cioppino for Christmas. Only Darcy and I had endulged in this incredible seafood treat, and Darcy wanted to be sure her family could experience the same goodness as she did a few weeks back.  I sent "The List" over to Darcy before she made her way to Tahoe from San Francisco.  She treated us (well, Buck paid) with "The Sea" from the seafood preveyor in the famed Ferry Building.  5 Crabs, 1 pound of shrimp, 1 pound of mussles, 1 pound of scallops and 3 filets of rockfish later, we had the makings of our cioppino feast. 

The recipe didn't change, nor did peoples excitement.  The meal was superb, and this post comes out of thanks to the Pollock family, and also a mini quote board for those choice one liners through the night...

"I wanna go stretch out and take deep breaths." - DP
"I'm a base of sourdough." - DP
"I think I can finally button my pants again." - DP
"I have birds on my skis." - RP

It was truly a fabulous Christmas night. 

Holdiay Meal #1 - Asian Theme

I've been fortunate during the push of the holiday season to be very busy and booked up with wonderful meals. The first of which came recently with the Bourgraf family visiting Lake Tahoe from Ohio.  Right from the get go, I knew this was going to be a fun meal. The menu was Asian themed, and the bar was full:

Leading off with Thai Lemongrass & Shrimp Soup:
http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/12/thai-lemongrass-shrimp-soup.html

Followed by a wonderful Sesame seared Ahi with Mango, Avocado, & Arugula salad. Accompanied by a Mango Dipping sauce. 

The main course was Ginger Citrus Pork Tenderloin with Asian slaw, and Lavender-Ginger rice.

(I'm starting my new years resolution a bit early here. My dear Auntie Peggy, has badgered me over and over again to include measurements in my online recipes. So, here's for you Peg!)

Ginger Citrus Marinade:
Juice of the following:
2 Limes
5 Lemons
6 Oranges + 1 rind Julianned
1/2 bunch of Cilantro chopped
2/3 cup of Soy Sauce
1 TBSP of Sesame Oil
6 Oz of Honey
1/4 cup of diced Ginger (about 2 medium roots)
1/2 bunch of Green Onions
2 TBSP of White Miso Paste


And, for dessert, my lovely friend Amanda provided a homemade Strawberry Sorbet with light wafer cookies.


This meal was a pleasure to prepare for a great family. If any of the Bourgrafs want to chime in, I believe the Square bowls won the night!

San Francisco Holiday Party

I was very fortunate to be considered to prepare some appetizers for a last minute holiday party for the Executive Producer of a feature film currently being shot in our beautiful city of SF.  With not a ton of time to prepare, I decided on a simple menu pulling from some old ideas and also modifying some entree recipes.  

Let me first speak of this gorgeous home. The picture on the right is the view from the kitchen window... not too shabby! The party called for lots of champagne and some light appetizers.  On the food menu:

Toasted bar nuts (http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/mmm-bar-nuts.html)

Brie wonton cups (http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/easy-appetizer-brie-won-ton-cups.html)

And, a take on my crab rolls, but minature:
(http://kellanskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/12/crab-rolls.html)

But first, the champagne needed a buddy.  My friend Muffy organized this event and asked me to make something that would go well in champagne.  I browsed the market for fruit, tried a few, and came across some gorgeous raspberries. I decided to make a compote that would go into a squeeze bottle so people could spice up their champagne with some nice sweet flavors.  In the reduction went fresh raspberries, orange zest, orange juice, sugar, a dash of white balsamic vinegar, and plenty of time. This mixture was cooked, reduced, then ran through a strainer to separate the seeds.  

The brie cups were assembled ahead of time, and a second batch was in the fridge for round two... but the main assembly came with the mini crab rolls, which were dubbed "SF Crab Crostinis."  Taking a few crabs, and marinating the meat in my sauce of lemon juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar, these guys were assembled very carefully on Acme Sourdough croutons. First layered with slices of avocado, the a big portion of crab, the to top, some jullianned radish. These guys flew off the plate! 

From what I hear, the party was a huge success! Many thanks to Muffy and Trish for having me over to cater this event! I look forward to more in the future.

Thai Lemongrass & Shrimp soup

It's winter, its rainy & snowy, its soup season. The initial insiration for this soup was to diversify. Try a new idea, make something different, yet with familiar tastes. The starting flavor base was lemongrass. To start, I added some chili paste, ginger, lemongrass, jalepenos, and green onions to a pot to brown and release their flavors.


Then stock was added. I had some fish stock made from shrimp in the freezer. About 5 cups were added to the pot.  This was then simmered for about an hour or so. A little bit of soy sauce and mirin was added to help the salt level of the soup. During the cooking, I added a little bit of brown sugar and a bit more ginger.  

Once at a point where I felt good about the flavors, I started prepping the ingredients to help finish off this soup. Shrimp, more ginger, and fresh cilantro.  The shrimp were light seared in chili paste and ginger. The shrimp was then added to a bowl, and the soup strained over the top.


The soup was deliciously spicy, and with great flavor base. My dear friend Nikki joined me on this test meal and added the input that it needed just a few more items in the bowl, like mushrooms or broccoli.  However, this also came out "I don't like soup. I never really eat it." But, then I found Nikki finishing her bowl before me, and licking it clean, then heading back for more... 

 

This is Nikki's bowl. 

Rack of Lamb - Rosemary-Lavender Salt Crust

I had an idea to cook rack of lamb for a while.  The idea came from first making a crust.  I took some coarse sea salt, fresh rosemary, and lavender and blended it together in a food processor.  Crusted the lamb with some pepper as well, and seared it in a cast iron.  Finished in a 375* oven for 20 min. 

 

Paired with some pearl cous cous and fresh spinach lightly sauteed in olive oil and garlic.   

 

A cooking thermometer would have been helpful, as I slightly overcooked the lamb.  Also, a tad too much salt on the crust, but otherwise a solid addition to the pantry.

3rd Annual Holiday Cocktail Party

A non-food related post.

Enjoy! 

French Onion Soup

This dish has been on my radar for a while.  Finally I had the tools, and recipe to construct; the bowls were key.  I read about a dozen different variations on this classic dish, and I came across one that involved a lot more technique than the others. This is the one I used to start my dish.  

Onions. Lots of onions. I used about 5 very large vidallia and yellow.  Added to the dutch oven with a generous amount of olive oil and salt, this load was simmered and covered for 15 min. Yes, 15. Then uncovered and stirred occasionally for an hour. Yes, an hour.  The recipe calls for letting the onions naturally caramelize, which takes considerable time. Low & slow. Low heat, slow cook time.  After a painful hour, the onions looked a delicious brown.  The pot was deglazed with sherry, and white wine. Also added was a mess load of thyme and 2 bay leaves.  Once the alcohol burned off, I added beef stock, nothing fancy, just store bought organic beef stock.  This was then simmered for about an hour, until the soup looked very hearty and together.  Salted to taste.

Finally, the crown.  Some La Brea french bread, cut into 3/4 inch slices, oiled, salted and buttered and toasted in a grill pan until crispy.  This was added on top the soup, with a load of Gruyere cheese.  Broiled until melted.  Winner. 

From the roommate Sean (who orders this dish anywhere he sees it on the menu) "This is the best I've had. Don't change a thing." 

Thanksgiving, 2010. Appetizers.

My family is pretty traditional in our Thanksgiving day offerings.  Pretty simple, some old family recipes, and some new traditions emerging.  For the 2nd year in a row my cousin Zach and his fiance Nina hosted the big meal at their place in Sonoma.  For the 2nd year in a row we deep fried a turkey, and I was to make appetizers.  For the 1st time, we got a little creative with the deep fryer (after dinner is where the fun really started).

As I was searching for fun and different appetizers, I kept my wits about me due to my constraints; no oven, no stove.  But, I had a deep fryer! As I lazily watched some food network shows, I saw an appetizer for crab salad stuffed potato skins.  Well, its crab season! So, tweaking the recipe just, I used dungenuss crab for my salad.  2 crabs mixed with a healthy spoonful of mayo, a small spoonful of dijon mustard, chopped chives & green onions, and a squeeze of a meyer lemon.  Upon tasting, some salt and a touch of brown sugar was added to the salad.  

The potatoes were simple.  Yukon gold, baked @ 350 for 45 min.  Cooled, cut, cored... and then Deep Fried.  Stuffed with the crab mixture, this was outstanding, and the plate was gone before I could fry some more.

My other appetizer (sans picture) was a play off of an offering I had picked up off of Iron Chef America.  I made roast beef crostinis. Using a very hearty Molasses Wheat Bread from Uncommon Kitchen as my base, I constructed a gorgonzola-horseradish spread to place on top.  Topped with rare roast beef, sliced green grapes, and jullianned mint.  This too was a hit, and will certainly be making its way to a wine & food pairing soon!


Lastly, the fun stuff.  Deep Fried Twinkies. Because pie wasn't enough... Pics to come.


And, a huge congratulations to Scottie & Kimmy on their engagement! Love you guys!

Food and Wine Paring: 2

I had the pleasure of being invited back to Corkscrew (now Uncorked)in Tahoe City to do another feature on pairing farmers market food with some select wine. My inspiration this week came from these incredible blackberries. The sweetest berries I have ever tasted.  The idea was to pair with these berries. So, I took the berries and macerated them with a bit of lemon juice and just a touch of agave nectar. This mixture was then folded into some goat cheese.  To complete the spectrum of textures and tastes, it was piped onto an endive leaf (bitter & crunchy) and then wrapped with prosciutto (salty & soft).  The bite sized treat was a hit.

The 2nd dish to be paired with a white was inspired by summer squash. Finely diced summer squash and zucchini was lightly sauteed in meyer lemon olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and fresh pepper. This mixture was folded into some fresh ricotta, also purchased from the farmers market. Served with crostini bread, this added a very nice, light compliment to the plate. I believe Uncorked sold a record number of pairings this night!  Can't wait to be invited back!!

http://uncorkedtahoecity.com/