Archives for the 'eggs, cheese, dairy' Category
Steak tartar - forbidden food
While we were in Paris we dined on steak tartar and we loved it. It’s a shame that one can’t order this simple pleasure in a restaurant here in the states; but alas our government feels compelled to protect us from food…cigarettes and other carcinogens, not so much… food, but of course! I’ll leave it at that because if I contemplate it any further and attempt to write another word about it I’ll end up on a ranting screed. I’m sure you can guess how I feel about this issue.
Since we cannot enjoy this elsewhere I made it for dinner the other night. The thing about steak tartar is that there are so many recipes and I guess you just have to pick one and go with it. Some listed ketchup or mayonnaise as an ingredient and others listed anchovies. This is the recipe I used and I wasn’t crazy about it. Next time I will do it as per the instructions of Richard Olney in his book The French Menu Cookbook :
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8 oz beef, sirloin or filet
Salt and pepper
Dash of worcestershire sauce
Remove fat, tendon, and sinew from the meat. Chop the meat finely with a sharp knife. I used my cuisinart and it chopped it too fine…it was mushy. Toss all this together in a large bowl. Divide it into 2 servings and mound it on each plate. Put an egg yolk in a well atop each mound. Around the edge of the plate arrange:
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Red onions, diced fine
Cornichons, diced fine
Capers, chopped fine
Parsley, chopped fine
About 1 tablespoon of each should be sufficient. Also make available oil and vinegar, hot sauce, catsup, and dijon mustard. So each plate can be adjusted to the diner’s preferences.
Ramps…oh my!!!!
When spring attempts to kick off the winter’s covers and finally, grudgingly, hauls her ass out out of that bed she’s been lolling in for far to long, well I don’t mind admitting that I get more giddy than I usually am…yes indeed folks, I get giddier! I start using exclamation marks far more than a woman with my good sense (cough) should and then there’s that almost irresistible urge to use a word that must not be spoken or written by me…you know the three-letter word, it begins with y and ends with m and well, that’s as close as I’ll actually get to saying it out loud or writing it. Honestly it’s not that I dislike the actual word it’s just that it’s been so overused by a certain brunette on Food Network, and I’ll have none of that, thank you.
But yesterday when I opened the crate of our first CSA spring share delivery I was overjoyed because I could smell ramps. I pawed my way past bag after bag of tender succulent greens like a kid looking for a prize in a box of cereal and finally there it was, the holy grail of spring-time, a bunch of ramps. That word popped into my mind and I quickly edited myself and moved on. Giddier, remember? It’s not me, it’s spring fever, right?
Ramps are technically wild leeks and they’re available for harvest for only a week or two in the spring which is probably why I, and others, covet them so much. Because they’re so precious and so flavorful I feel compelled to use them well. Often I serve then up as a bed for some slowly cooked, creamy scrambled eggs but this year I’m giddy so I made a green pizza.
This is so simple. Make the pizza crust and let it rise over night in the frig. Remove it from the frig and stretch it out as you like it, and then place it on a piece of parchment. Cut the ramp leafs from the stem and bulb and slice them into strips. Cut the roots off the end of the ramps and then split them vertically into long strips. Add these to the the leaf strips. I also chopped a large handful of arugala and I added some chives too. Toss this all with olive oil and arrange it on the pizza crust. Add sea salt, some goat cheese and bacon lardons. Bake it in a 425º oven until golden brown.
Yes indeedy, this pizza is worth getting giddy about…the ramps and the bacon got kind of smoky in the hot oven and the crust was chewy yet crisp. The only mistake I made was too much cheese on the pizza…actually it would be good with no cheese at all too.
More giddiness…tonight we see Iron Man and while we’re out watching the movie TivBob will be recording a new BStar and a new Dr. Who….oh I can’t stand it!!!!
Buckwheat galette …WHB
This post should actually be called “what I learned on my vacation, part 1″. That’s because I never ate a buckwheat galette until going to Paris and now it’s all I think about. Wow, do I have some ground to make up. But isn’t it always the case…you’re chugging along through life, you go on vacation and BAM, you learn all kinds of new things and return home wondering how you can possibly live anywhere that doesn’t have a crepe stand or creperie restaurant at least every five blocks… or whatever it is you become obsessed with. Obviously I’m currently obsessed with crepes…since I’ve been home I’ve made nutella and banana crepes for the guys every morning and last night I turned my attention to the savory side…a buckwheat galette.
First off, my crepes aren’t round, they’re rectangle because I have an electric griddle that is perfect for this and it’s a rectangle. Secondly, buckwheat crepes aren’t called crepes, they’re galettes and they can’t be made on a whim…the batter has to age overnight in the refrigerator…I’m just telling you up front because I didn’t know that until I read the instructions (duh!). Third, you need buckwheat flour…and that’s where we get to the good part.
Buckwheat isn’t a grain at all…it’s a seed and it’s related to the rhubarb family. The seed is similar to the sunflower seed in that it’s a single seed within a hard shell. The inner part of the seed is white, the outer layer is green or tan, and the hull is brown or black…which explains the appearance of buckwheat as a dark, rather coarse flour with a nutty scent and flavor. All of which makes it the perfect post to add to Weekend Herb Blog, hosted this week by Kalyn herself.
My recipe for the buckwheat galette comes from David Lebovitz and while I didn’t change it this time I think I’ll add more butter and salt the next time. I filled it with cheese, bacon, chunks of potatoes, creme fraiche, red onions, and parsley. The inspiration for the filling was a galette I ate in Paris that had that exact same combination. Served with a side salad, a glass of vin rouge, well it was almost parisian.
There was leftover batter and filling ingredients so this morning when I was cranking out the banana nutella crepes for Alex and Dex I whipped up another galette for GH and topped it with an egg. That’s another thing I learned on vacation…the french put eggs on lots of things like galettes, croque monsieur (which turns it into a croque madam….funny, huh?), salad, pastry…etc. It does have the way of making a nice sauce…the broken yolk pouring down into the gooey fillings.
It’s time for some linky love. Erin over at Cooking and Eating in the Windy City recently gave me the “You Make My Day” award (hereinafter referred to as the Clint Eastwood Award) and while I’ve not had the time to pass it on, nor have I had the time to catch up to the memes that have been sent my way, I do appreciate the attention. Erin has a killer picture/recipe of Braised Chicken with Shallots, Garlic, and Balsamic vinegar that I’m hoping to try out next week.
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