A "Royal Dining" Dessert Honouring Princess Diana on the Fourth of July!

For Independence Day, I was invited to Laura and Greg's home for a pig picking and a sparkling time of not-so high explosive pyrotechnics. Ten minutes away from their house, the clouds thundered and it poured...and poured....and poured an inch and a half of rain in 30 minutes!  This is common SW Florida afternoon weather-we know just what to do. I arrived and parked just as others who sat patiently in their cars, all betting the storm and fury would greatly diminish in 10-15 minutes.

 Luckily, the rains did follow the script, this time. Meanwhile, half a dozen kids happily played in the drizzle-no thunder or lightning then-and all afternoon as well.

Laura and Greg had a score of hungry folks over, and they were loaded for bear, er, pig. Greg smoked a 35 lb dressed pig for 8 hours, his first, and it was done perfectly tender, with a smoke-blackened tasty crisp skin.

My favorite dish, after the pig and his pulled pork, was the watermelon salad, or Turkish breakfast, that Mark Bittman posted on the internet. It's a refreshing delight that takes 15 minutes to prepare.  His recipe site is at:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/the-minimalist-watermelon-and-tomato-salad/

One slices and combines watermelon, tomato, cheese, scallions and salt in a bowl. Blend in watermelon juice, oil vinegar and cayenne to taste. Laura used cilantro instead of parsley. I thoroughly enjoyed this creation!   I'd make it again, and  would use feta rather than blue cheese, sweet or red onions instead of scallions, and peeled diced cucumber.

Greg's movable feast included a hot table of sausages, wonderful pulled pork, hotdogs, burgers, skewered shrimp, corn, beans and slabs of pork. He braved the rains to grill huge diver scallops, and serve them on the half shell. Not shabby, our hosts!

The cold table held the watermelon salad, chips, dips, coleslaw and the usual things. 
 
Laura's brother made two fantastic foccacio breads-made me feel like I was back in Italy!

Laura and the girls made a special cake!

One of many for dessert.

For Independence Day, with the Royal wedding not far behind, I decided to make  Princess Diana's favorite dessert, crafted by her personal chef, Darren McGrady, as published in my autographed copy of his book, Eating Royally.  
  I met him last year in a Naples kitchen at a benefit. He's a wonderful friendly guy, and the kind that takes all secrets with him to the pearly gates, IYKWIM. 
You can download his recipe and see the cooking video for free  at:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/19445034/ns/today-food/t/eating-royally-dianas-favorite-pudding-recipes/

My Version of Delicious Bread and butter Pudding

  This is a knockout of a dessert! It combines three of my favorite comfort foods- Crème brûlée, breadpudding, and Amaretto.  Mmmm good! There's simple ingredients and no fancy techniques. Get the recipe, and I'll add my suggestions for gilding this lily in italics, going by his five headings.
  The day before, buy or borrow a propane torch, for step 5, or set the sugar-topped casserole in the broiler for a couple minutes.

Step 1.  Start the night before, soaking raisins overnight in Amaretto liquor, so they plump up.  I used golden, rather than black raisins. Make a triple  batch-one extra for the recipe, and the other for you to nibble upon while making this dish. Go ahead, you deserve it! Next time, I'll add extra Amaretto and raisins, so you can enjoy more mini-taste bursts.
Next, toast your slivered almonds in a pan over medium heat. tossing every so often. It only takes a few minutes to toast them, and just seconds more to burn them. Don't walk away, or they'll quickly burn, just for spite!

   Get a baking pan with at least 3 1/2 inch tall sides or a larger aluminum pan ready, one that your casserole dish will fit into with room to spare. Be sure there's an inch or two of space around the dish, for the water bath to fit as well as your fingers. Otherwise, you'll not only overcook the dessert, but also have trouble removing it.  Put the casserole dish in the larger pan, and add tap water until it is 1/2 way up the casserole's side. Remove the dish and keep the water in the baking pan-you'll use these  in step 4.
 
Step 2. For the white bread, I recommend lightly toasting the 12 slices, just enought to firm them up, or, better, let them get stale over two days. Otherwise, the soft bread "shmooshes down" while slicing off the crust, and then dicing the soft innards into 1/2 inch pieces.  Turn on the oven to 350 degrees now, so it warms up.

Bread with Soused Golden Raisins

Step 3. This could be a tricky step for some. Break the eggs separate and whisk the yolks, vanilla paste (I substituted 2 tsp of vanilla extract nicely, and could add a third tsp)   and sugar into a large, sturdy heavy bowl-one that won't tip over when you later add the hot milk-cream mixture.

Egg Yolks, Sugar and Vanilla Extract

Wear closed tip shoes, and long pants for this excercise. Bring the milk and heavy cream on medium heat to the boil, and after a few minutes heating, watch it carefully, it goes from a simmer to suddenly boiling over if you turn away briefly to do some other chore. Use a large ladle to bring the hot mik-cream mixture over to the egg mixture, so you can whisk with one hand, and pour with the other. Pour the warm egg mixture over the results of step 2, and while it sits for 20 minutes, put the water-filled baking pan in the oven to heat up. You have 20 minutes to clean up the mess. Your reward- savor delicious extra Amaretto-soaked raisins from your secret stash!

Egg topper, Topped Egg, and Yolk Separator

I used an "egg topper" to remove the top of the eggs, cleaned out the lining thin membrane, and dried the egg shells to use later. There's several topper designs available. I like another one that uses a plunger a bit better than the "guillotines" as it leaves less of a jagged edge, (it needs a bit of practice) however I couldn't find mine. Trick is to position this guillotine-style topper near the top of the small end then cutting, rather than letting the device cut lower down on the egg.

Step 4. Put on your heat resistant gloves, open the oven, and put the casserole dish in the roasting pan's hot water bath. Cook 30 to 45 minutes, until the top gets a golden brown in some spots, and the dessert is just about set, so if you push on it, it wiggles a little, like a just-firm Jello gelatin. Don't let it get to be firm throughout, or it'll be overcooked.  Remember, the dessert will still cook from its retained heat for the next 15 minutes, while out of the oven.

Step 5. Remove the casserole from the oven with your gloved hands, and let it set and cool for 1/2 hour if it is to be served warm, or place in refrigerator for several hours if to be served cool. It's tastier warm-I tried both ways. Then sift, and sprinkle granulated brown sugar (or demerara or palm sugar rather than just granulated white sugar) evenly over the top, perhaps a few granules in thickness, then torch it from ~ 4 inches away with a tall $25 Bernzomatic torch from a hardware store. That's what professional chefs often use, for good reason. Don't waste your money on those teeny  "Crème brûlée " torches sold for $20-30. They don't have the same heat capacity, malfunction more often, are good for little else, and waste your money.(I'm not opinionated.)  I torch the surface sugar in a circular motion, just till it turns golden to golden brown, and keep moving the flame around. Then I stop for a couple minutes to let the sugar melt, and give it another heat treatment, this time letting some areas get a little brown, and even burnt in tiny areas. A few lightly-burned areas are a good counterpoint to the sugar's sweetness. Let cool, and it'll form its solid crust. Add toasted almonds, then lightly sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top.

Bread and Butter Pudding, One Portion Removed!

Garnish with sliced berries-strawberries, raspberries,etc. and sprigs of mint. Your guests will swoon over your sparkling handiwork.  Put in a sparkler or two!

Then relax in the pool

 

And we'll see you next year!

Fast Marinating Steak in the Dryer, or Reveo Takes a Tumble!

Steaks love an overnight marinade; a luxurious long bath in savory seasonings. Skirt steaks demand Worcestershire sauce and chiles with a Cuban Mojo. NY Strips choose from vegetable oils, soy/teriyaki, vinegar/lime juice, red pepper, garlic, brown sugar, and hints of ginger, za'atar, rosemary harissa, or whatever is in in the spice rack. Marinade comes from "marinara", or "of the sea" in Italian. Before refrigeration, foods were preserved in salty solutions. Marinades typically have four components- an acid, oil, flavorful herbs and spices, and time. I used to seal steaks in a Baggie, and slosh it around, when I went past the fridge, over 12-24 hours. Problem is, sometimes you get home with just 30 minutes to get ready to grill or pan sauté a steak, and you want that juicy steak now! Here's ways to get that 24 hour marination, in just 20-30 minutes.

Years ago, my toystore, Sharper Image, had a $200 (now $100-140) simple toy, the Reveo, which combined a cheap-looking plastic vacuum container with a rock tumbler, to marinate steak in just 20 minutes. I researched the vacuum aspect. Turns out, adding vacuum to tumbling was a crafty sales gimmick. Neither magnets, waving duck feathers, vacuum containers, nor chanting "Om", adds much to a marinade's penetration, when using a tumbler's powerful action over that time. The USDA did the study research. Not shabby at all. . Ever see a rock tumbler? Picture a mini clothes dryer (below). My brother polishes minerals. Put minerals, grit and water in a tumbler, and lets the mess tumble in its rubbber drum for weeks. Steaks, much softer than agate and quartz, take only 20-30 minutes. Used small to large tumblers go for ~30-$60; none were on Craigslist that day. I splurged on Ebay for a big, brand new Thumler's AR-12 for $100, as it holds 2-3 good sized steaks, and when it's steak-free, my

brother can polish minerals. Decent new smaller tumblers go for $40-60.

I bought a $12 like new Foodsaver, which creates a vacuum in a container, just like the Reveo. It is wonderful for vacuum packing food in freezer bags-things keep for many months. I now needed to tumble the foodsaver's container, with marinade and a steak inside, to match the pricey Reveo for less.

To not waste space with my experiments, I found what the USDA discovered. Tumbling alone, IS wonderful for efficient marination. Tumbling plus vacuum does NOT not add any benefit. The tumbling and the weight of the steak, repeatedly stretches and retract the meat fibers, allowing the marinade to penetrate. There, you saved $100 by not getting a small Reveo, and you have a big mineral tumbler! If you really, really, must tumble steaks for pennies, double bag your steak/marinade in freezer Baggies, tape it in Tupperwear, and put it in your clothes dryer, along with clothes to soften the impact. Don't blame me if your whites look and taste like teriyaki.

With that background, I came home with a nice steak, and made shallow 1-2 mm deep knife slits in it, to better let the marinade penetrate. I put it in a baggie with enough air to let it flop inside, and tumbled it for 25 minutes. I dried off the steak, sprinkled sea salt, placed it with grapeseed oil in a preheated hot cast iron pan, searing both sides and around its rim. Do that in most kitchens, and smoke alarms shriek! My trick? Pan sauté steaks and fish outside. Why smell up the house?. I cook on the patio with an induction burner. I put a piece of newspaper between the burner and the cast iron, so grease doesn't get on the burner as I cook.

Searing Steak with Slits, with Cast Iron, on Newspaper Covered Induction Burner Don't try that trick with gas or regular elecric burners or it'll flame up! After searing the steak's surfaces, I finish it in a 400 degree (toaster) oven for about 8-10 minutes, (med-rare to med) then let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Delicious, with a seared crust! Cleanup is fast. While steaks (and guests) rest, I use the pan's tasty bits for a sauce reduction. I then clean remaining oil off with clumped paper towel, add 1/3 inch of warm water, and boil. With tongs, I hold a clumped paper towel with tongs to clean off any stuck bits, then dry the pan. Next, lightly oil, then heat the pan-seasoning it. Wipe off excess oil, and put it away. This goes fast. Supper's ready! Steaks tumbled for a 20-30 minute marinade taste as if marinated for 24 hours.

Note: After this, I went on Amazon.com. Reveo now faces the $65 Marinade Master- another rock tumbler with silly vacuum-now at a more reasonable price.

There you have it. Whether you use your clothes dryer with Tupperware, a $40 used rock tumbler, or a $65 lightweight tumbler with mantra, vacuum or magnets, you can quickly mix your marinade components, tumble, and get great marination, in under 30 minutes!

Boy meets Balut, or "Eggs with Legs"

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She offered me her forbidden fruit, a warm, light brown orb, and gently did I take it.

I have long known about balut. My Thai acquaintance, knowing my varied culinary interests, smilingly held up the brown egg, saying “This is balut. Do you want to try it?" Balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg, boiled, then eaten. It’s a Philippine delicacy, also treasured across Asia, under other names. A fertilized egg is incubated in warmed sand , and often cooked and consumed on days 16-18, depending on how advanced one wants their embryonic prize to be. I took the warm egg home, wondering “Ok wiseguy, what are you going to do with this now?”

I didn’t ask the egg’s age. My parents didn’t raise me that way. It sat in the fridge for two days before I got around to researching, and cooking it. I’ve heard both sides of the balut controversy. To a balut aficionado, it’s a wonderful family tradition- fresh, natural, and free of preservatives. It’s can be used as a test, to see how a potential mate reacts to a cultural icon. To others, it’s primeval, repugnantly taboo. Some affirm humans should eat only things with roots or chlorophyll. I told myself- whether ingesting an embryo, pullet, magret, gizzard or old fryer, I'll be eating a unique form of poultry, and certainly not ingesting a bug or alien. I held the egg in my hand, hesitant and nervous about its impending taste and appearance.

The egg is 2.75 inches long- chicken- egg sized,- smaller than a Muscovy duck egg.

Joy of Cooking somehow left out balut recipes, as did other cookbooks. Googling “balut cooking” wasn't helpful- boiling times varied from 15 to 40 minutes. This egg was smaller than most duck eggs, so I warmed up water, put it in, and boiled it for 20.” I gathered salt, sweet chili dipping sauce, white vinegar, a Meyer lemon, and bagel chips, to better see what would best fit with balut. Sipping on a Chardonnay, I also had a cold beer at the ready. Twenty boiling minutes passed, and the intact, inscrutable egg calmly faced me, silently daring me to open its secrets. Would I face a tiny blob, or worse, a feathered and footed apparition? I set it in an egg cup, (incorrectly) pointy, smaller end pointed up. Tapping around the egg, I opened it toward the top, removing the resultant round “cap.” I gingerly took a sip of the warm, clear broth within. Not bad. I added a pinch of salt, and downed the rest of the broth, in a shot. It was tasty. “Tastes unlike chicken,” I thought. Attached to the cap is a nut-hard, clearly inedible concave disk of cooked egg white (below, on right), unlike anything I’ve seen. I set that aside. The disc of soft yolk looked up at me from within the shell. Gingerly, I turned the yolk over, and an embryonic blob, half the size of the yolk, was attached. "Whew, no feathers or feet,” I thought, “dodged that bullet. ” Still, at some level, I was not prepared to see this. I hesitated, put a dash of salt and lemon juice on the pair, and took a nibble. “Hmmm, Not bad.” In fact, it had a pleasantly rich foie gras taste, and unique creamy-solid consistency. The next mouthful was drizzled with Thai sweet chili dipping sauce. Its strength covered up the delicate taste. Another bite, and the balut was history.

The thought of eating a cooked embryo, rather than a whole chicken, can stop a grown man in his tracks. That thought just as easily propels other men or women, balut aficionados, to eagerly reach for the egg. I hesitated before "breaking" a Western taboo of eating "gross," or “weird” food. I try to appreciate another culture’s delight. While I could name lots of other proteins I’d much prefer, I could try balut again.

Oh, just one request, please. No “feathers and feet,” for this old bird.

Best Avocado Pie, on the Fly!

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I've an avocado tree, kaffir lime trees, and a Meyer lemon tree. There's a trio of tree ripened fruits, in search of a recipe. Join them with a sweet tooth, and it's Avocado Pie time!

It's really easy. Meyer lemons aren't that tart , so I added tart lemons and bitter kaffir lime juice, to balance condensed milk's sweetness. Fresh ginger gives tang. Here's a tropical delight, that doesn't need baking time, placed in a quickly baked graham cracker crust.

Some of the Ingredients Take a Bow

Best Avocado Pie

2 cups peeled, pitted, and mashed avocado (Hass (Not "Haas") is favored)

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

4-6 ounces fresh lemon or lime juice, add to taste

1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger

a 9" graham cracker pie crust (homemade or bought)

A topping- whipped cream, meringue or Cool Whip

Instructions

Pre-bake the pie crust for 5-8 minutes at 350 in preheated (toaster) oven, and let cool.

Combine the top four ingredients in a bowl, and whip with blender (or push through fine sieve), adding the juice and tasting till you like the balance of acidity and sweetness. Pour into cooled, baked pie crust, and refrigerate. Let it set for 4 hours or overnight. Before serving, top with whipped cream, meringue, or Cool Whip in a pinch. Garnish with thin sliced lemon, lime, crushed nuts, and serve.

Cooking Notes: The mix was too gloppy to blend at first in my Vitamix blender, then I hit on the right speed. It worked with a lot of nudging. I favor a hand blender for a thick mixture. Add the lemon/lime juice to taste. The acidity varies a bit, and I like tartness. Too much tartness, and it becomes a luscious lemon/ lime pie. Try adding subtle amounts of spices, like curry powder, coconut, or even jalapeno! Avocados' flesh varies in richness and "butteriness.". Bake a pie crust from scratch, when time permits. I can easily change the pies's color, as the avocado's outer flesh is dark green, while the rest is more yellow. Richard Hass patented his dark, wrinkly avocado in 1935, said by his family to be from a Mexican Fuerte tree.

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Avocado Pie with Sliced Kaffir Limes and Whipped Cream

The pie gets eaten fast! Double the recipe from the start, and make two pies!

Linda G. Gordon
I cooked last night in memory of Linda Gordon, my generous friend and frequent dining companion. Linda was a well respected journalist who was writer and part owner of an Ocean City, Maryland newspaper, then served admirably as restaurant critic and journalist for the Naples Daily News for 12 years. She retired and subsequently wrote, with her lively style, over the past year for Gulfshore Life Magazine, and was recently offered an assistant editorship. She passed away Monday, Nov 12 from sudden complications from an accidental fall, and is survived by Lilybelle, her devoted Shih-Tsu. While a poolside party shall be soon enjoyed in her memory by her many friends, last tonight, feeling her presence, I had the desire to cook and share two things she’d like. “We” started with the Mussels, Curry, Cream and Wine Mouclade, a recipe minimally modified from Chef Laurent Tourondel's book “Go Fish- Fresh Ideas for American Seafood”. I earlier started the hours- long simmering Lamb Shanks with Guinness Draught, which was refrigerated overnight, and served as the hearty main course.

Poulette de Moules au Curry
Mussels, Curry, Cream and Wine Mouclade

A mouclade is a regional French mussel dish in which the mussels are cooked just as they are for moules marinière, or mussels steamed in white wine, with shallots, garlic, and herbs. To make a mouclade, the cooking liquid is thickened with cream and the mussels are served on the half-shell, topped with a spoonful of the sauce.
Ingredients (Serves 6):

2 cups dry white wine
4 medium shallots, sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon curry powder, or more to taste
6 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded (I used 2 lbs)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped parsley
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
COOK THE MUSSELS --Put the wine, shallots, garlic, and curry powder in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the mussels and parsley, cover, and cook until the mussels open, approximately 3 minutes. Drain the mussels in a fine-mesh strainer set over a pot. Discard any mussels that have not opened.
MAKE THE SAUCE--Reheat the strained liquid over medium heat. Stir in the cream and cornstarch, and season with salt and pepper.
SERVE --Return the mussels to the pot and bring the pot to the table.

I found it tasty, and added a small pinch of cayenne pepper to give it a little heat,. If I were to do it again for 2 lbs, rather than the intended 6 lbs of mussels, I’d reduce the 2 cups of wine by boiling, down to just over 1 cup, or add more cornstarch, to yield a richer tasting and thicker sauce. I used live mussels, which were tasty but small bodied. Next time, I might try using frozen New Zealand green-lipped mussels, which have proportionately quite large bodies in their shells. Traditionally, some French chefs add the curry at the end, before serving. The cornstarch is not a French thing, and the thickened dish may be better termed "Poulette de Moules au Curry".

Mussels, sans parsley garnishing. The Lamb Shanks with Guinness recipe serves 4, and comes from Mary at ceresandbacchus.com.
Lamb Shanks with Guinness
This recipe is termed a "Navarin Printanier aux carrots nouvelles" by my scholarly French friend.
Ingredients:
4 lamb shanks, about 2-2 1/2 lbs. total (I used lamb leg, trimmed into 2” pieces, to brown better, and did same browning for the bone.) 2 T olive oil
1 can Guinness draught beer
4 carrots (I used 1 lb of peeled baby carrots)
1 large onion chopped, or 1 cup pearl onions, peeled
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 T flour
1 cup beef broth, chicken broth or water, warmed
24-26 oz. stewed tomatoes (make sure that the only ingredient listed on the can or box is tomatoes, I used Pomí "chopped" )
1 bouquet garni, Salt and pepper to taste
3 T chopped parsley garnish
Sprinkle lamb shanks with salt and pepper. Heat an enameled or cast iron Dutch oven over high heat for 8-10 minutes. Add oil, heat oil to almost shimmering heat, then add lamb shanks. Let them get brown and unstuck from the pan (on their own) before turning to brown them on another side. (Click on "Lamb Shanks with Guiness" above for rest of recipe.) Make this a day ahead of time-it tastes better the next day, and you can remove any fat from the top of the sauce before reheating it.

Lamb Simmering in Cast Iron Pot Lamb, Carrots and Onions Revealed
I added a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper powder to the recipe to give it just a little heat (not a French touch!), and boiled down the liquid for a while, with the lamb and carrots removed, as it was a touch watery. After resting overnight in the fridge, it was oh-mi-gawd delicious, served the next day. I cooked it a second time, later, added some ground cumin (like a lamb tagine), and simmered, with no top for the last 2 hours, to concentrate the flavor and thicken the liquid, and didn't need to add flour. Mary, thank you for sharing a superb recipe.

Linda, you left a wonderful legacy. Your friends feast, drink, and joyfully celebrate your life.

**************Addendum*************

The Celebration of Life, in Memory of Linda Gordon, will be held at Saturday, February 2nd, 2008, 3 pm, at Moorhaven Apartments, 2102 Alamanda Dr. Naples, FL 34102. Catering will be done by Dino's Restaurant. This street is parallel to US 41, and behind the Office Depot, booksaMillion Plaza, across from the Coastland Mall.