Anniversary dinner

On vacation with family. Showing some love and appreciation for the holiday digs and Jen's parents 44th anniversary.


Around here (somewhere in Florida) there is little by way of good shopping. "The Boys" is one exception, a family run Italian market that has everything one could want by way of fresh produce, Italian deli and cheese plus all the great pantry items one would expect.

Main lobsters on sale, excellent olive oil, crusty peasant bread, good herbs and veggies, some special ingredients and off to the kitchen. Stopped off at the supermarket for a standing rib roast for four.

Time to cook for a big dinner. Started cocktail hour with the lobster salad (shown above). Boiled and picked lobster meat, mayo, lemon zest, parsley and chive. We had to start on something because the rib roast in the oven was filling the room with good aromas making us very very hungry.

The main course was a standing rib roast marinated for 6 hours with a fresh made rosemary, lemon, garlic sea salt rub. I seared it on the grill and then into a low oven for 2 hours. Pulled it out at 130F and poured over some lemon juice and olive oil. Let sit till 135F and rested for 15 minutes. Nice crust, super juicy pink meat and just so damned good.




This tomato salad simply made with pitted green olives with celery, marinated artichoke hearts, some chopped parsley, chili anchovies. Squeeze over some lemon juice and a bit of olive oil. An easy dish to put together.

We rounded out the meal with Tuscan beans (canned) slow baked with garlic cloves, diced tomatoes, fresh herbs and olive oil with a bread crumb crust. After 2 hours the beans were creamy and the crust added a nice textural balance.

Dessert was to be my favorite Chocolate salame but we were too full to enjoy it. Maybe today.

On the road: Maryland. Chocolate tart recipe

12-13-08 Marc's chocolate tart
Originally uploaded by forgashflicks

Chocolate Ganache Tart

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 stick plus 1 tbsp (9 tbsp) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
* 1 large egg yolk
* 12 ounces (330 gr) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
* 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190C) degrees.
2. Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.Stir in the yolk and pulse again until the dough forms clumps and curds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients. Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze crust at least 30 minutes before baking. Bake blind for 25 minutes, remove the weight and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool.
3. Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour hot cream, through a sieve, over chocolate. Stir until smooth and creamy in texture. Stir in pecans, if using. Pour chocolate mixture into center of cooled tart shell. Let stand until set, about 2 hours, or chill for 1 hour.

On the road: Maryland RECIPE. Ribs

12-13-08 bbq master
Originally uploaded by forgashflicks

Cousin Marc the Pit master has just provided recipes for the ribs and the chocolate tart. Thanks cousin.

Chinese Ribs
Marinade:
½ cup Soy Sauce
5 Tbls Brown Sugar
4 Tbls Honey
½ Cup Chicken Broth
2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 racks baby back ribs

Glaze:
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup honey

Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Remove the membrane from the ribs and marinate ribs 8-24 hours (the longer the better).

Combine soy sauce and honey for glaze. Grill ribs on low, turning and basting frequently with the glaze, until ribs are done (about 1 hour).

On the road: Maryland

The family is on the road for the holidays. 1st stop is Chesapeake beach MD at my cousin Marc's home. Marc is the pit master of the family. Not only does he have a big ass grill with 5 burner zones, he also has an all wood smoker for his more serious projects. Marc was my go to guy when I worked out my recipes for the baby pig roast and bbq sauces.






On this trip he prepared a pot of chili for our lunch time arrival, which I have to say was some of the best chili ever. Marc then spent the afternoon preparing, at Jen's request when Marc called us 2 weeks in advance to ask meat preferences for dinner, Chinese style spareribs and fried rice. A note here to say that this is a sign of a most excellent host.

















By the way, during this prep time his wife Mindy requested a chocolate tart for dessert so he went about whipping up one of those too. Husband, father, cook and pastry maker, pretty impressive huh?


















Dinner was a big hit for all. Even Leo went carnivore on this one. He just loved the ribs we put in front of him.

Herb roast chicken & Tuscan bean

Herb roast chicken & Tuscan bean
Originally uploaded by forgashflicks

Ok ok, I know, enough with the beans already. I can't help myself. Was never a big fan of beans yet between my stay in Florence and Judy Witts filling my head with ideas, what can I do?

This one covers the bases once again. Cheap, easy and little mess.

Recipe:
Soak Italian cannellini beans over night.
(Bean recipe below chicken recipe.)

Rub whole chicken with rosemary salt mix (or similar) and olive oil. Puncture a lemon 12 times and place in chicken cavity. Tie up cavity, this makes it extra juicy.

Bake in roasting pan at 350F until internal temp is 160F.
The lemon will give you the most juicy chicken of all time.
Remove chicken to plate. Scrape up the bits in the pan. Leave all the drippings and bits for the beans.

Bean recipe:
Place strained beans in the roasting pan with 2 heads garlic (tops cut off), rosemary salt mix (or similar), piece of pancetta and enough water or chicken stock to just cover the beans. Drizzle over plenty of olive oil.

Bake in oven uncovered at 350F about 2hrs stirring up the beans once or twice. Cook until beans are crusting on top and getting creamy.

Plate the beans, place chicken piece on top. Squeeze over lemon.

Breaded chix cutlet with Butter tomato sauce

Breaded chix cutlet with Butter tomato sauce
Originally uploaded by forgashflicks

A simple entree for Sunday dinner with friends.

Breaded the butterflied chicken breasts with mix of breadcrumbs, parm cheese and rosemary salt. Cooked in oiled pan.

Sauce:
28oz can crushed tomatoes
4 clove garlic whole
1 small onion halved
1 bay leaf
Red pepper flake to taste
Salt and pepper
4 tbs butter

All into small pot to boil then simmer while you prepare the chicken.

The butter makes the dish. Adds a nice decadent touch to a cheap and easy to make dinner.

French onion stuffing

French onion stuffing
Originally uploaded by forgashflicks

Sunday dinner with friends. Looking for something that would fill the apartment with a warm rich aroma. Did not want a soup but a hearty luxuriously textured side dish. Came up with this dish here.

French onion stuffing:
-I love hearty dishes and wanted the great taste of this soup but with more in it to make it a side dish.

6 lg onions sliced thin
2 tbs butter plus more for dish
1 tbs sugar
2 qts liquid (1qt chix stock and 1 1qt water. Or all chix stock)
1/2 cup cheap brandy or similar
Peasant bread (crusty with hearty interior) cut into inch cubes. enough to fill standard casserole pan.
Gruyere or swiss, sliced. Enough to cover top of casserole with at least 1 layer. More if you like.
Salt and pepper to taste.

In heavy bottom pan on high heat melt 2 tbs butter then add onions, stir in sugar and some salt.
Keep stirring onions over high heat till some water releases. Lower heat to medium high and occasionally stir onions.
You are looking to wilt down and then lightly caramelize the onions. This will take 20 minutes plus. Do not let them burn.
When light browned and softened turn up the heat and add brandy. Stir up and cook till dry.
Add 2qts liquid, bring to boil, stir up and lower to simmer. Cover and simmer 30 - 60 minutes or until it smells great.
Adjust for seasonings.

Butter the casserole dish. Push in cubes and mound them like an apple pie.
Ladle over soup to fill, put lid on to squish down cubes of bread. Let sit 5 minutes to soak in.
Repeat process with soup till bread is soaked but not broken down.
Bake in 350F oven uncovered for 30 minutes. This step will puff up the bread and make it light and fluffy.
Bake in oven till cheese gets bubbly and browned on edges.

This is a great, cheap and filling side dish. I served it with breaded chicken breast topped with butter tomato sauce.

Pork ragu casserole with Tuscan bean crust

Today I finished a two day process of cooking down pork shoulder into a pork ragu sauce. Yesterday I slow roasted the shoulder with bones and rind, crushed tomatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves and olive oil. All in a lg roasting pan for 8 hours at 250. Today I shredded the meat, chopped the rind and discarded the bones. Back into the cleaned roasting pan with more olive oil, crushed tomatoes and a bottle of red wine. Salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes for basic seasoning. Slow roasted at 250 for another 6 hours. The result was dark, rich and succulent. All into freezer for future meal but saved 2 qts for a new idea.

After reading her blog and talking with Judy Witts about her new recipes and seasonal cooking in Tuscany I came up with this dish. Also inspired by the pork cassoulet we did last week that was such a hit.

Pork ragu casserole with Tuscan bean crust
-Basically a left overs dish. Be creative, it's really all about the dark rich meat in sauce and the creamy yet crusty topping.
2 qts prepared pork shoulder ragu in tomato sauce (or similar recipe)
2bs dried white beans. Cooked with bay leaf, garlic and olive oil till softened then drained.
- Save liquid and remaining beans for soup.


Mix beans with chopped garlic, olive oil, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, chopped sage or rosemary, lemon zest, salt and pepper. You want a moisted mix but not mushy broken beans.

In casserole dish coated with olive oil, lay in the pokr ragu and smooth down. Layer over the bean mix. Pat down and sprinkle over more bread crumbs for crust. Drizzle over olive oil.

Into a preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes or until crust is browned and bubbling.

I promise you will love this one. Hearty, rich, delicious.
NOTES:
Good one pot dish with little clean up.
Left over beans and liquid can be pureed and used as base for soup with chopped chard and chicken stock.

Red snapper stew a la greek

All porked out and tired of long cooking times this past weekend. Decided on healthy Greek fare for tonight's meal.

Red snapper stew in the Greek style
Covers all the bases.
1. One pot meal
2. Fast cooking. 20 minutes from hot pan to table.
3. Cheap.
4. Fish not pork, very healthy.
5. Wife loves feta and olives.



Recipe
Good olive oil
1 medium onion fine chop
2 lg zucchini cubed
2 cloves garlic sliced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1 lemon. Half for squeezing, half for wedges.
2 cups puttanesca sauce OR 2 cups crushed tomato, 4 anchovies, 1 bay leaf, red pepper flakes.
2 lbs red snapper fillets cut into large cubes. Can use almost any fish or seafood for this dish.
1 tablespoon fresh dill plus more for garnish.
1/2 cup feta cheese

Use a heavy bottom 18" pan or similar. A large wide pan will let you cook faster as the stew is spread out over more surface area.
Over high heat saute onion in plenty of olive oil till translucent.
Add garlic and zucchini. Season with touch of ground black pepper. Saute till softened.
Add olives and puttanesca sauce. 5 minutes on high heat covered.
Stir up and push fish down into the mixture.
Crumble on feta, dill and squeeze of half lemon.
Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
Gently stir then plate in bowls with more dill as garnish and a lemon wedge.
One grind of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve with bread for sopping up the extra sauce.

All pork cassoulet

It’s cold, really cold so why not a cassoulet, an all pork cassoulet. I have my farm raised pig but we also need good ingredients to round out the dish. Right here in Astoria, New York we have a shop called Munkin. An Eastern European pork store where they produce 30 types of smoked and cured pork products in house. Just being there is like strolling through heaven, if your into that sort of thing. They might use commercial pork BUT it’s a local artisanal smoke house and that's good enough for me. They care, they know, they make darn good stuff.

All Pork Cassoulet. Inspired by our Czech neighbors at the Beer garden.
Feeds 8-10 people.
Recipe: Jonathan Forgash

Over all an easy dish. Lots of cooking time but really just a couple of 1 pot dishes with little clean up and big pay off. Serve with wine or beer.

BEANS:
2lbs dry Italian white beans (or similar). Soaked overnight and drained.
Bouquet garni
6 links smoked fresh sausage
Bone from shoulder
Pork rind (skin and fat) from 1 pork shoulder
1 medium carrot, 2 rib celery, 1 head peeled garlic, 1 onion with three cloves stuck in.

Cover with water, bring to boil then low simmer for 1hr or until beans or softened, not mushy.
Remove sausage after the first 1/2 hour to a plate.
When beans are done, remove from stove and let cool with lid off.
Remove the pork rind and add it to the meat roasting in the oven, why? Because it adds more gelatinous goodness to the dish.
DO NOT ADD SALT TO THE SIMMERING BEANS BECAUSE IT MAY TOUGHEN THEM. SAVE SALTING TILL AFTER COOKING.


MEAT: Start this section while beans are cooking.
4lb butterflied pork shoulder (salt and pepper) seared on all sides in roasting pan or lg Dutch oven. Remove pork to plate. Leave fat and drippings in pan.
Sautee 2 sliced onion till translucent. Add 1 cup brandy or beer, scrape up bits from pan and reduce.
Add 1 head peeled garlic, 1 medium carrot whole and 2 ribs celery whole.
6 juniper berries and 6 peppercorn
Cover with 28oz canned whole tomatoes
Put the seared leg and the pork rind (added after beans are done) into the mixture. Baste throughout cooking process with sauce.
Season with salt and pepper.
Into a preheated 400F oven for 30 minutes uncovered. Then lower heat to 300F, cover and cook 1.5 hours or until meat is fork tender (170-185F internal temp).
Remove meat to plate and continue to cook sauce and rind covered until rind is easy to slice and almost falls apart.
Remove from oven and let cool in sauce.

NOTE: Beans and meat can be prepared up to two days earlier. This will make for a richer dish. Same is true for all stews and other similar dishes.

Assembly:
Cube pork shoulder, slice skin into ribbons, slice sausage into rounds.
Strain beans and reserve liquid for another dish. Throw out the pork bone.
Chop veggies in meat sauce or use a stick blender. Mix veggies into sauce.
Mix meats into sauce and set aside.
Prepare 2 cups bread crumbs with 1 cup parsley leaves chopped in.

In 2 large casserole pans, layer beans on bottom, layer meat and sauce, top with layer of beans. Sprinkle on breadcrumb mix to create crust. Drizzle over plenty of olive oil to coat the crumbs. Cook in oven at 350 uncovered 30 minutes. or till interior is hot and crust is dark and bubbly.

NOTE: Do not layer too high. You want a balance between meat, soft beans and crust.

NOTE: If dish components prepared previous day, bring everything to room temp before assembling the casseroles. Cook uncovered 1hr at 350 or till interior is hot and crust is dark and bubbly.

Creamy sauerkraut sauce. Served as a condiment or side dish.
8 slices bacon
4 tablespoon butter
2 lg onions thin sliced
1 teaspoon caraway seed
4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons stone ground mustard. Look for Czech or German style.
2 qt rinsed and drained store bought sauerkraut
½ cup chopped parsley
Cook bacon till crisp. Chop bacon and back into pan with drippings.
Add butter.
Over high heat, cook onion with caraway seed. Cover pan to sweat onions. When translucent and liquid reduced add flour. Cook till lightly browned.
Add mustard and sauerkraut. Mix well and cover over low heat for 15 minutes. Continue stirring to incorporate. Taste for salt, mustard and caraway. Adjust as needed. Stir in parsley.
Dish should be creamy and smooth. If too dry add water and cook a bit more.

Serve along side the cassoulet.