February and Red

We, the Five Coursemen, picked red as the theme for February's dinner. I suppose it was fitting, as red is the unofficial official color of Valentine's Day, and therefore, the entire month. Heart-shaped food was not necessary, nor were pink jelly beans nor those gross cinnamon candies. This was an opportunity to explore the color red, perhaps one of the most important colors in food. Red is the color of blood, of meat, the food to which we humans owe our nice big brains. Red still inspires passion and intensity, expression and vitality. These are the emotions truly amazing food can inspire, both for the creator and the diner.

OK, maybe that's a bit intense, but you get the drift. We love food. We want it done well. I'd rather that people had more passion and inspiration for food, its creation, consumption, gathering, and growing, than guns, cars, shopping, or working. Food helps tell the story of those gathered around it. As Tolkien said, "If more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a much merrier world."

We welcomed new faces to our dinner, Abe, a foodie well-known to us, and a new friend, Kelly, who can't cook but doesn't mind eating.

Here's the menu:

Pre Dinner Cocktail

Bloody Mary with Spicy Salt Rim, Pickled Asparagus, and Lime and Horseradish Foam

Created By Abe

WOO! This Bloody Mary was bloody brilliant. And bloody hot. The entire drink was hot, bold, brave, and meant to get the juices flowing. Abe makes his own Bloody Mary mix (as should we all) and topped it with a horseradish and lime foam, which floated on top and gave every sip a sweet/zesty/spicy zing. Yet, the tomato kept the drink well-balanced. I'll never look at a Bloody Mary the same way again.

Appetizer
Homemade Port Wine Ricotta, Pork Rillettes, Dried Cherry Beaten Biscuits, and Cranberry Parsley Pesto
Created by Chelsea

Abe paired this dish with a Dry Rose wine from the French Appellation region

I love pork, cheese, port wine, cranberries and making pesto, so this dish was a real treat for me to create. I was interested in exploring food craftsmanship with this dish. I've longed to learn how to make my own cheese, and my ricotta delivered the flavors of black peppercorns and port in a creamy, rich package. Rillettes is an old school French dish, similar to pate. It involves slow-cooked meat, pulled or finely chopped, mixed with herbs, brandy and animal fat. It's traditionally served chilled or at room temperature, spread on fresh baguettes with cornichons. I served it in little shot glasses I got at Ikea. The cranberry pesto was something I thought of doing to offset the richness of cheese, pork and biscuits. I also thought it could replace the role of the cornichons, bringing some bite and tartness to the experience. It involved chopped dried cranberries, fresh parsley, pistachios, pomegranate seeds, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and fresh garlic. It tasted damn fine, and is also good tossed with some whole wheat angel hair and Parmesan, if I do say so myself. I'll post up a recipe soon!

Soup

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Bisque Topped with Crisp Shallots, Fresh Thyme, and Grilled Cheese Truffle Butter Crouton

Created by Nikki

Paired with: Dry German Riesling

Nikki made for us a roasted tomato and roasted red bell pepper bisque. She topped it with a crouton which was broiled with cheddar cheese and truffle butter, crispy shallots and fresh thyme. The soup itself was vibrant, and is what I'd call tomato soup for grown-ups. No sickly sweet high fructose corn syrup nonsense here, folks! Roasting the tomatoes and red bell pepper helped the vegetables develop their natural sugars, which balanced out the brightness of the red bell pepper, and kept the tomato from becoming overly acidic. It was Joy. A smile in a little pretty cup. The crouton was reminiscent of a grilled cheese sandwich, which I broke apart into the soup to suck up more delicious flavor. The truffle butter was faint against the bright flavors of the soup, but lent an elegance to an otherwise simple dish. Crisp shallots gave a crispy crunchy texture and the scent of fresh thyme made it a full sensory experience.

Palette Cleanser of Pomegranate Mojito Granita

Created by Abe

A palette cleanser? Why haven't we thought of this before? This is why we invited Abe. While a picture does not exist of this, it was a refreshing little sigh of crisp pomegranate flavor to get our tongues ready for the rest of the meal.

Main Course

Red Wine, Pineapple and Chile Braised Chicken with Rice

Created by Jocelyn and Nicole

Paired with 2006 Rosa Regale

In an interesting twist, first course and main course were presented together as one offering. Jocelyn marinated the chicken in chilies and whole pineapple. Pineapple's acidity breaks down protein, and had the effect of making the chicken incredibly tender, as if it had been cooking for hours. The sauce was finished off with pineapple juice, roasted garlic cloves, salsa, a dizzying array of chilies, and red wine. It was extremely flavorful, and it was great to have rice to help soak up the sauce. Personally, I would have liked a pitcher of it and just drink it. I'd put it on eggs, braise pork shoulder in it, saute spinach with it, whatever! Just give me more! Joss garnished with chopped cilantro and cotija cheese, which really brought out the red of the sauce.

Dessert

Red Sweets Sampler, Including Red Velvet Cocoa, Red Wine Cake, Lambic Sorbet, and Vanilla Bean Marscapone with Cherry Peppers

Created by Bonni

Paired with Portuguese Tawny Port

Bonni created this dessert sampler using a variety of innovative flavors, techniques and ideas. From left to right, we have Red Velvet Hot Cocoa, Vanilla Bean Marscapone with Cherry Peppers, Red Wine Cake, and Lambic sorbet. The Red Velvet Hot Cocoa was a revelation. If god sent down red velvet hot cocoa instead of rain, it might, might, make a believer out of me. It was SO rich, and offset by a little salt she added. Certain guests (Eddie) poured themselves a whole mug! Needless to say, there wasn't any left by the end of the night.

Bonni wanted to experiment with combining hot and sweet flavors, and I'll say I didn't mind being her taste tester for the Marscapone and Cherry Pepper combination. Bonni makes her own vanilla extract, so we always have a vanilla bean or two around, and it was put to great effect with this. The red wine cake was like a little pillow of rich delight. It was slightly more savory and earthy than the average chocolate cake which I liked. Last but not least, the Lambic sorbet. If you don't know what Framboise Lambic is, you're missing a part of your soul you haven't known was missing yet. It's a Belgian beer brewed with raspberries, and it's the best drink that's ever existed. The best-known brand is Lindemans, and I've been drinking it since I was pretty young (12) when my parents would bring it home. She made it with fresh raspberries, and it was tart, sweet, cold and fruity.

After Dinner Drink

Cinnamon Candied Apple Martini

Jim Bean, Sour Apple Liquor, Cinnamon Schnapps, and Hibiscus Cranberry Juice

Created by Abe

If I couldn't have Framboise anymore, and had to drink one other alcoholic drink, it'd be this. I'm serious, that's how much I liked it. Whiskey, apples, cinnamon, and cranberry. Hi, those are all my favorite things. Abe already knocked it out of the park with his wine pairings, the mojito, Bloody Mary and glowing personality, but after this beverage I was ready to give him my first-born. My hand remained wrapped possesively around my glass, fork poised to strike out at any who might take it. Is this madness? No! This is Sparta! Martini Sparta! Loathe to he who pilfers my beverages. Thrice I see you and thrice you are denied!

Once again, we broke the voting into three categories: Best Interpretation of Theme, Best Presentation, and Best Overall. I am pleased to say I took home Best Overall (though I didn't really have to take it home since I was already home...whatever), Bonni took Best Presentation and Abe walked away with Best Interpretation of Theme.

Please watch out for the next episode, in which the Five (six? seven?) Coursemen deal with secret ingredients, including Bread in a Can, Butterscotch Pudding, Spam, Parsnips, and Kool Aid.

Cranberry Pesto

As people might have noticed, I'm kind of a pesto freak. I love pesto. And this cranberry pesto really brought the house down. It has vivacious colors, intense flavors and works well in a lot of different dishes. I wish I could take complete credit for this masterpiece, but I adapted the recipe from Steamy Kitchen. There are some changes to mine, though. I don't use a food processor to make pesto since I like a more rustic consistency.

Equipment:

A rock-y knife (see Arugula Pesto post)
a cutting board (obvs)
Spoon
Bowl

Ingredients:

Parsley - finely chopped
Dried cranberries - finely chopped
Pomegranate seeds - left whole (optional, as they are extremely seasonal)
1 clove of fresh garlic - smashed and chopped finely (adjust as desired)
Chopped roasted pistachios (or pecans, which I used once when I couldn't find my pistachios)
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil
A LITTLE balsamic vinegar. A LITTLE bit.

Yeah...no cheese! Omg it's vegan. I accidentally made something vegan!

The proportions are: 1 part parsley, 1 part dried cranberries, 1/4 to 1/2 part pomegranate seeds, 1/4 part chopped nuts. Of course adjust this for flavor and your preferences. Mix in enough oil to get it to the consistency you want, and add a little touch of the vinegar. It's strong stuff and you don't want a lot. Pour it into a separate spoon if that helps.

I tossed this with some capellini and topped with Parmesan cheese. I imagine it would make a unique and striking bruscetta topping, and good over some grilled pork chops. Enjoy!

Easy aurugula pesto

Hey folks, it's been a while since we've had a post here, so I figured I'd freshen things up with an extremely easy recipe.

Pesto is seriously one of the easiest things to do. All you really need, gear-wise, is a knife with a curved blade, a cheese grater, a cutting board, a bowl and a spoon. I use this: http://www.alaskafurexchange.com/images/ulus/7BU_7BE.jpg

Or you can use something with a curved blade that will let you rock it back and forth, like this: http://www.jlhufford.com/images/shun-classic-rocking-knife.jpg

Ingredients wise, since it's a raw sauce and has very few ingredients, it's important to get the best quality ingredients you can possibly lay your hands on. Whole Foods has really awesome Parmesan cheese. It's salty, pungent, buttery and nutty. It's way, way more flavorful than literally every other Parmesan or "Parmesan" I've ever had. If it's too expensive for you, you can get it from Trader Joe's, but don't get that crap they sell at Ralph's or Albertson's. That waxy, pale, bland crap will make your pesto lack-luster.

You'll also need wild arugula, olive oil (NO "lite" olive oil please, get something that tastes good!), pepper (fresh cracked please), fresh garlic (no little friends growing out of the top of the cloves!) and salt. Walnuts or pinenuts are optional. I almost never remember to add them. Whatevs.

Directions:

Grab a handful of arugula (you got the wild, prewashed kind from TJ's, right?), ball it up firmly and start chopping through it until it's fairly fine, like the chop that's on cilantro you'd get at the Mexican restaurant. http://www.cookthink.com/images/Article/626/658_.jpg Like the parsley on the left. It doesn't even have to be that fine, if you don't want. This is where the rocky-knife comes it. It makes it so easy just to rock back and forth over the arugula until it's at the right size.

Chop a bunch of the arugula, a handful at a time. I'll usually do two or three handfuls. Put it all in a bowl. Now, smash, peel and finely chop one or two garlic cloves. Put the garlic in the bowl, and now grate (using the FINE grade on the grater) a bunch of parmesan over the mixture. So, if I did two or three handfuls of arugula, I'd do a handful of parmesan. Give it a shot of pepper, mix it up and start to pour in the olive oil. There is no right or wrong way to do this. If you want a lose pesto, pour in more. If you want it drier, use less. Use your judgement. Now taste it. Needs salt? Add salt, or more parmesan. Too much garlic? Add a little more arugula.

See? You're done, and this probably took like ten or fifteen minutes.

Pumpkin Soup

Here are the ingredients I used:

Yellow onion, diced
a whole bunch of pumpkin (I used canned because I am lazy, but it would have been better if I made puree)
Heavy cream
brown sugar
Garam Masala (a special Indian spice blend. It's delicious)
Curry powder
two bay leaves
a cinnamon stick
allspice
Salt
White pepper
chicken broth
a splash of orange juice - this really helps bring it all together
and one finely diced Death Pepper. I'm not sure what the Death Pepper is actually called, but I gave it that name because it got into my hangnail and ruined my life for about two hours. Nikki got us a pepper plant from Trader Joe's as a housewarming gift, and I chopped one of the little fuckers up to stick in the soup.

Note that the soup filled most of my Dutch oven, and one death pepper was enough to make it pretty hot. Adjust as you like. I liked the spicy to help brighten the sweetness and heaviness of the pumpkin. I also would have used worcestershire sauce if I had it, but I didn't, so there you go.

Sautee the onions first in olive oil, then add all the spices. You'll want more of the curry and garam masala than anything else. Note that when I made it, it really sucked up salt, so I had to keep adding it. Toss in the pumpkin (I think I used a big can and a small can), a pint of cream, and enough chicken broth to thin it out to a sufficiently soupy consistency. Add in the death pepper. Let this simmer for a while (like 3-4 hours) and then fish out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. With a hand blender, blend the soup for a nice smooth consistency. If you want to give your guests a real challenge, I suppose you could leave the cinnamon stick in there, but it's a bitch to get out of your teeth. When I made it, I only found one of my two bay leaves, and blended it anyway. No one complained about biting into it, so I assume it must have gone home with whoever took home leftovers.

My rule is, if you got the bay leaf, you make the soup next time. So far no one has admitted to getting the leaf.

The real trick is letting it cook all day long, so that the flavors have time to marry up. It was even better a few days later. I wish I had cooked this a day or two before the dinner, but alas.

For toppings, I had sour cream, bacon bits, sauteed shallots and a garam masala Parmesan chip. To make a Parmesan chip, I grated the cheese and crumbled it as fine as I could get it with my fingers. Then I added garam masala and brown sugar and combined it all thoroughly. Take a non-stick pan, and sprinkle in enough of the cheese to make a silver dollar-sized circle. Turn up the heat and let the cheese melt until it bubbles. Then turn off the heat, and CAREFULLY with a THIN spatula, pry the little bastards up and stick them CAREFULLY on some parchment paper so that you don't ruin the nice circle shape, and they can harden. Then they'll be crispy and delicious. You can also do this with just plain cheese, and it's a really nice topper for a salad.

Cappellacci di Zucca (Pumpkin Ravioli)

I have to start off by apologizing for the quality (or lack thereof) of the photos this time around.  Lighting is pretty much everything when it comes to photography, and our dinners tend to run longer than the sun is willing to stay up, so I've ended up with pictures like this which make my food look like a hot buttered mess!  (The first two words of that term are actually true for this dish.)

I stole this recipe from one of my favorite restaurants, L'Opera Ristorante in Long Beach.  I've eaten there many times, and every time I get the same thing.  I finally started trying to pick apart the flavors each time I ate the dish to decipher their delicious code.  I think I may have finally landed on it.  L'Opera's ravioli is made with butternut squash, but I switched it with pumpkin, and added a few of my own touches.

I used wonton wrappers for the little hats, partly because they're cute, but mostly because the idea of making my own pasta while moving into a new house was daunting.  My advice to anyone attempting to make this dish with wonton wrappers is DOUBLE THEM!  Most of the ravioli held up to being boiled, but there were a good number of rogue bursters that came apart during the process.  Doubling the wontons before stuffing them would've prevented this from happening.

Still, the dish came out beautifully, if I do say so myself.  My only regret is that the plate looked a little two-dimensional, and that I didn't get a decent picture.  But that's just an excuse to recreate them, right?

Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup brandy (to taste)
6 tablespoons ground pine nuts (I used a coffee grinder to get a good consistency)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 package wonton wrappers
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup unsalted butter
a handful of fresh sage
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used Yellow Tail chardonnay)
3 cups plain marinara sauce (homemade or Classico - if I catch you using Prego I'll cut you)
salt, pepper, chili flakes to taste
parmesan shavings for garnish/extra deliciousness

Ravioli:

Mix together the pumpkin puree, ricotta, brandy, pine nuts and brown sugar until incorporated.  Place in a sieve over a bowl for a couple hours to let the mixture drain.  Once firm, scoop the mixture by the teaspoonful and place in the center of the wonton wrappers (or homemade pasta, if you're awesome).  Fold the wrapper in half diagonally, then fold each of the corners in, to create a little hat-like thing.  Repeat until you think you have enough ravioli to feed yourself.  Er ... I mean, your guests.  Place them on a generously-floured cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving time.

Brown butter sage sauce:

In a small saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup of butter on a medium-low heat.  Midway through the melting, throw in the handful of sage - I'd estimate about 20 leaves.  Stir occasionally until the butter reaches a golden brown color.  Remove from heat.  Pour 1/4 cup white wine into the butter for bite.

Spicy marinara:

Easy as pie.  Warm the marinara with the reserved 1/4 cup of butter.  Add about 2 teaspoons of chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer.

Create a bed of spicy marinara sauce in the center of a plate.  Boil your ravioli, place in a circle around the sauce, then pour a healthy serving of the brown butter sage sauce on top.  Finish with a piece of crispy sage and a parmesan cheese shaving atop each pillow, and serve.

Mabon

This year, the Fall Equinox landed on September 23rd. With the days becoming shorter, we celebrated the coming of harvest season and celebrated the Witch's Thanksgiving known as Mabon on Saturday. It is a time of balance and a time for giving thanks, appreciating the gifts tilled from the soil before it goes dormant until Spring. In light of this, we honor the old tradition of hospitality and count the blessings we have with the company of our kin, give thanks, and reflect on the balance within our individual lives.

Time is fleeting. Despite our best efforts to meet "every month," Five Course Foodies' schedules got crazy. Alas! Beautiful Bonnie suggested an impromptu dinner to celebrate Mabon while incorporating Jocelyn's suggested fall theme, Pumpkin. And, oh boy, did we enjoy tons of pumpkin!

Bonni, Chelsea, and Chris just moved from their apartments into a beautiful early-twentieth century craftsmen home. It is a wonderful place, welcoming and warming to the heart, soul, and mind, with books everywhere, an Italian-inspired kitchen. It's also a cheerful yellow! Added to this, they now have a backyard with a great deck! Now that it's finally cool outside, a picnic at sunset seemed fitting. In this spirit, we dined outside.

I, Nikki, prepared our first course. Honestly, I have never cooked with anything pumpkin. I have a can of Libby's Pumpkin whatever-it-is, but decided since I could find pie pumpkins at the market, why the heck not make my own pumpkin puree? So, I roasted two 3lb suckers and experimented with their bright yellow-orange guts. After a few failed experiments, I opted to make Pumpkin Butter along with Pumpkin Ale Bread. Suffice it to say, the buttery crust and moist interior of the bread - made with Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ale - beautifully complimented the creamy deliciousness lathed onto it. Yes, pumpkin butter. How pumpkin pie should taste (and I totally winged it!). Jocelyn aptly paired it with Newcastle's Werewolf Blood Red Ale. It suited everything we ate rather well. 

I dreamt about Chelsea's Curry Pumpkin Soup for several nights consecutively. This we enjoyed as our second course. By Jove... It was magnificent. Although wonderful on its own, she garnished the luscious pumpkin-curry goodness with a dollop of sour cream, sauteed onions, crispy bacon, and, to top it off, a Parmesan crisp. Seriously scrumptious. Chelsea concocted this from a melody of spices and pumpkin puree in her newest toy, a dutch oven. I took a tub of it home. And it was glorious. There's a reason why Chelsea won "Best Themed Dish" (well, I tied with her, but since I dreamt about her soup instead of my pumpkin butter, she surely deserves the title). Around this time, Jocelyn presented the best mulled wine I have ever tasted, fittingly served in a stoneware cup with a slice of orange. If only there was more... It was my favorite drink of the whole night, because really, what's better than a cup of warm, spicy alcoholic yumminess on a cool fall evening outside on the deck with great friends? Nothing. Except a nekid Viggo Mortensen wearing the silver winged crown of Gondor and his victory beard...

For our third course, Bonni spoiled us all with Cappallacci di Zucca - Pumpkin Raviolis - on a bed of spicy marinara sauce with a drizzle of crispy sage-butter, topped with Parmesan shavings. You would not believe the delightful texture of these! And, who would have thought about using wonton wrappers for the pasta? well, maybe Martha Stewart. It's a good thing. The combination of the creamy pumpkin and ricotta with the crispy sage made my head want to explode. Oh, and not to mention the brilliant red and perfectly seasoned marinara sauce. Pumpkin and tomato? My life is forever changed. These good things were my favorite of the night, clearly, given my many superlatives. But I was not alone in my enthusiasm for Bonni's creative culinary skillz and evocation of our pumpkin theme: she won "Best Overall Dish"! 

Have you ever seen a de-boned chicken? With every single bone removed??? It's unfortunate that we didn't take the time to capture the stunning image of such a magnificent beauty. Perhaps we were too busy nomming! But, really, can you blame us? For our fourth course, Chris inspired awe in all of us with his whole, de-boned chicken, packed with beer bread stuffing (Beer bread? great minds think alike!), cranberries, and jalepeños. He brined it, marinated it, de-boned it, stuffed it, seasoned it, and roasted it. Chris loves us. Or is it his competitive spirit that motivated this dish? Maybe both. But mostly love. Why, do you ask? Because Chris is a vegetarian. He didn't even taste this delicious poultry carcass. Fine. More for me. 

Jocelyn delighted us with many liquid victuals, including a beer that tasted a lot like scotch (will edit later with exact details...), as well as a marvelous dessert martini mixed with milk and a Puerto Rican liqueur. She fittingly served this surprisingly refreshing concoction with cookies that Nicole made: Pumpkin chocolate chip! Somewhat ginger-like and with just the right amount of chocolate chips (which, in my book, means lots! as it should be), as our final fifth course, Nicole's cookies finished the night on a properly sweet pumpkin note. 

Fall doesn't normally feel like itself until Halloween for me, and then especially with Thanksgiving. It's a shame that in Southern California we don't have the pleasure of visually watching the seasons morph, with leaves changing colors and falling. That doesn't happen until it's officially winter. Celebrating Mabon / Autumnal Equinox rung in fall as it should always be - commemorating the customs of old, relishing moments with friends, and feasting on food made with love. Every meal should be like this. -Nikki

Lamb, Effing Lamb...

Lamb, I discovered, doesn't act like pork. I saw the bone and the fat cap and thought, "Oh, I know what to do with this!" I can make a mean pork shoulder, loaded with melty garlic cloves, a crusty salty outside and delicious falling-apart pork on the inside.

Lamb isn't pork, and it was on the dry side. Don't do what I did. I stuck it in the oven at 230 degrees for a long time. Use a slow cooker.

Here's the spice rub I used:

Thyme - dried
Smoked sea salt
Cumin - I ground it myself from whole cumin seeds
Vietnamese Cinnamon - from Penzy's
Black Pepper
Coriander - Which I also ground myself

Now, cumin will tend to take over a blend like this if you're not careful. So it'll be like equal parts cumin, thyme and coriander, a little less black pepper, a little less salt, and REALLY easy on the cinnamon (the Vietnamese type is super bright and spicy). You don't want it to taste like Christmas.

If I could do it over again, I'll stick that beautiful lamb leg in a slow cooker for like ten hours with all those spices, a splash of water, a quartered onion and a bunch of garlic cloves.

Leg of lamb will yield a lot of fat, so you'll need to skim the muck and stuff out.

For the couscous, I used Israeli couscous with saffron, cayenne and all the garlic cloves that got all soft in the lamb fat.