Evocative Endive - Old Glory Endive Salad

Yes, it’s late at night and your hungry…. You didn’t have time to grocery shop this evening and it’s now midnight in a town that rolls up the sidewalk at 11pm… Yes, San Diego is pathetic that way. For all it’s professed urban-ish-ness, after 11pm the only things open are the nightclubs and bars. And while you recognize that pretzels, peanuts and beer are all well and good, being responsible for some of the greatest advancements of humanity, you wanted real food.

Time to raid the refrigerator… Slim pickins, that’s for sure. Then in the crisper drawer, you find a small head of Red Endive (ON-deev) that you totally forgot about…(How long HAS that been in there? Still smells fine though, can’t be too long)… Hmmm and Pecans left over from the Coconut Pecan Pie… oooo and a little Gorgonzola… some Olive Oil and a little Fennel Pollen and Voila…!!

Something very reminiscent of either Endive Fennel Salad or Seared Prosciutto Wrapped Endive… Kinda patriotic too, with the Red Endive and White and Blue cheese…. Hmmmmm

Old Glory Endive Salad

Endive (Red or Green)
Blue Cheese (Gorgonzola)
Broken Pecans
Olive oil (Extra Virgin or Citrus Infused Oil)
Fennel Pollen

Break of the individual leaves of the endive and fill with crumbled blue cheese and broken pecans.

Sprinkle each filled leaf with a tiny amount of Fennel Pollen.

Drizzle with Olive oil and serve.

Awesome with Orange Muscat!!

Mangia!!
~~

Disaccharide Drenched Drupes - Walnut Praline

Today, June 24th, is Praline Day. (The Southern pray-LEEN, not the French prah-lin-AY) So I set out to make walnut pralines with a particular salad in mind. They it occurred to me.... I should write about nuts... For all those who are as Nuts about Nuts as I am.... Or should I say, Daffy about Drupes? Maybe, Looney about Legumes .....?

Botanically speaking, not all nuts are created equal. Most of the "nuts" that we eat from our friendly neighborhood trees are in actually Drupes. A drupe being the single edible "seed" extracted from a "pit" (endocarp) that was surrounded by, possibly edible, flesh (mesocarp) that was protected by a skin (exocarp). Example the Seed of the apricot is edible, once you eat the fruit, crack open the pit and you will find an edible seed, with a taste similar to an almond. This is because Almonds are in the same "Stone Fruit" Family as Peaches, Apricots, Cherries and Prunes. Walnuts, Cashews, Pecans and Coconuts fall into this category as well. Though I do not recommend eating the green fruit of the walnut and you would be pretty hard pressed to gnaw through the fibrous fruit of the coconut. The illustrious Olive, Cacao and Coffee are also drupes as are a lot of "berries" in the bramble family... each Raspberry, Salmon Berry, and Blackberry is a cluster of druplets. <--Seriously, I am not makin this stuff up ;)

Then there are the legumes such as Peanuts which exhibit odd behavior. After pollination, the fruit at the end of the stalk actually bends over and buries the ripening fruit several inches under the ground to ripen. And finally, seeds, like the Brazil Nut, with several "seeds" inside a large Coconut looking fruit, and the Pine nut; both Stone pine and Pinyon.

While true nuts such as Hazelnuts, Macadamia, Chestnuts, Beech Nuts, Acorns and Birch Nuts consist simply of the hard shell with no surrounding fruit or outer skin. Or rather, the shell is the skin.

Be that as it may, for culinary uses they are all simply referred to as "nuts". After all the slogan "Sometimes you feel like a Drupe... Sometimes you don't!" just doesn't have quite the same catchy ring to it, does it?

Praline Walnuts

(Over Mediterranean Salad)

1/4 cup plus 2 TB Granulated Sugar
2 TB Light Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Buttermilk
3/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Mace
1 1/2 TB butter
1 Cup Toasted Walnut Halves or other favorite Drupe, Nut, Legume or Seed

If your walnuts are raw, toast them in a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes
Line your counter with waxed paper.
In medium heavy saucepan, cook Sugars, Buttermilk, Cinnamon, Mace and Baking Soda over medium heat....

till the syrup reaches Firm Ball stage (243-250 degrees); stirring constantly to prevent scorching of the buttermilk.

When the mix has reached the proper temp, remove from heat, and mix the butter into the syrup. (This is important, the added fat will prevent premature crystallization of the sugar)

Add Walnuts and stir to coat.

Pour Walnuts onto Wax Paper Lined counter and separate the nuts as quickly as possible.

Let cool completely before attempting to eat.... Trust me, they are extremely hot!!

What to do with Praline Walnuts, besides sitting in a corner and eating them all, one by one?

I like to make, what I call, Mediterranean Salad. I delicious combination of peppery Arugula, Crispy Pear, Pungent Blue Cheese, and Crunchy Praline Walnuts all drizzled with a Lemon-Honey Vinaigrette.

Lemon Honey Vinaigrette is surprisingly simple
2 TB Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
2 tsp orange Blossom Honey
1/3 cup Kalamata Olive oil or Walnut oil

You are going to need a jar or bottle that you can shake...
Place the salt in the jar/bottle, then the lemon juice and swirl them around so the salt dissolves before placing the remaining ingredients in the jar/bottle.

Shake the dickens out of it.

Voile!!

Composing the salad

Take a handful of arugula and place it in a bowl.
Top with slices of d'Anjou or Comice pear (ususally about 1/2 pear per person)
Crumble blue cheese over the top, and dot with praline walnuts.
Drizzle with Lemon-Honey Vinaigrette
You can certainly hit it with a little ground pepper too, if you like....

Serve.

Mangia!!
~~

Macaroni and Cheese Blues - Conchiglia alla Formaggio Azzuro

A funny thing happened on the way to my Google Reader. My friend Joe over at EspressoJoe SanSanity had made his infinitely delicious Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese. Which, of course, set my stomach into overdrive and triggering my OCD. OK, obsession is 9/10ths aggravation. I say this because it never seems to fail. When I REALLY REALLY REALLY need to find something, (did I mention "really") suddenly it is no longer available.

I have never had a problem finding cheese in this town. OK, aside from the obscure ones like Bitto, mini rounds of Humboldt Fog and Smoked Scamorza. But your standard Dutch cheeses are usually not a problem... being Gouda, Smoked Gouda and Edam. I mean, heck, Trader Joe's alone carries 5 different Goudas; 2 of which are made with goat milk. But since Murphy's Law seems to govern my life, (more frequently than not) it came to pass that, simply because I wanted to make Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese, there was not a single chunk of Smoked Gouda in San Diego County. OYE!!

Needless to say, I became annoyed.. But after 5 grocery stores, including Whole Foods (who was "out") and Trader Joe's, it became apparent that I was to be denied smokey Gouda-ness. Sadly, this snafu did not diminish my, now unbearable, need for Mac and Cheese. So I reached for my favorite "goto" cheese.... Gorgonzola. I would have preferred to use a Gorgonzola Dolce (which is younger and creamier) but I was NOT going to any more grocery stores and was willing to make sacrifices at this point just to have exquisite cheese laden panko crusty goodness for dinner.

Thus was born, out of desperation...

Bleu Mac and Cheese or Conchiglia alla Formaggio Azzuro

A warning, my aged Gorgonzola was really weak this time... so I used 10 oz instead of 8.... But I have had young Gorgonzola (Dolce) that is stronger than some of the aged stuff, so start with 8 oz and work your way up if necessary. Tasting is important. Stilton is pretty consistent, so your fairly safe with 8 oz of this famed English Blue Cheese. If you would like to mellow the flavor out a little replace 2 oz of the Blue Cheese with 2 oz of Danish Fontina (the stuff in the red wax).

16 oz (448 g) Elbow Macaroni or Medium Shells (I prefer Shells)
6 TB unsalted butter
1 Shallots minced fine
1 Garlic clove, minced
5 TB AP Flour
2 cup (16 oz) (480 ml) Whole Milk
3/4 cup (12 oz) (180 ml) Half and Half
1/2 cup (4 oz) (120 ml) Heavy Cream
3/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp ground White Pepper
8-10 oz (224 g - 280 g) Gorgonzola, 8-10 oz Gorgonzola Dolce or 8 oz Stilton, Crumbled
1 oz (28 g) grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup (1 oz) (28 g) Panko

Preheat oven to 350°.

Drop Elbow or Conchiglia (shells) into salted boiling water; cooking for 3 minutes less than package directions;

Meanwhile in a large saucepan (larger than the one I used) over medium heat, melt 6 TB butter.
When foam subsides, add shallots and garlic; sautéing for about 1 minute.

Add flour and stir to coat; Continue cooking for 1 – 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until onion roux is light blonde.

Gradually add Milk, Half & Half, Heavy Cream, Salt, and Pepper, whisking constantly until blended and smooth.

Bring to a boil, continuing to whisk constantly; then cook until white sauce becomes thick.

Begin adding the cheeses a little at a time and stir until melted and smooth before next addition.

Drain your pasta well.. and return to the pot.

Pour Gorgonzola sauce over the Conchiglia and toss to coat well.

Spoon mixture into a 2 1/2 quart baking dish (this actually works best) or

if your like me and don't want to be eating it until the next Bleu Moon ;)
Utilize 6 CorningWare Petite dishes rubbed with olive oil or butter.

Sprinkle with Grana Padano,

Then sprinkle with Panko.

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until bubbly;

if the top is not browned to your liking, place under the broiler for 3 minutes or so.

Mangia!!
~~

The Thrill Of The Grill - Gorgonzola Stuffed Horseradish Burgers

This is not really so much a recipe post as it is a post about the really cool portable grill that I found. Granted, it's not a typical BBQ Grill since it has no lid, it's pretty much for simple grilling preparations only. But I love cooking over an open pit full of glowing coals. It's a genetic predisposition due to my Y chromosome. Don't laugh. It's deep and it's real. It hearkens to a more base existence, reaching into the primal centers of the male brain...

OK, yeah, enough of that. I have been sans grill for over a year now. Truth is, I don't live in the best part of San Diego... I kind of moved back here, from Palm Springs, in a hurry for a job and, having a dog, was desperate for an apartment as the 120 mile commute was killing me. Yeah, San Diego is a very pet UN-friendly city. The point is, I did not have room for my humongous gas grill, so I gave it away to someone who would love it and use it. I bought a smaller one, as I have a small patio area off to the side of apartment, however, it is part of the walk through and some one stole it!! Grrrrrrrr.

Because of this, I have not purchased another one, due to storage issues inside my apartment. That is, until this weekend. I found a little charcoal grill that is completely portable, and includes a built in cooler. If BBQ'ing was still allowed at the beach, here, it would be completely awesome, alas it shall have to suffice as my "mini apartment grill that cannot be stolen" because it fits in my tiny "what is suppose to be a linen" closet...

This is what it looks like...... Yeah, it even has a shoulder strap... Awesome!!

The top zipper reveals a soft sided beverage (Beer) cooler.

The side zipper allows the cooler section to be folded back.

To reveal the small enameled steel charcoal pit.

With the extend-able handled press grill underneath.

All I needed was some Real Charcoal (I don't like briquets, cause I don't know what they use to hold them together)

Light 'er up.... Add Grill and Cook me up some burgers...........


BooYAH!

So, because I wanted to play with my new grill, I scoured my refrigerator and freezer, and threw these together after I finished planting... Yes, I planted stuff this weekend too... But that is another post about herbes and citrus fruits...

Blue Stuffed Horseradish Burgers on Ciabatta with Aioli

1 lb Organic Beef
1 Egg
2 TB Chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley
1 TB Prepared Horseradish
Smoked Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
2 TB Panko or Italian Bread Crumbs

Mix everything together except the panko.

Then add the Panko (it just seems to work better that way)

Divide into 4 equal portions (They will be about 5 oz each because of the additional ingredients)

Divide each one of those into two pieces and flatten, placing crumbled Blue cheese in the center of one.

Cover with the other half of the patty and press together.

Repeat... then chill while the grill is heating up...

Take them to the grill and cook em up about 3 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, slice Ciabatta rolls and apply copious amounts of Sauce Aioli (I have some left over in a squeeze bottle from a previous recipe) Oh, yeah, I was originally going to add Brown Mustard, but no one wanted it.

Place Burger and Romaine lettuce on the roll,

I did and press together and enjoy. (Sorry, I am so use to taking pictures inside under florescent lighting, that the outside ones aren't that great cause I forgot to adjust the camera)....


Mangia!!
~~

Blue Beef - No Run of the Mill Purple Cow

Normally I am not that much of a beef eater, cause I was raised on lamb and goat (cheven), so as an adult, I find most beef has a strangely odd sour taste. But I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was able to pick up 2 beef tenderloin steaks for about 1/3 their normal price. Knowing the lack of actual "beef" flavor to the tenderloin, but reveling in it's tenderness, I looked at it as a blank canvas waiting for some added flavor of MY choosing.

Thus, with Muscat (love) being this month's wine of choice in the Virtual Wine Tasting room of BakeSpace, I had been wanting to move into some blue cheese dishes for pairing. I am not overly fond of sweet wines, but for me they usually find a reprieve if there is a hunk of Gorgonzola Dolce, Stilton or, in my case, a Blu de Moncenisio lying around somewhere in the vicinity. As luck would have it, I was still in possession of a delicious Moscato d'Asti by Il Conte d'Alba as well...

For those not familiar with Italian wines, Moscato d'Asti is a Frizzante or lightly carbonated, not as intensely as Champagne, Spumante or Prosecco, it's more of an effervescence and quite refreshing.
So without further adieu....

Bleu Mignon

2 6oz beef tenderloin medallions

Salt & pepper

Olive oil for coating

1 TB Browned Butter; melted

1/2 tsp Rosemary sprigs; chopped

1 1/2 TB Blue Cheese; Crumbled – I used a creamy French blue (Blu de Moncenisio) this time, typical I use Gorgonzola

1 TB Panko

1/2 tsp Chives; chopped

Preheat oven to 375

Preheat a sauté pan over medium heat. (with a touch more brown butter if you wish)

Season beef with salt and pepper and rub with a small amount of olive oil.

In a bowl, combine the rosemary, blue cheese, bread crumbs, chives, butter, salt and pepper, set aside.

Place beef in sauté pan and sear on both sides, only 45 seconds - 1 minute per side.

Remove from pan and place on a small rimmed baking sheet.

Divide blue cheese mixture between the medallions, pressing lightly to assure adherence.

Move to oven and bake until desired temperature is reached (10 minutes for medium rare; which is how I like it).

I was in Bleu Bovine Bliss!!!

Mangia!!
~~

Salad of Champions

I am definitely an omnivore, I love meat. But I do have to admit that when the mercury begins to rise, I tend to eat a lot more cold foods. Yes, I am talking about what a lot of people refer to as "Rabbit Fodder". But this salad is sure to make even a hard core carnivore a happy camper. I sometimes jokingly refer to this as "MAN salad". Yes, it has that green stuff (arugula) but it's at least partially covered by grilled meat, cheese and nuts, so it can't be all bad. I THINK I originally found this recipe on the George Foreman grill site... However, like usual, I have taken a few liberties over time.

Maple Balsamic Grilled Pork Tenderloin Salad

3 TB Grade B Maple Syrup (Grade B has more flavor than Grade A Dark Amber)
1 1/2 TB Balsamic Vinegar (You can use the 2 leaf salad type)
1 1/2 TB Extra Virgin Olive oil1 1/2 TB very finely minced shallot
1 clove of garlic, crushed1 tsp Marjoram
1/2 tsp Basil
1/4 tsp Oregano1/4 tsp Thyme
1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Orange or Lemon Zest
1/2 Tsp Kosher salt
1/2 Tsp freshly ground Green or Black Peppercorns
1 Package of pork tenderloin (they are usually about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs and contain 2 tenderloins)Arugula
3 oz Gorgonzola Cheese3 oz Toasted Pine nuts

Add maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, oil, minced shallot, herbs, spice, zest, salt, and pepper in a zip lock freezer bag, seal it & shake the heck out of it until mixed.

Trim the silver skin and visible fat from tenderloin using sharp thin blade or boning knife. (That is the membrane that I am pulling aways from the meat)

Slice into 1/3 - 1/2-inch slices. (It is very important that all the slices be the same thickness).
Toss the pork slices in the maple balsamic marinade and let stand for 20 minutes.

While the pork marinates, preheat your Grill pan on medium high heat.

I you have an infrared thermometer, you're looking for about 400°.
When the grill is hot, remove pork slices from the marinade and arrange on the grill, turn after 3 1/2 - 4 minutes and grill for 3 more minutes.
If working in batches, make sure to foil tent your cooked slices, as this is best served warm.

Serve on a bed of Arugula or Mixed Baby greens sprinkled with a small amount of Crumbled Gorgonzola and toasted Pine nuts.

Mangia!!
~~