Two at the Table

We wanted to do something a little different for Thanksgiving this year, but weren’t quite sure what to make. The first idea that popped into our heads was to have a cheese course, either to start or as dessert. That got us thinking that it might be fun to do a French-themed Thanksgiving (Frenchgiving, if you will). Tony asked Kim to make her cassoulet, which seemed different enough yet comforting enough to be a perfect dinner. That was about as far as our planning had gotten before we left for a trip to upstate New York the weekend before last.

We tossed some ideas around on Friday but didn’t land on anything. We finally figured everything out when we hit the farmers’ market in Hudson, NY (our favorite town to visit upstate) and saw all the great fruit and produce: we would do a mostly French inspired, mostly locally sourced Thanksgiving. (Our friend Mary Ellen coined the term “Frocal”, which we liked a lot.)

So our Frocal Thanksgiving will feature: an assortment of cheeses from Dutch Girl Cheese in Leonardsville, NY; Roasted Parsnip and Pear Soup, a recipe from epicurious made using local pears and parsnips; Melissa D’Arabian’s for Weekday Cassoulet, an all-time French classic made with local carrots and thyme; and finally, Country Apple Galette, a recipe from Jacques Pépin made with local apples.

Our dear friends Tom and Sharon will be joining us for dinner. We’re having champagne with the cheese dish, but Sharon will be surprising us with the wine pairings. We can’t wait to see what she brings and to tell you all about how dinner turned out!

We’ve been on a bit of an unplanned hiatus, what with us fighting off colds one week, taking a weekend getaway the next, and gearing up for Thanksgiving this week. So, we want to come back strong and share a relatively easy but super-delicious recipe: Poblano Mac and Cheese from Lisa Fain and “The Homesick Texan” cookbook. Kim usually makes this dish, but Tony wanted to learn how, so she coached him through it. Here’s how it all came together for us:

The first step, as always, was the prep work, which is really not too difficult, though it does take a little time. Tony grated the four cups of cheddar cheese and diced the four cloves of garlic. He also got the tasks of measuring out the butter, flour, milk, and spices (mustard powder, cayenne, and cumin), plus prepping the lime zest and cilantro.

Meanwhile, Kim worked on the chiles. She put them under the broiler for about five minutes a side (so, about 10 minutes total) and then transferred them to a paper bag to let them steam, which helps get the skins off. (We’ve used plastic food storage bags in the past and decided that they work a little better than paper, but both get the job done.) After letting the peppers steam for about 20 minutes, she rubbed off the skin, removed the stems and seeds, and chopped them into 1-inch long pieces. We were not able to get poblano chiles from Fresh Direct, so they sent us replacement peppers – Anaheim peppers, we think – but the process was the same.

With all the prep work done and with two sets of hands at work, we decided to jump right in. Tony put a pot of salted water on to boil and started the cheese sauce. He melted two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over low heat and cooked the garlic for about a minute. He added the flour and cooked this for about 3 or 4 minutes, whisking pretty much constantly, until the mixture turned light brown. (This took longer than the recipe said it should, but we were working over pretty low heat, since we didn’t want to burn anything.) Next, Tony whisked in the milk and stirred the mixture until it was slightly thickened. (This step took about 5 minutes compared to the recipe’s 3 or 4 minutes, but again, we were using very low heat.) Tony removed the sauce pan from the heat and also added the pasta to the water, which had come to a rolling boil. He stirred the mustard powder, cayenne, cumin, lime zest, cilantro and chopped chiles into the sauce and slowly added half the cheese unit it was well blended with the other ingredients. At this point, the pasta, which only needed to cook for 5 minutes, was also done.

Tony drained the pasta and poured it into a greased baking dish. He poured in half of the cheese sauce and mixed everything together so that the pasta was well-coated. He then sprinkled the rest of the cheese on top and Kim put the dish into a 375 degree oven. While the mac and cheese cooked, Tony crumbled up the cotija cheese. After 20 seemingly endless minutes, the mac and cheese was done. Kim took it out of the oven and sprinkled the cotija cheese on top. While the recipe doesn’t say to do this, Kim put the dish under the broiler for about five minutes to make sure everything was nice and browned.

As it has every time before, this dish turned out great, even with the substituted peppers. It was cheesy and creamy, with enough heat to keep things interesting. The mix of flavors – chiles, cheese, cilantro, and especially the lime zest – makes this a very unique take on a classic.  Best of all and despite how much we love it, we did manage to save plenty of leftovers!

Two at the Table_Menu_Week of November 9, 2014

We’re taking a little trip to update New York later in the week, so we won’t be doing much cooking next weekend, but we planned some exciting things for the start of the week.

We trying out a new recipe on Sunday night. We’ve gotten in the habit of making comfort food on Sunday recently and this week is no exception as we will be making Roasted Chicken Legs with Potatoes and Kale from “Food + Wine”. We going to pair this new recipe with a new India Pale Ale: Elisian “Space Dust” IPA.

We had a fantastic dinner at the Momufuku Ssam Bar on Friday evening. A group of 11 of us tried the tasting menu, which was spectacular, featuring things as diverse as oysters, country ham, and kimchi. One of the tastiest things was a ginger scallion sauce, which Kim decided she had to try to replicate. Fortunately, she was able to find the recipe for the Ginger Scallion Sauce in “Saveur” magazine. We’re going to have Monday night it on seared tuna and also have a side of Quick Sesame Snow Peas, which we found the recipe for at The Kitchn (www.thekitchn.com). Our friends Michael and Eric of Wines by the Flask (www.winesbytheflask.com) suggested we pair this up with a 2012 Pfeffingen Riesling, which they thought would be able to stand up to the intense flavor of the ginger.

Tuesday night, we’re going to have Rachel Khoo’s Rachel’s Khoo’s Cheese, Pistachio and Prune Cake, which we made to take to a party a little while ago and have been saving in the freezer since then. (You can read about  the recipe in our blog post: Special Feature: Savory Cake.) We almost stumped Michael and Eric with this one, but they rose to the challenge and suggested a 2013 St. Magdalener wine from the Huck am Back vineyard. We had never heard of this wine, which is from the Trentino-Alto Adige region of Italy, before, but we are excited to give it a try.

Wednesday night is another Rachel Khoo recipe, but a new one for us: Winter Salad with Goat Cheese Mousse. (Please note that the link takes you to YouTube, where you can watch Rachel make the recipe.) We’re all into the carrots and parsnips this winter and we love a good goat cheese, so we’re excited to try this recipe. Michael and Eric paired this one up with another wine we hadn’t heard of before: a 2010 Toscana Invetro from Renieri vineyards.

Thursday night, we’re making one of our all-time favorites: Poblano Mac and Cheese from Lisa Fein’s “The Homesick Texan Cookbook”. (Please note that the link tasks you to Tasting Table’s adaptation of the recipe.) Lisa is a real inspiration because, she operates in a small New York City kitchen just like we do, but she was able to recreate a lot of her favorite dishes from Texas, including this one. It’s fantastic mix of creamy and cheesy and smoky and spicy. We always make the whole recipe, because we cannot get enough of it and it makes for a fantastic lunch. We’re going to try to save some of the Space Dust IPA for this dish.

So we’ve maaaybe been overdoing it with the pork recipes lately, but we wanted to make Real Simple’s Chili-Glazed Pork With Sweet Potato Hash again for two reasons. One, we really like it and haven’t made it in a while. Two, we wanted to give our friends Michael and Eric from http://www.winesbytheflask.com a new wine pairing challenge. Here’s how Tony made this particular dinner.

The first thing I did was to prep the sweet potatoes, shallots and spinach. The last two ingredients were pretty easy – I chopped the shallot very finely and the spinach very roughly. The sweet potatoes weren’t too hard, thanks to our food processor. I thought about using a simple box grater, because it would be easier to clean up, but the food processor is easier and a lot more fun.

I next moved on the prepping the pork. Rather than broiling the pork tenderloin, I decided to roast it, so I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. I put the tenderloin on a half sheet pan lined with foil, rubbed it with olive oil, and seasoned it liberally with salt and pepper. When the oven had heated up, I basted the pork tenderloin with half the maple syrup and put it in the oven. After about 10 minutes, I took the pork out, basted it with the rest of the maple syrup, and put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes.

Next I started the hash. I cooked the shallots in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes. I then added the sweet potatoes and cooked them for about 8 minutes. I realized after a few minutes that I would have been better off making this dish in a non-stick skillet, as the sweet potatoes started to stick to the bottom of the Dutch oven. They didn’t burn or anything, but I could have avoiding sticking Kim with a tough clean up job. Once the sweet potatoes were done, I added the spinach to the pot and let that cook for just 2 minutes, unit it had gotten nice and soft.

Michael and Eric suggested a 2012La Vendimia Rioja to pair with this dish. I was a little surprised they went with a red – I was thinking Riesling – but it was a perfect choice, as the Rioja held up well against the spinach and sweet potato, which are strong flavors. They also suggested that La Vendimia would be a nice pairing with turkey, so if you want to give that pairing a try and are in the neighborhood, you should stop by Columbus Wine & Spirits and grab a bottle or two for your Thanksgiving table.

As you’ve probably noticed, our dinners are based on other people’s recipes. While we try to post a link for every recipe we can, we haven’t yet shared a full recipe on our blog, simply because none of them were hours. This Sunday, however, Tony made his Thunder and Lightning Chili. He adapted this dish from Robert Irvine’s Lightning Chili and Rice feels he’s made enough significant changes to call it our own. Here, Tony shares the recipe and how he made this delicious dish.

Here are the ingredients I used to make my Thunder and Lighting Chili:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon of bacon grease

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and stems removed and chopped

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground short ribs

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder

1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cans about 16 ounce) kidney (beans

1 can (about 28 ounces) diced tomatoes

First, I heated the vegetable oil and bacon grease in a pan until the grease had melted. The first time I made the chili, I had some bacon grease left over from breakfast, so I used a tablespoon in place of one tablespoon of vegetable oil. (The original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.) I found it gave the chili a nice, smoky flavor without turning it into “bacon chili”, so I made this part of my recipe. I cooked the onions over medium heat for about 10 minutes and then added the garlic and cooked that for about 2 minutes. I added the jalapeno peppers and let them cook for about 3 or 4 minutes and then added the ground beef and ground short ribs. When I was ordering the ingredients for my very first batch of this chili, I saw that Fresh Direct has ground beef short ribs. I decided to use a mix of 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound of ground short ribs, but you can use all ground beef if you like.

After the beef is cooked, you want to drain off as much fat as possible. If you are using short ribs, you’ll probably have a bit more fat to deal with, so make sure you remove as much as you can or your chili will be very greasy. After draining the fat, add the cumin, ancho chili powder, chipotle chili powder, salt, and pepper and mix everything together until the meat is evenly seasoned. Last but not least, add the tomato paste, beans, and tomatoes and simmer the chili for about 30 minutes. Cooking it longer is fine too; the flavors will intensify the longer you cook it, but if you’re like me, 30 minutes already feels like way too long to wait!

We served the chili in small bowls and ate it with a side of tortilla chips. We had an avocado in the fridge and Kim had the fantastic idea of garnishing the chili with avocado.

The chili was a good as the first time I made it – rich and satisfying and perfect for a cold fall night. There was just the right amount of jalapenos and chili powder, so the chili had a nice heat, but wasn’t out of control hot. The ground short ribs gave the chili a depth of flavor that I don’t think you can get from ground beef alone. Last but not least, the avocado provided a creamy, cool balance to the chili and was a nice change from the usual sour cream or shredded cheese.

 Two at the Table_Menu_Week of November 2, 2014

We have quite a few fun dinners planned this week, starting with Sunday, when we’re going to make a recipe we like think of as our own: Thunder and Lightning Chili. This dish is adapted from Robert Irvine’s Lightning Chili and Rice, but we feel we’ve made some significant changes to it, so this will be the first time Two at the Table includes a complete recipe on our site.

On Tuesday, we’re going to make an old favorite: Real Simple’s Chili-Glazed Pork With Sweet Potato Hash. We’ve been going a little heavy on pork the past two weeks, so this may be out last pork dish for a little while. We’ve made this for the blog before, but we’re going to add a twist this time and challenge our friends Michael and Eric of Wines by the Flask (www.winesbytheflask.com) to come up with a pairing.

On Tuesday we’ll have a dish that we haven’t made in quite a while and that is also new to the blog: Ina Garten’s Roasted Salmon with Green Herbs. This is a quick, delicious dish that combines scallions, dill, and parsley, which we hope will be another fun challenge for Wines by the Flask.

Kim will be out to dinner with friends on Wednesday and Tony will be in a photography class, so we won’t be making dinner. Tony will have to choose between either left over chili or pork with hash for his dinner.

For Thursday, we wanted to use up the leftover leek from the Salmon with Lentils and the left over mushrooms from the Mushroom, Onion and Thyme Galette, so we’re going to make another favorite: Eggs Baked over Sautéed Mushrooms and Spinach. This will be our last wine challenge for Michael and Eric this week, and we have no doubt they’ll come through!

We won’t do any cooking to finish the week. We’ll probably order in on Friday night, as we haven’t had sushi in a while – or lots of other things for that matter! On Saturday though, we have a big night out planned, as we’ll be attending the New York Junior League’s Fall Fete to honor our good friend Sharon, who is being recognized as an outstanding volunteer in recognition of her tireless efforts for the Junior League over the past several years.Yay Sharon!

Fig Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin and Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta were two new recipes for us from skinnytaste.com. We were very excited to try both and we were really rewarded of our efforts! Here’s how it went for Kim on Wednesday night.

I had the advantage of being able to buy pre-shredded Brussels sprouts, which saved a lot of prep time. As a result, I started on the pork first and got that into the oven so I could sauté the Brussels sprouts while the prow as cooking. I did not have the fig butter called for in the recipe but I had some very good fig preserves instead; I loved the way the preserves tasted when mixed with the balsamic vinegar, so I think he substation was a good one! I made the glaze and coated the pork and had it int he preheated oven in no time at all.

I then turned my attention to the Brussels sprouts. I didn’t have quite two pounds, so I just used slightly less of the other ingredients—a little shy of two ounces of pancetta, a healthy tablespoon of olive oil instead of one and a half, and just three cloves of garlic. I used our trusty Dutch oven to first sauté the pancetta and then added the other ingredients. I found that I had the turn the heat up slightly higher than medium-low to get things going but that might have been my impatience to have tasty Brussels sprouts!

As I finished the Brussels sprouts the pork was ready to come out of the oven. It was perfect cooked after about 25 minutes. I let the pork rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. The meat was juicy and delicious with the fig balsamic glaze adding just enough sweetness to balance out the slightly bitter with the Brussels. The brussels sprouts were also excellent, with anise hint of saltiness from the pancetta. (I think Tony went back for thirds!) We paired this dinner with a dry Riesling, which was a perfect match for the pork. This was a simple and elegant dinner that hardly made it feel like a Wednesday night.

Salmon with Lentils is a great, hearty dinner perfect for fall and winter. It’s been a go to dish for us for a while, here’s how it went when Kim made it last Sunday night.

I grew up eating delicious lentil soup that my mom would make so when I saw this recipe a few years ago, I knew it might become a regular favorite. While the lentils do involve a few steps to make, I find it is completely worth it to make the entire recipe as the leftover lentils make for a few very tasty lunches! I love the combination of using the more delicately flavored leeks with the onions. The timing of the steps in the dish works out well: while the leeks and onions are cooking, I usually have enough time to get the celery and carrots chopped. I also used the time that the lentils were simmering with all the other ingredients to get the salmon together.

In our small kitchen, cooking salmon on the stove can make the apartment a little smoky and messy, so I opted to roast the salmon for about 10 minutes at 425 degrees. I decided to make up my own recipe and coated the salmon with a little olive oil, Dijon mustard, thyme, salt and pepper before roasting. It came out great and was certainly very easy!

Many thanks to Mike of winesbytheflask.com for picking out a terrific French red (Trousseau) Cotes du Jura 2011 to have with this dinner. It really was a perfect pairing and made for a nice end to the weekend.