In Defense of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Cookbook
Gwyneth Paltrow has been getting a lot of slack since she started her lifestyle blog Goop but the slack has clearly intensified into snark since the release of her cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. Read more
Posts tagged ‘Cooking’
May 13
Cooking with Nick: Surf & Turf
For Chen’s birthday, Nick cooked up a delicious surf & turf dinner. I think one of the most incredible things about cooking is that some of the more “fancy” dinners are the simpler ones to make — take Steak and Lobster tail, for example: A fancy dinner in my opinion, but not super complicated. This was a feast for six. Here’s what we had:
Brussel sprouts with leeks and bacon (left burner) and Roasted potatoes with jalapeno (right burner), which was extremely spicy.
Brussel Sprouts and Spicy Potatoes
Wine for celebration: Argyle Sparkling White from Dundee Oregon, Mac Murray Ranch Pinot Noir from Sonoma CA, Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon from CA, Pra Staforte Classico (Italian White), and Gaja Ca’Marcanda Promis (Italian Red). Of course, the wines did not fail us.
Prepping three New York Strip steaks, and three Lobster tails
Look at this beauty:
Steaks seared 6 minutes on each side at medium high heat, then into oven at 350 for about 10 minutes; pulled out and wrapped in aluminum foil for about 10 minutes while lobster (with shell) goes into oven at high broil, for about ten minutes. Let cool, then pull out meat from shell. Oh, this whole time you should be clarifying your butter. 
Stir Fry & Beignets
There are two meals that are always easy to make and sure to please around our house: tacos and stir fry. We make both with lots of veggies and while they may not be authentic dishes, they are satisfying and delicious.
Frank & Julia’s Stir Fry
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. sirloin tip, cut into thin strips or small cubes
1/4 lb. snow peas, with ends cut off
1 large green pepper, cut into thin strips or coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, cut into thin strips
1 jalapeno, seeds discarded for milder flavor, seeds included for hot heat
6 mushrooms, sliced
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce
In skillet on medium-high heat, oil the pan and cook the meat, about 4 minutes. Salt and pepper the meat. Add the veggies and stir; add soy sauce, cayenne pepper and garlic chili sauce. Stir well so all pieces are coated with seasonings. Reduce heat to medium and cover, about 5 minutes. Veggies will be softened, but not mushy. Eat as is, or serve on top of rice.
I also made beignets on Sunday, in theme with the Vikings playing the Nola Saints. I can say one thing, the beignets were a bigger hit than the Vikings’ performance that night. Following the recipe from Epicurious was pretty easy. Getting peanut oil to the correct temperature in what I’m sure was the wrong kind of pan to use, was more of a challenge. As was getting the beignets off of the counter into the pot. They sure looked nice in their perfect squares pre-handling though.
First thing first: they say to lightly dust the counter with flour before you roll out your dough, but next time I may just put oil on the counter so when I go to get the dough off the counter, it actually does. The dough is ridiculously sticky, and if it sticks to your fingers, you’ve lost your pretty square shape. I ended up coating my hands with flour, separating the pieces, and reshaping the dough for easier handling. Then the heat: I lost the first ten beignets to too-high heat, so took it off heat completely to cool down. Once it had cooled to the right temperature (no thermometer, so I had to sacrifice some dough to test the temp), it was a pretty easy process. Five in at one time, then turn; add five more and when they needed to turn, took out the first five. Once to the party, they went in the oven at 200 for about an hour, then powdered with confectioners sugar and they were delicious! A note to those sensitive to post-cooking smell: the sweet fried scent was still lingering on Monday, a good 24 hours later.
The Ad Hoc Experience
Ad Hoc at Home Cookbook
I have a few cooks/foodies/gourmands in my life, so holiday shopping this year was part blessing, part curse. Blessing because there are so many fabulous cook books out there to choose from, but curse because what I will purchase for loved ones, I will secretly want to keep. So, I made a compromise: I purchased four cookbooks for three people, and would take the one that didn’t best fit the personality of the foodie it was intended for. To my glee, I ended up with Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc, which is getting great reviews. It wasn’t necessarily the size (large), weight (heavy) or food porn enclosed within it’s book jacket (niiiice), it was the recipes, and style of recipes, that won me over. As a cook, I tend to listen to my stomach, and experience food/recipes that way, versus training my palette or culinary range. So, as I cook from it, prepare yourself to see some related posts.
