The VM-JTY Project

Monday, December 5, 2011

MOULES

Parisians cook at home. Especially when it comes to seafood, I got the impression that restaurants are considered inferior. It might be hard to recreate this dish without small french mussels from Brittany but it's worth a shot.

Baptiste's Moules

Scrub the mussels very, very clean using cold water. Combine in a large pot over medium high heat -- butter, chopped garlic, sliced shallots, bay leaves, and a bouquet of parsley stems and thyme. Wait a minute or so. Add the mussels. Add one bottle of white wine. Cook until the shells are almost all open. At the end stir in the parsley leaves. Voila!

Instead of frites, Baptiste and Agathe served the moules with potatoes roasted with olive oil and thyme.

Best eaten with your hands.

EGGS POACHED IN TOMATO SAUCE

I ate brunch with Genny this Sunday at her sunlight, plant, and paper mache monster filled apartment on 94th and Columbus. On the menu was a dish very similar to the life giving shakshuka at Hummus Place. Eggs cooked in a thick tomato sauce is one of the most delicious and nourishing meals to eat in the morning. What makes the homemade version of this dish so easy is the use of a small carton of Pomi strained tomatoes.

Genny's poached eggs

Chop 1-2 cloves of garlic into a medium mince. Sizzle in olive oil until they start to brown. Add one small carton of Pomi strained tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a gentle boil. Crack however many eggs you want to eat into the bubbling tomato sauce. Allow the sauce to simmer until the whites of the eggs are solid and the yolks are still runny (about 5 minutes I think). When the eggs are close to done, sprinkle a very generous amount of grated parmesan and then chopped basil over the surface. The result will look like a layer of bright green moss. Serve in small bowls with additional parmesan.

Best eaten in a sunny room on a lazy morning sitting on old chairs and surrounded by green flowers and plants. Best followed by a walk across the park.

Pretzelshop by the Met steps is delicious

Truffle cheddar and feta olive

Walking along the park

Tree branches and fading sun

Maurizio Cattelan

is nearby at the Gugg.

You look in rather than out!

At all his hanging art.

I liked the stuffed animals best.

Friday, November 25, 2011

My new favorite songs,

are all from IRM

Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck.

Bow Street Florist in Somerville, MA is the sort of flower shop I wish was my neighbor. The shop is a weather worn kelly green and there is a floppy eared rabbit living in the front window. The woman who helped me understood exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted a pink arrangement that was not too tight and had more greens. She mixed cream colored cabbage, pink geraldine roses, and these greens that consist of leaves and small green buds that look a bit like fat water droplets.

She also put together some lovely dark, dark purple elliptical shaped leaves on a long stem, free spirit roses which are tomato and golden colored, and faded purple asters.

RIBEYE AND ROASTED ONIONS

While searching for a heritage turkey, I came across Leaping Waters Farm, a traditional farm located in a hamlet in Allegheny Spring, VA which is part of the Appalachian Mountains. In addition to turkey, I got a few bone-in rib eye steaks. The meat comes from Ancient White Parks, a very, very old breed of cattle that is referenced in Irish literature from the 12th century. The animals are all white and have long curved horns and look like the Zeus cows in the Europa paintings. The ones from Leaping Waters Farm get to live outside and graze on grass and lead a pretty happy life for a cow.

Meat

My go to guide for cooking steak is New York Magazine's recipe by the chef from Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. Let the steak sit for about 30 minutes and come to room temperature. Get a cast iron pan nice and hot over high heat. For each steak, coat in a mixture of about 1 tablespoon of melted butter and an equal amount of olive oil. Sprinkle each side with about 1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt (I used Maldon my new favorite salt) and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper. Put on the pan and let the meat sizzle. I like to let the meat get nice and brown (about 5-6 minutes) before turning and letting the other side brown (3-4 minutes). Then I just try to get more browning and not overcook the steak (another 2-3 minutes got me medium rare).

Onions

April Bloomfield in her New York Magazine roasted vegetable recipe introduces the brilliant idea of pre-browning in order to ensure delicious caramelization. I only used onions, but the actual recipe also includes fennel, parsnips, and carrots. Cut 1 red onion and 1 yellow onion into eighths. Heat about 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan until very hot and smoking. Add a single layer of onions cut side down (about half the onions). Do not crowd the onions. Wait and do not move the onions until they are browned on the verge of burning. The onions should be deep brown with some blackened bits and smell sweet. Light brown is not acceptable. Flip. Then remove and arrange the onions brown side up in a baking dish. Brown the other half. Drizzle honey over the onions. Sprinkle with Maldon salt. Cook at 350F until the onion wedges are thoroughly roasted (20-30 minutes).

Best eaten immediately as soon as off the pan and out of the oven. I started oiling and seasoning the steaks as soon as the onions went in the oven.

RICE PUDDING

Sebastian made rice pudding and it is a deliciously gooey, sweet, milky dessert with a lot of texture because of the arborio rice. Sebastian started with a minimalist recipe by Mark Bittman which we needed to modify slightly because the rice took a long time to cook.

The Best Comfort Dessert

Heat the oven to 300F. In a large casserole dish mix together 3/4 cup of arborio rice, 3/4 cup of white sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/2 of a vanilla bean, and 8 cups of milk.

Now put on a movie (or watch Gone With the Wind if it's on TV). Stir the rice pudding every 30 minutes three times (1 1/2 hours). Then, stir every 10 minutes until the rice is cooked and the pudding is thick enough to heavily coat a wooden spoon (another 1/2-1 hour). Eat as much as you want warm and refrigerate the rest. The pudding will get even creamier and denser as it cools.

Best eaten for breakfast and whenever you feel like something sweet and creamy.

APPLE CRISP

Easier than apple pie and still pretty tasty. I made an apple crisp for Thanksgiving.

Alice Water's Fruit Crisp Recipe With Slight Modifications

The whole point of this recipe is to highlight the apples and the walnuts with as little fuss as possible.

Preheat the oven to 375F. For the crisp topping, brown a heaping cup of roughly chopped walnuts in the oven for 6-7 minutes or on the stove over medium heat for about 10 minutes. The nuts should be well browned and smell toasty. While the nuts cool, peel, core, and slice 3-4 large apples. I used honeycrisps. Any apple that has a lot of flavor is very crunchy will do. Toss the apples with a tiny bit of white sugar and the zest of one meyer lemon. Taste and adjust sugar and lemon. Heap the fruit into a 9x9 baking dish. Cut 5 tablespoons of good butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to 1 cup of flour, 3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of white sugar, a pinch of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon. Rub the mixture between your fingers to form a rough crumble. Add the walnuts and work until the crumble holds together. Cover the fruit with the crumble. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the topping is dark golden brown and the juices are bubbling and starting to thicken. Allow to cool completely and then reheat before eating.

Best eaten by a fire on a cold fall day.