Asparagus with Goat Cheese, Bacon, and Walnuts

I ate a delicious, bacon-less version, of this on Friday and after consulting several alternative recipes, decided that bacon makes everything better. *Hint, it does.

This is a wonderfully simple recipe, built from 4 ingredients that even the most flustered, absent-minded person can remember while wandering the aisles of Trader Joe's (because I am distracted by every new ingredient and of course I need the new, seasonal, pumpkin butter croutons!). Grab a bunch of asparagus, some goat cheese (I chose a plain one but the herb rolled ones would be great too), walnut pieces, and bacon (thick cut is best and applewood smoked is even better).

First, put a wide skillet on high heat and let sit for a minute. Lay 3 slices of bacon in the pan, making sure that they can lay flat and do not overlap. Let these cook for 2-3 minutes (if they are burning, turn the heat down to medium-high), then flip over and let cook for another 2-3. Once done, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Using the same pan (now full of bacon fat aka liquid gold) turn the heat down to medium-high and place your asparagus in the skillet, making sure that they do not overlap. *My current pan is rather small and I could only find the standard, on-the-larger-side, asparagus, so I cut them in half to cook. Let the asparagus cook for 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally. You will know it is done when all of the stalks have turned a beautiful, bright green and give a bit when pressed with your cooking tongs. Once cooked, remove from heat and pour bacon fat into a small container to harden. *Never pour hot bacon fat down your kitchen sink drain. Always wait for it to cool before you throw it out. Alternatively, you can re-heat it to cook something else in a few hours later (liquid gold people).

You can now assemble the dish if you like but I found the idea of uncooked walnut pieces a bit boring. To change things up, I put my walnuts in the still hot skillet, with the thin layer of bacon fat that remained after I poured the rest off and gave it a quick shake to coat all of the nuts. I let them sit in the pan over a medium-low heat for a minute or so to warm them up but was careful not to burn them (this brings out a rather bitter taste; if you see them smoking, lower the heat). Once done, remove from heat and let them sit in the pan while you prepare the bacon.

Turn your attention back to the now cooled bacon and chop finely. Plate the asparagus, take the goat cheese out of the fridge and liberally flake over the asparagus (I did this using two forks - one with a glob of cheese on it and the other breaking smaller bits off). Cover the dish with the chopped bacon and add walnuts. Salt and pepper according to taste and serve!

Two lessons I learned from my first go at this: walnuts should be more of sidekick to the dish and add more goat cheese and bacon than you think you need.

This served three people, so feel free to play with the proportions, add in different ingredients (cranberries maybe?) and report back!

Ingredients:
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 3-6 slices thick cut (applewood smoked preferably) bacon
- 1 round goat cheese (plain or with herbs)
- 2 c walnut pieces
- dash salt
- dash pepper

French Cooking

Steak au Poivre

Whenever I go to a new city/town/country, the first thing I do is check out the food. The first day in my new home of Viterbo, Italy, population: under 2k, I literally took home my entire study abroad group because I just had to mention that I could cook a good Jumbalaya. This resulted in a 20 person trip to the local grocer for the Italian equivalent of Southern gumbo ingredients and a panicked phone call to my then boyfriend in South Carolina, who actually new the recipe. So when I came across a French cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education, I jumped on the chance to learn how to cook the foods i'd consumed with a gluttonous passion at 19, during my first sojourn in Paris.

The menu read like a dream: Pâté de Foie de Poulet (chicken liver pâté), Moules Frites, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart, Confit de Canard, Céleri Remoulade et Pomme Granny, Potage Crécy (a delicious, creamy, carrot soup), Steak au Poivre, Frisée aux Lardons (a gorgeous escarole salad with chopped bacon), and a Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé with Grand Marnier Crème Anglaise.

The Chef, Melanie Cecilio (she was so much fun and I can't wait to take another class with her!), ran us through the ingredients list of each dish, the layout and laws on the kitchen (hey, some of us have never graced a commercial kitchen before), and then split us (10 students) into three teams - each one cooking a portion of the meal. Now a lot of people likely think that 4 1/2 hours in a kitchen sounds like hell but I was in a state of ecstatic, gleeful bliss the whole time.

Each dish was timed out via a chart we got that detailed what should be done when and by what time, so we would be able to sit down to our feast at the end of the night. Beyond this, we (my team) divided ourselves into two's and three's to tackle all of the dishes more efficiently and learned the necessary techniques as we went. *The method here is very hands on as opposed to a 'demo and repeat' type of class, which is why I loved it. Chef (when you're in the kitchen, that's what the head chef answers to - no Mr. or Miss - you just yell "Chef" across the room!) and the assistant chef were on hand to answer our multiple questions and I even learned a much easier way to chop onions and peel garlic.

Confit de Canard

Of the multiple recipes, the ones that I volunteered to prepare were the Pâté, Moules Frites, Confit de Canard, Frisée aux Lardons, and the Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart. Now obviously, I couldn't cook all of those by myself (I wish), so the ones I specifically know how to prepare are the Pâté and the Moules Frites. This might not sound like much but seeing as i've never done either, I was thrilled.

Caramelized Goat Cheese and Onion Tart

You can find directions for the Pâté here and for the Moules Frites here.

My place at the feast, with all of the dished lovingly arranged.
You can see the escarole salad and the gorgeous carrot soup.

In case you wondered how my emergency Jambalaya turned out, the entire group was successfully fed and that was the start of 6 months of weekly potlucks at our flat!

Pâté de Foie de Poulet

The pâté making process is actually, surprisingly easy (and delicious). First, you will need to prepare your chicken livers. *These are usually placed above the chickens for sale at your local grocer and you can always ask the butcher if you don't see them - they should be in a plastic tub. To prepare - simply cut each one into two lobes (they are already in this format, so it's not a confusing process) and remove any white tissue you see with the tip of your knife. At this point, you can quickly run the livers under running water and set them aside to dry.

 

Next, heat a skillet on medium (a commercial kitchen uses hotter stoves, so you might need to use  a medium-high heat) and place three slices of bacon in the pan. Let sit for 3 minutes, flip, repeat, and remove from heat to cool completely before mincing. ***Remove skillet from heat but do not clean or dump out the bacon fat (this is liquid gold)***

Now, you can bring over the chicken livers that have been drying, along with your butter, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and allspice (you will need all of these in fairly quick order). Grab the skillet with bacon fat and put back on medium-high heat. Once the bacon fat has warmed back up,add your butter and onion. Let this sauté until soft and translucent (it will be slightly brown in places due to the bacon fat) - about 3 minutes - then add your garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds or so (don't brown the garlic). You can now turn the heat up (high) add your chicken livers - let sit for a minute - and then add the salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and allspice. Continue to cook for 2 -3 minutes before adding the sherry and then cook for 3 more. The livers should look like they do in the picture above (this is right before we flambé them). 

Time to FLAMBÉ!

As you see in the above photo, the cognac is poised over the pan. To flambé - turn the flames (you need a gas stove with an open flame) on high, pour the cognac into the back of the pan, tip the pan into the flame, and it will quickly catch on fire.

Once on fire, vigorously (don't lose the chicken livers) slide the pan back and forth, so the flame gets to all of the chicken livers before it goes out (it will extinguish fairly quickly and don't worry if the fist attempt isn't terribly successful - add another tbslp of cognac and try again!)

Once the flames extinguish, lower the heat to medium-low, stir the chicken livers, cook for another minute or so, remove from heat, and set aside to cool completely (this is a great time to turn your attention to the Moules Frites you might also be cooking).

Once the livers have cooled completely, put them in your food processor, along with the minced bacon (make sure to leave off the ends if they've curled up and not cooked completely as they will not blend smoothly), and the crème fraîche. Puree to a smooth, thick paste, season with salt and pepper to taste (It really doesn't need any of either), chill and serve with toast, crackers, bread, or any carb your heart desires.

The finished product with melba toast and
a scrumptious brioche from Maison Kayser

Ingredients:

- 12 ounces chicken liver
- 3 strips bacon
- 2 tblsp unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, minced (about 1/3 c)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp all spice powder
- 2 tsp dry, pale sherry
- 1 tblsp Cognac
- 1/3 c crème fraîche

Adapted from Melanie Cecilio's recipes from Cooking Basics: Paris Bistro at ICE

Moules Frites

For this dish, it is most important to select good mussels. This means: if they are sold loose (not in a bag), make sure that none of the ones you select are open or have a broken shell (you don't know what swam in and out of that broken point and an open mussel is a dead mussel). If you do have to buy them by the bag, do your best and get an extra half lb because you will likely end up throwing out quite a few in any batch. All of that said, the grocer you choose will have a lot to do with the quality. I can't recommend any specialty places outside of NYC but your two no-no's are 1)general grocery store 2) Chinatown (unless you already have a connection there and you know exactly what you're getting).

Ok, so you have mussels - what now? Clean each one under running (COLD) water and clean of the beard (scraggly bit around the edges of the shell - this helps the mussel filter out the sand and will not be as prevalent on a farmed one, so don't worry if it isn't there) by pulling it gently until it comes off. *When the beard comes off, the mussel is now deceased - don't do this and let them sit over night. If you don't have a scrub brush to go over each shell, hold it in your palms and brush across the shell with your thumbs. If you don't get the sand off the shells, it's going to end up in the broth you're making. Once cleaned, set aside. *If you do need to store them for a few hours, put them in an ice bath with room for the water to drip down instead of into the mussels. 

Before you begin the next phase (actual cooking), I would advise that you prep all of the other ingredients because it's a fairly straight shot from here.

Use a wide bottomed saucepan (the Chef I cooked with favored a sautoir and I agree) and heat on medium-high for a few seconds before adding your butter and olive oil. Once the mixture is melted, add the shallots and saute for 2 minutes before adding the garlic. Let sit for another minute or less (do not brown - if these start to brown, turn the heat down to medium) and then add the wine, thyme, salt, pepper, tomato paste, let come to a boil, and simmer for 3 minutes.

The next thing you are going to add is Pernod. I didn't know what this was before I stepped into the ICE kitchen, so don't worry if you have no idea what it is either. Basically, it is a Gatorade yellow, anise flavored liquer. As ICE Chef Melanie Cecilio put it, "It makes the mussels mussel-ier," and is very important to the dish. That said, Sambuca or Pastis will do in a pinch.

NOW you can add the mussels. Cover the pot and let simmer for 5-6 minutes (when all of the mussels have opened, you are done). Add half of the parsley, stir, and ladle the whole dish (broth included) into a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Final step: it's called Moules 'Frites' so traditionally, you would have a heap of shoestring fries on the plate as well but I prefer grilled bread. Using a trick I learned in the ICE French cooking class (thank you Chef Melanie), you place a skillet or cast iron grill pan on high heat for a few seconds. Brush one side of your bread slice (a good baguette slice works well) with olive oil and lay, brushed side down, on the grill. Let sit for 2-3 minutes (it will give off some smoke, so turn on a fan!), until it is a nice golden brown and has grill marks across it (if you are using a grill/grill pan). Next, flip the slice and let the other side warm for 30 seconds at most - this side should remain soft.

Ok, you can eat now. Bon appetite!

Ingredients:

- 2 1/2 lbs mussles
- 2 tblsp butter
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 1/2 c minced shallots (2 medium shallots)
- 1/4 c minced garlic (5 cloves)
- 1 c white wine (Muscadet is best)
- 3 sprigs fresh or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1-2 pinches black pepper
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp Pernod
- 1/3 c chopped, flat leaf parsley
- sliced bread (day old baguette is best)

Candied Bacon

CANDIED BACON is a wonderful slice of heaven, attainable only with much patience and sacrifice... Just kidding, it's super easy and you can put it in anything that sounds like it would be improved by bacon (which is pretty much everything). This is an ingredient that features in most of my cooking from October through December so it is only appropriate that I share it today!

Before you start this recipe, make sure that you have a dripping rack and a deep bottomed pan on hand (when desperate and short on time, i've used a cookie cooling rack, propped over a metal 13 x 9 baking pan). You need this (or some semblance of...) because the bacon will drip grease and fat while cooking and it needs a place to go so the bacon gets crispy instead of swimming in its own juices (if you are cooking anything else, save the bacon grease - you can warm it back up to cook eggs, etc... everything tastes better cooked in bacon fat).

Now that we've covered that, take your thick cut bacon and place the slices side by side on the dripping rack (you can squish them together but make sure that the slices aren't covering each other).

Mix 2 cups brown sugar (light or dark) and 1 tsp cayenne pepper (mix this thoroughly or someone will get a hot surprise!) and pack the mixture onto the cold slices of bacon. 

Place the bacon into a COLD oven and turn up the heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook for 20 minutes, take out of the oven, and let cool completely. The bacon will not be completely cooked when you take it out but it will be candied to the point of burning the sugar if you leave it in any longer. Once it has cooled, cut it into pieces (scissors work best for this) and add to your dish of choice (it will finish cooking inside the dish). Options for food improved by candied bacon include: mac and cheese, pumpkin pie (I swear, this is amazing! but turn it into a tart format - mini-pies - to break up the intensity), chocolate chip cookies, etc...

Ingredients:

- 1/2 lb thick cut bacon (applewood smoked is best)

- 2 c brown sugar

- 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Tools:

- Dripping/cooling rack

- Deep bottomed pan

- scissors or knife (for bacon cutting)  

The Perfect Brownie

...Uses oranges and has no butter!

So I've been on a bit of an orange kick lately and the last batch of candied chocolate oranges left one sad orange and half a bag of bittersweet chocolate chips staring dolefully at me from the kitchen counter. After sorting through all of the recipes I have stockpiled, I came across this one for chocolate orange brownies that I'd never got around to trying. The recipe calls for orange zest, orange juice, and chocolate so I took this as a sign.

Step one: take your makeshift double boiler (unless you're fancy enough to have the real thing - good for you!) and set the bitter or semi-sweet chocolate chips (your choice, I prefer the bitter, less sweet version to add to the depth of this brownie) in the bowl, setting the heat at medium-high and stirring the chips constantly until they are evenly melted. *If your chocolate is melting too quickly, turn the heat down a bit so you don't end up with a burnt or separated mass of cocoa and cocoa butter.

Once the chocolate chips have melted into a smooth, even mass of yummy chocolate, remove from heat and set aside to cool (it will need to be room temperature when mixed in). Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, so it will be ready to go when the batter is done.

Turning your attention from the chocolate, mix the eggs and sugar until creamy. By hand, the recipe I used estimates this will take 5 minutes, so I opted for an electric mixer and worked the batter for 2, resulting in a frothy yellow mixture. Once you are happy with the consistency, stir in the orange juice and olive oil.

Next, add the cocoa powder - initially, you will want to stir this in with your spatula but it is much easier to finish up the incorporation process with an electric mixer if you have one. That said, try to mix in as much as you can by hand because once you use the mixer, the cocoa will puff up and coat the surrounding tabletop in a fine powder of chocolate. Stir in the flour a bit at a time, then, add in your baking powder and orange zest - don't worry about mixing this in thoroughly because you're next step is to add the melted down chocolate chips that have been cooling since you started this recipe!

This is what your cocoa powdered batter should look like as you are adding the melted chocolate in. Mix thoroughly and pour into a 13 x 9 baking pan (I prefer glass or pyrex but you can use metal - *be aware that batter in metal will cook faster) line with...baking paper! - Your best friend from this moment onward - line the baking pan with it (you don't even need butter for THAT) and when all is said and done, you will still have a clean pan.

Don't worry that the batter isn't completely smooth - that's the orange zest peeking through. If you have any of the zest left (I put all of mine in the batter) you can sprinkle it on top. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Even if the brownies are moist looking, take them out at the 30 minute mark. Let cool completely, cut into slices, and dust with cocoa powder before serving.

The resulting brownie is a perfect, moist bite of dark chocolate, shot through with just enough refreshing orange so as not to be overwhelming. That said, it is a dense, rather flat looking brownie, so for serving, you might artfully stack 2 or 3 and then dust. I've had people eat these straight out of the pan with no cocoa powder and still love them, so feel free to enjoy either way!

Ingredients:

- 80 grams dark chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice (I only had one orange on hand, so I used the resulting juice and it turned out  fine)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp orange zest, finely minced or grated (again, I only had one orange, which rendered about 2 tbsp zest)
- more orange zest for topping if desired

- cocoa powder for dusting 

Candied Orange Slices

Autumn into winter is high citrus season, which meant nothing to me until I saw a delicious recipe for candied, chocolate covered orange slices this past Wednesday. When chilled, these slices provide the perfect blast of refreshment after braving the humid, sticky weather that often embodies a NYC September.

After drooling over it all day, I rushed to my favorite green grocer, the Gourmet Garage on 96th and Park, picked up 2 Valencia oranges (these work best as they have a thinner peel), 80 grams bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips (I know someone who swears by Valrhona but either does beautifully), and rushed home to begin my experiment.

The first part of the process hinges on having a good, sharp knife on hand, so you end up with consistent, beautifully thin slices of orange without destroying the soft bits of the fruit. Then cut each slice in half (this is a much easier to handle portion size but using whole slices helps keep the fruit on the peel if you are nervous). Once you are done slicing up the oranges, set aside and combine two cups water with one cup sugar in a deep pot (a copper bottomed pan will spread the heat most evenly throughout the process) and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Once the sugar water combination is boiling, turn the heat to its lowest setting, place the orange slices in the pot (the water should be just covering them) and place a piece of non-stick baking paper over the top (this helps the steam escape so your oranges won't turn into marmalade). Leave the oranges in the pot, on low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Once done, remove from heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer the slices to a pan lined with more non-stick baking paper. The next step? Leave the oranges along for a good 5 hours! NYC is especially humid right now, so I let mine stand for an extra day.

Once the 5-17 hour period is over, pour 1 cup of the granulated sugar into a bowl, using a fork to gently coat each orange slice in it, and put back on the pan (replace the baking paper if the used sheet is soggy). If the oranges are still kind of wet feeling, cover the pan with aluminium foil and freeze for an hour. When the slices are ready, place your chocolate chips in a double boiler (aka heatproof bowl seated on top of a pot of water) and heat the water on a medium-high heat, taking care to stir the chips as they melt to prevent them from burning. Hint* if the chocolate starts to melt too quickly, reduce the heat or you run the risk of the chocolate separating into cocoa nibs and cocoa butter. When the chocolate has melted evenly, use tongs to gently dip each orange slice into the chocolate and place on a fresh sheet of baking paper. To speed the process of the chocolate setting (becoming firm and smooth), I put my tray back into the freezer (uncovered) for an hour and they were ready to serve. These will keep in the freezer, in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Next step: enjoy and brag that you can candy something!

Ingredients:

- 80 grams semi- or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 oranges
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups water