A Taste of France

A few weeks ago, Boston.com ran a mini-article featuring local restaurants' picks for holiday fare. I copied down a few recipes to try later, one of which was the French Onion Soup courtesy of Petit Robert Bistro. Petit Robert has locations in Fenway and the South End -- I've been to each once and had the French Onion Soup at the Fenway location. They recently opened up another location right here in Needham and it's on my list of places to check out -- it will be interesting to see how it compares to the city locations.

French Onion Soup is one of my all-time faves (the crusty cheese is the best part!). I've tried making it in the past, but it has always turned out rather thin and lacking in flavor. Other recipes called for red wine, but this one specified white wine. While I'm not sure if that was the main differentiating factor, this recipe produced a soup that had sweetness and depth to it -- good job Petit Robert!

French Onion Soup (modified from Boston.com)

• 5 peeled Spanish onions, sliced into halves first and then into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• Olive oil
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• Salt & pepper
• 1 c. white wine (I used Chardonnay)
• 1 quart beef stock
• Swiss Cheese slices
• Toasted baguette slices

Cook the sliced onions slowly with the olive oil, over low heat until they have rendered all water and are brown and thick (about 1 - 1.5 hrs); spread the flour over the onions and mix well to avoid lumps, cook 1-2 mins; add the wine and bring to a boil; add beef stock, bring to a boil and add salt and pepper to taste. Boil 3-4 minutes. Fill the onion soup bowls, put a slice of baguette top and top with 1-2 slices of Swiss per bowl. Broil in the oven for 3-4 mins until cheese is golden and bubbly. Serves 4. As you can see from the picture, I was too eager to eat the gooey cheese and only remembered to take a photo midway through the meal. I enjoyed mine with the leftover wine and a green salad. Delicious!

For Shame

Today was the Nth annual Shepard Christmas Brunch -- all the extended family members get together for a day of food, cheer and in today's case, snow. At the brunch, cousins, aunts, uncles were all asking about the blog. Why hasn't it been updated? My only excuse is that I was too busy, but really that's a poor excuse. I had no idea I had all these rapt readers! I will now attempt to redeem myself with one single word: pork.

A few weeks ago, I was watching Diary of Foodie on PBS and saw this amazing recipe prepared. It look fantastic and we simply had to try it!

Cider-Braised Pork

(from http://www.epicurious.com/)

• 1 (3- to 4-lb) bone-in fresh pork shoulder half
• 2 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb onions (5 or 6 medium), halved lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 3/4 cup unfiltered apple cider
• salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 325°F. Score fat and any skin on pork in a crosshatch pattern. Make slits all over meat with a small sharp knife and insert a garlic sliver in each slit. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a 4- to 5-quart ovenproof heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown meat on all sides, turning occasionally with the aid of tongs and a carving fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate.

Add onions to pot and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden and caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes more. Stir in cider and return pork to pot.

Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and braise pork in middle of oven until very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Transfer pork to a serving dish with the aid of tongs and carving fork. Boil cooking juices with onions until mixture is reduced to about 2 cups, 2 to 3 minutes, then season with salt and pepper and serve with pork.

We served ours with sauteed swiss chard and some cornbread. The verdict: It was tasty, but needed a little something extra in the sauce. The comments on epicurious.com suggested mustard, cumin or cloves and I would agree with that. On the plus side, we turned our leftovers into pork quesadillas the next night and the leftovers were great!

Before Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and it will be jam-packed with food. One of my friends once said that Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday, because all you had to do was eat. In contrast to turkey and pie, last night's dinner was shrimp and couscous. Glenn was skeptical, but the couscous turned out terrific! Full disclosure: the couscous is a slight variation on the recipe from the box it came in.

Lemon-Parsley Couscous

• 3/4 c. Israeli couscous (I picked mine up at Trader Joe's)
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 cippolinne onion, minced (recipe called for shallots, but I didn't have any!)
• handful of pine nuts, toasted
• handful of raisins
• 2-3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp butter

Saute the onion and butter on med heat until translucent. Add the couscous and saute 1-2 mins until it is lightly toasted. Add the chicken stock, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer, until all liquid is absorbed (about 5-10 mins). Toss with lemon zest, pine nuts, parsley and raisins.

Lemon-Pepper Shrimp

• 1/2 lb med shrimp, cleaned & de-veined
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• zest & juice of 1/2 a lemon
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Heat a saute pan and olive oil on med-high heat. Add shrimp and saute 2 mins, add garlic, salt & pepper and continue sauteing until shrimp turn pink. In the final minute of cooking, add the lemon juice and zest. Serve over couscous.

Bistro Dinner

Mmm. The other night, we had a fancy schmancy dinner right here at home. Well, fancy except for the screw-top bottle of Merlot that I used. But I digress... I was craving some red meat, so it was time for a steak dinner. Being rather chilly for outdoor grilling, I got the bright idea to sear the steaks on my cast iron skillet. The result was a quick & easy gourmet meal (20 minutes from start to finish for the steak & sauce).

Bistro Steak with Mushroom Sauce

• 2 flank steaks
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 3-4 baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• red wine
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• butter

Preheat cast iron skillet until it registers 450 degrees (or drops of water disappear immediately on contact). Rub steaks with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste. Cook 4-5 minutes per side for medium rare, turning once.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, saute the shallots with olive oil until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add mushrooms and butter and saute an additional 3-4 minutes, until mushrooms soften. Add a splash of red wine and saute until the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add parsley. Serve steaks with a small dollop of butter and then top with mushroom sauce. We enjoyed ours with sauteed green beans and oven-baked fries.

Pasta Redux: Homemade Ravioli

After last week's attempt at homemade spaghetti, I was encouraged by my results and eager to refine my technique. This time, I was looking for a ravioli recipe -- on the premise that the filling should be easy and it would give me a chance to refine my pasta-rolling out technique. The challenge manifested itself in the form of butternut squash ravioli, courtesy of The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes

The filling was easy and ended up being the home-run I hoped for. The ravioli, was mixed. Essentially, the hand-rolled pasta sheets were still a little too thick (a pasta cookbook I had recommended that ravioli sheets be rolled out to 1/64" thickness!) and when two sheets were layered together, it was just a little too much. I cooked them for a few minutes, until they floated to the surface and wondered whether I should have cooked them longer. I sense future pasta challenges will be in order!



Butternut Squash Ravioli

• 1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs), halved lengthwise & seeded
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 oz. goat cheese, room temperature
• salt & pepper

Roast squash (cut sides down) in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes, until tender. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl.

Meanwhile, melt the butter over med-high heat. Add onion, sage and salt & pepper to taste. Cook 5-8 minutes, stirring until onion is browned. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute while stirring. Allow mixture to cool slightly and then add to bowl with squash. Mix in goat cheese and stir until well combined.

For the pasta, we followed the semolina package instructions and rolled out flat. Cut pasta strands into 2.5" wide strips. Spoon 1 tsp of squash mixture onto pasta strands, spaced 2-3" apart. Lightly brush pasta strand with water and place an additional pasta strand directly on top. Cut out into ravioli shapes and place on clean tea towel to dry. Allow ravioli to dry 20-30 minutes before cooking.

Cook pasta 3-5 minutes in batches of boiling water. Scoop out when ravioli floats to the surface (note, I would have cooked longer!)

Walnut-Brown Butter Sauce

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/3 c. shelled walnuts, chopped
• salt & pepper

Lightly toast walnuts in dry skillet. Melt the butter in the skillet with the walnuts, about 3 minutes, until it starts to brown. Toss with ravioli to coat.