patrick Food Journal

I revisited the pizza this weekend for the first time in a few months. Long story short, it was easily my most successful attempt so far. With the help of some new ingredients and knowledge from Peter Reinhart's American Pie, I've made a significant leap from where I was when I last wrote about pizza.

For the dough, I tracked down some Italian tipo "00" flour, which is not very common around here. I replaced the traditional rising yeast with instant and cut out the addition of oil to the dough itself. Using only my wet hands, I mixed a dough that was significantly lighter and more elastic than what I'd achieved in the past. Although I still had to cut corners in the amount of time I allowed the dough to rest, stretching the dough out by hand was effortless and the resulting crust cooked beautifully, with a crispy exterior and a light interior.

I stuck with most of the toppings I usually turn to. In addition to a sauce I put together quickly and mozzarella, I prepared a roasted red pepper, some roasted garlic, and plucked a few basil leaves from the plants on our patio. The new element here was the pepperoni, which I sourced from a nearby farm that prepare and butcher all their own steroid/hormone-free meats.

Finally, I made sure to give the pizza stone lots of time to heat up. The last time I attempted pizza, I was using an oven with incredibly unreliable gauges and you never knew exactly what you were going to get. This time around, the heat was consistent and fast-acting, resulting in some superbly cooked pizzas.

Cooking a perfect steak is one of those kitchen tasks I've always been somewhat anxious about. Inevitably something always goes wrong -- it's overdone, it's barely cooked on the inside (but burned on the outside), the steak is great but I covered it in a gross sauce, it's under-seasoned, I cooked it well but the meat sucks... The list goes on. It seems so simple and something that should be easy to perfect. Last weekend I gave it another go and I think it was my most successful attempt yet.

I picked up a big chunk of rib eye from a local farmer that I cut in half to make two impressive steaks. I'd guess the larger one was close to two inches thick (the one in the picture).

I started by patting the steaks with salt, pepper, and some chopped rosemary from my patio. I wanted to keep things simple. I started the steaks off in a flat stainless steel pan in some hot oil. After a few minutes, I moved them over to the hot griddle pan I had just used for those potato slices you see and popped them into the oven. Meanwhile, I deglazed the first pan with some red wine and let that reduce a bit. I let the steaks rest for another moment and then plated everything, topping the steak with the pan juices and a knob of garlic butter. And it was great.

One thing I could've done differently would be to aim for piece of meat that wasn't quite so lean. This one had very little fat through it, which would obviously affect the end result. I really can't complain though; this was a solid 8/10. I'll have to see how the results differ next time. If anyone has any other tips to try, I'd love to hear them.

Pasta has been a longtime favorite in our house, so I'm always on the lookout for new things to do with it. A recent post on Michael Ruhlman's blog prompted me to realize that I had never made my own Carbonara before, even though it's often a favorite of mine at restaurants. After a quick round of research, I knew how I wanted to approach this, and a mere 20 minutes later, I had the pasta on a plate and ready to eat:

To my surprise, this is one of the most satisfying and yet least work-intensive meals I've made in recent memory. The basic elements of the Carbonara are ultra simple, but I made several additions to satisfy my mood that particular day. A traditional approach, for example, doesn't include tomatoes, or much else in the way of vegetables for that matter.

Here's how this came together (I made two portions)...

1. Put on a big pot of water for your pasta (lightly salted, as always). Cook your pasta for two as usual. If using fresh pasta, you'll want to start the pasta a little later -- timing is important.
2. In a small bowl, mix together 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons of cream, 2 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan, and season the mixture with salt and a good helping of freshly ground black pepper. A little heat is really nice in this dish, so don't be shy with the pepper.
3. Cut up two (or more; I might do 3 next time) slices of bacon into small bits and heat those in a pan with a little olive oil. The better the bacon, the better your pasta will turn out.
4. When the bacon fat is starting to turn liquid, add a finely chopped shallot and give it a few minutes to sweat and turn translucent. The bacon should be nearing crispness about now as well. You don't want any of this to burn, so keep an eye on it.
5. Add a 1/2 cup of wine to the bacon/onion and let it reduce. A white seems ideal, but I used a rose because that's all I had on hand. This turned out to not be such a bad thing.
6. When the wine is mostly reduced, add 1 large clove of garlic (finely chopped) to the pan and a few chopped tomatoes. You don't want either of these in the direct heat for too long, so don't add them unless you know your pasta is just about cooked.
7. Drain the pasta and return it immediately to the hot pot. Add the egg/cream/cheese mixture and the bacon/onion/garlic/tomatoes to the pasta and toss it all together. The heat of the ingredients is what cooks the egg, so everything needs to be hot.
8. Plate the pasta and be sure to add another generous helping of freshly grated parmesan and black pepper. I also dressed this one up with some dried parsley -- it doesn't add much to the flavor, but hey, isn't that green pretty?

I'm still on a bit of a breakfast kick. I bought a waffle maker not long ago. I don't know why I've been craving waffles so much, since I didn't eat them often before. In a way, I see the waffle as one of those foods that's like an empty canvas, begging me to make something beautiful out of it. I gave it my best shot, and for a first time experiment, I think I did an okay job:

Okay, so it looks a little more like a dessert than a breakfast, but at least I managed to pack some fresh fruit in there. Maybe I shouldn't mention that maple syrup was also added after this photo was taken. Dang... too late. The whipped cream contains the innards of a whole vanilla bean as well as a dash of Fragoli wild strawberry liqueur to give it some color and flavor. To tie it all together, I also added tiny bits of chopped strawberry right into the waffle batter, which was otherwise based on the standard Joy of Cooking recipe.

The only thing I didn't consider was that the recipe made way more waffles than two of us could eat in one morning. It's a good thing that waffles are easy to reheat; you can store them in the fridge and pop them in the toaster when you want warm waffles. I ate a lot of waffles that week.

Last week I read an article where the author suggested that fondues had become unpopular in the 80s and 90s -- essentially my entire life, since I was only born in the early 80s. I wasn't aware of this, since fondues were fairly common in my family growing up. I'm not sure how accurate or meaningful this author's observation is, since I assume it applies more to restaurants than the home; nevertheless, I think fondue-avoiders are really missing out on a great experience. I say this not just because of the food, but especially because of the unique atmosphere that comes with fondue and other slow-paced meals.

My wife and I had Raclette last Friday and it's a similar experience. For those not familiar, Raclette is actually a particular cheese of Swiss/French origin, similar in texture to Fontina, but with a slightly stronger flavor. A Raclette meal consists of melting this cheese and eating it with a variety of different foods spread out before you; potatoes are a common accompaniment, as are pickled vegetables and various charcuterie. The modern version of this involves a tabletop contraption that lets you melt your cheese as you dine.

The fun is in creating new combinations of the items on the table while you wait for your cheese to melt. This gives you time to talk to your company, savor your drinks, or steal an olive from the provided bowl. All of this contributes to a casual and relaxed meal that puts the emphasis purely on enjoyment rather than simply stuffing your face. Even better, every plate is a little different because it's dictated by your mood up to the minute, as well as the ingredients you happen to have on hand that given day. What you see in the photo above includes: boiled potatoes, steamed broccoli, roasted red peppers, Calabrese salami, Prosciutto, sliced Bosc pears, pickled onions, Kalamata olives, and a small bowl of dry roasted peanuts for snacking.

The only wrinkle in our plan was that I prepared too much food. We had made tentative plans with friends, but the scheduling didn't work out, resulting in quite a few leftovers. Fortunately, Saturday morning breakfast came to the rescue. The lone leftover potato was chopped and fried, while the sliced Raclette, salami, broccoli, and roasted red pepper ended up inside my omelette.

(Promoted from the diaries - K)

Lately I've been working harder to make sure I eat actual breakfasts. I used to be one of those people who has nothing but a cup of coffee until noon, but that routine quickly took its toll on me. My body fought back with screams of heartburn and swords of indigestion. Okay, so you have my attention, body. I'm listening. I've never exactly been a "morning guy." That's the first thing I would have to work around if I wanted to make sure I had time to put together something that would get me through the early hours of the day. The second challenge was finding some new foods I liked, since variety is a high priority for me. I get bored easily.

To start, I discovered oatmeal. Not the instant stuff; that never really did much for me, since it always seemed to be either too mushy or too dry. I've become fond of the chunky steel-cut type. It takes a little longer to cook (about 20-30 minutes), but you can do a lot with it. I like cutting up some dried dates or other fruit to put in it. On other days I'll just mix in a little maple syrup and have a banana on the side.

Another current favorite is eggs, and again, this is a food that opens doors to numerous variations. You can boil them for a simple, elegant meal; you can fry them; you can poach them; you can scramble them. Scrambled eggs used to be my least favorite option, but I'm starting to come around. For starters, they're one of the quickest and easiest methods. Even better, it's a good way to use up small leftovers, like that lonely tomato you have sitting around, or the little bit of chopped onion you didn't use the night before. Have a tiny nugget of cheese left that you're not sure what to do with? Grate it over your eggs!

This particular morning, I was inspired by the simple combination of a sweet red pepper and spicy chorizo. I chopped up both into small cubes, fried them in some butter, and added the prepped eggs a few minutes later (2 eggs, whisked with a dash of cream). A little seasoning in the form of salt and pepper was barely even necessary, since the chorizo already added a fair kick in those departments.

One key to scrambled eggs is to avoid overcooking them. It happens very easily and the dried out texture this produces can be sort of unappealing, even if the browned color is nice to look at. Moist, but not runny; that's what I aim for. In less than 10 minutes, you have a pretty decent meal to start your day with. Here's another variation: a smaller portion of eggs, this time with tomato, accompanied by bacon from the local farmer's market, fontina cheese, and a banana.

(Promoted from the diaries - K)

I'm not really big on recipes. I can't remember the last time I followed one exactly as written. I make substitutions, additions and subtractions on a whim, relying on my intuition to guide me towards a meal that will satisfy me. Last night I decided to make gnocchi for the first time ever and I fused together several recipes to make it happen. The last issue of Food and Wine intrigued me with a recipe that added the extra step of frying the gnocchi after cooking to brown them a little. However, the same recipe also called for what seemed like a ridiculous amount of eggs, so for the dough, I turned to Jamie Oliver, who uses a mere single yolk in his recipe. Also, not having semolina flour around, all-purpose would have to do for this time. The uncooked gnocchi:

So where else did I stray? For one, I also threw some basil leaves in with the cooked potato as I pureed it into a fine (and incredibly sticky) paste. When it came to frying the cooked gnocchi, I also added pine nuts to the pan.

After that, the rest was all my own doing. Once the contents of the pan had browned nicely, I threw in a bowl of chopped tomatoes and garlic that I had waiting, along with a little salt, pepper, and oregano. Just before removing it, I squeezed on some lemon juice, and served it all onto plates. As a last step, I tore some basil leaves over the gnocchi and topped it with asiago.

Sometimes I like to do things just so I can prove to myself that I am capable. As much as I've enjoyed learning about cooking the last several years, it's rare that I put those skills to the test with large groups of people. Dinner parties at our home have always been limited to 4 or 5 people. Yesterday, I went for a new challenge, hosting a birthday dinner for 10 guests. I knew there were a few dietary restrictions to consider with some guests (e.g., veg/flexitarians, gluten-free diets, etc.), so my approach was to make a wide selection of moderately sized dishes instead of cooking heaping amounts of just one or two things. I decided to focus mostly on Indian-inspired foods, since many of these dishes aren't harmed (and in some cases may actually benefit) from being cooked ahead of time, allowing me to get started early.

I decided on a menu on Saturday and went to our local farmer's market that morning for organic meats and vegetables. I found a nice whole free-range chicken, some stewing beef, parsnips, and some extra smokey bacon. I have never had bacon like this anywhere but from this particular farm; it's quite unique.

Thanks to some diligent planning, I managed to finish everything I wanted, although I admittedly had to cut corners in a few areas. Here's how each dish came to be:

Roasted Sweet Potato and Parsnip soup (with Maple and Bacon)
I made this on Saturday to give myself a head start. I started by roasting the cubed root vegetables with some chopped bacon and maple syrup. This was added to onions and garlic that were cooked for a few minutes and then I topped the mixture with a light stock. After cooling, I blended the whole thing down to a smooth puree and strained out any remaining bacon bits. Just a little bit of seasoning and a little more cooking, and this one was just about done. The soup didn't exactly fit with the flavors I used for the other dishes, but it was popular nonetheless.

Beef Korma
This is easily the most success I've ever had with a from-scratch curry dish. I started by making a paste of almonds, ginger and garlic. Meanwhile, I sauteed some onions and cumin seeds in butter in a pan (cut corner: I did not take the time to clarify the butter into ghee). After adding the paste, I dropped in the stewing beef, a little tomato, and the spices. I made a blend of cardamom, coriander, cloves, cayenne, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, salt. I added coconut milk and then let the whole thing cook at low temperature for a fairly long time. The beef was fairly tough in the early stages, but it had softened considerably by the time it was served. Garnished with some fresh cut cilantro leaves.

Palak Paneer
This was a first-time attempt for me. I bought a ready Paneer instead of making it myself, but I hear it's not difficult to make. I started by cleaning and chopping two bundles of spinach. I cooked these in a pan with some chopped peppers and a little water. Once the spinach softens, it can be drained and set aside. Then, more butter, onions, ginger, garlic and cumin seeds went into the pan. These can be added to the cooked spinach when they're done. The pile of cooked vegetables gets blended with some cilantro, a little tomato and sour cream until you have a pretty green spinach paste. Next, I added the cubed paneer to the pan, just to brown the sides a little and then the palak (spinach) paste. It still needed some seasoning and spices at this point, but the cumin, garlic, and ginger, were already there in full effect and the peppers provided some heat. Some turmeric and salt were really all it needed.

Chickpea Curry
By the time I started this curry, I was thinking that it was really time for me to make myself presentable for guests, so it had to come together very quickly. My wife stirred the pan while I ran around the kitchen grabbing stuff to throw into it. Again, I started with butter, onions, garlic, and ginger. I should note that I started the day by chopping massive heaps of those particular ingredients. Next, more cumin, some chopped green peppers, the chickpeas, a little curry paste (cut corner: I had to turn to a jar for curry paste at this point) and more stirring. I dropped in a few spoonfuls of crushed tomatoes, seasonings, and some stock and then let it cook down for a while. I wanted to keep this curry fairly light compared to the thick, creamy Korma, but I did add a little dollop of cream near the end, as well as a few strands of saffron.

Roast Chicken
Actually, the very first thing I did when I awoke on Sunday morning was to make a brine for this chicken. The cooked brine would need some time to cool, so that seemed prudent. The chicken went into the brine at about 1pm and came out at 4pm. I let it rest for a short while and it ultimately made it to the oven by 5pm. We were expecting guests around 6:30, so the timing worked out perfectly. Since all the other dishes were curries, I naturally decided to spice up the chicken a little as well. I added some Angostura bitters to the brine and also rubbed the chicken with a store bought curry powder before it went into the oven. The cavity was stuffed with onion, a lime, two cinnamon sticks, and all the remaining garlic and ginger I had chopped.

Vegetable Pakoras
I've had two types of pakoras over the years: the large-cut type where one pakora contains one large piece of vegetable, and the type that contains little clusters of vegetables held together by the chickpea batter (gram flour, water, pinch of baking powder, spices). I prefer the second type, so that's what I made. These contained sweet potato, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, and onion. Simple, but they made an excellent appetizer. At least, the entire bowl was gone by the time I brought the soup out, so I guess that's a good sign.

Rice
Some people love rice cookers, some people hate them. I'm kind of in between. I appreciate the argument that they don't always produce the best possible results, but I have a hard time denying their convenience. It's nice to be able to set the cooker to go without having to use another stove element or needing to worry about watching a timer. This is especially true when you have 4 or 5 other dishes on the go at the same time. I dropped a few strands of saffron into the water, which gave the basmati rice a nice yellow color and a light fragrance.

Pudding
My wife offered to make dessert, and I must say it turned out beautifully. A simple vanilla pudding was made fabulous by the use of whole vanilla beans, a few added spices (cardamom, cinnamon), and a cool presentation (martini glasses).

So there you have it. My only regret is that I failed to document more of this in photographs. I'm normally very particular about taking pictures of my food, but I completely forgot during the rush of cooking. I managed to snap one shot of the served table, but there are a lot of hands in the way, grabbing food items. I can't really complain, if that means people liked it.

(Promoted from the diaries - K)

When Stacey Lynn wrote about her cooking being called "interesting," I was instantly struck by the memory of my first attempt at making pizza. Let's just say it went wrong in several different ways and the resulting pizza was less than fantastic. It was, however, "interesting," as one guest pointed out, and I had to agree. Edible, yes; incredible... not so much.

Fortunately, I don't give up easily when pizza is at stake. I obtained a new dough recipe from a trusted food-loving friend. The old one included some extra steps that complicated things and mixed various types of units, which I thoroughly botched when I cut the portions in half. The new one was simple, easy to follow, and called for easy-to-find ingredients.

My preferred pizza is thin crust style, so that's what I've aimed for at home. My second attempt was a vast improvement over the "interesting" pizza. The crust was light, but crunchy and with a good taste. By the third time, I think I had the method down, and by the fourth, I decided I should document the process. If anything, my intention is to show that pizza should not be a daunting process. It's remarkably easy to make from simple everyday ingredients.

First, add the yeast (8 g packet) to some warm water (3/4 cup) and sugar (1 tsp):

After it's proofed for 15 minutes, it will look like this:

In a separate bowl, combine all-purpose flour (1 cup), salt (1 tsp), and olive oil (2tbsp):

Adding the yeast mixture gives you a sticky batter like this:

Now you need to gradually add about another cup of flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until you have a manageable lump of dough that can be kneaded on a countertop. If it still sticks, add a little more flour. You want it to look like this:

After kneading, drop the dough in a clean bowl and coat it with a little more olive oil. Cover that with a plate for about an hour or two to let the dough rise. After that, it will have doubled in size:

At this point, all you have left to do is roll out the dough with a little more flour, add your toppings, and put it in the oven for a few minutes. It's shockingly simple once you have the hang of it. And to reward you, there's an awesome pizza waiting for you at the end of it:

A few things I've noted...

• When it comes to making a tomato sauce, less is more. The best ones I've made were the ones with the simplest ingredients. A really basic one can be put together in 10-15 minutes using crushed tomatoes, some stock (chicken stock works well), garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, and a hint of sugar.
• Preheat your pizza stone. I've heard differing arguments about the importance of this, but I've had uniformly better results when the stone has been preheated in the oven. For one, the pizza seems less likely to stick to a heated stone.
• I love cheese, but on a thin crust it's easy to overdo it. I stick to using a light amount of mozzarella and punching that up with something a little stronger, like parmesan, romano, or gorgonzola.
• Roasted peppers totally ******* rule as a pizza topping.
• So does spicy salami, like Calabrese.

One of the things I find interesting about food blogs is the variety of experience levels on display. I am a late-20s male, recently married, and over the last 2 years my focus has been on expanding my horizons and absorbing all the incredible possibilities that food can offer us. It's one of the few things we all have in common as human beings, and yet there are as many ways to approach it as there are people on this planet.

I'm lucky to be in a circle of friends that shares this fascination and we've put together a group that hosts multi-course dinner parties on a more-or-less monthly basis. The concept goes like this... There are five of us, and each person is put in charge of one course in a five course vegetarian meal. The courses vary from meal to meal and there is no set theme. We're all just in it to learn, have fun, and expose each other to new things. The only rules are that everything must be vegetarian (one member of the group is vegetarian, so we respect that) and paired drinks are encouraged. We also have never done the same course twice, so far. These are some photos from our last meal, held on January 20th, along with a few notes.

#1: Appetizer
My wife made these battered tofu bites, accompanied by a sweet and sour sauce. I know she struggled for ideas even late in the game, but these turned out to be a nice light starter, providing just enough substance to kick things into gear. These were accompanied by a small cup of green tea, which is not shown.

#2: Salad
This dish ended up packing a shocking amount of flavor. Pears poached in red wine joined goat cheese, beets, and candied walnuts on a bed of greens. I can't honestly remember what was in the dressing, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say it was good stuff.

#3: Soup
Another big surprise. This came from a vegan cookbook my friend had. It's a cold soup that includes, among other things, peaches, ginger, and cashew cream. Very refreshing, and a nice follow-up after the salad. I can't recall the exact nature of the cocktail that accompanied this, but it was as fruity and refreshing as the soup. All around, great stuff.

#4: Entree
First of all, I feel like a moron for not cleaning up the plate a little before taking this photo. This course was my responsibility, so I guess I was too focused on getting everything ready that I got lazy on the photographing. Fortunately, it tasted great. What you're looking at here is carrots, jicama and dates, heavily spiced with saffron, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, ginger, and honey. That's couscous with pistachios underneath the vegetables and sesame roasted blue potatoes tossed around the edge. The cocktail is a slush made from whole kiwi, peach, passion fruit, and a whole lot of gin. It was cool and dry, a nice complement to the spicy sweetness of the dish.

#5: Dessert
Finally, my brother surprised us with this hearty rosemary ice cream served with a baked peach and a seriously beautiful raspberry sauce. The ice cream was rich and creamy, but the raspberry sauce almost stole the show.