Fresh Cuisine

Little Bites For Any Occasion.

I served these appetizers at our superbowl party this past weekend, they were a big hit.
Fingerling potatores wraped in pancetta roasted with olive oil,garlic, oregano salt and pepper to taste.  Add a sprig of rosemary before serving.

Asparagus spears blanched and wraped in pancetta.

Spaghetti bundles topped with roasted tomatoe, olive oil, garlic and a sprinkle of basil.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese on the side.

Eat and Enjoy!

COMFORT ON A WARM WINTER NIGHT!

Mascarpone and Ricotta Cheesecake with Pomegrante Topping.

This recipe is adapted from the cook book In a Cheesemaker's Kitchen by Allison Hooper-Vermont Butter and Cheese Company.

For the Crust

• 2 cups crushed short bread cookies
• 3 tablespoons butter melted and cooled

For the filling

• 16 oz mascarpone cheese
• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 1/4 Cups Sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean

     

Toping: Seeds from 1 pomegranate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line the out side of a 9 inch springform pan with foil.  Make sure you cover the outside bottom of the pan tightly with the foil, set aside.  For the crust place shortbread in food processor and process until well ground, add butter and process a few seconds. Place this mixture in the prepared springform pan and use your fingers to spread the crust to cover the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Place crust in the oven bake for 12-15 minutes and cool.

Filling

With a blender mix the mascarpone, ricotta and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time then add the egg yolks,blend well.  Add the vanilla from vanilla bean, scrape bowl with a spatula and blend for 30 seconds.  Pour filling into the prepared springform pan and place the pan in a warm water bath (see photo above).  Bake the cheesecake 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Turn off the oven, let the cheesecake cool inside the oven for  45 minutes with the oven door open.  Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let cool to room temperature, refrigerate cake overnight.  Remove cheesecake from springform pan and serve with pomegranate seeds.

Note: To remove vanilla from vanilla bean, slice bean length wise down the middle with a sharp knife.  Open the bean flat with two fingers and scrape out the vanilla with your knife.

 Water Bath-Place spirngform pan in a roasting pan or skillet and fill the roasting pan with water until water comes half way up the side of the springform pan.

Enjoy!

Bringing New Orleans Home.

The move is complete and I am back in Springfield.  My daughters move to New Orleans went without a hitch except for a broken car window and a leaky kitchen sink in her new apartment. There was little time for culinary experiences or treasure hunting, however, we did accomplished some shopping for the apartment.  Little did I know that the New Orleans Saints were playing the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans the same weekend, the Saints won their ticket to the Super Bowl.  I was staying near Bourbon Street, just after the game ended I ventured across the French Quarter to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and to watch New Orleans celebrate a great victory.  After returning home I made tasty pineapple beignets with kirsch sauce as a reminder of my visit to New Orleans. 

The receipt below is provided by Chef Jean Pierre Auge from the Kitchen Conservatory St Louis MO.  See a previous post for more on Kitchen Conservatory.

 French Quarter-New Orleans

 Pineapple Beignets and Kirsch Sauce-Serves 8

1. 1 1/2 Cups Flour
2. Pinch of salt
3. 2 tablespoons melted butter
4. 1 cup beer
5. 1 tablespoon cognac
6. 2 beaten egg whites
7. 1 well ripened pineapple

Mix flour, salt and beer.  Add melted butter and cognac and set aside for 1 hour.  Fold in egg whites. Add a little water if batter is to thick.

Slice pineapple, remove center and brush with cognac and sugar.  Bring deep fry oil to 350 degrees.

Dip pineapple slices in batter and brown on both sides.  Remove pineapple slices on to paper towel and sprinkle with sugar and serve with kirsch sauce.

For the kirsch sauce

1. 6 egg yolks
2. 2 cups of milk
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1/2 cup whipping cream

Bring milk to a boil.  Cream egg yolks with sugar in a bowl, add warm milk to bowl, then pour the mixture back in to the pan on the stove and poach do not boil( turn heat down mixture should start to thicken slightly). Strain and cool, add whipping cream and kirsch.  Serve sauce along side beignets.

Note:  I added 1/2 teaspoon of cognac in the sauce instead of kirsch-Optional

I am leaving for New Orleans to help my daughter move  into her new French Quarter apartment.  Hopefully I will have  a little time to enjoy some fantastic New Orleans cuisine and do some treasure hunting. I will be back from the Big Easy on 1/26/10. Have a great weekend.

San Jose Journal - In San Jose’s Latino Gardens, Vegetables, Health and Savings Flourish - NYTimes.com

The two-month-old vegetable garden, from which Mrs. Alarcon picks extravagant bursts of broccoli for breakfast with scrambled eggs, is both comforting and unfamiliar. It is one of 30 backyard vegetable gardens recently planted by a nonprofit group here called La Mesa Verde, or The Green Table, which makes house calls to help residents of the city’s low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhoods grow their own organic produce.

via www.nytimes.com

Ringing in the New Year

 

I started the new year with a cooking class at Kitchen Conservatory in St Louis MO. Kitchen Conservatory is a great gourmet shop, that has everything imaginable for the kitchen. A wide variety of classes are offered through out the year. The class I attended CHEF-D' OEUVRE taught by Chef Jean Pierre Auge, well known in St Louis as a master of french cuisine. The menu for this class: Curry cream of cauliflower soup, pork loin with ginger and swiss chard strudel, plus apple beignets with Kirsch sauce. It was a joy to watch Chef Jean Pierre work his magic.

Looking Back at 2009

In 2009 I traveled to Boston several times to see my daughter who was a student at Boston University.  My favorite area of Boston is the north end italian neighborhood.  The north end has great italian restaurant's and bakery's.

In 2009 I also traveled to Northern California, Mendocino was my destination.  This little coastal town was filled with great art galleries, fabulous fine dinning and breath taking coastal views.  While in the area my daughter took me for a drive to Anderson Valley in Northern California's Wine Country.  We were able to visit three Vineyards Standish Wine Company, Scharffenberger Cellars and Brutocao Cellars. This was a great trip.

   
 Scharffenberger Tasting Room

  Town of Mendocino
Wonderful place to eat in Mendocino.