Everyday Cheetah

This was the view from my Mom's hospital room after her brain biopsy. A wonderful sign that there might actually be a pot of gold for all of us out of this whole experience.

I hit the 500 mile point in my walking goal on July 3rd. The rest of July though was fraught with two significant distractions - an unplanned week long stay in NYC to be there for my Mom undergoing a brain cancer biopsy and managing a very painful digestive problem. Plus the heat and humidity in the river valley where I’m staying has made it unbearable to be outside walking after 8 AM or before 8 PM. I’m starting August having to play catch up. The good news, I am in fantastic shape from all the walking, swimming and tennis. And it’s no problem to bust out 7 or 8 miles in under two hours. I added playing tennis 50 times to the end of the year to my thousand mile walking goal.

Switching to a Vegan lifestyle has been made much easier with the fantastic support from Teri Cummings - our holistic health counselor.

And I am adopting a total plant based diet for the next six months. I made this rather drastic move initially to support my Mother’s recovery from brain cancer. We found out three months ago she had an inoperable brain tumor. We immediately went into high gear to help her heal from this and the tumor has not grown based on the changes she was able to make to her diet and lifestyle. I have led the alternative treatments - one of which has been a mostly plant based diet. I wasn’t as strict with it myself and until recently cheated quite often. The very good news, that while we recently discovered her tumor is an aggressive grade three type of tumor, it has not grown in three months since they discovered it. Now the plant based approach to eating is my preference too - it helped heal my digestive ailments. And just what am I going to do with all those cattle?

The loaf may have been an accident, but the result was delicious!

Initiation - This is by far the best loaf of bread I’ve ever made.  Now the question is, can I repeat it.   The whole loaf was made because of other things going awry.   The first event was a house guest mistaking the hard red wheat berries for rice.   After the second pass through the rice cooker, we were both wondering just why the rice was not getting any softer.   Until I asked her where she got the “rice.”   When she pointed to the buckets where we store the wheat, I knew the problem.   Now I had four cups of very soft wheat berries.   The next “mistake” was in milling three times more durham wheat flour for the pasta than we needed.   Left with four cups of semolina flour, and everyone visiting having had way more pasta than they wanted to eat again in a week, I didn’t just want to leave it lying around to oxidize it’s way into the standard fare you can purchase in the store.

Planning

I asked a friend who used to be a baker if she had any bread recipes for semolina flour.  This flour is a little grittier than regular flour and takes longer to absorb the liquids.  It’s also higher in protein and rises differently than more refined flours.   She found one that required using wheat berries.  Voila.  the solution.  We had the main ingredients - the semolina flour and the wheat berries.   I tossed the recipe.  Here is what I used instead:

3 cups semolina flour (made by grinding durham wheat berries)

1.5 cups soft red wheat berries (cooked in the rice cooker with 4 to 1 water)

3 cups milled hard winter red wheat berries.

1 cup gluten flour

2 tbs yeast

1 tbs salt

1/2 cup molasses

Execution

This is where the mistakes continued (thank god).   I mixed up the dry ingredients first.  Then added enough warm water to make a nice elastic dough - just a little this side of sticky.   Okay, yes I know that this is not that much information.   Once you start to make bread as the only way you’ll eat bread, you will know what I mean.   I forgot to add in any sugar.  The dough was made and had been adequately kneaded.  I figured, what the heck, it was a failure loaf anyhow.  So I just tossed in half a cup of molasses and put on the kitchen aid for another ten minutes.   Went back to the computer, answered a few more emails.   When I smelled the mixer starting to over heat, was reminded what I had going on in the kitchen.   Turned off the mixer, covered the bowl with some saran wrap and went off to the next alaskan adventure with my guests.   We got home five hours later to the dough that had taken over the kitchen.   One of my guests had shown up with my french bread pan from Connecticut.   I rolled out three loaves for the pan, and shaped the rest of the dough into a small round loaf.   We again left for our next adventure, not returning to the kitchen until early the next morning.   The loaves had again tripled in size.   I popped it all into a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.   What emerged was the lightest, tastiest whole wheat bread I have ever made.

Monitor and Control

None - that was the joy of the accidental loaf.  Make sure to use a VERY sharp bread knife when cutting into light and delicate breads.

Close out

I’m not sure if I can ever repeat all the circumstances that went into this absolutely perfect loaf.   I have to remember this as one of my key learning lessons in life.   Accidents and mistakes often lead to the most amazing outcomes.   Relish and embrace them.

Initiation - I had this soup at a small little greek restaurant. It seemed so simple so I reverse engineered it. You can easily adapt this as a vegan recipe - just use olive oil instead of butter and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Planning - This is a very simple recipe and fast.

Ingredients

1. One head of Escarole - just use the green leaves, not the stalks.
2. One yellow onion - chopped.
3. Three cloves garlic
4. Two tbs good olive oil or real butter
5. 1 tps salt or to taste
6. 1 can white beans
7. 32 oz chicken or vegetable broth

Execution

Saute the onions and crushed garlic in the olive oil or butter. Add in the escarole. Saute until it shrinks. Add in the white beans, salt and pepper. Saute for a few more minutes. Then add the broth. Heat thoroughly.

Monitor and Control

Do not brown the onions - saute until translucent.
Taste before adding more salt.

Close Out

It’s a bit hard finding the escarole but this is what gives this soup it’s punch. Do not substitute another green.

Initiation - Jean, my lovely sous chef for making this soup wanted the recipe. Okay, I need to confess, being the sous chef requires you do pretty much ALL the work for this soup. Jean - find yourself a sous chef and this soup becomes VERY easy to make.

Planning - as stated above, the first requirement for making this soup is having someone capable of using a sharp knife without injuring themselves to help you. You (or they) will be cutting a LOT of vegetables into small bits. You will also need a large stock pot.

Ingredients

1/4 cup good olive oil
3 large Leeks
10 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh oregano
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 large acorn squash
10 large roma or heirloom tomatoes
2 cups softened red beans (you can use canned but drain them well)
2 cups softened large white beans (canelli beans, lima beans or some other white beans - not Fava though as some folks have a unknown severe allergy to fava beans).
1 - 2 cups left over pasta cut into small bits (I use the pasta I make for this)

Execution

Wash and slice the leeks.
Place them into the stock pot on very low heat with the olive oil. You are going to “sweat” the vegetables BEFORE you add the water. This releases much more flavor into the final soup. Keep the temperature low - you are not browning anything in this recipe.
While they are sweating, peel and thinly slice the garlic. Add to the leeks to sweat the garlic as well.
Finely chop the basil and oregano. Add this to the sweating vegetables.
Peel the acorn squash. Remove the seeds and put aside (you can roast these later to munch on).
Dice the acorn squash into 1 inch squares. Add to the sweating vegetables. Cook for about 20 minutes BEFORE adding the tomatoes.
Cut the tomatoes into the same small squares - skin, seeds and all. Add to the sweating vegetables. sweat for another 15 minutes.
Add the softened beans. sweat for another 15 minutes.
Put 4 - 8 cups water (depending on the volume and thickness of the soup you want to make).
Heat slowly. Then add the left over pasta.
Salt and pepper to taste.
When serving, sprinkle with fresh herbs and squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice

Monitor and Control

Keep the temperature low
This recipe is a take your time type of thing. It is good if you are multi-tasking with this making other things - like making bread, posting other recipes in your blog, etc.
Make sure anyone you have helping you knows to keep the temperature low on the stove - especially when you add the tomatoes. If the temp gets too high, the tomatoes lose their shape and the soup looks like it has tomato puree in it instead of just little bits of tomatoes.
Also, make sure the acorn squash is mostly cooked (slightly firm and not mushy) before you put in the tomatoes.

Closeout

This is a great soup to put in little containers and freeze. I use glass bowls with good lids and move it right to the microwave for a nice lunch.

Initiation - My cousin, Hugh Moran, an executive chef for Budhakan in Philadelphia, made a version of this while he was the executive chef for Cheetah Learning’s office in Windsor, CT.  I make this when I have a big crowd for dinner.

Planning

Ingredients

• 5 pounds fingerling potatoes
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• 1 pound swiss cheese
• 1 large onion
• 1 quart heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup cultured butter
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• Pepper to taste

Initiation - I use this blog as my own personal log - and I find myself coming here frequently to check on my own recipe favorites.   AND people who participate in my culinary experiments always ask me for the recipes.  I’m sharing some of my classics.

Grilled Eggplant

This one is absolutely amazing.  I modified it a bit from a cook book called Italian kitchen based on my several decades long experience grilling eggplant.

Planning

Ingredients:

• 2 Large eggplants or 8 smaller eggplants
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil (divided into 2 1/2 cup portions)
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint
• salt and pepper

Selecting and Preparing the Eggplant - You can use large eggplant and slice it about 1/2 inch thick or use the more narrow ones and quarter it.  This recipe calls for two large eggplants or you can use 8 small ones and quarter them.

Sweating the Eggplant -  At french cooking school, we were told that if you get eggplant fresh from your garden there is no need to salt it prior to using it to remove the bitterness.  Seeing that I would only get eggplant from my garden for several weeks of the year, my practice is to start any recipe requiring eggplant, to “sweat” the eggplant FIRST.   To sweat the eggplant, after you slice or quarter it, sprinkle it with a little salt.  You will see it start to sweat.   Dab off the sweat with a paper towel. Flip it over and salt the other side.   Again, dab off the sweat with a paper towel.   It’s now ready to use.

Marinating the Eggplant

Brush the eggplant with olive oil - use a good brand.  It makes a huge difference.   Let sit for about a half hour.

Dressing

I make my dressings at least an hour before use because it give the ingredients time to blend.   For this dressing, you need 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, the grated peel and juice of one lemon, 2 tbs balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint,  dash of pepper and salt.

Grill

Put the eggplant on the grill and cook until it is soft and translucent.

Eat

Cover the grilled eggplant with the dressing.  Serve immediately.

Monitor and Control

This is an eat it as it comes off the grill item.  This very rarely makes it into the kitchen.

Closeout

Make sure to make the dressing ahead of time before you put the eggplant on the grill.

I’ve done a Thanksgiving day mulligan in the past when some part of the event either went over so well that I just have to repeat it or if something bombed and I want a second chance to redeem myself.  This year a couple friends and I are doing the best of Thanksgiving 2010.   Here is my recipe:

Acorn Squash and Fennel BEFORE putting on the Brown Sugar Liquid.

Candied Acorn Squash and Fennel

Initiation - My garden this year produced a bumper crop of acorn squash and the fennel is still going strong.   I saw this recipe that had the acorn squash cut in half moon slices about 1/2 inch think and roasted - it looked interesting.   But I wanted to use the fennel too.

Planning - 2 acorn squash, 2 small stalks celery, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup salted butter, 1/2 cup water

Execution -

Cut the acorn squash in half and remove the seeds (I roast the seeds in a small pie dish with a little salt).   Cut the halves in half again.  Slice in 1/2 inch crescents.

Slice the fennel - up to where it gets really leafy.

Melt the brown sugar in the butter, whisk in the water.

Arrange the acorn squash flat on pan with sides (a cookie sheet with low sides will work).   Sprinkle the fennel over the top.   Cover with the brown sugar liquid mixture.  Flip over acorn squash slices to cover both sides in the brown sugar liquid.

Cover and place in a 350 degree oven for an hour.

Uncover and cook for another 30 minutes or until most of the sauce has soaked into the acorn squash.

Monitoring and Control - watch the squash the last half hour and keep it in longer if the sauce is not all soaked into the acorn squash.

Closeout - This is BETTER than candied yams and no animals were hurt in the creation of this masterpiece.

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP

Pulled this out of my New England garden in late November. Rather amazing it survived several weeks of hard frosts.

Initiation - I picked up Barefoot Contessa’s “How Easy is That?” cookbook and wanted to try her Onion Fennel Gratin soup.   I modified it a bit based on my personal preferences- it came out GREAT!!!!!

Planning -  I got most of these ingredients at a small neighborhood grocery store - nothing too fancy in this soup.

4 16 oz cartons of organic beef broth.

2 small shallots, finely chopped

1/4 pound organic cultured butter (YES it makes a difference)

1 pound beef soup bones.

1 large spanish onion

1 large red onion.

2 small stalks fennel (I had these in the garden still)

1/2 cup white wine

1 tsp pink Himalayan salt (sea salt would be fine)

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 cup grated gruyere cheese

1/2 inch thick sliced bread (anything will do - i prefer whole grain bread)

Execution -

Making the Stock -

For all my soups, I start the stock a day ahead of time and let it sit for about 24 hours in the fridge.  This helps the flavor develop AND the fat solidifies on the top making it easy to remove.    For my version, start with sauteing shallots in a couple tablespoons of butter, brown a pound of beef soup bones in the butter, and add 8 cups of organic beef broth.  Simmer about two hours.  Put it in the refrigerator over night.

Making the soup -

Melt about 1/2 stick of the cultured organic butter in a 4 to 5 quart dutch oven.   Slice the onions in half rounds in about 1/4 inch strips.  And slice the entire fennel stalk.  Add all to the dutch oven.  Cook about 45 minutes over low heat and covered until the onions and fennel are tender.   Put in the wine and let it boil to cook off the alcohol.  Add the salt and pepper.   Remove the fat and the bones from the broth and add to the onions and fennel.   Simmer for 30 minutes.

Serving the soup

Ladle the soup into soup bowls.  Toast a slice of the bread and then float it on top of the soup.   Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of the gruyere cheese on top of the bread.   Put the soup bowl under the broiler for about 5 minutes to brown up the cheese.  Serve immediately.

Monitor and Control - Cook this on low temperature - it’s not a race to make this.   Use a good quality dutch oven.   I like the Le Cruset dutch ovens.

Close out - I understand that this soup freezes well.   I like doing this in the glass storage bowls so it can just go from freezer to the microwave for a single serving.

My friend Bob Kane, who runs Kane’s Market in Simsbury, CT asked me to assemble instructions on how I prepare his famous Turducken’s and the incredible gravy that goes along with it.   (Bob will create a custom turducken for anyone - you get to specify the size and the type of stuffing you’d prefer - and he ships them anywhere).

Here are two posts I’ve done in year’s past on my turducken cooking experiences:

http://www.michellelabrosseblogs.com/2009/11/knocked-it-out-of-the-park-with-the-turkey-gravy-no-humble-pie-here/

http://www.michellelabrosseblogs.com/2008/12/a-thanksgiving-mulligan-turduckin-take-2/

Here is a printable version of the Turducken cooking instructions:

turducken-directions1

And if you just want the directions without having to download anything - here they are as well:

Turducken - www.kanesmarket.com - 860-930-3723. Directions by Michelle LaBrosse – www.everydaypm.com

Prepping Turducken

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Get a large oven roasting cooking bag. Line the bag with flour, pepper, salt, rosemary. You will use this for the gravy.

3. Rub butter over the turducken and salt. Use a good salt – such as a himalayen pink salt.

4. Place in the large oven roasting bag and secure the back. Poke a couple holes on the TOP of the bag (you want to be able to keep the juices in the bag for the gravy).

5. Place in a large roasting pan, put a meat thermometer into the center of the turducken and place in the oven.

Prepping Gravy

1. Making the base - While the turduckin is roasting, simmer turkey giblets (neck and accessories but not the liver) with all the leaves from one celery stalk, a tbs of whole peppercorns, and 1 tsp of salt in a 2 quart sauce pan filled with water. Cover and have on very long temperature. It will be on the stove a long time – check periodically to insure you don’t run it dry.

Cooking Turducken

6. Cook until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees (depends on the size how long this will take – estimate 5 hours).

7. Take out of oven and let sit for at least 30 minutes – covered.

Making the Gravy

8. Take the drippings out of the bag and use to make gravy. Use the bag to hold the drippings to transfer into the gravy liquid. Mix the drippings in with the base that has been simmering on the oven while the turducken was cooking.

9. Making the roux – this is the gravy thickening agent . use ¼ cup butter and ¼ cup flour (white pastry flour is best – but I’ve done it with fresh milled flour as well and it came out just fine) with ¼ tsp pepper and ½ tsp salt for the rouge. It will be very thick and clumpy. Use a two to three quart sauce pan (avoid using a Teflon and aluminum pans). Keep the temperature on low to medium low.

10. Starting with ½ cup of the base and pan drippings liquid, gradually mix the pan drippings into the roux – stirring with a wire wisk.

11. Add the drippings into the gravy in ½ cup increments, whisking to break up any lumps and to form a nice smooth gravy.

12. If the gravy is too thin, keep whisking, and let some of the liquid evaporate – keep the temp at low or medium low.