Sometimes it Works, Sometimes it Doesn't

I have been busy experimenting with recipes for the upcoming April 12th Wine Tasting Event for the benefit of the Boys and Girls Club of Aberdeen. I have 6 wines I will be pairing with appetizers created especially for that particular wine. Learning to rate a wine will be a part of this process of finding out what one likes about a wine, or dislikes. Finding if the wine is great all on its own, or better/worse with a food. 

I go about the pairing of food to a wine by using a list of appropriate foods that are best with a particular varietal or style of wine and selecting items that would pair well to create an appetizer. I wrote a few days back about the empanadas I created. Aside from the mess I made of the edges before getting the crimping and folding right, the flavors were excellent. While I have not tasted the wine that these will pair with, I have tasted this brand of wine in the past and I believe the flavors will be excellent. 

Normally, I create a recipe and the execution is relatively flawless. Last evening I was making an idea of an appetizer to pair with some very high end Italian wines, and the flavors were just perfect. The way it was put together, however, was most definitely not. The Porcini & Coffee Rub made the flank steak just scrumptious. The Garlic Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes were delicious. But... I used Yukon Gold potatoes and they just came out too soft to work with. I am going to experiment tonight with Russets and see if they work better. Nothing wrong with the flavors though! If you are having a nice strong red wine, such as a Cabernet or a strong Italian wine, these potatoes are the ticket!

Roasted Garlic & Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Serves 3 - 4, for a meal

3 - 6 cloves roasted garlic
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced, cooked in salted water
4 ounces Gorgonzola or Blue Crumbles (1 cup)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Put the potatoes through a ricer or whip with a mixer, adding the rest of the ingredients to blend well.

Beautiful presentation, but impractical

My original idea was to see if I could roll the slices of flank steak into a cone shape, pinning the edges with a cocktail toothpick, and then piping the mashed potatoes into the cone. That idea was a complete, total no-go. There was no way to secure the cone so it wouldn't fall open. Instead, I tried rolling the meat slice into a tube and piping the mashed potatoes into the tube, but the mashed potatoes, while delicious, were far too soft. Strike two. I had some fancy cocktail bread in the freezer so I got that out and sliced it very thinly. The bread was about 3-inches in diameter. I brushed the bread with olive oil and toasted both sides under the broiler for a minute to crisp. I cut a piece of the thinly sliced flank steak about 3 x 3-inches, set it on the bread, then topped with a piped rosette of mashed potatoes. This was a beautiful presentation, so I went with that. I invited my sister-in-law, Sherri over and along with my husband, we all ate these appetizers for dinner, discussing flavors, presentation and practicality. 

We all agreed the flavors were perfect. The presentation was lovely. However, the actual eating was a really big problem. Flank steak is a nice cut of meat, if you slice against the grain. Once a piece is as large as the 3 x 3-inch square I set on the toasted bread, there is far too much of the long grain of the meat. It was hard to take a bite. The whole piece of meat wanted to drag along, and with the mashed potatoes so very soft, they tended to want to slide off and make a mess. Not good when one is walking around with a glass of wine in one hand at a party or event.

So, we spent quite a while discussing how to remedy this problem. For one, the slice of

New idea: Flank roll atop potatoes

toast was too big. Setting any meat on a toast that size means 2 to 4 bites - large for my purpose. I will make small diameter baguettes to fit my need. (In fact I made a starter batter already to that end.) I will make the baguettes, hopefully, about 1½-inch in diameter, making a tiny bite when sliced. Instead of a flat slice of flank steak, I am planning to use sirloin, cut into cubes. I will pipe the rosette of potatoes onto the bread, and set the cube of meat on top of the potatoes. Hopefully this will make small enough bites to make them easier to eat. 

If you can find dried porcini mushrooms, I would truly recommend making the Porcini & Coffee Rub for Beef (Flank Steak, thick sliced Strip Steak, to coat a Rib Eye Roast, etc). The flavors were stupendous, though I could not truly taste the coffee. I may try this using espresso powder when making again.

Porcini & Coffee Rub for Beef 

Makes enough for 2 flank steaks

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 - 2 Starbuck's "VIA" instant coffee, French Roast or Bold
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon alder-smoked sea salt, or other salt of choice
1 tablespoon black peppercorns 
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder (more if desired)

Grind the mushrooms in a coffee grinder used only for spices. Remove to a clean jar. Place the alder smoked salt (usually in larger crystals), the peppercorns and the onion flakes in the spice grinder until fine. Add these to the porcini powder along with the coffee powder, sugar, garlic powder and ancho powder. Cover the jar and shake to combine the ingredients thoroughly. Sprinkle onto each side of the steak and press in well. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight before proceeding with your recipe.

For flank steak, I set a rack under the broiler so the meat will be about 4-inches from the element and broil for 6 minutes per side. Tent with foil for 15 minutes before slicing thinly, at a strong diagonal, across the grain of the meat.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Happy New Year and Glorious Mushrooms

Our New Year's Eve Table

I hope everyone enjoyed the turn of the year 2014. When I was a child  back in the 1950s, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think of anything beyond 2000. And here I am, still young, and still enjoying each year as it passes. 

Some of my appetizers

Last evening was a very quiet one in our household. We are not great party-goers, my husband and I. It has been so frigidly cold here that it does not seem inviting to try and venture outside. Tonight it is supposed to get down to -24 yet again. Brrrrr! My sister-in-law would have been here to at least eat with us, but she had a tooth problem, got it fixed and stayed at home to let the numbness wear off. So, just the two of us, but I still made lots of little snack foods, as usual. I made more of the Smokies in Puff Pastry, Red Pepper Hummus with Caramelized Onion, another of those pre-made pizza shells with spinach dip, some sweet and sour meatballs (those made with chili sauce and grape jelly), a relish tray of sweet gherkins, hearts of palm and assorted olives, and one of those rolls of mozzarella with prosciutto. I had pita chips and carrot sticks for the hummus and some of my Herbed Onion Bread to go with the meatballs. It was all delightful, and we had more of the holiday cookies for dessert.

Smokies in Puff Pastry

Smokies in Puff Pastry

Makes about 75 (one package of "Lit'l Smokies")

1 (14 ounce) package "Lit'l Smokies"
1 (1.1 lb) box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets

Remove puff pastry from freezer at least 45 minutes before working with it. Remove one sheet to thaw on a flat surface. Check after about 15 to 20 minutes. If the first flap begins to lift a little (do not force it or it will break off), set the pastry up like a little tent with the flap lifted out, allowing for air flow. As the dough thaws, open the flap more and allow the inner flap to drop down. Once sheet is completely thawed, flour a large surface and roll out the sheet to about a 14 - 15-inch square.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a pastry cutter, cut strips one way a little less than the width of the Smokie. Measure length of strip needed by using one Smokie. Set it at one end and roll until there is enough to overlap. Cut the piece there, then use this as an approximate measure for all the rest. The length will be between 3 - 4 inches.

How to cut and roll Smokies in Puff Pastry

Roll one Smokie, and moisten the far end with water, so it will adhere. Set the rolled Smokie on a baking sheet, seam side down and continue until all the Smokies are used. Bake the wrapped Smokies for about 25 minutes, or until they are puffed and brown. 

NOTES: Do not try to re-roll any scraps from the puff pastry, as the dough will not puff up the same way.

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One of the appetizers I made for last night was the Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms. I love mushrooms. I do not love them quite so much as my husband, who, it seems, loves them "the more the merrier." I love them IN things, but not so much alone. Stuffed mushrooms are good, but there is too much mushroom to filling ratio, so they just seem flat. Mushrooms all by themselves are pretty bland, and need things to spice them up. Boursin Cheese is a very high fat content cheese, smooth and creamy and most excellent flavor. There are various herb combinations available. In my town, the only one available is garlic and herb. One of my favorites (eaten elsewhere) is black pepper. Anyway. looking up the fat content in Boursin cheese, I noticed that someone (many someones) had used Boursin to stuff mushroom caps. I thought, hmmmmm....I have some Boursin in my refrigerator.... So this is what I did:

Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms

1 (5.2 ounce) container of Boursin (I had garlic and herb) 

Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms

1 pound "Baby Bellas" or Creminis
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
2 small cloves garlic
a few grinds of black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (I used Alder Smoked Salt)

Set the Boursin in a bowl to soften. Brush clean the mushrooms and remove the stems. Chop the stems finely and put them in a skillet with the butter to saute until lightly browned. While the mushroom stems are sauteing, mince the garlic and thyme. (I also ran my finger around the inside of the mushroom caps, removing gills, for no other reason than that it allowed more room for the filling!) When the mushroom stems are light brown, add in the thyme and garlic and saute for another 3 minutes, until fragrant. Add this mixture to the Boursin in the bowl, along with the few grinds of pepper. With the salt in the palm of one hand, with the other hand take pinches of the salt and drop them into the dry mushroom caps, using a slightly larger pinch for the larger caps and smaller pinch for smaller caps. Mix the Boursin and mushroom stem mixture thoroughly and use all the mixture to fill the mushroom caps. Set them on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray and bake them in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes. _________________________________________________________

Yum!  These have to be the best stuffed mushrooms I have ever tried. The little pinch of salt in the mushroom cap seems to have helped with the blandness of the mushroom, too. It is an easy recipe and Gluten-Free too.

Today I am going to be making a dinner, and my sister-in-law will be attending, now that she is feeling better. I am making a Prime Rib Roast as the main event, with twice baked potatoes and Green Beans with Gorgonzola as the sides. I found online a few years back a high-roast method for making the roast and it works so perfectly, I will be using it again today. In essence, you set the oven to 500 degrees put the roast in and time it for 5 to 7 minutes per pound (5 minutes being rare, 6 being medium and 7 being well), then when the time is up, leave the roast in the oven, shut the oven off and do not open the oven door for 2 hours. The roast is so perfect so following that recipe is my go-to these days.

High Temperature Roast Prime Rib 

High Temperature Prime Rib Roast

1 prime rib roast between 4 - 8 pounds
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
Pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, smashed into paste
2 teaspoons rosemary leaves, minced
2 teaspoons thyme leaves, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

The night before, unwrap the roast and leave uncovered in the refrigerator, to better brown in the oven later. Remove the roast from the refrigerator at least 4 hours before roasting, to come to room temperature. Mix together the salt, pepper, garlic rosemary, thyme and mustard and rob all over the roast.

To calculate the roasting time: multiply the weight of the roast in pounds. Multiply this number by 5. This number will be the amount of minutes the roast will be in the heated oven. This will yield a beautifully medium rare roast. If you prefer your meat at medium, multiply the weight by 6 minutes.

Examples: For a four pound roast, medium rare: 4 x 5 = 20 (minutes). For a 4½ pound roast, medium rare: 4½ x 5 = 22½ (minutes). For an 8 pound roast, medium rare: 8 x 5 - 40 (minutes). For a 5 pound roast, done medium: 5 x 6 = 30 (minutes).

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Yes, 500 degrees. Line a roasting pan with foil (far easier to clean up later). Set a roasting rack into the pan and set the roast, fat side up, onto the rack. Once you place the roast in this extremely hot oven, begin the timing you have calculated for the weight of your roast. Once this time is elapsed, time the roast for another 2 hours and shut the oven off. At this point DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR FOR ANY REASON, until those two hours are up.

Once the time has elapsed, understand that since the roast has been "resting" for two hours, it has reached the best temperature and needs no "resting period" beyond this. Carve the roast at once and serve. 

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For dessert I am serving the Dulce de Leche Turtle Cheesecake I described in my last post. I will be finishing the toppings on the cheesecake a little later today. 

Right now I have my potatoes baking. They need to be out of the oven before I need to have the roast going in, since I cannot use the oven for approximately 2 1/2 hours. I will scoop out the potato and mix it with fried bacon, sour cream, chopped scallions, and shredded cheddar cheese, salt and pepper, waiting to fill the potato skins until later in the afternoon. Once the roast comes out of the oven I can reheat the oven and bake the stuffed potatoes for a little bit to get them warm and delicious. Somewhere in between I will get the green beans prepared.
 

Green Beans with /Gorgonzola

Green Beans with Gorgonzola

Serves 4

1 pound fresh green beans or yellow wax beans
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 - 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or through a garlic press
1 teaspoon salt, more if needed
¼ cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

In a very small saucepan combine the butter, oil and garlic and set the pan over the lowest setting possible, or even half off the burner. The desired end is a very low and slow heating of the oils and garlic. The garlic is gently poached in the oils. Allow the garlic to steep for about 20 minutes, never boiling.

Snap off stem ends and cut the green beans as desired, whether French cut, blunt cut, or left whole. Place them in a steamer basket and bring the steaming water to a boil, lower heat to medium and steam for about 10 - 12 minutes, or until just tender. Drain off the water and return the beans to a pan. Add in the butter and garlic mixture (you may, if desired, strain out the garlic at this point) to the beans and toss well, with the salt. Pour the hot beans into a serving bowl and strew the Gorgonzola over top. Once the cheese is on top it will begin to melt, so serve immediately.


I give my very best wishes to all my readers for a most wonderful New Year's Day and a terrifically blessed year 2014.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest. 

Salt of the Earth

I recently published an article about salt; the good, the bad and the ugly. Plain old table salt, like many other food substances we ingest daily, is mass produced and marketed after subjecting what was once a natural product to processes that leave it in a state the body doesn't even recognize as salt. The body reacts to this no-longer-salt product by rushing a water cushion to surround every particle, trying to protect the body from this unknown substance. And meanwhile, the body is craving salt - of the real variety. Purely my own beliefs. I am no doctor or nutritionist.

Some years back, I started having problems with leg swelling.  At least, that was where it was most noticeable, though I was swelling over most of my body.  I tried all sorts of natural diuretics, all with ingredients that would reduce swelling, and they worked, to a point.  The problem was that I kept right on using good old salt from those mass produced canisters from the grocery store, blithely unaware that this was a large part of my problem. This was back in the late 1990s, and somewhere I learned about this process our table salt is subjected to, and looked for natural sea salt as a substitute.  Sea salt was much harder to find back then, but I learned about "Real Salt", which is mined naturally in Utah, from a dried up sea bed. I ordered some and immediately noticed a difference as the swelling went down dramatically. I was just truly amazed!

These days so many varieties of good quality sea salts are available. We have orange colored Palm Island sea salt, Black Hawaiian Lava sea salt, and pink Himalayan sea salt, to name a few. The colors are due to the many trace minerals found with the salts, and also where they are collected. Obviously the Hawaiian Black Lava Salt is influenced by the black lava which is the entire basis of those islands. There are multitudes of countries that produce sea salt naturally, and many of these have differing crystal structures. Some are flat crystals, some are rounder and some more conical. Some are meant more as a finishing salt, to be added just before consumption, although if food is properly seasoned it needs nothing more to finish it off.

I once purchased a box of a dozen or more tiny containers of sea salts from around the world; Israel, Great Britain, France, Australia and many other countries. In the last few years flavored salts have become available. Smoked salts, such as alder smoked (also called "Salish") or hickory smoked, have their distinct place. Others such as lemon, balsamic or chardonnay flavored salts can be used in specific dishes.

While salt was not the only problem underlying my swelling issue, it was certainly a large contributor. I can now buy Real Salt in the bulk bin section of my local health food store, making it far easier to keep it on hand for daily use in cooking or baking, but even before, seeing how much better I felt when using good quality salt, I would just never go back. My husband and I got really interested in salt of many kinds, and he started finding flavored salts and smoked salts. We had so many varieties that I finally bought this tower to have many types right at hand. They are labeled on the other side! I would never be able to distinguish just from looking, between some of the smoked salts, otherwise.

If swelling is an issue, or you are looking for a more natural product or just like to try new things, look for good sea salts from around the world.


My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.