What’s not to love?!!!

Spaghetti with Sardines, Dill and Fried Capers

I came across this recipe in the May 09 issue of Gourmet Magazine. It has all the delicious savory Mediterranean ingredients we love here at the Yellow Door! Even better the recipe comes together quickly and all of these ingredients are really inexpensive; great for a weeknight dinner. I used Goya brand sardines. There are three large fillets in each can. As the recipe suggests I made fresh breadcrumbs from a left-over baguette I had, but any bread would work just fine.

I served this with green salad on the side. Tossing in some steamed broccoli or asparagus would up the veggie quotient in this dish too.

A word of caution! We accidently ate the ENTIRE six-serving dish in one sitting; it is THAT good!!

How Much?
Spaghetti - $2.50
Sardines - $6.00 (2 cans @ about $3.00 each)
Capers (3oz) - $1.99
Fresh Bread Crumbs - $1.00
Fresh Dill - $1.50
Garlic - $0.75
TOTAL - $13.75

Spaghetti with Sardines, Dill and Fried Capers
Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup (about 3 - 4oz) drained capers, patted dry
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from a baguette)
1/2 cup chopped dill
2 to 3 (3 3/4-ounces) cans sardines in olive oil
4 garlic cloves (finely chopped or force garlic through a garlic press)

Preparation:

Cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of well- salted boiling water until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry capers until they "bloom" and are just a shade darker, about 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Toast bread crumbs in same skillet, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and toss with capers, dill, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Add sardines to skillet with their oil (if using 3 cans sardines, discard oil from 1 can) over medium-high heat and add garlic to the skillet. Sauté until sardines are golden in spots around edges, about 2 minutes.

Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta. Add pasta to skillet with cooking water and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss until pasta is coated and sauce is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve topped with seasoned crumbs.

About: Bacon "Fried" in the Oven

Let me tell you about… Bacon Fried in the Oven.

Frying bacon in the oven provides all the put-it-in-and-forget-it convenience of microwave cooking but results in all the crispy, crunchy goodness of pan frying. As an added bonus, with no grease splattered stovetop and counter, clean up is easier.

No real recipe here. Just preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay bacon out evenly over a cookie sheet lined in aluminum foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When done to the desired crispness, drain on paper towels.

A few hits and suggestions:

Cram as much bacon on the cookie sheet as you can. Overlapping a little bit doesn’t affect the outcome since the bacon shrinks as it cooks. Refrigerate (or freeze) leftovers to use on salads, burgers, sandwiches etc.

Before cooking sprinkle raw bacon with crushed dried rosemary and freshly ground back pepper. (YUM)

Fold the edges of the foil up to form a rim to help contain the rendered fat.

Cuban Sandwiches

My partner, Gene, introduced me to Cuban sandwiches many years ago on trip to Miami. Cuban sandwiches are rich, meaty, delicious sandwiches filled with ham, roast pork, and a Swiss cheese. The roast pork is a little tricky; unless you make it yourself it’s sort of hard to come by. (…but so worth it!) I used leftover roast pork I’d made for dinner a few nights ago. I had marinated a pork butt in mojo sauce overnight and then slow roasted it (yum!)

The other key ingredient is Cuban bread, which is also hard to find (anywhere north of Florida). Cuban bread is long, like a baguette, but has a very thin almost papery yet crispy crust and a soft interior. French bread has a thicker, harder crust, but still substitutes pretty well.

Traditionally the sandwiches are pressed-grilled like a Panini to warm the filling and make the bread toasty, crisp. I don’t have a sandwich press and have tried using my waffle iron in the past with disappointing results. The waffle iron doesn’t open far enough to accommodate thick sandwiches and squishes them at an unacceptable angle. So as an alternative for my Cuban sandwiches, I toasted the bread and warmed the ingredients under the broiler for about a minute before assembling sandwich. I think next time I’ll try pressing them between two hot frying pans for a few minutes; they really are better flattened a bit.


The Recipe: Cuban Sandwiches
Makes two sandwiches
1 loaf Cuban bread (or French baguette)
Prepared mustard (yellow is traditional)
1/4 pound baked ham, thinly sliced (about 4-6 slices)
1/4 pound roast pork, pulled to shreds or thinly sliced
1 dill pickle sliced thinly length-wise (about 8 slices)
1/4 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced (about 4 slices)

Slice two 5- or 6-inch lengths of bread from the baguette, then slice each length horizontally to open. Spread a generous layer of mustard on top and bottom halves of bread.

Arrange ham, pork, pickle slices, and Swiss cheese evenly over the bread. Cover the sandwiches with the top halves of the bread.

Grill sandwiches in a hot buttered sandwich press until flattened a bit, the bread is browned, and the cheese has melted, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cut each sandwich in half and serve immediately.

Brunch at the Yellow Door: All Puffed-Up

Why?

Growing up, I remember my mom making soufflés. Well to be honest, I really only remember her making one soufflé and I recall not liking it that much. However, I was mesmerized by it as I peeped through the oven window watching it get higher and higher. Now, I love them. And a nice, slow, do-nothing Sunday morning is the perfect time for one.

Soufflés really aren’t that much work and you don’t have to tip-toe around while they bake. Honestly, its maybe 20-minutes of prep time and 30-40-minutes in the oven! Plus, its basic ingredients; eggs, cheese, some milk, a little butter, a little flour and you have a stunning, delicious brunch.

What?

So this recipe comes from the Larousse Gastronomique (subtitled: The World’s Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia.) The LG is a 7 ½ pound monster, over 1200 pages long. I have to admit I find it a bit intimidating but it’s got some fascinating information and quite a few recipes; in fact 2 ½ pages of soufflé recipes alone. This is where my spinach soufflé recipe comes from.

This is a classic soufflé recipe. You first make a béchamel sauce, add egg yolks and flavoring (spinach and cheese for mine), fold that into fluffy, whipped egg whites, pour the whole thing into a soufflé pan and bake. I was a bit skeptical of this recipe at first. For anyone who’s ever made a roux, I thought this one was a little off base. It called for way more flour than I thought it should have, so I reduced it from 6 tablespoons to 3 tablespoons, which still made for a really stiff, gloppy béchamel. The sauce did loosen up a little with the addition of the egg yolks and spinach and in the end the soufflé was gorgeous.

How much?

This assumes that you have basics like, flour, milk and butter (maybe a dollars-worth altogether).

4 eggs - $1.06 (based on dozen cage-free $3.19)

8 ounces frozen spinach - $0.70 (based on 16-oz bag at $1.39)

3 oz white cheddar cheese - $1.49 (based on $4.99 for 10-oz)

Total: $4.25

The Recipe

Spinach Soufflé

3 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

8 ounces frozen spinach

3 oz white cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper

Pinch of ground nutmeg

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400°.

1. Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess moisture.

2. Separate four eggs, with whites in a large bowl and yolks in a small bowl.

3. Butter the inside of an eight inch soufflé pan.

4. Make a béchamel by melting the butter in medium saucepan, stir in flour and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the milk and bring it to a boil whisk often. Season with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg. Cook over low heat for an additional 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

5. Add spinach, cheese, and egg yolks and stir to combine well.

6. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks. Add 1/3 egg whites to the béchamel and gently stir to combine (to further lighten the béchamel). Carefully fold the béchamel mixture into the egg whites folding into the batter is fairly homogenous (it’s OK if those bits of streaks of egg white still in the mix).

7. Pour the batter into the soufflé pan and bake (see cook’s note) for 30 minutes without opening the door until well risen and the top is golden-brown.

Cook’s note: I don’t particularly like brown, crusty egg dishes, so I usually cook my soufflés a bain-marie to keep the sides from browning, but that’s up to you.

The Larousse Gastronomique really is a wonderful book with lots of useful information (like what is a bain-marie?) and would make a wonderful addition to anyone’s cookbook collection.

Pork and squid, that’s the opposite of kosher!

Why?
Because Gene got me a new Spanish cookbook for Christmas; it is Jose Andres’ Made in Spain. It has some delicious recipes and some wonderful descriptions of Spain. Also because it was cold out and we needed something hearty to eat!

What?
I came across a very interesting recipe for pork meatballs with squid. It’s basically garlicky pork meatballs braised in tomato sauce with squid, potatoes, cinnamon, thyme, and more garlic. Pork and squid sounded like a very odd pairing to me, but it was delicious.

I’ll admit, that once again, I didn’t read the entire recipe through before I started. I didn’t catch the sofrito part. Andres’ sofrito is a kind of vegetably-tomato sauce; I made my own using canned chopped tomatoes cooked down with sautéed onions and paprika. But in a pinch, you can probably substitute a little decent quality, mild, but chunky, pasta sauce.

How much? (This assumes you have the basics of little milk, a crust of bread, an egg, some flour and such.)

Ground pork - $3.49
Squid - $5.99
A potato $0.59
One head garlic - $0.69
Parsley - $0.99
Thyme - $0.99
Sofrito (est) - $3.50
Total - $16.24

The Recipe:
Pork Meatballs with Squid

Sauerbraten with a Twist

Why?

My friend Shawn sent me a recipe for Sauerbraten. I’ve never had sauerbraten before and after reading the recipe, I am embarrassed to admit that I had always assumed it was a kind of sausage (you know, …braten …’brats on the grill and all that. Work with me here!) Anyway, as you may or may not know, sauerbraten is actually a big hunk of braised beef. So after going for so long with my misconception, I had to try this recipe.

What?

Traditional sauerbraten is a beef marinated and braised in vinegar, wine, and spices. This recipe replaces the wine and vinegar with a Belgian lambic beer, which has a slightly sour aftertaste. This recipe takes a little planning in that the beef marinates for 3 – 4 days! I started it on the weekend and then cooked it for a weeknight dinner. In the interest of full disclosure, I could not find a lambic beer. So I used a domestic Belgian-style beer and added a ¼ cup of white vinegar to the marinade.

Also the recipe calls for pickling spice. I don’t have premixed pickling spice so (after a little research) I made my own with black and red

peppercorns, coriander, cardamom, cumin, juniper berries, and fenugreek. (…and yes I do have juniper berries and fenugreek in my pantry, I’m a food-geek, what can I say?) Lastly, I forgot to buy sour cream, so I didn't make the sauce, though it sounds delicious. We just ladled the juice over the meat.

How Much?

Boneless Top Round Roast ($4.99/lb) - $14.42

Onions (3 lb bag) – $2.99

Garlic (1 head) - $0.69

Pickling Spice (2.6 oz, premixed) - $2.99

Total - $21.09

The Recipe:

Sauerbraten with a Twist

Ingredients

For the Meat

24 oz Gueuze or Lambic

8 each garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

2 tbsp pickling spices

2 each yellow onions, peeled and sliced into thin wedges

2 each bay leaves

1 tsp sea salt

4-5 lb top sirloin roast

For the Sauce

¼ cup olive oil

2 each garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 each leek, washed and sliced

1 each bay leaf

2-3 tsp all-purpose flour

½ cup sour cream

Directions

In a stainless steel pot, bring sour beer, garlic, spices, onions, bay leaves and salt to a boil and

cook for 3 minute to combine the flavors. Turn off the heat and let rest until marinate is room

temperature. Place into either a large sealable container or Ziploc bag and add roast. Remove as much air as possible and seal, placing in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. At least once a day, flip the bag to distribute the marinade equally over the meat.

In a Dutch over medium-high heat, add oil and brown the roast (first removing from the marinade, patting dry and reserving the marinade) on all sides. After the meat has formed a nice crust, add onions, garlic, leeks, bay leaf and reserved marinade liquid only, discarding other spices and

vegetables.

Bring to a simmer and place into a 250 F oven for 4 hours. Remove the roast from the liquid, sprinkling with flour and whisking to prevent any lumps. Bring to a low simmer and thicken for about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and add sour cream. Adjust seasoning. Slice the roast against the grain of the meat and serve with the sauce over buttered egg noodles tossed with chopped parsley, thyme and savory.

About: Happy New Year!

What a meal, what an evening! I think we really outdid ourselves; Gene and I got together with our friends Joanie and Lawrence and Chris and Nancy. The idea was that we would get together to cook small bites; think tapas and amuse bouches. Oh and don’t forget the wine and champagne! We all love good food and Chris really knows wine.
.
.
.
Each course was accompanied by different wines, each one spectacular. I don’t feel able to do justice to the wines and adequately discuss them so; I will limit myself to describing the food. We started with my French Onion Soup that was inspired by one we had at a restaurant in Jupiter, Florida. In addition to the Swiss cheese I used our favorite blue cheese, Societé, It was great. I served the soup in demitasse topped with a puff pastry “lid” which was embellished with a “09.”
.
.
.
Soup was followed by a flight of salads; Chris made a lightly dressed salad of Grilled Baby Octopus on Radicchio and Endive and a Black Eyed Pea salad. We just have to get those black eyed peas in on New Years!
.
.
.


Next up, Joanie and Lawrence prepared Foie Gras Three Ways. This dish consisted of two disks of a traditional foie gras flecked with truffle, a foie gras mousse, and a “brick” of rustic country pate of foie gras and duck. The dish was served with three delicious breads.
.
.
.
Our final antipasto was Spicy Grilled Shrimp and Spanish Chorizo with Smoked Paprika. I skewered the shrimp and chorizo on toothpicks and marinated them in garlic, smoked paprika, and white vermouth. Quickly grilled, they were delicious!
.
.
.
Next, a pasta course; a triumvirate of pasta! Chris and Nancy provided Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli topped with Fried Sage, Grated Biscotti and Parmesan Cheese. Joanie and Lawrence made Orecchiette with Baratta Cheese and Ragu. Orecchiette is a type of pasta native to Apulia, whose shape resembles a small ear (in Italian, "ear" is orecchio). Gene and I contributed Ravioli filled with Homemade Ricotta Cheese and Lemon Zest served alongside Mushrooms Two Ways (roasted mini portabellas and sautéed oyster mushrooms).












And now, on to the main courses!
.
Lawrence prepared Lamb Chops with baked Brussel Sprouts as a first main course. Then, Gene made Pan-Seared Filet Mignon with Hollandaise Sauce as the second main.

Time-wise, we hit 2009 between the lamb and beef! Last but not least: desserts! Four flights of dessert included: Mini Palmiers, Mini Pastelitos de Guayaba, Belgian Dark Chocolates, and Homemade Candies. By this point, we were all so full that we could barely get up from the table! Happy New Year!