Crab Dip

 Source

Ingredients

1 lemon
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
1 tablespoon seeded and minced sweet red cherry pepper (from a jar of vinegar packed sweet cherry peppers)
2 teaspoons 'Rub with Love' Crab Cake Mix, plus more to taste
1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
1 pound fresh Dungeness crabmeat, picked over for bits of shell and cartilage with claw meat and large pieces of crab left whole (1 lb of canned crab also works!)

Ideas for serving:

Toast points, rye cocktail bread, pita chips, pretzles, potato chips, crackers, celery, carrots, etc

Method

Grate the zest from the lemon, measuring out 2 teaspoons.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze, measuring out 1 tablespoon of juice and removing any seeds. (Reserve the rest of the lemon for seasoning the dip with more juice later.)

Put the lemon zest and juice in a large bowl, add the tomato paste and honey, and whisk together until smooth.

Whisk in the mayonnaise, chives, cherry pepper, and Rub with Love Crab Cake Mix. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg.

Add the crabmeat to the bowl and toss it with the dressing.

Season to taste with more Crab Cake Mix and more lemon juice if needed.

Set a bowl of crab dip on a large platter and surround it with potato chips for dipping.

Cumin Seed Roasted Caulifower with Yogurt Sauce

Source 

Cumin Seed Roasted Cauliflower with Yogurt, Mint and Pomegranate

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for oiling the pan)
3 to 3.5 lbs fresh cauliflower
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1,5 cups plain yogurt 
1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)
Chopped fresh mint leaves, for serving
Pomegranate seeds from 1 pomegranate, for serving

Method

Preheat oven to 425°F. Oil a large baking sheet or roasting pan.

Cut your cauliflower into bite-size florets (no need to make them all evenly sized.  Toss florets with 2 Tbs olive oil, cumin seeds, salt and pepper and spread out on prepared tray. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and its edges are toasty.

Prepare feta-yogurt sauce by blending yogurt with feta in a food processor until smooth. 

To serve:  Dollop yogurt on cauliflower then sprinkle dish with mint and pomegranate seeds. 

Ombre Root Vegetable Gratin

 Source (check out the photo)!

Ingredients

Unsalted butter, for greasing 
2 cups heavy cream
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (5 ounces), divided
1 pound red beets, peeled and sliced on a mandoline 1/16 inch thick
1 pound sweet potatoes or garnet yams, peeled and sliced on a mandoline 1/16 inch thick
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced on a mandoline 1/16 inch thick
1 pound turnips, peeled and sliced on a mandoline 1/16 inch thick

Method

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk the cream with the garlic, shallot, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Stir in 1 cup of the grated cheese.

In a large bowl, gently toss the beets with one-fourth of the cream mixture. Arrange the beets in the baking dish in an even layer, overlapping them slightly. Scrape any remaining cream from the large bowl over the beets. Repeat this process with the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and turnips, using one-fourth of the cream mixture for each vegetable. Press a sheet of parchment paper on top of the turnips, then cover the dish tightly with foil.

Bake the gratin for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Uncover and top with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake until golden on top, about 15 minutes longer. Transfer the gratin to a rack, and let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Brined Pork Tenderloin

Brined Pork Tenderloin - A Thomas Keller recipes From Ad Hoc at Home

Brine the Pork (about 4 hours before serving)

Pork Brine

1/2 cup honey
18 bay leaves
6 fresh rosemary springs
3/4 oz fresh thyme sprigs
3 oz fresh flat leaf parsley sprigs
18 cloves garlic, crushed with the skin left on
3 T black peppercorns
1 1/2 c kosher salt
12 c water
3 pork tenderloins (silverskin removed)

Method

Bring all the ingredients except the pork tenderloin to boil. Stir and  boil for 1 minute, until the salt is dissolved. Cool completely before adding the pork. (If you want to cool your brine quickly put the pot in a large bowl of ice).

 Put the pork tenderloin and  brine in a bowl just big enough to hold them. Let sit in the fridge for 4 hours (4 hours is the optimal time for brining...any more time left in the brine would make the pork too salty).

Cook the Pork

Ingredients

1 T canola oil
salt and pepper
1 T unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 fresh rosemary sprig
4 - 5 slices cured (preserved) lemon slices
sea salt

Method

Remove the pork from the brine, rinse it and pat it dry. Let the pork sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Salt and  pepper the pork. Put the pork in the hot skillet and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes. Add the butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary and lemon slices. Cook for another two minutes basting the herbs, lemon and garlic with the juices in the pan.

Move the pork to a roasting pan with a rack set in it. Lay the lemon slices across the top of the pork, overlapping them a little. Top with the thyme, rosemary and garlic. Roast for 20 minutes, until the pork registers 135-140 on an instant read thermometer.

Let the pork sit for 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

The Chicken has Regrets

 

Appetizer

  - Cheese board with seeded honey thins and mostarda - Z & K

Main

 - Golden Chicken with Salsa Verde - B and A

- Green Bean Salad with Mustard Seeds and Tarragon - J and K

- Mushroom and Herb Polenta - T and J

Dessert

- Bittersweet Chocolate Pear Cake - L and T

Seeded Honey Thins

 Source

Yields approximately 35 Thins

Ingredients

150 g sesame seeds
40 g pumpkin seeds
30 g sunflower seeds
100 g honey
1 tbls sunflower oil
1 good pinch Malden salt
½ lemon, zest only

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Heat a shallow pan to medium, add the sesame seeds. Heat and stir until golden, add the pumpkin and sunflower seeds, stir and remove from the heat. Now add the honey, salt, zest and oil, stir. Spread the mixture with a spatula or palette knife on a parchment lined baking tray as best as you can and as thinly as possible.

Bake 5-10 mins, or until golden. Remove from the oven. As the thins cool, they begin to harden, cut into even size pieces if that’s what you like or cut into shards.

Store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks. They will soften and become more chewy over time but are still good to eat.

Mushroom and Herb Polenta

 Source 

Information on Taleggio

Serves 10 as a side dish

Ingredients

6 tbsp olive oil

6 cups mixed mushrooms, very large ones halved

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1.5 tbsp chopped tarragon

1.5 tbsp chopped thyme

1.5 tbsp truffle oil (optional)

Salt and black pepper

3.5 cups vegetable stock

3/4 cup polenta (instant or traditional)

4.5 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

3-1/2 tbsp butter

1.5 tsp finely chopped rosemary

1.5 tbsp chopped chervil

6 oz. Taleggio cheese (rind removed), cut into 3/8″ slices

Method

Heat up half the olive oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, add half of the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes, or until just cooked; try not to move them much so you get golden-brown patches on their surface. Remove from the pan, and repeat with the rest of the mushrooms and oil. Off the heat, return all the mushrooms to the pan and add the garlic, tarragon, thyme, optional truffle oil and some salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan. Slowly stir in the polenta, then reduce the heat to the minimum and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The polenta is ready when it leaves the sides of the pan but is still runny. If you are using instant polenta this shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes; with traditional polenta it could take up to 50 minutes (if it seems to dry out, add some more stock or water but just enough to keep it at a thick porridge consistency). 

When the polenta is ready, stir in the Parmesan, butter, rosemary and half the chervil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the polenta over a heatproof dish and top with the Taleggio. Keep warm.

Just before serving, place under the broiler until the cheese bubbles. Remove, top with the mushrooms and their juices, and return to the broiler for a minute to warm up. Serve hot, garnished with the remaining chervil.