5&10 prix fixe

Experience the Generitech Difference

Five and Ten Prix Fixe August 18 through August 24 5:30 to 6pm $25 food $15 booze Five and Ten Prix Fixe August 18 to August 24 Menu A 1. rabbit saltimbocca with country ham, sage, lemon brown butter, shaved parmesan, and arugula Bonarda, Il Vino dei Padri, Piedmont, Italy , 2008 2. veal braciole:  braised veal breast stuffed with pine nuts, currants, garlic, pecorino, and thyme with mushroom ragu, mascarpone polenta and sautéed chard Nebbiolo d’Alba, Demarie, Piedmont, Italy, 2007 3. Passion fruit-chocolate tart with coconut sable crust, cashews and banana sorbet Menu B: 1. marinated white anchovies, pickled okra, Elberton apples, jalapeno, micro greens, and tiny croutons Dry Riesling, Schloss Schönborn, Rheingau, Italy, 2010 2. crisp trout stuffed with lemon and fennel with salmoriglio, charred asparagus, red mule grits cake, and fennel slaw Vermentino, Terenzuola, Colli di Luni, Italy, 2009 3. spiced plum sorbet with compressed peaches, housemade puff pastry and hazelnut cream   Upcoming Events

Whatcha Got in Your Box? August 16th, 2011

Muscadines

If they last beyond snacking, which in itself takes some dental dexterity to get around the pips, you should make some jelly. Your toast will thank you later.

This is a variation from John Egerton’s recipe. You should get his book Southern Food.

2 cups peeled and seeded muscadine pulp (this is an arduous task)

1 ¼ cups white granulated sugar

½ cup water

1 piece star anise

½ cinnamon stick

Place all in a stainless sauce pot  and cook down for about 25 minutes over medium heat until it looks like a thick syrup. Stir all the while so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and jar into small jars. Process according to jar manufacturer’s instructions.

Pea shoots

Toss with lemon, shaved parmesan and olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt. Tastes like a 80F sunny day!

Tomatoes

I made a great Cornbread and tomato salad the other day to serve with some roasted chicken. Lovely.  

1 tablespoon bacon grease

2 cups cornbread, cubed into large cubes

2 cups sliced tomatoes

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2  tablespoons red wine vinegar

6 large basil leaves, torn into small pieces by hand

Place the bacon grease in a medium sized cast iron pan and place on medium heat. When the grease is hot add the cornbread pieces and toast until crisp. While the cornbread is toasting place the tomatoes in a bowl and season with the salt and then drizzle over the olive oil, the vinegar and add the basil. Add the hot cornbread, toss well and finish with a generous amount of black pepper.

(great)Okra

The (great) description comes from Celia but she’s a very honest person. It is great. It is small and narrow and not woody at all. I have just been cutting them lengthwise and cooking them in about 2 tablespoons very hot olive oil for about three minutes. Out of the pan and onto a platter with a sprinkle of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Potatoes

Buy a potato ricer and you’ll make restaurant-like, silky smooth mashed potatoes. When making mashed potatoes please do not skimp on the butter. And I will walk right out that door if you suggest margarine… and I may never come back.

Cilantro

The picture is of Smoky Eggplant Puree with Cilantro...

Not just cilantro but the nicest cilantro I have ever seen. Lovely. Make a little cilantro and carrot salad with lime vinaigrette and toasted pine nuts!

Sweet Pepper

Roast them up and store with some olive oil and herbs! They’ll stay good in the fridge as a lovely burger topper for weeks.

Eggplant ideas

Though we didn't get any eggplant in the box this week, I have a premonition that we will see it again soon. Eggplant is one of those hurdle vegetables... it's hard to figure out how to get through it beyond the basics of grilling, stacking with cheese and tomatoes, maybe frying it up. Here are three recipes that show you a different world for the those orbs, before they go all soft on you.

Smoky Eggplant Puree

Think hummus. Think smooth baba ghanoush. Think wonderful with toasted pita or as a base for roasted lamb.

1 medium sized eggplant or two small (about baseball sized if the small ones)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 clove minced garlic (fresh garlic, not pre-minced)

1 teaspoon Espelette or Aleppo chile flake

½ teaspoon kosher salt

I have always made a similar spread by hand with a knife but this one is simply burred in a food processor making it perhaps the easiest eggplant recipe ever. If you have a gas stove its even easier.

Pierce the eggplants with a fork all over. If you have a gas stove, turn the gas to medium heat on a burner and place the eggplant directly over the flame. Roast for about fifteen minutes until very soft. Remove from heat, cool and set aside. If you don’t have a gas stove you can pierce them and roast the eggplant in a 400f oven for about 15 minutes, or until very tender when pierced with a fork.

Peel away charred skin and lightly shop the eggplant flesh. Place in the food processor with the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, chile flake and kosher salt. Puree until smooth and serve whenever. Yummy.

Marinated Eggplant with Boiled Peanut Sauce

preheat oven to 425F

The sauce is kind of like a tahini sauce for a falafel but so Southern in its roots. The Lebanese know their way around an eggplant so when you are looking for more eggplant ideas think about cookbooks showcasing the Middle East. This would make a great side next to lamb or roasted fish. Some hot sauce, some cold beers, those would be nice too.

Peanut Sauce:

1/4 cup shelled boiled peanuts (canned will work if need be)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

Combine the boiled peanuts, garlic, water and lemon juice in a blender and puree until smooth. With the motor still running, slowly pour in the olive oil and then turn off blender and add the parsley and the smoked paprika. Stir to combine and set aside.

Eggplant:

1 medium globe eggplant (about 1 pound)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons minced parsley

2 tablespoons minced oregano

2 tablespoons minced mint

2 tablespoons minced hot pepper

½ teaspoon chile flake

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon kosher salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the eggplant in half, removing the calyx (the leafy green part where the eggplant was attached to the plant). Cut ½ inch thick slices from each half, resulting in about 24 half moon shapes.

Take a big roasted pan and pour ¼ cup of the olive oil in the pan. Arrange the eggplant slices on the roasting pan and then drizzle with a little more olive oil. Season the eggplant with ½ teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground pepper.

Roast in the oven for 15 minutes until soft in the center but not hammered (restaurant speak for really over-cooked).

Remove from oven but keep in the roasting pan.

In a bowl combine the remaining olive oil, parsley, oregano, mint, sweet pepper, chile flake, lemon juice, the remaining salt and a couple of grinds from the pepper mill. Stir to combine and then spoon evenly over all of the eggplant.

Transfer the eggplant to a serving platter and then drizzle with the peanut sauce.  Serve.

Eggplant Imam Baaldi (Bayildi)

Named for a fainting Imam of Turkish food lore who passed out every time the chefs made him this dish. The aromas just did him in. I guess thus is kind of like eggplant narcolepsy.

Preheat oven to 325F

1 pound Japanese eggplants

1 cup olive oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 large heirloom tomatoes, peeled and diced

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon minced rosemary

2 tablespoons minced parsley

¼ cup dried currants, or cranberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and then carefully slit them with three parallel slits on the flesh side. The slits should not cut through the skin, just incise into the flesh by about half and inch or so.

Take a large fry pan and place it over medium high heat. Add ¼ cup of the olive oil and when the oil is hot brown off the eggplants on the flesh side for about three minutes, and then turn and brown off the skin side for two minutes. You may have to do this in batches depending on your pan size. Remove the eggplants to a baking dish where they can easily fit in a single layer.

Clean out the pan and place back on the heat. Add another ¼ cup of olive oil to the pan and add the onions. Cook for five minutes until beginning to caramelize. Add the garlic, the tomatoes, cumin, rosemary, parsley, and currants. Cook for five minutes and then pour the onion/ tomato mix into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and sugar to the onion/ tomato mix and then season with the salt.

With the eggplants flesh side up, mound the onion/ tomato mix into the eggplants, making them look quite overflowing. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and then pour ½ cup of water in the bottom of the baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to one hour and then remove and cool. Better room temperature than hot but you can eat it either way.

Five and Ten Prix Fixe : August 11th to August 17th

Menu A

1. tomato cucumber gazpacho with pickled shrimp and chive oil

Pinot Grigio, Borgo M, Veneto, Italy, 2010

2. roasted wild striped bass with sherry emulsion, tarragon creamed corn, sautéed spinach, orange and shaved fennel salad

Verdejo, Altaplata, Rueda, Spain, 2009

3. vanilla bean crumb cake with compressed plums and hazelnut cream

Menu B:

1. woodland gardens arugula with balsamic vinaigrette, figs, pickled scallion, and shaved parmesan

Gruner Veltliner, Ecker, Austria, 2009

2. grilled lamb leg with pickled red onion, red wine jus, braised white beans, and peperonata

Bobal, Pasion de Bobal, Valencia, Spain, 2009

3.  Sweet Grass Dairy Asher blue cheese with housemade baguette and accompaniments

$25 food

$15 booze

WHATCHA GOT IN YOUR BOX? August 9, 2011

Those melons smell ridiculously good. They permeate the air. Lovely. Brief notes on those later in this missive.

Let's use some figs + arugula, two things that have an altar affinity.
I roasted a pork butt last night and we ate half of it so the rest is lunches for a couple of days. It was just a simple boneless shoulder from Earthfare with a good amount of fat cap on it. I rubbed it with herbs and olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic. Tied it well and roasted it in a 350 oven, basting every ten minutes,  until it reached about 145F, and then moistened it with 1/2 cup of Valpolicella red wine. Then I finished it under the broiler to char and crisp the fat.  It was awesome. Served it with quinoa and tomatoes, and corn on the cob. Clementine lost a tooth on the corn but that was going to happen regardless, and the tooth fairy (named Petunia) was generous. But alas I have this pork leftover.

Fig, Roasted Pork, Parmagiano, and Arugula with balsamic vinaigrette

you will have extra vinaigrette but that's okay. Use it another day. 

serves 4
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon grain mustard
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon real balsamic, I like Villa Manodori
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 bunch of arugula, excess stem removed
1 cup halved figs
1/4 cup shaved parmagiano reggiano
1/2 pound shaved roasted pork (You could use cooked chicken or ham if you wanted)

Make the vinaigrette by combining the olive oil, mustard, lime juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic and
a 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cap and shake vigorously.
Place the arugula, figs and parmagiano in a large salad bowl. Add two tablespoons of the vinaigrette and the remaining salt. Toss lightly. Arrange the pork on four plates, top evenly with the salad and then drizzle a bit more vinaigrette around each plate. Eat.

Corn: 
Plunge that corn into boiling water for 2 minutes and then eat with really nice fleur de sel and some way too expensive butter. Leave the Land o Lakes out of this equation.
Shishito Pepper:
Fry them in two tablespoons of olive oil in a really hot pan for about three minutes. Sprinkle with salt and sesame. Snack on them. Snaggle tooth Clementine eats them like candy.
Garlic:
It's great garlic. Use as garlic.
Tomatoes: 
It's late in the season so eat them with reverence. They will be gone before you know it.
Melons:
Lovely melons. Make a granite or a mimosa, or do a country ham and prosciutto plate.
Eggplant:
Make caponata. I recently tasted a pureed caponata. That was weird. Don't do that.

WHATCHA GOT IN YOUR BOX?? August 5th

 

Edamame

These little soybeans are a healthy snack just lightly steamed and tossed in sea salt. The furry pods can be discarded after retrieving the edamame beans. The firmness is a wonderful and unique distinction that is a nice textural element in a salad or for snacking. 




 

Brown Turkey Figs

Brown Turkey Figs are sweet, and work well with salty flavors. Wrap them with shaved prosciutto, a few micro greens and good balsamic vinegar. 


 

Mixed Micro Greens

These delicate little sprouts have a fresh green flavor and are great for adding to a salad or garnishing any main. When dressing these try and dress as lightly as possible to avoid wilting. 


 

Sweet peppers

Let’s make a Sweet Pepper Sofrito! A Sofrito summed up is a sweet pepper, tomato, onion, garlic, spice and herb relish that adds huge flavor to so many things. Once you’ve assembled it, it can stay in your refrigerator for a week and be used to top eggs, mix with potato hash, add to stewed legumes (whatever your favorite bean may be), anywhere you see fit. The simple idea to keep in mind when making this recipe is to cook down the ingredients slowly, which allows the liquid to slowly cook out of the peppers, onions, and tomatoes and gently stew.   

Sofrito

3 sweet medium peppers diced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 medium onion diced

¼ teaspoon toasted ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon lime juice

1teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

In a nonreactive medium saucepot slowly heat the olive oil.  Add the peppers, the garlic, and the onions and slowly sauté. Cook this down over low heat until just before browning. Add the ground cumin and toast for two additional minutes. Add the tomatoes and a small pinch of salt (this will help break down the tomatoes). Once these ingredients have reach a thick and non-watery consistency, add the lime, oregano, and the cilantro. Season. Serve cold or warm. 


 

Heirloom Tomatoes

Try these sliced with a sharp knife and served with a dill pickle vinaigrette and bacon bits.

Dill Pickle Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons minced dill pickles

3 tablespoons dill pickle juice

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon chopped thyme

½ cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients and stir well before using. 


 

Mountain Rose Potatoes

Smooth in consistency with red skins and a pink interior I love to simply blanch these until soft through and lightly press them into a medium-hit cast-iron skillet with clarified butter. When browned off slowly, these potatoes become delicious and crisp and work well next to a grilled steak. Cut and blanch these and toss with the Dill Pickle Vinaigrette and add bacon crumbles for an easy summer potato salad.


 

Italian Eggplant

Light char the whole eggplant on a medium-heat grill, removing the stalk, pureeing with olive oil and salt. This very basic technique creates a smooth consistency of wonderful smoky spread or dip that is fantastic and simple. Try it on a crusty baguette with roasted tomatoes, good mozzarella, and arugula.


 

Sweet Red Onions

Quickly pickling these red onions after julienning gives you a versatile condiment/ingredient that keeps for a couple of weeks stored in the refrigerator.

Basic Pickling Brine

2 cups cider vinegar

1/8 cup kosher salt

1 Quarts water

2 cloves of garlic

Small bunch of thyme

Bring these ingredients to a boil (making sure all salt has dissolved) and strain out the garlic and thyme. Add one teaspoon of Basic Pickling Spice.

Basic Pickling Spice

5 Tablespoons Mustard Seeds (whole)

5 whole allspice berries

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

3 bay leaves

 2 Teaspoons whole black peppercorns

Pour the hot brine solution over the cut red onions to cover and allow to cool before covering and refrigerating.  Pickling these onions gives you a nice way to balance rich flavors with a well-rounded acidic one.   


 

Ruffled Lettuce

Beautiful and crisp with a good balance of leafy-green and water.  This lettuce is often best used as the base of a great summer salad. These box ingredients are so perfect because they are grown and picked at just the right time. Summer salads rely mostly on the freshness of the product and therefore can be wonderful with minimal prep time or technique. It may sound like an overused chef comment, but great ingredients really do make good food easy.

Five and Ten Prix Fixe: August 4 to August 11

Menu A

1.

stir fried shishito peppers with sesame and citrus ponzu

Alvarinho/Loureiro, Aveleda, ‘Follies’, Portugal, 2010

2.

roasted swordfish with chow chow, vermouth emulsion, and a succotash of field peas, corn, okra, and tomato

Sauvignon Blanc, Peter Dipoli, ‘Voglar’, Alto-Adige, Italy, 2007

3.  Fig upside cake with tarragon diplomat cream 

Menu B 

1.

WG crisp head lettuces with blue cheese, buttermilk dressing, bacon, avocado, and citrus

Gruner Veltliner, Ecker, Austria, 2009

2.

grilled bistro steak with roasted jalapeno cornbread, sautéed greens, and cherry tomato salsa

Malbec, Thierry Puzelat, ‘KO: In Cot We Trust’, Loire, France, 2008

3.  Pecan pie with clabber cream and brûleéd peaches

$25 food

$15 booze