Weekend Indecision: Pecans, Pizza and Brillat Savarin

Some days we just can't decide what to have for dinner.

So, here's the scene. I'm in Golden Produce, wandering up and down the vegetable aisle. Eric's at Whole Foods...

How about homemade pizzas?
Homemade pizza is good.
And...and...and...pecans...
Yeah?
Candied pecans...and...and...and... cheese...and olives and... and... BACON

So it is, that we find ourselves with four little dough balls rising on the stove, and neatly prepped possible toppings that include tomatoes, roasted garlic, sausage, bacon, olives, mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms and candied pecans.

Okay, so the candied pecans are just for munching. (Dang, they're good for munching.) Even if they were meant to go on the pizza, we'd be finished with them before the second rise of the dough. They are also ridiculously easy to make, and I'm sure would be yummy on salad, if there were any left.

CANDIED PECANS
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup pecan halves

Combine sugar and orange juice in a medium bowl; stir well. Add the pecans and toss gently to coat. Spread pecans in a buttered 15 x 10 x 1" jellyroll pan. Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Remove pecans from pan and place on a piece of buttered aluminum foil. Let cool completely; break pecans apart, if necessary.

Of course you can't have munchies without having cheese. That's a rule. We try to resist the urge to smear the creamy unctuous Brillat-Savarin all over our bodies. This stuff is like eating butter, with a nice salty cheesy tang...


We cook up our toppings in between bites of cheese and pecans.


The dough for the pizza is Wolfgang Puck's recipe for those famous little California pizzas of his. I first had these wood-fired babies at Postrio. Really, really tasty. No, really. Even better than you imagine an arugula-prosciutto pizza would be. Really.

PIZZA DOUGH

1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 cup of warm water
1 tsp. honey
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 cups AP flour
1 tsp. salt

a handful of cornmeal or coarse polenta
More olive oil for brushing
Toppings of choice

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Stir in the honey and let stand for 2-3 minutes. The liquid will begin to bubble and develop a foam on top. Add in the olive oil and stir well.

Add in the flour and salt and mix well. Knead it together until the dough starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured suface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. When pressed it should spring back slowly and it should NOT feel sticky.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and then cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled (30 minutes.)

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, and shape into balls, tucking the edges underneath so that the top of each ball is smooth. Cover with the damp towel again and let rise another 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500F.

Press the dough out onto a floured surface, forming a 8 inch circle or oval with a little bit of a rim.

Sprinkle rough cornmeal onto a baking sheet and then lay down the pizza dough. Brush with olive oil. Spread some cheese on the dough and then top as desired.

Bake the pizzas at 500 F for 10-12 minutes.

Eat them up. YUM.



Post prandial bliss on the couch of lounge.

The Cheese Kitty returns

We've been off line for a while as the Cheese Kitty endured a difficult, and frankly quite nerve-wracking (well, for me) couple of weeks that began with the loss of a fang.

I'm not big on going to the doctor for myself, and taking one very unhappy kitty to the vet just makes me... well, yeah... let's just say it's not a pretty sight. I spent a week researching the anesthesia methods used and the various kinds of risks associated with them. Anyone who's ever worried about getting their cat's teeth cleaned knows of what I speak. I made my husband call the vet to ask whether they were using isofluorane.

"We need to make sure that they know that he's part Persian -- they have trouble sometimes," I said, "And ask them about the induction agents too!"

"You have GOT to get off of the internet."

"Hey, if you go into the hospital, wouldn't you want someone like me researching your care?"

We arrived at the vet's and I asked at the front desk to speak with the doctor. I wonder if the people at the front desk have a special secret code for high maintenance, nervous humans.

"Uh, we have a code 26 up here -- can you send out Belinda, please?"

A lovely, soft-spoken, very calming person arrives to carefully explain the whole procedure and very gently extract the cat carrier handle from my hands.

Well, the upshot is that the cheese kitty is fine, after a woozy drunken homecoming... sans two more unhappy teeth. But he still has one fang and a serious appetite for cheese. (Above, he guards the Cowgirl Creamery's spring Farallon. Farallon is the name of their experimental cheeses which can look a little different each time. Last year, they made ash covered coins which were delish!)

As kitty recovered and sulked at the prospect of having to have antibiotics squirted down his throat twice a day, we breathed a sigh of relief and got back to cooking.

We made a lovely little appetizer out of Cuisine Mag -- Crusted Goat Cheese coins with wilted spinach and tomato salsa.

Very easy to make and VERY highly recommended.

1.5 cups chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp minced fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup panko crumbs
1/3 cup slivered almonds
8 oz soft goat cheese (chilled til firm)
1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 cups fresh spinach
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

To make the tomato salsa, combine the tomatoes, shallots, parsley, olive oil, vinegar, oregano and salt and papper in a small bowl. Then tuck that into the refrigerator to chill.

Combine the panko and the almonds in a chopper and pulse a few times til the almond pieces are crumb sized.

Slice the goat cheese (it's sometimes easiest to do this using a piece of dental floss as a cutter) into rounds of about 1/2-inch thickness.

Dip each round into the beaten egg, then gently coat with the almond crumbs.

In a nonstick frying pan, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil and then fry the goat cheese rounds few a few minutes each side, until golden brown.

Set the cheese aside while you wilt the spinach in the same pan with the red pepper flakes.

To assemble, mound a serving of the spinach on a plate, place two goat cheese rounds on top and then top with tomato salsa.

For a weekend, I went back to see our Food Snoot friends, who recently bought a house on the Mainline outside Philadelphia. I went to school at Bryn Mawr, so we had a nice little stroll through campus and then took a day to go see the Radnor Hunt, which is a local fundraiser/steeplechase event.

Here's one of my favorite spaces, Thomas Great Hall, on the college campus. If I ever owned a castle, I'd have a room like this for my big fancy dinners.

In 1993, Danielle Voith, who came from BMC's Growth and Structure of Cities program, then founded the architecture firm Voith & Mactavish, restored the interior.

Meanwhile, over at the hunt...
We took a picnic with us, but the so-called tailgate for most people involved a huge setup with tents and tables and all sorts of crazy stuff.


All to watch some horses run by. LOL. Nevertheless, we were pleased with the discovery of a very nice cheese shop in Narberth that sold some (shhh!) Brie de Meaux.

Unfortunately, our Food Snooties haven't taken possession of the new house yet, so we couldn't cook there (do I sound like I'm anticipating?) But it's a beautiful kitchen job, with pull out pantry shelves, granite countertops and a Bosch dishwasher. What more could I ask for?







Oh! Does the kitty come with it too?






Well, so now I'm back home after all this travelling and ready to get back to the business of cooking and cheesing...

Just one more pic of my cheesy kitty -- much happier looking now and quite pleased with himself...

Black Poodle and White Fuzzy

Lest I forget, on Eric's Gastro-gratification blog has the details on his Black Poodle Porter, which was pretty darned tasty, I must say. This homemade beer stuff is really working out!

This week, he went to the Linwood Brewery, as we call it, to make me a White Fuzzy Pale Ale. Guess who that one is named for.

Back in the USA

Okay, it's been over a week that I've been back, so no excuses now -- I'm over the jet lag -- I've answered my messages, cleaned all the junk mail from my box, gone back to work and now I have to finish updating the end of that trip to Europe. (See the below entries for more on the Paris and London parts of the trip...)

First let me say, that as wonderful as it is to travel, I'm really a homebody at heart. I love to be home again with my cats and my fuzzy sweater.

But it's also nice to be surrounded by remnants of the haul I brought back from Europe.

Oh gosh, was all that in my suitcase? Why, no, Mr. Dept. of Homeland Security, Illegal French Cheese Division. That must be someone else's photograph of,clockwise from the left, Clochette d'Or, Berkswell, Gabietout and in the foreground of course, Brie de Meaux.

One of the beauties in the haul was the famous jamon de Jabugo. Ham, but, oh-so-much-more-than-ham. As I learned in the journey through Spain, there are hundreds of ham variations.

What you're looking at here is Iberian pata negra (meaning it came from the famous black-hooved pigs) from animals that are only bellota or acorn-fed, from the Jabugo region, lovingly cured (and sliced) by hand and from the tasty rear legs. I's a beautiful thing, and you've never tasted ham this flavorful, with this much depth.

Once you've seen lovely mahogany slices of jamon like this, everything else looks like a pale water-injected soppy imitation. Accept no imitations.

One of the shocks I had was the poor quality of many items sold in the famous Harrod's food halls, and most disappointing was the cheap simulacrum of pata negra jamon. See that light pink thing in the back with a black hoof? That is NOT jamon iberico. Trust me.

Now, there are things you can get in the UK that are apparently impossible to get here in the US, like Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce.

But wait, you say, we can get Lea & Perrins here in the local Safeway.

Can you?

No, really, CAN YOU?

Sure, they look the same, but look closely at the label of ingredients. Some of you may recall from my post, "Perp Walk" that I was shocked to discover the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup in my Worcestershire sauce.

When I saw the orange on the breakfast bar at the Hotel Russell in London, I flipped over the bottle with a dismissive flick and was amazed to note that the UK version of this popular condiment is all made of normal ingredients. No HFCS. Just malt vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spices and flavoring.

Here's what we get in the US: Water, vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, anchovies, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein, onions, tamarinds, salt, garlic cloves, chili peppers, natural flavorings and shallots.

Yeah. Their marketing says "Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is made to the original recipe created in 1837." I'm guessing that in 1837 they didn't have high fructose corn syrup and hydrolyzed soy and corn proteins. 'Course that's just a guess.

So what is this? The Brits get the real authentic Worcestershire while Americans get the cruddy version with garbage designed to poison your system? Excuse me? I believe a letter to Lea & Perrins demanding to know why is in order. On their website, they say,

Is the Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce sold in the US the same as the sauce sold in the rest of the world?
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is made to the original recipe in two factories. The original factory in Worcester, and a sister factory in New Jersey USA. The New Jersey factory follows the same recipe as the Worcester factory, although some ingredients are sourced locally. Product sold in the rest of the world is manufactured and exported from our factory in Worcester, UK. (Worcester refers to the town itself, whilst Worcestershire indicates the 'shire' or county in which the town of Worcester is located).

Um, this would be a flat out lie.

Okay, I'll get of my soapbox for a moment and finish the post.

Also on our list of haul items (yes, I filled a suitcase with stuff -- I had taken an extra shoulderbag along for trivial things like clothes) was the Maille mustard that you can only get at the Maille stores in France. Sure, you can get lovely Dijon mustard here in any Cala foods or Safeway, but you can't get moutarde au cognac, or au cassis, or au marc de Bourgogne...


Eric put in an order for four mustards before I left. Duly delivered.

And served.



Kitty notes that the Brie is very Brie-like in odor.

"Le fromage, it is not a point," he sniffs. "I can't let you consume that. I'll have to make the supreme sacrifice and eat it myself."

Mmmmmm...