Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all enjoyed the book. I found it to have a lot of useful tips, and much like In Defense of Food, made me think about what is going into my body. Knowledge is power, right?

I met with Doug this afternoon to talk about next Wednesday's meeting.  We will be having trout drudged in rye flour, and then sauteed. This will go on top of potatoes O'Brien (think hashbrowns), and then covered with egg of a style to be determined.

This is a combination of two things we've never demoed before: breakfast and fish. I'm sure most of you have had fish for breakfast, but I have not, so I'm intrigued. Doug will also show us how to butcher a fish. I think I remember some of you mentioning that this has been difficult for you in the past, so hopefully this meeting will help your technique.

I hope to see you all there!

Brianne

Kitchen Confidential

Hello Everyone,

Below is this month's demo to go with our reading of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. This is also a reminder that our meeting has been moved up a week (this coming Wednesday rather than August 31st).

Let me just begin by saying how excited I am to take on some of the responsibility for running the club. I am extremely excited to work more closely with you all. As you probably know, Lindsay got a new job at Microsoft (Congrats Lins!), and won't be able to do a lot of the prep work (maintaining the blog, meeting with Doug about demos, etc.) As a member of the staff at GBC, as well as a member of FFT, I'm in a great position to take care of what we've taken to referring to as "her baby". Rest assured, Lindsay will remain an integral part of the club, and will be at our meetings (just a little late).

Now on to the appetizing part- Wednesday's meeting!

For our demo, Doug will be making pommes frites (French Fries) fried in duck fat and roasted Guinea hens. I know that I am excited for another one of his delicious demos.



Mark your Calendars with the book choices for the next few months:

September 28th: The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove

October 26th: Sex, Death & Oysters: A Half-Shell Lover's World Tour
November 30th: Cherries in the Winter

I hope everyone can make it for our last meeting of the summer!

Brianne

Succotash

Succotash

Butter                                                                        2 ½ Tbsp

Onion, small diced                                                 2 Tbsp

Fava beans, or lima beans, or                             ¾ cup

Otherwise fresh beans

Tomatoes (optional), small diced                      ¼ cup

Green or Red bell pepper, small diced             ¼ cup

Hot peppers (optional), minced                         1 tsp

Zucchini or summer squash, small diced         ¼ cup

Fresh corn, shucked and kernelled                  2 ears

Garlic, chopped                                                      2 cloves

Onion greens (optional), minced                       2 tsp

Fresh summer herbs (optional), minced         2 tsp

Cider Vinegar                                                          splash

Salt and pepper                                                      to taste         

1       In a large, flat bottomed frying pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat.       

2       Add the onions and broad beans and cook for 3 minutes.

3       Add the peppers and tomato and cook for 2 minutes.

4       Add the zucchini and corn and cook for 2 minutes.

5       Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

6       Add the fresh herbs and onion greens and cook for 1 minute.

7       Season to taste with the salt, pepper, and vinegar.

Escoffier’s Glazed Carrots

Escoffier’s Glazed Carrots

Salt                                                   ½ oz

Sugar                                                1 oz

Butter                                                2 oz

Water                                                1 pint

Carrots                                              as needed

 

1       Peel the carrots and cut into equal sized pieces.

2       Add enough of the salt, sugar, butter, and water to cover the carrots, keeping the proportions listed above.

3       Simmer the carrots in the mixture until the water reduces to a thick glaze and coats the carrots, stirring as necessary. 

Mamoul

Maamoul 

For the Cookie:

Semolina flour                                  3 cups

Salt                                                   ½ tsp

Butter, room temp, diced                  2 sticks (1/2 #)

Rose water                                        2 tsp

Whole milk                                       ½ cup

For the date filling:

Medjool dates, pitted                        ½ #

Orange blossom water                      1 tsp

Butter                                                         ½ tsp

For the walnut filling:

Walnuts, crushed                              ½ cup

Cinnamon, ground                                      ½ tsp

Sugar                                                2 Tbsp

Orange blossom water                      1 tsp

For the pistachio filling:

Pistachios, shelled, crushed               ½ cup

Cinnamon, ground                                      ½ tsp

Sugar                                                2 Tbsp

Orange blossom water                      ½ tsp

Rose water                                        ½ tsp

To make the cookies:

1       Mix the salt and flour together

2       Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is completely incorporated and resembles coarse cornmeal.  Cover and let rest overnight.

3       Add the rose water and milk to the flour mixture and stir until a dough forms.

To make the date filling:

1       Check all dates to assure that pits are completely removed.

2       Process the dates, orange blossom water, and butter in a food processor until a ball forms.

To make the nut fillings:

  Toss all ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until homogenous. 

To finish the cookies:

1       Preheat an oven to 425 degrees.

2       Dust the wooden paddles with flour

3       Add a Tbsp of dough to the paddle and work it around the edges of the mold.

4       Fill the lined paddle with the filling of your choice.

5       Using 1 to 2 tsp of dough, cover the filling, making sure to seal the seams along the edges of the dough.

6       Turn out the cookies from the mold by wacking the paddle on the sheet tray or work surface. 

7       Repeat

8       When all cookies have been made, bake them in the preheated oven for approx 10-13 minutes, or until the bottoms are browned.

9       Let the cookies cool completely, then dust them in powdered sugar.

In Defense of Food

I hope everyone has enjoyed their month. We are just a day away from our May meeting, and I am finally announcing what Doug will be demoing for us tomorrow.

I'm sure that most of you have read "In Defense of Food", or have at least heard enough about it to denote what Michael Pollan's point is. Tomorrow we will be focusing on eating seasonally and locally. A byproduct of this is a healthier diet.

Doug will be making two dishes tomorrow. The first is peas and carrots. Although this sounds like a no-brainer recipe, Doug will be using the recipe developed by famed French chef, Auguste Escoffier. Escoffier revolutionized French cuisine, making it more approachable. His recipe for Peas and Carrots is guaranteed (by Doug) to turn out perfect. Doug will of course explain how it works tomorrow.

The second recipe is succotash. I have never had it before, but Doug explained it as a combination of peppers, corn kernels, and beans (usually lima). However, there is great potential to shake this recipe up using seasonal vegetables. Doug mentioned something about fava beans (remember our bean spreads from a few meetings ago?)

I hope everyone will be able to make our meeting tomorrow night!

Brianne

Doug and I met this afternoon to talk about his demo for this Wednesday's meeting.

We decided on Chai-shirini, which is Iranian for "Tea and Cookies". Doug will be preparing cardamom and possibly rose petal (although the rose petal may be substituted with clove or cinnamon) tea and mamoul, which are basically stuffed shortbread cookies.

Some of you may remember the "tea party" we had when we read A History of the World in Six Glasses. This will be our Iranian take on it.

Remember that we are meeting this Wednesday, the 25th at 6:30. I hope everyone will be able to make it.

- Brianne