Sunday Lunch with Max

Tuna Salad, Homemade Mayonnaise and Asparagus with Ramps

Today's Sunday Lunch with the Executive Chef; better known as my son Max.
Max started cooking with me when he was a little boy as did his sister Laurel. Now each is an accomplished cook and all grown up and sometimes they cook for me!

So Sunday, Max was our guest chef. Our lunch wass made from what was found in the frig.

Lunch consisted of a tuna salad made with homemade mayonnaise and fresh herbs from the terrace along with asparagus with ramps, parmesan and balsamic vinegar. Max had real bread with his and I had a gluten free Challah from Udi's..it tasted like Challah but the structure was not anything to write home about, still as a gluten free substitute it was fine.

Home made Mayonnaise
ingredients:
1 egg yolk
lemon juice..or vinegar..according to taste..somewhere between 1/2 Tablespoon and half a lemon's worth
1 teaspoon poupon mustard
big pinch salt
2-3 Tablespoons of Canola Oil
Up to 1/4 Cup Fragrant Olive Oil

Method #1 Handwhisked
Whisk together yolk, juice, salt and mustard
Continue whisking adding canola oil by dripping slowly 2-3 Tablespoons in all..the trick is that at the beginning you must add the oil in tiny amounts and emulsify entirely before adding more. Eventually you will be able to add the oil in a steady stream but go slowly or it will never come together. Finally add olive oil; as much as 1/4 cup in a steady stream. You must decide how firm or loose you wish the mayonnaise to be, which will be determined by how much oil is added.

Method #2 Using an Immersion Blender
Place yolk and salt and vinegar/lemon juice and mustard into a ball jar
Gently pour over this all the oil
Placing the immersion blender at the bottom of the jar start it up and it will do all the work for you. Max says it takes 5 minutes and the blender creates a vortex. I have yet to buy one so I am taking his word for it.

Tuna Salad with Herbs

Drain a can of tuna. I like to buy line caught tuna which often comes from the Pacific North West. This is because it is very good quality and likely small fish which are lower in heavy metals than big ones.
Mash it with a fork. Dice some celery. Add chopped chives, chopped parsley and mix with the mayo.

Serve on lettuce or on toast or with a baguette. I used Udi's challah. I also heated a gluten free baguette from Schar; a european company. It did not come out right when I cooked it 5 minutes at 400 as instructed. It turned out a lot better when I left it in the cooling oven for a half hour. So I assume if I left it 10 minutes it might have been fine. It is a little scary that it has a shelf life months long.The texture was great considering that it is made gluten free, although it was  not yeasty like a real bagguette. I can't wait til some local bakery makes fresh gluten free breads. I hear that Le Pain Quotidien is experimenting!

Now for the Asparagus

Asparagus with Ramps

Toss cut up asparagus into a cast iron pan..or another good pan with a Tablespoon or so of good olive oil and the white bulb parts of the ramps. Once they are nicely cooked but still a bit too al dente add the leaf portions of the ramps and toss some more. Dress with a good aged balsamic vinegar and a bit of grated parmesan.

Easy Pecan Meringues

My travels for  a long weekend to South Carolina and Georgia have been inspiring me to try some Southern specialties.
This is probably the easiest meringue recipe I have ever come upon. It takes 6 minutes plus baking time and it's foolproof.
From: Savannah Style; A cookbook by the junior league of Savannah

White Clouds
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet covered with oiled parchment paper. Bake in a 275 degree oven for 40 to 60 minutes.
Yield 3 dozen
Blogger's note: either my oven is too hot or the meringues brown because of the pecans. What they lack in whiteness they more than make up for in taste and texture. I took them out at 45 minutes. Also; the addition of all the ingredients at once collapsed the whipped meringues somewhat. Not to worry; they still come out fine.
Recipes with only a few ingredients rely heavily on the quality of those ingredients. Always look for the freshest plumpest nuts. Old nuts become rancid..the oils go bad. You can smell the difference. Put nuts into the freezer if you are not going to use them shortly. Always use the best extracts. Often I buy them when I spy them in specialty stores or on trips. A good brand of vanilla is Nielsen-Massey Vanillas. If I am going through West Stockbridge Massachusetts, I always make a stop at Charles H. Baldwin and Sons for extracts tel. 413-232-7785 1 Center Street P.O. Box 372 West Stockbridge Mass. The nuts I used were bought fresh in a quart bag at Hites Barbeque West Columbia South Carolina.

Great Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies for Passover or Anytime

This recipe was originally published by New York Magazine. They are easy to make and delicious.

Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

• 16 Comments Add Yours

• By Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite 
• Published Apr 13, 2008

Illustrations by John Burgoyne (Photo: Kang Kim)

The annual Passover abstention from flour need not be so abstemious, as François Payard demonstrates in this recipe for chewy, gooey chocolate-walnut cookies. Egg whites add a meringuey quality, but fudginess prevails in these jumbo-size beauties, available at Payard’s Upper East Side pâtisserie and featured in his new book, Chocolate Epiphany (Clarkson Potter; $35).

François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

2 3/4 cups walnut halves
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the walnut halves on a large-rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 9 minutes, until they are golden and fragrant. (1) Let cool slightly, then transfer the walnut halves to a work surface and coarsely chop them. Position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and lower temperature to 320. Line two large-rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. (2) In a large bowl, whisk (or combine in an electric mixer on low speed) the confectioners’ sugar with the cocoa powder and salt followed by the chopped walnuts. While whisking (or once you change the speed to medium), add the egg whites and vanilla extract and beat just until the batter is moistened (do not overbeat or it will stiffen). (3) Spoon the batter onto the baking sheets in 12 evenly spaced mounds, and bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until the tops are glossy and lightly cracked; shift the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through to ensure even baking. Slide the parchment paper (with the cookies) onto 2 wire racks. Let cookies cool completely, and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Skillet Corn Bread

I'm fascinated by old recipes handed down by one generation to the next; the kind with 5 or so ingredients put together using a simple method resulting in a superb authentic  product.

I found this version for making cornbread, in a wonderful book about American cooking called Serious Pig. Written by John Thorne with Matt Lewis Thorne and published in 1996, by North Point Press, The book is a gem, a compendium of articles written about the joys of American regional cooking and eating.

For clarification, I am posting part of the discussion that goes along with the recipe. This fragrant, crusty cornbread, of only 7 ingredients,  is a breeze to make. My preference for the fat, is to use bacon fat from a good smoky bacon..I keep this rendered fat in a can in the frig after making bacon for breakfast.

Skillet Cornbread
(makes one 8-inch cornbread)

Because the method for baking this cornbread in a cast-iron skillet differs somewhat from the one utilizing a nonstick skillet, first-time bakers using a cast-iron skillet shoulf first read throught the seasoning and baking notes on pages 365-66. Note that the trick is to get the cast-iron skillet very hot before adding the batter. To accomplish this, we put it----with it's fat or oil in the oven when we first turn it on so that they pre-heat together


Bloggers Note: Use the very best stone-ground corn meal you can buy.. Thorne states his preference for white cornmeal and suggests a number of rural suppliers,(write me if you want that list). So far I have only made it with a good yellow stone-ground meal and I've been quite satisfied. I suggest if you do not own an 8-inch cast iron pan you buy a pre-seasoned one from Lodge 
http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-care-seasoned-cast-iron.asp


4 ounces (about one cup) stone-ground  corn meal
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon lard, rendered bacon fat or peanut oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Farenheit
Measure dry ingredients into a bowl and give them a couple of turns with a whisk to mix them thoroughly and break up any lumps. Break the egg into a separate bowl and whisk gently. Add the buttermilk, whisking to blend.
Five minutes before you are ready to bake the cornbread, put the fat (or peanut oil) into an 8-inch ovenproof skillet (heavy-gauge aluminum with a non-stick surface or well-seasoned cast iron) and place in hot oven.
At about the 4-minute mark add the egg and buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients, whisking just to blend. A minute later --- at the 5-minute mark ---take the (HOT!) skillet from the oven and carefully swirl the almost-smoking fat around the bottom and up the sides, making sure to coat any rivets attaching the handle to the pan. If using a nonstick skillet pour the excess fat into the batter ---it will sizzle ---and give it all a quick whisk. Then scrape the batter into the skillet with a rubber spatula.
Return the skillet to the oven and bake the cornbread for about 20 minutes, or until well set and golden brown. Remove from the oven and quickly invert onto a cutting board with a confident flip. Cut into wedges and serve.

Cooks Notes. The amount of salt will depend on the saltiness of the fat you use-- and what the cornbread will be eaten with.


Blogger's Note...there are more notes about adding various other small quantities of flours but I have omitted these as adding other flours does not result in a product that is gluten free. Thorne's eating notes suggest splitting a wedge of hot bread and filling with grated Vermont chedder..which is in fact wonderful served with a salad making a tasty light meal. I also find it good with a good meatsauce or as a starchy side.

Why Wheat Makes You Fat

This is an informative article suggesting that it is wheat that is a big contributor to obesity.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/wheat-gluten_b_1274872.html

CookingGoodAndEasy Redux

Greetings friends and cookers,

Almost a year ago, somewhat overwhelmed by the effort of writing this blog. I stopped.

Now after making many new discoveries resulting in a 360 degree change in  my diet, I feel as if I can once again offer some tips and recipes about cooking with little fuss and satisfying results.

 From eating  foods prepared with the least amount of fat, I am now eating more protein and more fats, (coupling higher fat and gluten free eating has dramatically lowered my cholesterol! go figure!). Since good food is good food and not everyone thrives on a particular diet, there will still be gluten in some recipes..just lots less.

 I will be putting up a link to an article about wheat that was published on the Huffington Post, describing the development of our modern day wheat and some theories suggesting that gluten intolerance is a growing problem.

I invite you to be an participant of this blog. Send me recipes, links and information. Each of us has a favorite easy recipe, or a tip to share.  The blog would be so much  richer for your participation!

With all good greetings for the upcoming holidays,

Gail 

First Spring Herbs Omelette Sans Yolks

This week I noticed the herbs I planted last spring in pots for a summer rental were sprouting! These early sprouts are the most delicate lovely tasting of the season. After all the heavy rains last night there were just enough to I make an omelette.

Follow the post for instructions of how to make a fluffy egg white omelette that is posted today April 17, 2011
Once beaten you need only incorporate the herbs..mine were chives, tarragon and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste at the end to keep the omelette tender.

I paired it  on my plate with two tiny bananas grilled lightly in the cast iron

YUM!!