A group of my friends goes to the Old Toad for trivia night almost every Monday. So I try to make mental notes of things that I encounter that may appear on a quiz at some time. I just found out this fact from EatDrinkandBeMarried, and I'm not going to miss this if they ever ask.

More Beaujolais Nouveau facts.

This is the salad we served with dinner Wednesday evening. Just some ubiquitous mixed field greens, a little simple balsamic vinaigrette. The special touch was the onions, which turn out sweet and beautiful. Heat oven to 375F. Slice a large red onion in 1/4 inch rings. Spread out on a cookie sheet, toss to coat with olive oil, S&P, roast for half hour. Stir them every now and then so they don't burn. Mix a little balsamic in with them when they're done.

The only other little trick is for creating the vinaigrette. Peel and slice in half one or two cloves of garlic. Plop them into a few tablespoons of nice olive oil. Microwave for 30-45 seconds until garlic is soft and the room smells great. Mash the garlic into the oil and use this to make your dressing. I mince a lot of garlic. It's nice to skip that step every now and then. And it really does smell wonderful. Try it.

I'm pretty sure this is the recipe for the raspberry tart that Steve and Cindy brought over.  Two big keys here that make this spectacularly yummy.  1)  The crust is wonderful, and tastes almost like a good shortbread cookie.  2)  The vanilla bean in the pastry cream makes a big difference.  It lends a depth of flavor that will make it hard to go back to extract.

Emeril's Raspberry Tart

Salmon Tournedos with Roasted Red Pepper Veloute

This recipe is adapted from chef Chris Fulcher's recipe on the "Discovery" series, "Great Chefs".  I've made this several times now, to rave reviews all around.  The only sub I've done every time is roasted red peppers for the roasted tomato.  The only reason for this is that the first time I made this I had red peppers around, but no tomatoes.  Feel free to substitute those freely.  I followed the rest of the recipe almost exactly this time and wouldn't change a thing.  The tournedo method for the salmon is easy to accomplish and a great way to cook salmon (very evenly cooked).  The mango gives the dish a nice exotic tropical vibe, and tastes good with the dish, but is not a perfect blending.  This might be slightly better without the fruit.  Use your own judgement.

Salmon from Captain Jim's Fish Market.  Please don't use smelly salmon!

Ingredients

Roasted Tomato Veloute
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 shallot, peeled
2 inner stems lemongrass, cut into 1/2﷓inch pieces
1 to 2 red or green jalapeno chili peppers, stemmed and seeded
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1 plum tomato, split in half and roasted until tender
2 tablespoons grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salmon Tournedos
Eight 1-inch pieces skinless, boneless center cut salmon fillets, cut 1-inch thick (about 2 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 thin strips peeled ripe mango
8 (1/4-inch thick by 2 inches long) strips brie cheese
2 cups hot cooked mashed potatoes seasoned with grated Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper

Asian Vegetables
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cups diced napa cabbage
1/2 cup julienned carrots
1/2 cup julienned yellow onion
1/2 cup julienned green onions
2 tablespoons bottled stir-fry sauce or teriyaki sauce

Optional Garnishes
Blanched and grilled broccoli stalks
Deep-fried julienned sweet potatoes
Hibiscus flower

 To make the roasted tomato veloute: Combine garlic cloves, shallot, lemongrass and chile peppers in a food processor. Process until finely chopped. Add basil and cilantro leaves; process until finely chopped. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil; process until a paste forms. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half of the paste; saute 2 minutes. (Reserve remaining paste for Asian vegetables). Add coconut milk to skillet; simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Add tomato halves; heat through. Add cheese; transfer to a food processor and puree. Strain sauce, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.

For the tournedos: Heat oven to 375 F. Wrap two pieces of salmon together forming a circle or tourenado; tie with cotton string. Repeat with remaining salmon. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add tournedos (in batches if necessary) and sear for 1 minute per side. Transfer salmon to shallow roasting pan and roast in oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until opaque in center. Top salmon with mango strips and brie; return to oven and roast for 2 to 3 minutes or until brie begins to melt.

For the vegetables: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add vegetables; stir-fry 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add reserved paste; stir-fry 1 minute. Add stir-fry sauce; stir-fry 1 minute.

To serve: For each serving, place a 3-inch ring mold in the center of a warmed dinner plate. Spoon 1/2 cup mashed potatoes into the ring. Lift the mold; repeat for each plate (or, spoon potatoes into a 3-inch mound). Spoon veloute sauce around potatoes. Spoon Asian vegetables in mounds around potatoes. Top potatoes with salmon. If desired, garnish each plate with broccoli, sweet potato julienne, and a hibiscus flower.

Our newlywed friends, Steve Sand Cindy, were over for dinner last night.  Seeing them was a real treat (since their relatives have been quite demanding on their time lately).  They also brought a fantastic dessert.  I'm hoping to uncover the recipe.  The menu for this dinner was a mixed green and balsamic vinaegrette salad with roasted red onions and pine nuts;  salmon tournedos with roasted red pepper veloute; and fruit tart with vanilla custard.  The recipes will be in further posts.

Their photos, and their descriptions of the food, from the honeymoon in Barcelona have us really longing for a European vacation (Hungarian Wedding in the Spring!). 

Sending a plea out into the ether...Will someone please bring the custom of good cheap house wine to the USA!?

I've heard of the turducken concept, but have yet to try it. Now, this would be a sight to behold...

"In the Republic of Georgia," Darra Goldstein, a professor of Russian at Williams College and the editor of Gastronomica, a journal of food and culture, wrote in "The Georgian Feast" (University of California Press), "there's a very old feast dish that calls for a huge ox roasted on a spit, stuffed successively with a calf, a lamb, a turkey, a goose, a duck, and finally a young chicken, and seasoned throughout with spices. The art lay in ensuring that each type of meat was perfectly roasted."

The New York Times is running a great article on Haggis. There's so much I've yet to explore...

"Swaddled tightly in the yellowed stomach lining of a sheep, a mixture of congealed fat, onions, pinhead oatmeal, stock and the cut-up heart, lungs and liver of the animal has a lumpen look that even the eulogizing poet, Robert Burns, compared to the sight of bare buttocks."

And a dear friend from Scotland. 

This particular friend is named Lagavulin.

Yesterday I mentioned my uncontrollable desire for the comfort of shepherd's pie, and my intention to make it as soon as possible.  It was a struggle, but I managed to hold off yesterday and finish up some yummy chili leftovers that Laura made (beer and garbanzo beans the keys in that recipe, yeah baby!)  But today, the grey skies in Rochester had mutated from a lovely Concrete Color to full on Clinical Depression Grey (I'm sending that one to Crayola).  Lamb, potatoes, onions, carrots, gravy, butter and cream were in order.  This recipe over at Epicurious (from "Gourmet") looked like it would do the trick.  No need to modify much of anything.  I halved the recipe (just the two of us here).  This did cause a bit of a problem as I was using my Le Creuset dutch oven and half the braising liquid called for didn't cover the two shanks.  I added enough liquid to cover and then reduced it for a while before the thickening step.  I think I still ended up with too much liquid, but that's too much of a very good thing.  The best part of this dish is the texture and flavor of the braised lamb.  So much better than the ground beef you see so often in Shepherd's pie.

Ahh....to be a Shepherd. 

Last night I purchased The Best Recipe from the folks over at "Cooks Illustrated" magazine.  The concept of the book is that for every recipe listed they've done extended testing on many variations of that recipe and chosen the best of the permutations.  The best part for me is that they have a big write-up before every recipe explaining the process they went through coming to their "Best Recipe", various quantities and inclusions of ingredients, temperature variation, technique variation, etc...  Most importantly, they explain why certain things worked and why others didn't.  Therefore, if your definition of the perfect "focaccia" bread differs from theirs, you have some great information to get to where you want to be.

Anyway, I was very impressed reading the book and decided to try it out with something I never do:  bread baking.  I followed there recipe as closely as possible, and although I managed to burn the crust slightly (I need to test the thermostat of my oven!), the bread was complex, tasty, and downright addicting.  This is going to be a very welcome addition to my library.  Thanks to the people over at What We Ate for the recommendation!