Paper Palate

Fideos with Clams and Saffron from Top Chef: The Cookbook

Susan Filson — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:30:46 +0000

Okay, I admit it. I love Top Chef! Its one of my “must see” TV shows of each week. I watch for the drama, the cheesy preening of the Cheftestants, the snarky guest judges, Padma’s outfits, and, of course, the food. The show is in the midst of its fourth season and I can honestly say that I’ve never missed an episode. So when I found out about the recently released official companion cookbook to Top Chef, I had to have it!

For those of you who have recently returned from an extended stay on the planet Mars, Top Chef is only the hottest cooking competition on television. It is an exciting and slickly produced weekly reality show airing on Bravo TV, featuring sixteen aspiring chefs from around the country who compete for the title of Top Chef. Each episode features two challenges. The Quickfire Challenge is designed to test the chefs’ basic knowledge of cooking skills. The winner of each Quickfire is usually afforded immunity in the ensuing Elimination Challenge. The Elimination Challenges are themed challenges where the chefs, affectionately known as the Cheftestants, compete against each other to show their creativity and versatility in the kitchen. Each week a different celebrity chef joins the regular panel of judges to determine who will be asked to “pack their knives and go.”

The winner of the competition receives $100,000 to be used in the furtherance of his or her career, a feature spread in Food & Wine magazine, a gourmet trip to the French Alps, and a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.

The Top Chef Cookbook contains over 100 recipes, as well as cooking tips, interviews, chef profiles, and behind-the-scenes stories from the series. The book is clothed in a white canvas cover inspired by the chefs’ jackets worn by the Cheftestants on the show. Cute, huh? Actually, it is a really sharp-looking cookbook with easy-to-follow recipes and lots of great big colorful pictures. If you’re a Top Chef fan, this book is definitely one to have for your collection. Heck, it’s a great book even if you hate the show!

My first creation from Top Chef: The Cookbook is a dish that I have been dying to try ever since I watched Padma practically lick her plate clean while eating it. I’m talking about the Fideos with Clams and Saffron that the infamous Ilan prepared on the show in Season 2. Ilan, himself, describes it as “one of the most delicious things on Earth.”

The recipe calls for fideos, which is a type of Spanish pasta similar to angel hair. It is also known as vermicelli. In Spain, fideos are broken into short pieces and used in place of rice in some dishes. The other main components of the dish are fresh clams, cream, and saffron. The pasta is baked in the oven and then cooked on the stove with the clams, white wine, and tons of caramelized garlic. Then, a saffron cream sauce with tender caulifower is mixed in and the whole thing is browned under the broiler. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. From start to finish, this recipe took me less than an hour to prepare.

I’m telling you, words cannot adequately describe how wonderful this dish was! The briny saltiness of the clams melded right into the mellow sweetness of the cream sauce, creating taste sensations that were out of this world!

Whether you loved Ilan, hated Ilan, or loved to hate Ilan, you must try his dish. I promise, you won’t regret it. I really think it just might be one of the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted!

Fideos with Clams and Saffron

1 pound capellini pasta
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons saffron
2 cups cauliflower florets (I lightly steamed mine until crisp-tender first.)
1/3 cup olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled, but whole
1 pound fresh clams (I used cherrystone clams.)
1/2 cup white wine or seafood stock (I used wine. The clams make their own stock when they cook.)
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Break capellini into 3-inch pieces. Arrange pieces in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Heat broiler in oven.

In a small saucepan, combine heavy cream, saffron, and 1 teaspoon salt. Whisk to dissolve saffron. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat, stir in cauliflower florets, and set aside.

In a medium straight-sided skillet, heat olive oil and garlic over low heat until garlic begins to soften. Add clams, wine, and capellini to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium and cover skillet. Cook about 4 minutes. Most of the clams should be opened. Remove from heat and discard any unopened clams.

Carefully divide clam and pasta mixture between four ovenproof dishes, filling each about half full. Top with cauliflower-and-cream mixture.

Transfer dishes to oven and broil until golden brown.

Garnish with chopped parsley and serve warm.

Gourmet Magazine’s Pasta with Spicy Anchovy Sauce and Dill Bread Crumbs

Susan Filson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:30:30 +0000

One of my least favorite things to do is wait on the checkout line at the supermarket. I especially hate it when I pop into the express lane with my basket containing three items and the person in front of me has just loaded a cart full of groceries onto the conveyor. What’s up with that? What is it about ten items or less that’s so hard to understand? Can’t these people read, or are they just unbelievably arrogant, because I’m telling you, it happens a lot!

I found myself in just that situation a few weeks ago. Not only did the woman in front of me have a ton of items in her cart, she also had the nerve to pull out a stash of coupons! As I stood there, silently fuming, there was little else I could do but bide my time and wait. I flipped through the TV Guide and caught up on Bo and Hope’s latest escapades in Soap Opera Digest. Just as I was about to make a snarky comment to the rube in front of me, something caught my eye. The April issue of Gourmet magazine had come out. Ooooh! My mood immediately began to improve as I plucked a copy off of the stand. It was an issue devoted to Italian cooking. Right up my alley! The cover had a pristine white background with a picture of a really lovely-looking pasta dish. The pasta wasn’t fussy or fancy, but beautiful in its simplicity. That sold me. I had to make it.

The dish was called Pasta with Spicy Anchovy Sauce and Dill Bread Crumbs. The foundation of the dish is a bevy of red onions caramelized in extra virgin olive oil. To that, anchovies are added and sauteed until they dissolve and meld with the onions into a deliciously sweet and salty sauce. The sauce is tossed with pasta, toasted bread crumbs, and herbs. Pasta nirvana!

While I was devouring my pasta, I also devoured the rest of the magazine. With every turned page, there was yet another tantalizing photo with another great recipe to try. I usually tear out the recipes I like and store them in a big loose-leaf binder to cut down on the dreaded “magazine clutter.” This time, however, there were just too many “keepers” for that.

Since then, I have made a few of the other tantalizing offerings from this issue. All of them were divine! But that’s a topic for another time.

Pasta with Spicy Anchovy Sauce and Dill Bread Crumbs
from Gourmet magazine, April 2008
Makes 6 servings

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette)
1/4 cup chopped dill
1 pound red onions, thinly sliced (3 cups)
1 (2-ounce) can flat anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
1 pound bucatini or perciatelli pasta (long tubular strands)
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook bread crumbs, stirring constantly, until deep golden and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes.

Transfer bread crumbs to a bowl and toss with dill and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper.Wipe out skillet, then cook onions with 1/4 teaspoon salt in remaining 1/2 cup oil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until very soft, 12 to 15 minutes. Add anchovies and cook, mashing anchovies into onions, until dissolved.Meanwhile, cook bucatini in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 5 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain pasta. Stir red-pepper flakes and reserved water into anchovy sauce, then add pasta and toss to combine. Add about half of bread crumbs and toss to coat. Serve sprinkled with remaining bread crumbs. Enjoy!

Eggplants Stuffed with Meat from Arabesque

Susan Filson — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:00:17 +0000

Remember the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover?” It means that we shouldn’t make judgments based solely on appearances. Usually that is good advice to follow, but when I saw Claudia Roden’s lovely cookbook, Arabesque: A Tale of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon at Borders a few weeks ago, I didn’t even look inside before I grabbed it raced up to the check-out counter. I knew just by looking at that beautiful cover, that I was going to love this book- and I do!

Claudia Roden is popular cookbook author, widely regarded as an authority on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. In her forty year career, she has won numerous awards, including the prestigious James Beard Award. In Arabesque, she provides an informative and thoroughly enjoyable journey through the cuisines of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon, offering a closer look at the different culinary traditions within these three cultures. The book includes snippets of history, anecdotes and over 150 recipes. It also boasts many lovely photographs by Jason Lowe and Noel Murphy.

Arabesque is divided in to three sections, one for each of the coutries she writes about; Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. It is also further divided into courses from starters to desserts. One could plan a veritable feast, either from the same country, or by mixing and matching recipes from each.

For my first foray into Arabesque, I chose to make Eggplants Stuffed with Meat from the section on Turkey. The ingredients were simple and can be found at any grocery store. The instructions were straightforward and easy to follow. The recipe calls for long, thin eggplants, but after searching at three different markets, I ended up with the traditional globe variety. I opted to use ground lamb for the meat filling. I also decided to add some pine nuts to the meat filling for color, texture and well… because I like them. My final result was, in a word, delicious!

Whether you are already a fan of the Mediterranean cuisines showcased in this cookbook, or you’d like to get to know them better, Arabesque will not disappoint. I’m looking forward to cooking this book for a long time!

Stuffed Eggplants with Meat

6 thin and long medium-sized eggplants
salt
sunflower oil for frying
2 onions, chopped
14 ounces ground beef or lamb
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 large tomatoes
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
black pepper
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup tomato juice

Trim the caps from the eggplants. Peel 1/2-inch wide strips off the skins lengthwise, leaving alternate 1/2-inch strips of peel. Soak the eggplants in water mixed with 1 tbsp of salt for 30 minutes. Drain and dry them.

Fry the eggplants briefly in hot oil in a shallow skillet, a few at a time, turning to brown them lightly all over. Drain them on paper towels.

For the filling, fry the onion in another pan in 2-3 tbsp of oil until soft. Add the meat and cook for about 5 minutes, crushing it with a fork and turning it over until it changes color. Add the tomato paste, one tomato, peeled and chopped, the cinnamon, allspice, salt, pepper and parsley. Stir well and simmer about 10 minutes, until liquid is reduced.

Place the eggplants side by side in a baking dish. With a sharp knife, make a slit in the center of each one, lengthwise, along one of the bare strips, until about 1-inch from each end. Carefully open the slits and press against the insides to make a hollow pouch.

Stuff the eggplants with the meat mixture, using a dessert spoon. Slice the remaining tomato and place slices on top. Pour the tomato sauce into the dish, cover with foil and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for about 40 minutes, or until the eggplants are soft.

Enjoy!

Quiche from Tartine

Susan Filson — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:00:36 +0000

I was browsing though the cookbook section at Border’s a few weeks before Christmas when something caught my eye … It was the Tartine cookbook by husband and wife team, Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson. I was supposed to be Christmas shopping, but somehow, I managed to stray over into that section. It was like some strange gravitational force was pulling me closer, and Closer, and CLOSER…

Um… what was I saying? Oh yes… the Tartine Cookbook.

That cookbook had been on my “wish list” for quite a while. Since it was Chrismas time, and I was Christmas shopping, I figured that technically, I had a good excuse to buy it. After all, ’tis the season to be jolly, and all that. Having that cookbook sure would’ve made me jolly! Yeah, I know that’s stretching it a bit, but I wanted that book, darn it! I had no guarantee that someone else would buy it for me, now did I? So, I took a few furtive looks around me to make sure no one I knew was watching, and I shoved that sucker right in my basket!

When I got home, later that day, I safely ~~hid~~… er, stored the book in the linen closet, deep within a stack of bed sheets. That way, if I did get it for Christmas, I could return one copy and no one would be the wiser. As it turned out, I didn’t get the cookbook, so it was a good thing that I took matters into my own hands!

The Tartine cookbook is a compilation of recipes from the wildly popular bakery/cafe of the same name located in the San Francisco area. Prueitt and Robertson are the co-owners, as well as the creative forces, of Tartine. Both are well trained and highly skilled in the culinary arts of pastry and baking, and boast a long list of accomplishments. The recipes in the book are laid out in a straightforward, easy to follow fashion, with totally droolworthy photos by France Ruffenach. I must admit, I would have bought this book just to look at the stunning pictures!

With all of the tantalizing choices within its pages, it was difficult to select which one to try first. There were a multitude of breads, cakes, pastries and other confections to choose from. I decided on the recipe for Tartine’s quiche. Tartine’s quiche recipe is set apart from most others by the usage of creme fraiche and a bit of flour in the filling. I adore creme fraiche and try to always keep some handy. Prueitt claims that it gives the quiche a smoother, creamier texture and a slight tartness. Happily, she is right. It does.

Although this quiche would have been perfectly wonderful had I followed the recipe as written, I had some pretty dejected looking vegetables biding their time in my fridge that I needed to use up, so I decided to add them in. That’s the great thing about a quiche. It’s kind of like a salad. You can pretty much throw anything into it, and it usually comes out great. Tartine’s recipe was a simple one, so I had lots of room to play - and I did. I diced up a lonely, old shallot and a few mushrooms and sauteed them in a little butter. I added them to the filling with fresh spinach and some chunks of leftover Gruyere and mozzarella cheese.

For the crust, I took the authors’ recommendation and prepared their Flaky Tart Dough. It is a standard recipe containing just butter, flour, water and salt. Instructions are given to either prepare the dough by hand or in the food processor. Guess which version I chose? The dough came together in seconds in the food processor and I could tell immediately that it would, indeed, be tender and flaky.

The quiche was fabulous, as I knew it would be. I would definitely make it again, perhaps with some different add-ins next time. I’m also looking forward to trying many of the other delectable-looking offerings in the book. If you’re looking for a new cookbook to add to your collection, I can heartily recommend Tartine.

Quiche
adapted from Tartine

Ingredients:

1 fully baked and cooled 10-inch Flaky Tart Dough (recipe follows)
5 large eggs
3 tbsp. (45 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) creme fraiche
1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
1/2 tsp. (2 ml) freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp. (15 ml) fresh chopped thyme

My additions:

1 medium diced shallot, 1 cup chopped button mushrooms and 2 cups fresh spinach sauteed in 2 tbsp. butter.

1/2 cup each of diced Gruyere and mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Have the pie shell ready for filling. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place 1 egg and flour in bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and mix at high speed until smooth. Mix in the remaining 4 eggs until blended.

In a medium bowl, whisk the crème fraîche until it is perfectly smooth and then whisk in the milk. Pour the egg mixture through a fine-mesh sieve held over the milk mixture.

Whisk in the salt, pepper and thyme. Add in the sauteed vegetables and cheese.

Pour egg mixture into the baked pastry shell. Place in the oven and bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake until the filling is just set, about 30 minutes longer. The center of the quiche should feel slightly firm.

Let quiche cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes to allow the custard to set up, so that it will slice neatly. It can be served warm or at room temperature.

Flaky Tart Dough
from Tartine

Makes enough for two 9- or 10-inch tart shells.

1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
2/3 cup (150 ml) very cold water
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons (455 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 5 tablespoons (300 g) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

In a small bowl, mix together salt and water. Keep very cold until ready to use.

Place flour and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly until mixture forms large crumbs. Add the salt water mixture and continue pulsing until a dough has just formed but is not smooth.

On a lightly floured work surface, evenly divide dough. Form each piece of dough into a disk about 1 inch thick. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

To line the tart pan or pie dish, place a disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out 1/8 inch thick, rolling from the center. Lift and rotate dough a quarter turn every few strokes to discourage sticking. Lightly dust the dough with more flour as needed.

If lining a pie pan, cut out a circle 2 inches larger than the dish. If lining a tart pan with a removable bottom, cut out a circle 1 1/2 inches larger. Carefully transfer the round to the dish/pan, easing it into the bottom and sides, pressing gently into place. With a sharp knife, trim the dough even with the rim of the dish/pan.

Line the pastry shells with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (you can also use dried beans.) For a fully baked shell, bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until the surface looks light brown. Remove from the oven and remove the parchment paper and weights. Return to the oven and continue baking until golden brown, about 5 minutes longer.

Cool completely on wire racks before filling.

Classic Madeleines from Paris Sweets

Susan Filson — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:00:33 +0000

I love Paris! I really, really do. I had been dying to go there for as long as I could remember. Last Summer, after almost twenty years of begging, whining and cajoling, I finally talked my husband into making the trip. I mean, it’s not as if we never traveled. We’ve been cruising in the Caribbean, skiing in the Rockies, soaking up local color in Santa Fe and Taos and a lot of other interesting places in between. We’ve even been to Europe….. twice. But, never Paris - until last summer, that is.

I spent many months planning our trip. I figured that everything had better be perfect in case it took me another twenty years to get back there. I bought every guidebook I could find. combed the Internet for travel and French culture sites. I spent hours upon hours online reading hotel and restaurant reviews. I even bought a subscription to Bonjour Paris so that I would be “in the know.” Well, our trip was all I ever dreamed of, and more. Not only was my passion for Paris reaffirmed, but lo and behold, my husband’s love affair with the City of Lights was born. A welcome phenomenon to be sure!

One of the best ways to experience Paris is to eat your way through it, which is exactly what we did. We sampled the fois gras and pommes frites of every cafe, bistro and restaurant we stepped into, and were intrigued by how deliciously different they all were. Ditto for the sublimely delicate macaroons in a rainbow of colors displayed at every patisserie. We devoured buckets full of les moules, greedily sopping up every ounce of broth with bits of crusty baguettes. And don’t even let me get started on the mind-numbingly marvelous chocolates!

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Sadly, I knew that eventually we would have to say au revoir to that magical city and return to our real lives. One evening, as we strolled along the Seine in the 6th, with our gooey, Nutella-filled crepes in hand, I decided that if I couldn’t stay in Paris, a little of Paris would have to stay with me.

Once back on native soil, one of the first things I did was pick up some really great French cookbooks. One of these was Dorie Greenspan’s little gem, Paris Sweets. Although this cookbook has been out for a few years, it was new to me, and I think it is worth taking a look at.

Paris Sweets is a sumptuous dessert cookbook containing clear, concise recipes and utterly charming illustrations by French illustrator, Florine Asch. The recipes are all gathered from the finest patisseries in Paris. The book is also filled with profiles of each contributing patisserie, as well as interesting stories and vignettes about the shops and the neighborhood they inhabit.

The dizzying array of mouth-watering choices on those pages was exciting, a true feast for the eyes. When selecting my first recipe to try, I decided to start small. I needed a recipe that wasn’t too complicated, but still whispered “Paris” in my ear. I chose the Classic Madeleines from Patisserie Lerch. I loved the idea of baking madeleines because they are so quintessentially French! In his famed Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust waxes poetic about these buttery, shell-shaped morsels:

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…”

With press like that, how could I resist?

I picked up a madeleine pan at Williams-Sonoma. Then, armed with a block of Celles sur Belle butter from Whole Foods, I created a memory. The recipe was pretty straightforward and the results were magnifique! The madeleines were buttery and slightly lemony. They were moist and cakelike on the inside, with just a suggestion of crunch on the outside. They were scrumptious!

All I can say is, that Proust really knew what he was talking about!

Classic Madeleines
Adapted from Paris Sweets

3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. double-acting baking powder
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Sift together the flour and baking powder. In a mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar together at medium-high speed until they thicken and lighten in color, about 2-4 minutes.

Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. With a large rubber spatula, gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Cover the batter with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface to create an airtight seal. Chill for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If your madeleine pan is not nonstick, generously butter it and dust with flour. Set the pan on a baking sheet for easy transportability. Spoon the batter into the molds, filling them almost to the top. Don’t worry about smoothing the batter. It will even out as it bakes.

In the center rack of the oven, bake large madeleines for 11-13 minutes, and small ones for 8-10 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden and spring back when touched.

Remove the cookies by either rapping the pan against the counter or gently running a butter knife around the edges of the cookies. Cool on a cooling rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.