Baked Brie Linguine

Sometimes, well, most of the time, I would say that cheese is the answer to all of our trials and a much deserved reward for our triumphs. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s basically a good decision at any time or occasion. For my roommate and I, this past week has felt particularly “cheese-centric”. So, when we decided to spend an afternoon of our weekend having a fun cooking lesson, cheese was the obvious star of the show.

The recipe is simple: boil up a big pot of linguine (or in our case, make fresh pasta from scratch for a slightly more complicated but more fun version) and spoon over loads of garlic and rosemary infused melted Brie. That’s it. We sat at the table in silence, savoring every moment of the indulgent dish and contemplating how to justify eating this much more frequently that we should. Besides "it's just soooo delicious" we’re still working on an answer…

Baked Brie Linguine
From Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
Pasta recipe from Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food
Serves 4-6

For the Pasta (makes about a pound)
2 cups flour
2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks

For the Baked Brie Linguine
One 8 oz round of Brie
2 cloves of garlic
1 sprig of rosemary
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
1 lb pasta (fresh or dry)
6 oz fresh spinach
4 oz grated Parmesan cheese

To make the pasta

Pour the flour into a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and mix with a fork, adding the flour bit by bit. Once it’s too stiff to mix with a fork, use your hands, adding a little water if it seems too dry. Pour the mixture onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until all of the flour is incorporated. It will seem stiff at first but will soften as it rests. Wrap in plastic and let sit at room temperature for an hour. Using a pasta machine, roll out the dough, about one-eighth at a time and cut into linguine. Let dry on a rack until slightly stiff and transfer to a plate until ready to use.

To make the Baked Brie Linguine

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Open the box of Brie and remove the plastic wrapper. Place it back into the bottom of the wooden container. Use a knife to remove the rind from the top of the Brie, leaving a little bit around the edge. Finely slice the garlic and remove the rosemary from the stalk. Lay the garlic over the cheese, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, and drizzle with some olive oil. Scatter the rosemary overtop and grate with some Parmesan. Place the Brie on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

While the Brie cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When the cheese has about 4 minutes left (12 if you are using dry pasta) add the pasta to the water. When it has finished cooking add in the spinach and stir. Reserve about a half-cup of the pasta water and drain. Return the pasta to the pot and add a few lugs of olive oil, half of the reserved water, and the grated Parmesan. Stir, adding more water if it seems too dry.

Place a portion of pasta into your serving dish and spoon a healthy portion of the melted cheese over the pasta. Top with a little bit of cracked pepper.

Corn Chowder

Growing up in the country, summers somehow ended up a little more laborious than they probably should have been. For instance, there were always a few days each summer that my two friends and I sold corn roadside out of the back of a truck. Their dad grew some of the sweetest and juiciest silver queen corn and he would fill up the truck bed to the brim with ears of corn. We parked by the town 7-11 and sat on the tailgate, selling corn by the baker’s dozen faster than we could load them into bags. Locals and non-locals alike went crazy over the summertime treat and before we knew it, the truck was empty except a few bags we saved to take home for ourselves.

I love eating corn all summer long, straight from the cob, grilled and tossed into salads, or mixed along with cornbread. But, by the time we reach September, I finally deem it the appropriate season to make corn chowder. It’s a good transitional recipe between hot and cold weather and starts to bring on the comfort food aspect while still keeping the fresh summer flavors. This particular chowder packs a nice bit of heat from poblano peppers and some cayenne and gets a good smokiness from the bacon. A little half-and-half is added at the end to thicken it up and it’s finished up with a scattering of scallions, a dollop of mascarpone, and loads of black pepper. Have some buttered pumpernickel bread on the side for soaking up the delicious broth.

Corn Chowder
Adapted from The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable Cookbook via David Lebovitz
Serves 4

Ingredients
8oz bacon
3 large ears of corn
2 poblano peppers
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. butter
4 cups chicken broth
1 large Yukon gold potato, cut into small-medium cubes
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ cup half-and-half
2 scallions, chopped
mascarpone cheese (optional)
salt and pepper, to serve

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the kernels of corn off the cob and reserve the cobs for later. Remove the ribs and seeds from the peppers and finely dice into pieces somewhat similar to the size of the corn kernels. Toss the corn and the peppers with the olive oil and salt on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until lightly browned.

Cut the bacon into medium-sized pieces and cook in a large pot over medium heat until crispy.  Spoon the bacon onto a paper-towel-lined plate to drain and set aside. Remove all but 1 Tbs. of the bacon grease. Add the butter to the remaining bacon grease and heat over medium. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 6-8 minutes until translucent. Add the potatoes, the corn and peppers, the cayenne, and the stock. Stir to combine and set the corncobs into the pot as well. This way the flavor of the sweet corn can seep into the broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook the soup until the potatoes are tender.

Remove the corncobs from the soup and add the bacon. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Stir in the half-and-half and continue to cook until the soup warms back up.   Ladle the soup into bowls, top with the scallions and a dollop of mascarpone, if desired. Top with salt and pepper.

San Francisco Food Journey

Well, how do I say this? This summer has been, at the very least, a whirlwind of a ride. It seems like just a few days ago that I was commenting on how excited I was for it to be here and now we are just a few days from Labor Day. The days are growing steadily shorter, the weather perhaps slightly cooler and already I have requested my vacation time for Christmas.

The last few months feel like they were booked solid, between birthday celebrations for friends, family, and myself, getaways to New York City and San Francisco, and general weekend excursions to wineries, the countryside, and the like. With that said, I’ve spent the summer keeping the refrigerator stocked only with essentials like eggs, cheese, greens, and butter knowing full well that the prevalence of eating out would cause most of my groceries to go bad. My cooking day haves been put on the back burner, so to speak, but I have a feeling they will return shortly now that things are settling down a bit.

In the meantime I have recently returned from what could probably be described as a gorging journey through San Francisco and Napa/Sonoma with my three wonderful friends from high school. I was left to the task of preparing the eating itinerary for the trip (oh what burden!) But, at the end, I think we all agreed that the combination my pre-planned food trips plus spontaneous restaurant visits on nearby Divisadero St., made for the most delicious vacation we could have asked for. Here’s some of the highlights form the trip:

Breakfast at  Mama's
Though we arrived on a Friday morning before the restaurant was even open, we still waited in line for 90 minutes for a table. It was well worth the it though. We all had breakfast cocktails and split the coffee cake and blueberry crumb cake.

Mama's has, without a doubt, mastered the perfect breakfast, perfectly cooked omelets, potato hash, and sourdough baguettes for topping with your eggs or with the fresh raspberry preserves on every table

The Buena Vista Cafe
Home of the original Irish coffee in San Francisco. A relaxed atmosphere where locals sitting next to you at the bar start up friendly conversation the moment you sit down. The bartenders expertly create the coffees within seconds before you eyes: Two sugar cubes, coffee, whiskey, cream, done.

Zuni Cafe
Go for the chicken but take advantage of everything else it has to offer as well. We began with some delicious cocktails while we waited for our table. For dinner we started with Zuni's bread and the Caesar salad. We split the ricotta gnocchi with goat butter and the lamb sausage with couscous and greek yogurt. And then we got a bottle of the Zuni Cafe Pinot Noir to pair the main course, the chicken. Oh god, the chicken. Its indescribably wonderful, a whole wood-fired oven roasted chicken with juicy savory meat and crispy salty skin sitting atop a grilled bread salad. The crunchy bread, slightly charred from the wood oven and combined with pine nuts, currants, and arugula, soaks up all of the chicken juices and the vinaigrette, becoming the perfect state in-between crispy and soggy. It is the kind of dish that is so simple yet amazing you wonder why all food cant be like that.

The Mill
This is the place to go for the best damn coldbrew and toast made from Josey Baker's marvelous bread. Not a place for those looking for gluten-free options or a light breakfast. The menu offers a few toast selections, simple but carefully crafted. We chose walnut bread with butter and syrup, cinnamon toast, and rye with cream cheese, sea salt, and cracked pepper. The toast is 2-inches thick, a toothsome crust and spongy inside filled with that wonderful San Franciscan sourdough flavor. The pastries were nice too so don't skip on those.

Napa and Sonoma Wineries
We took a tour of wine country with Green Dream Tours and could not have been happier with our tour guide and the experience as a whole. We left highly educated, astounded by the views, and of course a little tipsy so all-in-all it was wonderful. The three wineries we visited were Larson Family Winery, Nicholson Ranch, and Hagafen Cellars. All were friendly, highly accommodating (especially with our tastings having been mere hours the enormous earthquake) and the wines were delicious, as expected.

Tartine Bakery
Beautiful and delicious pastries. We went a little early so we did not have the chance to try the lunch sandwiches but we basically filled our table with as many pastry options as it could fit. The bread pudding, croque monsieur and croissants were suburb!

Not Pictured but highly recommended: 

-Bi-Rite Creamery for ice cream and also a good place for artisanal chocolates
-Ragazza on Divisadero for Pizza (the Bianca, with cream onions, garlic, preserved lemon, provolone and arugula was great)
-The Little Chihuahua for classic mexican
-Magnolias Gastropub for beers and Scotch eggs.

Peach and Mozzarella Salad

In a few days, my sister will be coming to visit us from Boston. Whenever she comes our itinerary is more than likely to involve at least one food-related activity each day so it’s not a surprise that we’ve been discussing what we are going to eat when she visits for over a month now. A few weeks ago she sent me this text…

“Do you think peaches will be in season when I’m down there?? I want peaches. Not from California.”

If feels as though every summer it is our goal to scout out some local, fresh-from-the-farm peaches but, 9 times out of 10, they fall flat.

I have a scattered collection of very distant memories from childhood involving peaches. We used to get peaches from old Mr. Washington’s orchard and although I can barely remember what it looked like, or what Mr. Washington was like, I do remember those peaches. They were the kinds that are impossible to eat with any dignity. The kinds that leave a running steam of sticky juice all the way from the hand to the elbow. They were ripe to the point of creaminess with the smell of pure nectar and impossibly sweet. Perhaps my fogged recollections have left the peaches substantially more impressive in my mind than they may have been in reality yet, to this day, I do not recall a time I’ve ever had peaches as good as those.

With our track record, I have doubts that this year will become the year that we find spectacular peaches but perhaps, with a bit of luck, we’ll find some that will at least partially fill that void. Just last week I had some decent ones from the farmers market. They were clingstone peaches and a bit of a pain to slice and could have been a little sweeter but were certainly still nice to have around.

I turned to Nigel Slater’s Ripe for peach inspiration and, as I suspected the recipes are all simple, letting the peach really shine. I went with an easy salad of peaches, mozzarella and prosciutto with a sprinkling of greens and a creamy vinaigrette. It’s light and refreshing, great for those blistering hot days where you can only muster enough energy to pile a few things onto a plate and call it a day. It has that sweet and savory thing going on, all kind of offset by the spicy arugula. I know that the prosciutto and fruit combo is old news but when you’re dealing with something that can be so incredibly wonderful as a peach, the simple and the tried and true can be some of the best.

Peach and Mozzarella Salad
Serves 4
Adapted very slightly from Nigel Slater’s Ripe

Ingredients
4 ripe peaches
16 thin slices of prosciutto
2 mozzarella balls
4 handfuls of arugula
basil

For The Dressing
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
4 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. full fat greek yogurt
a dab of Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Place a handful of arugula on the center of each plate. Slice the peach into 8 pieces and scatter them overtop. Divide the mozzarella evenly over each salad, tearing it into bite-sized portions. Finally tear the prosciutto into pieces and arrange on the top of the salad. Top with a few basil leaves, if desired.

Make the dressing by whisking together the vinegar, oil, yogurt, and mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle overtop the salad. Enjoy with chilled white wine.

Mixed Berry Pavlova

At long last summer is finally here. I knew for sure when I left my car sitting in the sun for hours one day and when I opened the door I could actually see the waves of heat rolling out. I’m probably a bit demented for it but somehow I love it so much. I love the thick heavy air, lounging around on lazy Sundays with shorts and an old t-shirt, and living off of whichever fruits and vegetables happen to be in a state of overpopulation at the moment.  And if this summer is just as fleeting as it always seems to be, then I best start really taking advantage of it all.

So why not start will an excess of berries.

I may have gotten a little overzealous with my fruit purchases at the farmers market yesterday. What started as a couple pieces of fruit turned into a half dozen peaches plus a pint each of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. But I don’t regret it one bit; they’re as perfect as any summer fruit can be, impossibly juicy and sweet. I’ll probably just enjoy most of them on their own or with yogurt for breakfast but I did set aside some of the berries for a refreshing and delicate pavlova as a mid-day dessert.

It sounds fancy, but in truth it’s a pretty humble, near effortless dish that is exactly what dessert should be like on the hottest of days. You whip up a batch of meringue, dollop it onto a baking sheet into something slightly resembling a bowl shape, and bake them off. You top the finished meringues with some whipped cream, an assortment of honey-drenched berries, and a bit of mint, and that’s just about it.

The meringue is nicely chewy and crispy but a softened somewhat by the sweet berry juices and the cream just sort of binds it all into one cohesive dessert. You can make several smaller meringues for individual desserts for a dinner party or one giant colossal meringue for a show-stopping dessert that everyone can just simply attack and devour.  Whichever works though, if you’ve got some beautiful ripe berries it’s going to be delicious regardless.

Mixed Berry Pavlova
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s My Father’s Daughter

Ingredients
4 egg whites
a pinch of salt
½ tsp. white vinegar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups fresh berries (I used raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries)
1 Tbs. honey
a few sprigs of mint, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the egg whites, vinegar, and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. While this whips, combine the sugar with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Add the sugar and cornstarch to the egg mixture in thirds, whipping on high speed for about 30 seconds after each addition. Once completely incorporated, add the vanilla and continue to beat until still peaks form.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dollop the meringue onto the baking sheet in 8 small mounds, 4 medium mounds, or 1 large mound. However many you make, use a spoon to spread each dollop into a circular shape and create a bit of an indent in the center of each. Bake for 10 minutes. Then, decrease the oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for another hour. Once finished, turn off the oven, prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon handle and let the meringues rest in the oven for an additional hour.

Once the meringue is cool, whip the cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Warm the honey in the microwave for about 5 seconds and pour over the berries. Mix to combine. Divide the cream evenly over the meringue and then do the same with the berries. Top each with a sprig of mint.