Summer Farmstand Recipes

Here is the 2nd shoot we did for Cooking Channel. The topic here is summer farmstand veggies, so corn, tomatoes and summer squash.

This time the recipe developer was Katherine Alford who is the vice president of the test kitchens. You may have seen her as a judge on the show Ultimate Recipe Showdown. The photographer was again Sarah Copeland.

There are some really great recipes here, Katherine certainly knows her stuff. Click on the title of the dish to get the recipe. (and that is me in the stir friend tomato with eggs photo).

No Cook Summer Squash Salad with Lemon and Herbs

Zucchini Parmesan Subs with Tomato and Basil

Grilled Squash Quesadillas with Charred Tomato Salsa

Stuffed Summer Squash (Cousa) with Bulgur in Tomato Broth

Stir Fried Tomatoes with Eggs

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Pecans

Baon, Arugula, Tomato and Roasted Corn Salad 

Corn Waffles with Blueberry Syrup

Fried Green Tomatoes with Green Chile Mayonaise

Mixed Grilled Cheese and Oven Dried Tomato Crostini

Grilled Pork Chops with Corn, Tomato and Basil

Curried Corn with Shrimp

Also, here is a great tip (and more photos from the shoot and of me) to get corn kernels off the cob that I have been telling people for years. It actually also appreared in Bon Appetit also after I showed it to them. Enjoy!

Turbo Dog

For the past 6 months or so, I have been working on "Turbo Packs" over at the Cooking Channel. Each shoot has a theme (Muffins, Eggs, etc.) and we collect tips as we go. (Check out one of the tips I wrote at the bottom of the Mushroom Spinach recipe). I decided to start posting them here since the Cooking Channel site doesn't keep them as a package for that long unfortunately. Here is the first one which was all about salads.

Each shoot, except for one so far, was shot by the extremely talented and awesome Sarah Copeland. Check out her blog at edibleliving.com. 

Click on the titles for the recipes.

Photographer: Sarah Copeland

Recipe Developer: Santos Loo

Tuna Bean Salad

Herb Radicchio Salad with French Lentils

Fennel Caprese Salad with Tomato Jam Toasts

Southwestern Shrimp Salad

Mushroom Spinach Thai Salad

Composed Mediterranean Chicken Salad Recipe

Smoked Salmon Bistro Salad

Tofu Salad with Chive Ginger Oil

Antipasto Trifle Salad

This particular package can be seen in its entirety here

Next pacakage, and perfect for the spring and mainly summer seasons, is Farmstand which features amazing recipes with tomatoes, zuchinni and corn. Look out for it here!

Butternut Squash Veloute with Parmesan Toast

A great quick and easy holiday soup is the butternut squash veloute I've been making for years. Its fairly straight forward and you can easily substitutute butternut for another kind of winter squash if you prefer.  Veloute refers to the velvety, silky texture of the soup. My special twist is using the rinds of a piece of Parmesan in the soup.

Serves 4 to 6

5 tablespoons butter, divided

1 large and 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 3lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 tablespoons white wine

800 milliliters chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1/2 cup heavy cream, plus more for garnish

4 slices baguette or other bread of your choice

Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Shredded Parmesan cheese, plus rind

    Make the soup: Place a large heavy-bottomed sauce pot over medium heat. Add the butter until melted. Once melted, add onions, season with salt and pepper and sweat until soft, around 7 minutes.

    Add the squash and stir to combine. Cook until the squash begins to soften around the edges about  5 minutes. Add the white wine and cook until  evaporated, another 5 minutes. 

Add the stock and parmesan rinds. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until squash is soft, 10-15 minutes. Insert a small knife or a cake tester into a piece of squash. If it falls off immediately, it is cooked through. Remove the parmesan rinds.

Using a handheld mixer, puree the soup until smooth. Add the cream and puree until combined. Reduce heat to low and cover.

Make the Parmesan Toasts: Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add  the remaining butter. Once melted and bubbly, add two pieces of bread at a time and toast until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. After turning, shred parmesan cheese onto each piece of bread. Remove from skillet and repeat with remaing bread.

To serve: Spoon soup into your bowl. Add the toast to the center. Top with fresh parsley and a drizzle of cream. 

Not To Get All Political....

The treatment of animals and the conditions in which they are raised should be important to all of us. Its horrifying to read stories like this but its important to know where our food comes from and what we're putting into our bodies.

Scary, scary stuff. Click here to read about it

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Since there is so much to catch up on, I'm going backwards before going forwards.

While at Saveur, we collaborated with Outdoor Life magazine, another Bonnier publication, to test and prepare venison dishes for a story and photo shoot.

I had no idea they were also filming us and here is the video and story that resulted.

It's pretty much me and Hunter Lewis, the then kitchen director in most of the shots. 

Above photograph by André Baranowski

Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

 

Hello everyone. Its certainly been a while but I will again be getting back to feeding the tapeworm and sharing with you. 

To start, here is a photograph of some ribs I made. I'm working on the recipe and will share that with you soon. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

 

Jumping on the Bandwagon: My Vote for Favorite Restaurant of 2010

    I had no desire to be like every other food writer and/or bloggers and come up with a end of the year best of list that is the same as the next.

But after reading an excessive amount of lists that all seemed to feature the same 10-15 restaurants (Torrisi, Lincoln, ABC Kitchen) I had to mention what was probably my favorite restaurant of the last year that did not appear on any of the lists I read, Williamsburg's Walter Foods.

An American style bistro that is consistently delicious, the menu features comfort foods like a perfectly balanced lobster roll, herb roasted chicken, chorizo pigs in a blanket, a short rib burger (below), fresh oysters and raw bar, pan roasted striped bass over lobster panzanella and my personal favorite, an amazingly juicy and tender French dip served with some of the best french fries in recent memory.

Cocktails include thoughtfully made classics like Pimm's Cup, Sazerack or Tom Collins that stand along side classics with a twist such as a Fig Side Car or a Tequila Negroni. 

The atmosphere and staff just meet that perfect place between neighborhood-friendly and trendy- sophisticated (waiters and bartenders wear shirts with bow ties). It is a restaurant that you can easily feel comfortable spending hours in. And if a recent meal during warmer weather in the backyard garden is any indication, they may actually have to ask you to leave.