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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Improved Summer Corn Chowder

We’ve had lots of corn in our veggie box from our Fulton Farms Community Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) box. They have some of the best corn around but I was looking for something different than grilled corn-on-the-cob. Plus I need something that I could serve to 10 dinner guests.

I found a recipe for Summer Corn Chowder with Scallions, Bacon & Potatoes on Fine Cooking that looked good but the reviews were mixed. The changes I made were a hit with my dinner guests.

The original recipe calls for jalapeno peppers which I’m not a big fan of…they really don’t seem to add all that much flavor or heat. So I substituted chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. John isn’t a fan of scallions so I substituted shallots.

When making this for your vegetarian friends, I cook that bacon separately so that I can select to add it to individual dishes.

The final change I made was to not add salt while the dish was cooking. Instead, I added salt flakes to each dish just before serving.

Serves six as a first course.Yields about 5-1/2 cups.

5 ears fresh corn
5 shallots, chopped
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (don’t be afraid to use more if you want)
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 chipotle peppers with adobo sauce (more if you like)
Freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 large Yukon Gold potato (8 to 9 oz.), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1-1/2 cups)
1-1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
2 Tbs. heavy cream
Salt Flakes

Husk the corn and cut off the kernels. Reserve two of the corn cobs and discard the others. Trim and thinly slice the scallions, keeping the dark-green parts separate from the white and light-green parts.

Cook the bacon in a 3- or 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat until browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off and discard all but about 1 Tbs. of the bacon fat. Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the shallot and the chipotle, and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the shllots are very soft, about 3 min.

Add the broth, corn, corn cobs, potatoes, and thyme and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are completely tender, about 15 min. Discard the corn cobs.

Transfer 1 cup of the broth and vegetables to a blender and puree. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the cream and all but 1/3 cup of the scallion greens. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes to wilt the scallions and blend the flavors. Serve sprinkled with the bacon and salt flakes.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Max’s Miso-Glazed Tenderloin of Beef

This recipe comes from Too Hot To Touch by Louisa Edwards.  Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t appear on her website yet. I was especially excited by this recipe because I am a big fan of Yuzu!!

Ann’s Variation
We prefer many other cuts of beef to tenderloin. Hanger steak is one of our favorites because of the taste and price.
We also prefer grilling to roasting. Use the same approach – get a good searing on the outside of the beef before adding the first coating of glaze.

2-1/2 lb beef tenderloin
1 T butter
1 T neutral oil (like grapeseed or canola)

For the glaze:
2 T Toasted sesame oil
1 T Yuzu juice
2 t ginger
1/3 c Black Cherry Jam
1 T miso paste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Pat the tenderloin dry, then salt and pepper it all over.

Combine all the glaze ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth and thick.

Melt the butter and neutral oil in a roasting pan over medium high heat. When the butter has stopped frothing, put the tenderloin in the pan. Brown it on all sides, about ten minutes, regulating the heat so that it doesn’t scorch or stick.

Brush the tenderloin  with half of the glaze, then put the pan in the over and roast for 15 minutes.  At that point, check the mean and apply the rest of the glaze. Roast to desired level of doneness, about 15 – 20 minutes more minutes for medium rare.

Allow the meat to rest for at least five minutes before slicing and serving.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton–Saturday

I love having my own personal bartender!! Starting the evening with a Blueberry Gimlet (based on the great one he had at Meadowlark this week).

Dining tonight at The Firefly Building with friends – so not a restaurant at all tonight. Turns out we will have 11 for “family” dinner…wishing I had called Becky or Karen. Oh well, Ellen will be here…she loves to clean my kitchen.

Tonight’s menu:

Cook’s Illustrated “Best Grilled Chicken”

Blue Cheese Crusted Tomatoes

Cucumber, Tomato and PIneapple Salad with Asian Dressing

Macaroni and Cheese

Grilled zucchini with Citrus Salt

Ooops…can you tell I’m cleaning out the refrigerator of my CSA vegetables?

Oh and some wine…yet to be determined.

Friday, July 29, 2011

2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton–Friday

It is David’s turn to decide on tonight’s restaurant week restaurant…so we trek off to The Winds. It always seems so far away to me…but heck, David drives from Middletown so what do I have to complain about.

Deciding on dinner is a hard choice. The Winds is offering both their regular menu and their restaurant week menu. Our waiter complicates things by pointing out the Figs, Pigs and Goats appetizer. I was momentarily sidetracked from the restaurant week menu by the Game Hen Limoncello but David and I decide to come back next week for that. (Yes, John will once again be traveling the globe – his loss.) We are all adults…we can handle this. We opt to have the restaurant week menu PLUS the FPG appetizer. Figs stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in peppered bacon…SCORE!

In addition to the restaurant week menu, The Winds is offering $5 off all bottle wine sales during restaurant week with the purchase of a restaurant week dinner. Our first bottle is the Chateau Les Terrasses de Bouey 2009 Bordeaux which was very enjoyable. Our second bottle was the Mustguillo 2008 Mestis, a spanish wine from Bobal, Tempranillo, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot…a little something for everyone. We all agreed that it paired nicely with each of our entrees.

And we got a little sampling of everything tonight. David had the Gazpacho with Crabmeat Couton, Seared Wild Salmon with Lapsang Souchong Team with Sunonomo, and the Blackberry Roll Cake Cake for dessert. John had the Gazpacho, Ohio City Cheese Ravioli with Salsa Cruda and Eggplant Crouton, and Berry Soup with Raspberry Sorbet with Fresh Berries. I had the Grilled Skewered Artichoke Hearts with Romesco and Chorizo Vinaigrette, Grilled Sirloin with Salsa Verde and Creamed Corn (OMG), and Winds Donuts with Vanilla Cherry Compote (think beignets)…John and David shared my leftover steak.

This has been an excellent restaurant week!

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