Stephencooks

Happy New Year!

I want to wish all my friends both near and far a happy, healthy, tasty 2006, and also to thank you for your continued interest in Stephencooks.  And, as I learned to say when my daughter lived in South Carolina, don't forget to eat your Hoppin' John on New Year's Day....

Stephencooks will be taking a break for a few days over the New Year's Weekend. Look for the first post of 2006 on January 4.

Porcini Cream Lasagna

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his lasagna is extremely seductive, I think because of the unique combination of a group of foods and flavors that are each fully capable, on their own, to drive frenzied obsession: cream, butter, porcini mushrooms, white truffle oil and Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese.

Last year we were invited to a New Year's bash at a restaurant-owner friend's house and asked to bring a food contribution and I immediately thought of this dish. At the party, the table groaned with beautiful roasts, creative salads and appetizing desserts, but my simple platter of pasta emptied the fastest, and just last week one of the other guests who had been at that party asked me if I would be making "that mushroom pasta dish" again this year. (Alas, I'm not going to be in town for the party.)  Seductive and memorable: what more could you want?

Crispy Fried Smelts

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ere's one more way to prepare your Christmas smelts. Battered and fried crisp, this is the most popular way to cook them, and no wonder...these little guys are addictive.

Christmas Dinner Menu II - Wood Roasted Standing Rib of Beef

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hristmas Dinner usually means some sort of roasted meat as the centerpiece, and in my house I usually fall right in step: turkey, goose (actually braised, following Julia's recipe), chicken, or, for a down-home Christmas, slow-smoked pork shoulder. This year it's going to be a very traditional standing rib of beef, with all the trimmings, and since I  don't let weather keep me from my grill I'll be doing it outside over a live fire.

This post continues a series of holiday menus based on dishes from Stephencooks and selected contributions from some of my favorite other food bloggers. Beau, of the excellent wine blog Basic Juice, contributes wine pairings for each menu. Other menus in the series are: Christmas Dinner Menu I (Wood Roasted Tuscan Chicken with Porcini Sausage and Rice Stuffing) and the Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes.  

Sun-Dried Tomato Crostini 

Of course, we always have drinks and a few nice goodies to keep the crowd happy before dinner begins. This easy crostini is perfect for the occasion, and especially nice with Beau's suggested prosecco.

Roasted Butternut Soup, Savory Red Rice Pudding and Sage Foam

When the guests are called to the table, this festive soup makes a perfect first course: colorful and unusual, with a chewy red-rice island topped with sage foam garnish. And, it can be made ahead of time, except for the foam.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice
Mionetto Prosecco Legatura 
Sundried tomatoes are always an interesting pairing with  sparkling wine. The zesty flavors in the  tomato and crisp character of the bubbly duke it out while the tomatoes'  sweetness rises above the fray and makes my mouth smile. Ditto with soup: bubbly is one of my favorite soup companions.  I would  go with an Italian Prosecco, which  is slightly less aggressive than some other bubblies, and a bit more floral & fruity. Try Mionetto Prosecco Legatura. You‚ll be amazed at how the cream, onion and squash in the soup will be transformed by this pairing.

Wood-Roasted Standing Rib Roast

This is a tremendously reliable preparation, always popular and relatively easy on the cook. I serve it at Christmas with Mushrom Ragout, Yorkshire Pudding, and my old standby, Herb-Roasted Potatoes.

Yorkshire Pudding

This is the traditional accompanyment for roast beef and they make the holiday meal a  little more special.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice
Finca Luzon Altos de Luzon 2001
or Carchelo Tinto 2003  or 2004
A great pairing with meat slow roasted  over wood is a wine containing the Rhône Valley grape called Mourvèdre. This grape often offers a gamey/smokey aroma, which triggers a craving for roasted meat. The Spaniards also work with this grape, which is called Monastrell in  much of Spain. Try Finca Luzon Altos de Luzon 2001, which is a blend of Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo (a native  Spanish grape) or Carchelo Tinto 2003 or 04, which is a slightly more mellow incantation of the meaty Monastrell grape.  Either wine will work for the entire main  course.

Herb-Roasted Potatoes 

Easy, popular comfort food, these potatoes have been in my repertoire for many years. 

Steamed Broccoli

My all-time favorite vegetable: brocoli steamed and dressed up with a little olive oil and some minced fresh herbs (and maybe some slivered almonds for Christmas).

Baby Greens with Golden Beets, Roasted Grape Tomatoes and Parmesan Shavings

I like to keep salads simple for big meals, and this one is especially festive-looking.

Dessert! This meal of classic favorites deserves to be followed with a memorable dessert, and I think this one qualifies:

Fiery, Dark, Dangerous  Chocolate Soufflé 

A fitting end to this grand feast is this chocolate soufflé, which has been enhanced - some might say "kicked up a notch" -  with espresso and  cayenne pepper.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice
Ramos Pinto Tawny or Warre's King's Tawny
I can vouch for the darkness,  dangerousness, and addictiveness of this creation (I ate three one  night!).  While I think it is perfect with a shot or two of unadulterated espresso, a glass of Tawny Port will increase the decadence level!

We've finally arrived at the end of our Christmas Dinner and we're just sitting around, sipping a little more of the tawny and enjoying a quiet, peaceful evening with family and friends. Beau and I had a lot of fun putting this together and we wish you a tasty, happy Christmas!

Herb-Roasted Potatoes

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hese tasty, crispy potato wedges appear over and over on my table and my guests never tire of them. This recipe was buried in a multi-recipe post published in the early days of Stephencooks, before I realized that it would be easier to find recipes on the site if each one was the subject of its own post, but since it's so important and frequently requested I decided to republish it as a stand-alone article. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve Menu - The Feast of the Seven Fishes

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kay, I confess. I don't really know the Catholic traditions and holy days. My father was a lapsed Catholic and I was raised in the First Suburban Church of Whatever.

But that doesn't keep me from observing the ancient tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. While it's rooted in the teachings of the Church, for me it's just an excuse to go all out with my favorite fish dishes.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian Christmas Eve tradition built around fish of all kinds and prepared in as many different ways as possible. Our friends Donna Quadri and Pasquale Felitti introduced it to us about ten years ago in their kitchen in Tribeca.

This post is the second in a series of holiday  menus based on dishes from Stephencooks and selected contributions from some of my favorite other food bloggers. Beau, of the excellent wine blog Basic Juice, contributes wine pairings for each menu. Other posts in the series: Christmas Dinner I (Tuscan Roasted Chicken with Porcini, Sausage and Rice Stuffing) and Christmas Dinner II (Wood-Roasted Standing Rib of Beef).  

Christmas Eve in the ancient Catholic church was a vigilia di magro -- a sacred fast day, on which no meat could be consumed. This stricture has long since been lifted, although many devout Italians still fast on Christmas Eve. In Southern Italy and Sicily the tradition of a Christmas Eve feast organized around fish dishes developed over the centuries, and the tradition lives on in the Quadri-Felitti household, and these days in all regions of Italy.

The menu and the number of fish dishes varies from family to family and village to village, but it's usually seven, although the reason cited for the number varies. Dick Quadri, Donna's dad, says it's a commemoration of the last seven of the Ten Commandments, which prescribe rules of human interaction -- as opposed to the first three, which address human relations with God. Others say it is to remind us of the seven deadly sins. In any case, seven fish dishes is a feast!

Two dishes that seem to show up in everyone's traditional Feast of Seven Fishes are smelts and baccalà in some form or another.

Baccalà is better known to a lot of New Englanders as salt cod -- a staple on the long sea voyages of whalers and traders in colonial days. Also important in Portuguese and Puerto Rican cuisine (it's bacalao in Spanish), salt cod is readily available in markets around the South End.

Smelts are those silvery six-inch fish that show up in the fish markets every year around the onset of winter -- relatives of trout and salmon, they are wild-caught in the winter as they move into position off the coast for their early spring spawning run up the rivers.

Other candidates for the Feast of the Seven Fishes include grilled shrimp; baked oysters in the shell; clam or lobster risotto; pan roasted mackerel; smoked trout; broiled or grilled sea bass; scallop- or lobster-filled ravioli; deep-fried calamari; clams fettuccine; swordfish sautéd with capers and vinegar; and whole bass steamed with anchovies and capers.

Almost any fish dish you can imagine -- preferably with an Italian pedigree -- can turn up in a Feast of the Seven Fishes. Did I mention grilled halibut steaks with fresh tomato and basil sauce? Steamed crabs? Lobster fra diavalo?

The meal is usually served one course at a time, with lots of time between courses, in the Italian tradition, during  which the cooks work on the next dish and the guests drink wine and talk...and talk!

This is our menu for this Christmas Eve. We hope you enjoy the Feast of the Seven Fishes, with these or whatever fish dishes you choose!

Betty's Authentic Baltimore Crabcakes
These crab cakes are a great starter for any meal! And here in Maine, where we have great fresh crabmeat all year long, they cannot be beat.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice
Quinta da Aveleda's Vinho Verde 
The Portuguese have the perfect wine for succulent crab cakes and Aioli: Vinho Verde (green wine).  It's fresh; it's crisp; it's like squirting a shot of fresh citrus over the top of your crab cake.  Consider your flavor volume turned up.

Artichoke Hearts Provençal
I always like to have one or two non-fish dishes on the menu, for a little counterpoint. This is one of my favorites.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice

Gruet Blanc de Noirs, NV 
The Vinho Verde will continue to shine with the artichokes, but if you run out, it may be time to add some bubbles.  Considering the richness of the 'choke hearts and ham, a sparkling wine with some added heft is a good idea - a Blanc de Noirs (white wine from black grapes), which is Pinot Noir-based bubbly.  Believe it or not, a sparkling wine from New Mexico fits the bill: Gruet Blanc de Noirs.

Oysters, Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta Gratin
I always have an oyster dish on the menu on Christmas Eve and this is one of the best.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice

Bodega Pirineos Moriste 2002 
Again either the Vinho Verde or bubbly will work with the Oyster/Sprouts Gratin.  However, since we're moving closer to the main course, let's add a red wine - yet one that's still light and crisp enough to complement the oysters & pancetta in this dish.  Numerous Spanish wines fit the bill; as many are light enough to go with a wide array of foods.  However, this one from northern Spain has a crisp, tart and bitter quality that will echo the Brussels sprouts, so it's the best of the bunch.

Lillian's Christmas Bacallà
This dish is the one that we always have on our Christmas Eve menu. It's a quintessential Italian dish, and for us it carries so many good memories of past Christmas celebrations. Beau suggests that any of the previous three wines will work well with this.

Salmon Scallop Terrine  wrapped in Swiss Chard Leaves
This terrine is a nice change of pace at this point in the feast...

Pan Roasted Smelts
These little fishes are best served with a nice crusty Italian bread for mopping up the garlic-, lemon- and oregano-flavored sauce.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice

Domaine Weinbach Cuvee Laurence Gewurztraminer 2000 
It's OK to jump back to a white wine - so long as it's a heavy-duty white.  Alsatian Gewurztraminer is a rich white with exotic scents and flavors.  This is one Alsatian Geuwrz that is supremely rich and will add another level of flavor complexity to both the smelts and the salmon/scallop terrine.

Mussels Julia
I don't need much of an excuse to serve mussels, so of course they show up on our table on Christmas Eve.

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice

Belle Glos 'Oeil de Perdrix' Pinot Noir Blanc 2004 
Believe it or not, dry, well-made rosé wines can work quite well with seafood.  The key here is to avoid heavy, overly fruity pink wines (such as 'white merlot' or white zinfandel).  Rosé wines with food-friendly character offer crisp acidity, slight richness and subtle spice.

Seared Swordfish with Pasta all'Aglio Olio
Of course there has to be a pasta dish in this meal, and with all the other things going on I like the simplicty of Pasta all'Aglio Olio with a seared chunk of swordfish...

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice

Feudi di San Gregorio DOC Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio, 1998  
This quintessentially Italian preparation of swordfish almost requires an Italian wine pairing.  And what better to pair with this Christmas dish than a wine named after the 'tears of Christ.'  Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio hails from Campania (Italy's lower shin).  If you can lay your hands on an aged Lacryma, give it a try. It offers evolved flavors of earth and dried fruit, a fine compliment to the seared swordfish and pasta all' Aglio Olio.

And for dessert...
Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream
and
Mayan Chocolate Espresso Cookies
If you made it this far you have either great discipline or great capacity!

Wine Pairing from Basic Juice

Santa Sofia Recioto della Valpolicella 2001  
'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except someone sneaking more Mayan Chocolate cookies. Santa's wine is sweet enough to handle the ice cream.  In addition to the intense dried fruit flavors, it offers hints of toasted almond, which will definitely play well with the Mayan cookies' coffee-spicy flavors.

We wish you a wonderful Feast, and a peaceful, happy Christmas!

Pan Roasted Smelts

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hese little seasonal fish (see this post for more information) call out to me every time I see them in the fish market in winter and early spring. Relatives of salmon and trout, they are caught off the Atlantic coast in winter where they gather in preparation for their spring spawning run up the rivers and streams.

This preparation is a traditional Italian dish, typically served without sides as a fish course. The garlic, lemon and oregano flavor the pan juices, which are best when mopped up with a crusty Italian bread.

TypePad Mess

My apologies to my readers: TypePad, the service that hosts Stephencooks.com, took an unscheduled vacation for the last 24 hours, so the promised "Feast of the Seven Fishes" post will be delayed until sometime tomorrow, Saturday, December 17.  I regret any inconvenience this delay has caused!

Lillian's Christmas Bacallà

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very year we have a traditional "Feast of the Seven Fishes" at our house on Christmas Eve. This is an ancient Catholic tradition in southern Italy --  now observed pretty much all over the country -- that will be the subject of tomorrow's post. Our friends Donna Quadri and Pasquale Felitti introduced it to us about ten years ago in their kitchen in Tribeca.

I'll never forget my first taste of Donna's grandmother's bacallà, a savory stew made from salt-preserved cod which is always the centerpiece of the Seven Fishes menu at Donna and Pat's house on Christmas eve. Donna's grandmother, ninety-two-year-old Lillian -- "Big Nonna" to her extended family -- still makes it every Christmas at her home in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Baccalà is better known to a lot of New Englanders as salt cod -- a staple on the long sea voyages of whalers and traders in colonial days. It's also important in Portuguese and Puerto Rican cuisine (it's bacalao in Spanish), as mentioned in my recent post on Serenata de Bacalao.

Curried Celeriac and Red Pepper Cream Soup with Celeriac Crisps and Fried Capers

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his simple soup brings the clean, unusual taste of celeriac together with the bite of a typical Indian curry preparation, and the addition of celeriac crisps, fried capers and the red pepper swirl gives it a festive air for the holidays.