Dinner in Austin: Rabbit with orange glaze, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and pots de creme

We've spent the last week in Austin, TX. I gave a talk, we went to the LBJ Presidential Library, and we've tried to get work done. S has given us her house for the week, as she spends most of her time at her partner's place. They're great cooks, so we've happily eaten with them most nights, but last night we got to have them over and show off our own cooking.

Go to the Farmers' Market in Austin, and check out all the meat stands (there are many, especially in winter). Hopefully, you'll find Countryside Farm, where you can pick up a whole rabbit. Defrost it in a bowl of water in the fridge overnight. Also look for broccoli and sweet potato, which are available in February even after a week of frigid temperatures (this week has been in the 70s, but last week saw highs in the 30s).

Main: rabbit baked with orange-honey glaze

A few hours before you're ready to eat, butcher the now-thawed rabbit. We prefer smaller cuts, so ended up with eight pieces: forelegs, ribs, sides and belly, and hind legs. Be careful to find and remove and save the kidneys, liver, and (if you're lucky) heart. Lightly salt and pepper the pieces, and set them in a single layer in an oven-safe pan.

Meanwhile, reduce three cups orange juice to one cup, and then whisk in juice from half a lemon, ¼ cup honey, salt and pepper, and add thyme and four cloves fresh garlic. Pour the hot liquid over the rabbit, and let the meat marinate an hour. Top the meat with sliced oranges and more fresh thyme. The rabbit needs to bake 25 minutes in a pre-heated 400-degree oven.

Sides: mashed sweet potato with ginger and sage; baked broccoli

Cube sweet potato, and boil in salted water until tender, 20-30 minutes. Mince some fresh ginger and lots of fresh sage. Drain the potato, and mash it with the ginger and sage, a little salt and pepper, and some butter. Transfer to an oven-proof casserole with a lid, so that you can warm the potato back up near the end of food-prep.

Cut up some broccoli, pack it into a casserole with a lid (we used a terrine), and add plenty of minced garlic, juice from half a lemon, and some grated or shaved parmesan cheese. Bake 20-25 minutes, covered.

Dessert: pots de creme de chocolat

You should make the dessert first. Preheat the oven to 300°F, and also bring a teakettle of water to a boil.

In a heat-proof bowl or large measuring cup, place 2-3 oz chopped (or chip) milk chocolate. Then scald between 1 ½ and 2 cups cream, and pour over the chocolate to melt. Meanwhile, whisk together 3 egg yolks with ¼ cup sugar and a pinch of cinnamon. Temper the yolks by whisking in a little of the hot cream, and then combine the cream and yolks. Whisking, heat the mixture over medium until it thickens enough to coat a wooden spoon.

Prepare a water bath by pouring the boiled water into a small lasagna tray or two loaf pans, just enough so that with four ramekins set in the water, the level is about 2/3 up the sides of the ramekins. Ladle the thickened egg mixture into four small ramekins, wipe down any spills on the outside, and place in the water bath. Bake 35 minutes at 300°, until centers are still a little jiggly. Cool a little on a wire rack, and then chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour — the centers will firm up the rest of the way.

For serving, whip some more of the cream and dollop on top of the pots de creme. Decorate with mint leaves if you have them.

Serving

Set the table lovely with dinner knife and fork on the sides of each plate, salad fork and dessert spoon above the plates, and white and dessert wine glasses. Also set out pads for hot foods. Time the baking so that you can remove everything from the oven a little after the guests arrive, or anyway to bring everything still warm out. (The casserole pans will hold their heat, and you really don't want to overcook the rabbit — it's ok if the meat cools a bit before serving.)

Begin with the meat and veggie sides, accompanied with a nice chardonnay. We discovered that Fall Creek Vineyards, a Texas winery, is quite good, and bottles are under $10.

Once everyone has eaten their full, remove the dinner plates and silverware and the food, and bring out smaller salad plates (we love salad between the main course and dessert; it's refreshing and light). Salad should consist of washed and dried red-leaf lettuce, dressed in something with plenty of minced shallots and just a little salt and acid (white wine vinegar or a while balsamic), with maybe a little honey mixed into the dressing. Salad's a great chance to continue talking, start digesting, and finish a second bottle of chardonnay.

Finally, remove the salad plates and forks to the kitchen. Whip the cream and decorate the pots de creme, and bring them to the table. Open a bottle of Fall Creek sweet moscatel, and enjoy the dessert slowly accompanied by good conversation.

Grilled lamb burgers sweet potato chips and all the fixings

Having moved from vegetarian to marketarian, we have discovered a new favorite dish: lamb burgers. Mince an onion and saute it in a little fat, and then mix it with ground meat, maybe some minced herbs, and an egg yolk. Actually, don't use an egg yolk: for an extra treat, swap the egg for a dollop of homemade mayonnaise. Then form in to patties, dredge with flour if you like, and fry in the same pan you cooked the onions in, or grill.

Don't have homemade mayonnaise? You should. Our very easy recipe is from the great Julia Child: in the food processor, mix one egg plus two yolks, a heaping teaspoon of prepared mustard, a little salt, and a tablespoon of acid, for about thirty seconds. Then, with the machine running, slowly drizzle in between one and two cups oil (use a good oil, but it's fine to mix: I usually combine olive and peanut oils).

Our always side with burgers are sweet potatoes, in some sort of fry/chip form. Slice some sweet potatoes, one large or two small per person, and toss with olive oil, salt, paprika, and cumin. Then bake or grill them. Grilled sweet potatoes are lovely, and give you a chance to warm up the grill before cooking the meat.

For fixings, open some jars of homemade pickles and ketchup. For a quick dill pickle, clean some jars, and add a clove or two of garlic, cleaned sliced cucumber (be sure to remove the area right next to the flower, as it contains enzymes that make the pickle lose its crispness), and a tablespoon or so of dill seed, mustard seed, black pepper, and maybe a bay leaf or some fennel seed. Combine equal parts water and distilled vinegar, and maybe a third as much non-iodized salt (the iodine can throw off the pickling), over the stove until bubbling and the salt has dissolved. Pour the hot brine over the cucumbers, and either seal the jars in the canner or keep in the refrigerator. If you prefer sweet pickles, add plenty of sugar to the brine, and instead of garlic and dill use sliced onion and some whole cloves (keep the mustard). Ketchup is a bit more involved: cook tomatoes, onions, and a bell pepper with a bag of whole spices (allspice, celery seed, etc.); drain; puree; add vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika; cook until the correct consistency.

Slice up some cheese, a garden tomato, and some red onion. We usually make our own burger buns (your favorite whole wheat dough works well), but this time we had an "herb slab" from Acme Bread. Serve burgers with a hearty red wine on the sweeter side.

Camping: roasted sweet potatoes and bean burgers with all the fixings

Second dinner at Indian Lake: cod baked with onion, mashed sweet potato, and garlic green beans

Portobello burgers with grilled sweet potato fries

The very best sweet potato fries we've made were these, on the grill. Slice sweet potatoes for large fries, toss with olive oil, salt, paprika, and cumin, and grill. Then grill portobello mushrooms, which you have sprinkled with olive oil in which you have mashed rosemary. Add sliced jack or cheddar cheese, and serve on home-made whole-wheat buns. Assemble the burgers with sliced red onion, home-grown tomato, and home-made bread-and-butter pickles.

Salmon chowder

I think I'm finally up-to-date with posting pictures here. We'll see how long that lasts. Last night we made a fantastic salmon chowder.

Begin by making the fumet: simmer the head (gills removed) and bones of a whole salmon (you should be able to get such scraps from your fishmonger, for around $1/lb), along with some ends of leeks, in just enough water to cover for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, start sauteing leeks, sliced, in a little butter or olive oil. Add some salt and, once the leeks soften, add just enough milk to cover. Dice two sweet potatoes and add to the leeks-and-milk.

When the fumet is done, strain it and add some to the soup. Add also 1/2 lb salmon trimmings (the bits of fish that the fishmonger cuts off the fillets to make them even, and so sells for half price), which will poach pretty much instantly. Stir in one cup cream, and maybe a little more fumet because although you like stew, you don't want the soup too thick. Adjust the salt and serve the very rich soup with a lightly-chilled cab-merlot blend or pinot noir.

Chowder with clams, sweet potatoes, and corn

A lot went into this chowder, but the end result was great. We began by sauteing a mire poix of leeks and onions in butter. Then we added crab stock, water, and sweet potato. When the potato was soft, we separated the soup, and, using the immersion blender, we blended half of it with cream until smooth. Meanwhile, we steamed open some clams and removed the from their shells. We combined the clams, the blended soup, the unblended vegetables, and a can of corn. We adjusted the salt, stirred in chopped parsley, and enjoyed the excellent meal.

Rockfish with green garlic; steamed broccoli; sweet potato chips

Sturgeon with romanesco and baked sweet potato chips

Occasionally our fishmonger gets specialty fish from once-a-year harvests in Oregon and Washington. This sturgeon is from the Columbia river, and tastes remarkably beefy. I'm looking forward to next year's catch. To go with the sturgeon, B baked sweet potato chips with a dusting of salt and paprika.

Tuna with sweet potatoes and broccoli

Preheat the oven, and slice sweet potatoes. Set the potatoes on an oiled lasanga pan, sprinkle with paprika, cumin, ginger, and salt, turn them over, and season again. Bake until tender. Meanwhile, rub garlic, butter, and ginger over a small pan. Place tuna filets, toro-side up, on the pan, and cook under the broiler ten minutes. Steam broccoli along with its greens, and pour over it garlic mashed with olive oil, ginger, and salt.

Office picnic: salad Niçoise

We had planned on picnicking on the tenth-floor balcony in my building: the views of the bay are fantastic, and we had tickets for London Globe Theater Company's rendition of Loves Labour's Lost, which was on campus. But it was one of the first truly miserable pouring rain days in November. The balcony picnic turned into an office picnic, with a view of Oakland if not the bay.

For a picnic Niçoise salad, combine in a large tuperware:

• lettuce, washed, dried, and ripped into pieces
• sweet potato, cut into wedges, simmered 10 minutes, then chilled ten minutes in ice water
• one can anchovies, washed and with the bones removed
• Nicoise olives
• cherry tomatoes

Also make a salad dressing with a shallot or garlic, minced, and balsamic vinnaiger and oil; keep it in a mustard jar. Most importantly, sear tuna (allow half a pound per person), so that the outer centimeter is cooked and the inner raw (use a non-stick pan and very high heat). With a sharp knife, slice tuna into medallions, and bring in a separate tupperware. Dress the salad, plate, and add the fish at the picnic spot.

Don't forget blankets, silver wear, plates, cups, and a good red wine, preferably a Zinfandel. Find a YouTube fireplace to temper the cold, and for background play a Hilary Hahn CD off of iTunes.

Tuna sashimi, broccoli and sweet potato tempura, and miso soup

Sushi-ready tuna from Hudson fish (amazingly good); slice and arrange on a bed of shaved carrots from Riverdog and shaved radishes from Happy Boy. Broccoli from Catalan, and sweet potatoes from Solano Mushrooms, coated in a barely-mixed tempura batter of 1 cup flour, about 1 cup water, 1 egg, and a little salt and dried ginger; heat olive oil in the wok, and deep-fry the tempura until golden. Mince and sauté onions and carrots from Riverdog and garlic from Catalan, and add a few Tbsp prepared miso paste from Edensoy, salt and four cups water.

30 October 2008

One of our most successful fish nights. Very good tuna, rolled in a mix of brown sugar, ginger, and orange zest, and then sliced cross-wise into medallions and pan-fried in olive oil. Steamed broccoli with orange juice, and sweet potato mashed with orange juice, butter, and rosemary. Delicious.

11 October 2008

My boyfriend made this dinner, broiling the fish with a sauce of ginger, leeks, mint, and mustard. The greens are nettles from La Tercera farm (tasty, but looses its structural integrity easily). The orange mash is sweet potato with butter and rosemary. Mmm.

4 October 2008

Many short notes

• Large sweet potatoes should bake whole perhaps 45 minutes in a 400-degree oven. After 30 minutes, they are perfectly edible, if a bit crunchy.
  
• Snapper is very fast to pan-fry. Marinate lightly in lemon, salt, and black pepper, heat oil in a pan, and cook on both sides.
  
• Asparagus is in season, and extremely tasty steamed and salted.
  
• I highly recommend Lemon Grapefruit Bars. I used the zest and juice of one medium-large grapefruit.
  
• Wheat berry can simmer for an hour in roughly two-to-one salted water and remain very crunchy, or even an hour and a half in 2.5:1 water to grain, and then mixed with olive oil and salt, for a very simple dish. In general, with long-cooking whole grains, you should not worry too much about liquid-to-grain. Rather, check the grains twenty minutes before the end-time. If there is too much water, remove the lid and turn up the heat; if water is all out, keep covered, turn off heat, and let grains steam themselves for the remaining 20 minutes.