Eleven Madison Park Granola is perfection

Two years ago we were in NYC and Eleven Madison Park had just received four stars from the New York Times, a very noteworthy event. So we decided that we had to have lunch there will in the city (dinner was way out of our budget). The food was truly amazing as was the service and the decor.

Now visitors to Eleven Madison Park are given a small gift bag of this granola as they leave. And this is the bests granola I have ever had by far. The recipe is straight from the NY Times Magazine and has not been altered in any way from its original printing.

Eleven Madison Park Granola from Daniel Humm

• 2 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup shelled pistachios
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut chips (I do use shredded as it is easier to find)
• 1/3 cups pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbs. salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup dried sour cherries

Preheat the oven to 300. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut, pumpkin seeds and salt.
In a small sauce pan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Fold liquids into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and spread granola over it. Bake until dry and lightly golden, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way.
Transfer to a bowl, add the sour cherries and mix well. Let cool completely before putting in an air tight container.
This is fabulous for breakfast with yogurt. It is also perfect for a snack on its own any time of the day. PS. it goes great with a gin martini too.
Note: this is a great recipe to take advantage of the bulk section of Bloomingfoods to cut costs and keep extra ingredients down.

Flash Fried Tofu with Lemon and Szechuan Pepper and Salt

This is adapted from a recipe from Kylie Kwong, a chef, cookbook author and TV host who makes the most delicious authentic Chinese food. Her cookbook Simple Chinese Cooking is a must for anyone wanting to venture into Chinese food that is true to the culture. And with so many Asian markets in Bloomington, all the ingredients are easy to find. I typically ask for help finding some of the more unique ingredients, but they are there...somewhere in the store.

Silken tofu make this dish amazing. The outside is salty and crunchy and the inside is mild and creamy.

Szechuan pepper is a mainstay in Kylie's ingredient list. They come in a bag, last forever, and add a wonderful and unique pepper taste with a mild numbing effect that is sensational. For Szechuan Pepper and Salt, simply heat the whole szechuan pepper corns in a dry pan until they start to brown and smoke. Then crush them in a mortar and pestle and add the same amount of salt as pepper. This is the perfect thing to sprinkle over this dish or any Asian inspired dish before serving to add a unique burst of flavor.

Flash Fried Tofu with Lemon and Szechuan Pepper and Salt

• 1 package silken tofu
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 lemon
• vegetable oil (canola or grape seed)
• szechuan pepper and salt

Silken tofu is very delicate, so you have to handle it very carefully. Cut open the package and drain as much of the liquid off as possible. Then place the block of tofu in a dish towel or several layers of paper towel to continue to drain. You will need to change the towels twice as they become saturated. This will take 15 minutes.
While the tofu is draining, put 2 inches of oil into a wok or deep sauce pan and heat over high heat to 350 degrees or when the top of the oil is shimmering.
Unwrap the tofu carefully. The cut the block in half through the waist horizontally. Then cut into 1 inch cubes. Put the flour in a shallow bowl and put the cubes of tofu into the bowl and carefully toss to cover completely with flour (don't worry if a few of the cubes fall apart). You will want to make sure the oil is hot before you do this step as the tofu should not sit in the flour for more than a minute.
Then carefully drop one of the small pieces of tofu into the oil. It should sizzle on contact. If it does, carefully drop the tofu, piece by piece, into the oil. Let them fry for a minute or two, then carefully turn them over. Let them fry, turning every minutes or so, for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. By now they will not be so delicate to handle.
Remove the tofu from the oil and put on paper towels to drain. Cut the lemon in half and drizzle lemon juice from half the lemon over the tofu. Then sprinkle liberally with szechuan pepper and salt. Serve immediately.
This is excellent with a quick vegetable stir fry made right before preparing the tofu in the same wok.

Marie Duane's Spinach Balls

We met Marie Duane while living in Woodstock and she and her husband Allan became great friends of ours. An evening at the Duane's was always a wonderful event. Marie was from New Zealand and she and Allan had lived all over Europe and they brought a very warm sense of entertaining with them to New York. I was taken by these spinach balls the first time I tried them.

Along with Ina Garten's Stilton and Walnut Crackers, this should be a mainstay in your freezer for last minute entertaining. Easy to make and they are best when cooked while frozen, this is a no brainer and full flavor appetizer.

Marie Duane's Spinach Balls

• 2 packages of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups stuffing mix (Pepperidge Farm works perfectly)
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup melted butter (1 1/2 sticks...not a diet food, but they are small bites)
• 1 cup chopped onion (one small to medium onion)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbs. black pepper
• 1 tbs. salt

Start by putting the spinach in boiling water to thaw. Then put in a colander and press dry with the back of a kitchen spoon. Let cool a few minutes. (The water that the spinach was cooked in can be the base for a healthy vegetable stock if saved.)
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. You'll have to work to have the spinach evenly distributed. Then chill the mixture in the refrigerator for one hour.
Use a table spoon to scoop out a portion of the mixture and form into a ball. Put on a cooking sheet and continue. Then put the filled cookie sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours or over night. Then you can store them in an air tight container in the freezer.
When you are ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Then put as many as you wish to serve on a cooking sheet, leaving a little room between each ball. Then back for 22 minutes.
Serve with dijon or spicy brown mustard.

Recipe: Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onions in Horseradish Cream

The original recipe for this was clipped from Bon Appetit several years ago. And this dish is consistently a winner. The prep work can be done the day before and then it only takes a few minutes to put the dish together, so it's great for entertaining.

Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onion is Horseradish Cream:

• 1 10 oz. bag frozen pearl onions (easy to find at Marsh in the frozen veg section)
• 1 1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and blemished exterior leaves removed
• 4 tbs. prepared horseradish
• 2 tsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 3/4 c. whipping or heavy cream (you can use milk, but the dish will not be as rich)
• 3 tbs. butter
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
• Thyme sprigs for garish (optional)

Drop brussels spouts into salted boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Add the bag of frozen pearl onions and continue to boil for two more minutes. Drain and set aside. This part can be done the day before.
In a bowl, combine the horseradish, flour, allspice and cream. Stir well. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the fresh thyme and cook for 30 seconds. Add the brussels sprouts and onions and continue to cook for 3 for 4 minutes, until the vegetables are heated through. Add the cream mixture to the sauce pan and stir to coat all the vegetables. continue to cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and season appropriately.
Serve garnished with a thyme sprig. Yum!

Bloomington Thanksgiving dinner 2011: Golden Lentil Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing

This is the premier vegetarian entree for Thanksgiving. The original recipe was clipped from a vintage Vegetarian Times, but it has been reworked because the first time I made it...let's just say it didn't work.

Don't be put off by all the different spices that are in this recipe. Using the bulk section of the east side location of Bloomingfoods, you can purchase just the right amount of each spice for just a few cents each.

This recipe calls for a total of 4 cups of fresh bread crumbs. One baguette will produce enough bread crumbs for the entire recipe (plus a little extra). Slice the bread and put it in a food processor until it the largest pieces of bread are the size of peas.









Golden Lentil Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing

• 1 1/2 cup split red lentils
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tbs. butter, at room temperature

for the chestnut stuffing:

• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 1 large onion (or 1 cup) chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups canned or jarred peeled chestnuts (found a Bloomingfoods on their discount rack)
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• fresh sage leaves for garnish

Preheat your oven to 350.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the lentils and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes or until the lentils have absorbed all the water.
Stuffing: In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onions and the red pepper and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for about 7 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
In a food processor, combine the chestnuts, bread crumbs, sage, parsley and cooked onions and peppers. Pulse on and off until well combined. Transfer to a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Keep in mind that this is the big flavor in the dish so don't be afraid to season really well.
Now for the lentil dough (and dough is used loosely here). Put the cooked lentils in the food process along with the garlic, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. This will become like thick peanut butter.
Place a large (2' long) sheet of wax or parchment paper on the counter near your sink. Empty to lentil dough onto the paper. Wet your hands and gently kneed the dough a few times to create a log shape. Then pat out the dough until it is an 11 x 14 inch rectangle. You will need to wet your hands a few times during the process to keep the dough from clinging to your hands.
Now the easy part. Once the dough is in an 11 x 14 rectangle, spread the chestnut stuffing evenly over the dough, making sure to go all the way to the ends of the dough. Then, starting with the short end of the dough, start to roll it up using the parchment paper to help lift and roll the dough into a jelly roll shape.
Once rolled, you can wet your hands again and reshape the log if needed, replacing any of the stuffing that fell out of the ends.
Transfer to a well greased sheet pan. Rub the room temperature butter all over the outside of the log. Bake in the oven until heated through and the outside is just beginning to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the reserved sage leaves.

And check out the sandwich made with left over roulade in the 'Leftover Recipes' section.

Bloomington Thanksgiving dinner 2011: Thyme Infused Roasted Root Vegetables

This is another tear out from Vegetarian Times from 1990 something. Simple, easy and full flavor. You can adjust the final result by using more sweet vegetables like shallots, carrots and parsnips. I did this and upped the percentage of potatoes for a certain carboholic in the house.

I use all organic produce for this and Bloomingfoods on the east side is by far the best place for a great assortment of seasonal root vegetables.

Thyme Infused Roasted Root Vegetables

• 8 medium shallots, peeled
• 2 medium red-skin potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 chunks
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 branches of fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper

Preheat your oven to 450.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat evenly with oil, salt and pepper. Pour mixture onto a sheet pan/rimmed baking sheet and spread evenly for best browning of the vegetables. Roast for 35 or 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes. Then scrape loose all the vegetables with a metal spatula and serve with a garnish of a thyme sprig.

You can make this the day before, refrigerate and then reheat in the oven for 15 minutes prior to serving at whatever temperature you are baking other dishes or at 350 degrees.

Bloomington Thanksgiving Dinner 2011: Brown Butter and Rum Pecan Pie with Rum Whipped Cream

The last time I made this pecan pie was when we were living in Woodstock, NY. We had ten friends over for dinner and during dinner the snow started coming down. Right before dessert the power went out...so no making the rum whipped cream in the mixer. Instead we did it the old fashion way by passing the bowl around the table, everyone taking a turn at whipping the rum and cream for desert topping. It was a lovely evening.

Brown butter and rum add a great depth of flavor to this classic southern pie.

Brown Butter and Rum Pecan Pie with Rum Whipped Cream

• One store bought pie crust (I can't do any better than Pillsbury) or homemade pie crust
• 6 oz unsalted butter
• 1 cup Karo dark corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 tbs. rum (the original recipe called for dark rum, but light rum was what was in my pantry)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 c whipping cream
• 3 tbs. light or golden brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 and put the baking rack in the bottom third of the oven.

Roll out dough and put in a 9 inch diameter glass pie plate, crimping the edges.

Cook the butter in a sauce pan over medium high heat until brown, approximately 3 minutes. Add the corn syrup and stir. Then add the sugar and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a heat proof bowl. Set the bowl in the fridge to cool to close to room temperature. This will take about 20 minutes or so.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, rum, vanilla extract and salt to combine. Pour in the cooled syrup mixture and whisk vigorously to combine. Make sure the syrup mixture is cool enough to not scramble the eggs. Then stir in the pecans and mix well. Pour this mixture into the pie crust and bake for approximately 45 minutes. The top of the pie filling will have risen almost and inch and set and the crust will be gorgeous golden brown. In my oven this took closer to 50 minutes for the center to set.

This can be made the day before. Keep at room temperature covered loosely with foil once it has completely cooled.

For the whipped cream, combine cream, 2 tbs rum and the light brown sugar and beat until peaks form. Feel free to pass the bowl around the table and have your guest help whip the cream into shape. It can burn calories and create memories.

Bloomington Thanksgiving dinner 2011: Cranberry Orange Relish

This is one of my go-to recipes for Thanksgiving. It is easy and so fresh and delicious. It simply takes three minutes of 'whirl' time in a food processor and you are ready to go. The key is to make this at least one day in advance (or more) so the flavors have a chance to mingle.

Cranberry Orange Relish

• 12 oz. fresh cranberries
• 1 organic navel orange, cut into chunks, peel and all
• 3/4 c. sugar

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and whirl for at least three minutes, until all the chunks of orange have been processed. There will be a time in the beginning when you will question if there is enough liquid to make this work, but as the last pieces of orange get processed, the relish comes together perfectly.

I always use organic oranges for this since you use the peel.

Then spoon the relish into a glass serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. You will be ready on Thanksgiving day to pull it out of the fridge and put it right on the table.

Starting to cook...Stilton and Walnut Crakers for Thanksgiving dinner cocktail hour

This recipe is so simple and so delicious. Martha says that she doesn't serve any appetizers because she wants everyone to be really hungry when they come to the table. Ina loves to have appetizers to encourage guests to start enjoying her food when they arrive. I am in the middle...a light appetizer that encourages guests to enjoy another cocktail before dinner, but it has to be small enough to keep them hungry for dinner. And this is the perfect recipe.

You can find this recipe online here. It is in Ina's cookbook 'barefoot contessa how easy is that?' And one of the best things is that it can be made months in advance and frozen. They you can cut the log into crackers while frozen and bake to perfection in only 22 +/- minutes.

I try to make a couple of logs of this while working with the recipe and then I always have the perfect nibble when guest come over during the cold winter months.

Appetizer for Thanksgiving dinner...done.

Thanksgiving 2011 planning and menu...going vegetarian.

I love to create menus. To the right is a printed menu from a dinner that I held almost a decade ago. I am really bad about saving recipes and writing down what I do, but I went through a spell several years ago where I created a cookbook. I hadn't opened it in years until last month and I was thrilled to find so many recipes that I really missed.

So this year's menu for Thanksgiving is a tribute to a decade ago of vegetarian recipes. Here's the plan:

Starter:

• Ina Garten's Stilton and Walnut Crackers

First Course:

• Boniato (Sweet potato) Soup with Dill

Main Course:

• Golden Lentil Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing
• Cornbread Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Mushroom Sauce
• Scolloped Oysters
• Brussels Sprouts and Pearl Onions with Horseradish Cream
• Thyme Infused Roasted Root Vegetables
• Cranberry Orange Relish
  

Desert:

• Brown Butter and Rum Pecan Pie

Time to go to the market and get my shopping done!