Creole Tomato Jam

Goat Cheese and Tomato Jam Crostini was once the height of trendiness in New Orleans' restaurants. Having made a platter as an appetizer recently, I can understand why.

I first heard about this Creole Tomato Jam at a cooking class in La Cucina in Reading Terminal Market.  

Hosted by Anna Florio who had organized a "Girls' Night Out", I crashed the class in order to feature it here. 

The chef that night was Bill Beck of Beck's Cajun Cafe and this jam was on his demonstration menu.

This recipe comes courtesy of the official New Orleans website, www.NOLA.com, which is well worth a visit.  This site offers a wealth of ideas and insights into the history, traditions, culture and food of this wonderful city.  

Creole Tomato Jam (Makes 1 cup)


Ingredients:
1 pound Creole tomatoes (about 3 medium)** see cook's note
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 whole cloves
1-inch stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
3 tablespoons sherry (or red wine) vinegar
Juice of 1 lime

Instructions:
(The online recipe suggested that this step 1 is optional.  We'd suggest that it's worth taking the time to do this as you'll get a smoother jam without the skins.)

1. Cut an X on the bottom of the tomatoes and plunge them into a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Let stand until cool enough to handle, and peel.
2. Roughly chop and put the tomatoes, with their juices, into a saucepan with remaining ingredients
3. Over medium-low heat, stir gently and occasionally until almost all moisture evaporates and mixture thickens into a jam-like consistency, 45 minutes to an hour
4. Remove bay leaf, thyme sprig and cinnamon stick. Ladle into a clean jar or container
5. Refrigerate for up to 1 month.

**Creole tomatoes can be any large, round, meaty tomato grown in Louisiana; they are not one particular varietal.  Around here,  ripe beefsteaks, Jerseys, or any of the large, flavorful heirloom varieties are a reasonable substitute.

The mixture at the start of the process...

The ruby rich jam 45 minutes later...

Serving Ideas

• As a chutney-like condiment for a cheese plate
• As a condiment for any roasted/grilled meats (it was especially good with a slow-roasted salmon)
• As a final flourish to crostini/appetizers

Use your imagination and marry it with any number of foods!

Grill Wars Resolved

You may recall the, um, burning question of gas vs charcoal, that we documented last spring.  The debate resulted in a household cold war, in which no new grill was procured despite the decrepitude of the existing one.   Fast forward one year and all is sunshine and barbecues.  Here's the story....

Matt, the chap with the desperate desire for the wood-coal burning Big Green Egg, was asked to man the grill at a recent neighborhood cookout.  He reluctantly agreed.   Upon arrival, he was handed a drink, a pair of tongs, a tray of kebabs, and steered toward a Weber 310 Genesis 3-burner gas grill.

The experience was transformational. The grill heated quickly, evenly and predictably. There was significant control on the level of heat at any given time.  The thermometer registers up to 700 degrees.   Matt came home, several hours, bourbons and cigars later, a changed man.  And we ordered the Genesis, aptly named for this new beginning, the very next day.

The Genesis arrived in time for Fathers' Day...and Matt celebrated with New York Strip grilled ever -so-perfectly.

It has since been used to cook spectacular scallops and beautiful burgers.  What are your latest barbecue discoveries?

In Celebration of Pecan Pralines!

Pecan Pralines have a rich history which dates back some 400 years.

Pralines are believed to be the invention of a French chef in service to a Count whose family name was du Plessis-Praslin (hence the anglicization of Praline) in New Orleans.  Other U.S. states or cities have attempted to claim ownership, but the recipe originated in a New Orleans kitchen.  For the fascinating, action-packed, story see the Southern Candymakers website.

Sunday June 24 is National Praline Day, but any day is a good day to devour these sweet treats.

At Beck's Cajun Cafe in Reading Terminal Market, Chef Bill likes to cook up a batch around the major holidays and Feast Days.

Believe it.

Beck's Pralines taste and smell just as good as they look in food photographer Albert Yee's gourmet photographs :)

Bill is a devotee of the famous New Orleans chef, John Besh so we're sharing Besh's easy cook recipe here.  (Note: this recipe appeared on Elle Decor's website.)





Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 cups pecan pieces
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions

Set 3 sheets of waxed paper on a work surface and brush with the oil.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugars, half-and-half and butter and heat, without stirring, over medium heat to 235˚F on a candy thermometer, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Stir in the pecans and vanilla. Working quickly, before the mixture hardens, drop by heaping tablespoon onto the oiled wax paper. Allow pralines to cool until completely set, about 30 minutes. (If the pralines flatten too much when you drop them, give the mixture 4 to 5 vigorous stirs with a wooden spoon to thicken.) Makes about 50 pralines.

Grilled Scallops with Watermelon Salsa

Perfect summer dinner:  Grilled scallops with watermelon salsa, sauteed kale, and caramelized tomato-onion quinoa (more on that in upcoming post)-- and of course when it comes to food and me, there's always a story.

My teen daughter,  Kelsey, a budding gourmet and food critic herself, takes a strong interest in menu planning when her dad travels for business.  And if you know anything about teen girls, you know that their desire to share time in a pleasant, bonhomous way with parents is minuscule.    If she wants to hang with me over Ossetra and truffles,  I'm likely to give it a shot.  She and I dine on the dishes she dreams up (yes, I do the procurement and execution) while her far less adventurous brother scarfs hamburgers.  Dad, poor chap, is stuck hearing about these feasts while he roughs it in airport hotels.

Last month, when Dad spent 3 days in Birmingham, AL taking depositions, we had filet with port wine reduction and buttermilk mashed potatoes one night;  the following saw Panko crusted Cajun crab cakes with cilantro slaw...Last night, poor Dad was stuck in transit between here and the west coast while we enjoyed the repast pictured above.  When he asked me about the evening after finally arriving in the wee hours of the morning due to 3 hours of flight delays, he chafed a bit:  "Why is it that I leave and you make these magazine spread dinners, and when I get home it's omelets all around?!".   Well, he has a point.  But in my defense, the omelets are really good.

Anyway, Kelsey planned the menu's side dishes around a Glamour mag article that suggested 5 Foods that everyone should start eating for optimal health, and she asked for grilled scallops with watermelon salsa to accompany the kale and quinoa.  Here's what I did:

Watermelon Salsa

1 1/2 cups cubed watermelon
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 scallions, sliced, green and white parts
1/2 tsp finely minced hot pepper (adjust for taste--peppers vary widely in 'heat')
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lime

Mix all ingredients in glass bowl and let sit one hour to blend flavors.

Scallops

6 large dry scallops
juice of 1/2 lime
salt & pepper

Place scallops on plate, squeeze lime over and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Marinate for about 30 mins.  Oil grill, heat to high, and place scallops on grill.  Cover 1 minute.  Rotate the scallops 90 degrees on the grill (to get the cross-grill marks), cover and cook another minute.  Flip the scallops and repeat this rotation process on other side.  Total cooking time 4-6 minutes, do not overcook.  Remove from grill, plate, and serve with salsa.

Enjoy!

Poached Rhubarb and Vanilla Shortbread

Strawbs and Rhubarb - A Marriage Made in Heaven

We're spoiled for choice at the moment - with all the fresh summer produce appearing at markets everywhere.  I spied (and hurriedly grabbed an armful of) fresh rhubarb at my local farmers' market at the Jersey shore and conjured up a rapturous dessert - poached rhubarb and vanilla shortbread.

This tantalizing dessert combines the very sweet with the slightly sour; if you prefer to take the edge off the rhubarb, then you can always throw a generous pile of fresh strawberries into the rhubarb compote.

Rhubarb polarizes people, but my kids grew up on a traditional British dessert - stewed rhubarb and hot custard (Poached sounds posher than stewed, which explains why I used it in my title).  My family is therefore rather fond of this ruby fruit.

Kitchen goddess Nigella Lawson suggests serving poached rhubarb with her vanilla shortbread.  It takes about 25 minutes including cooking time to rustle up her recipe, which is perfect for this time of the year when you'd rather be outside than in.

I must confess this recipe comes from a British cookbook, Nigella Lawson's Forever Summer  And in terms of using non U.S. cookbooks, I've learned my lesson the hard way..through multiple baking mix-ups: I now know that it's not just a case of converting metric measures to Imperial (that never seems to work!)  Instead, I find that if you stick with the same ratio of ingredients then the recipe works out fine.

Hence, this is how I interpreted her recipe:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups of softened unsalted butter
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
sugar for sprinkling (I used my pantry supply of vanilla sugar!)

For full cooking instructions, see  Nigella Lawson: Forever Summer  

Note: I always have vanilla sugar hanging around in the fridge,  I think this is a transformational addition to many baked goods.  It lends a subtle vanilla nuance to desserts.

And this is how my vanilla shortbread turned out.  A big hit!  To serve this dessert, pile the rhubarb compote into individual decorative bowls and pass around the plate of shortbread.

How to Bake Red Velvet Cupcakes (with a surprising topping)

Tangy Raspberry Cream Cheese and Mascarpone Topping

For some reason, Red Velvet Cake is my son's favorite type of cake.  I don't get it.  I like fluffy light cakes, whereas red velvet seems moist, dense and errrr kinda springy.  But it's his birthday next month and I wanted to test out a recipe for red velvet cupcakes before the big day so that's how I wound up writing today's post.

To top that, I was hankering to try out a old fashioned syrup I bought months ago from the Pennsylvania General Store.  It is called Raspberry Shrub and I must confess I bought it because of its oddball name.  Raspberry Shrub is the old fashioned name for Raspberry Vinegar and is probably better known as the drink, also called Raspberry Shrub.  Bon Appetit ran the recipe for this summery drink recently and suggested switching out the sparkling water for Prosecco for special occasions.  

Raspberry Shrub

I was in the mood to mess around in the kitchen so whilst I followed a tried and tested recipe for the red velvet cupcakes (Paula Deen's recipe on the Food Network website) I decided to experiment with the icing.

I adore the combination of whipped cream cheese, mascarpone and powdered sugar in lieu of buttercream icing on cupcakes (I find buttercream too dense and the buttery taste is a little overpowering...) so as usual I started to improvise.

Raspberry Mascarpone Cream Cheese Icing
1 x 8oz tub of mascarpone cheese
4oz of whipped cream cheese (this is much easier to work with)
3 heaped tbsps of powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup of raspberry shrub (taste as you go along to decide how sharp you like the icing)
Fresh raspberries to decorate

Directions:  Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat on a medium speed until well blended.   Ice completely cooled cupcakes, and refrigerate them until ready to eat.   Set them out at room temperature for 30 minutes before you plan to consume them!

NB:  Again my son and I had a major disagreement about how sweet the cupcake topping needed to be.  I like the tart tangy-ness of the cream cheese; he prefers pretty sweet things.  So we compromised.  I added extra powdered sugar to his icing and even dusted the top of the cakes with additional sugar to be on the safe side. 

I kept mine pristine.  My cupcakes have a subtle bite.

Raspberries are at their best right now.  This raspberry icing does them justice too.

Spring in Talula's Garden

We had the good fortune to dine at one of our favorites last week--Talula's is firmly embracing spring and the gastronomic bounty that it offers....


The fresh pea--goat butter ravioli topped with pea shoots was a lovely start...

Ditto the gnocchi, which was seared to a crisp, laden with buffalo Taleggio and topped with baby spinach.

Our mains were equally delectable:

Halibut "Rockefeller"--with sherry bacon vinaigrette, spinach, new potatoes, nettles and chives;

Hanger Steak with candied onions, pureed potatoes and marrow bordelaise;

Farro Risotto with ramps, peas, baby carrots, garden herbs and walnuts;

and the Florida Pink Snapper with warm lettuces, grapefruit, and fingerling potatoes.

Being fans of stinky cheese, we opted for the wonderful assortment called "Bring on the Funk", which was enjoyed by all.    We followed that with the irresistible  sweet ricotta filled donuts with apricot dipping sauce, and the bacon s'mores, which were a lot better than they sound.

So the love affair with Talula's continues.