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Saturday, November 3rd 2007
I want tell you about the wonderful class we had today. This was menu:
- White Bean and Chic Pea Puree
- Ginger Beef, with a snow pea garnish
- Two Grain Rice Piaf
- Fall Vegetarian Stew
- 4 ingredient salad with lemon sherry vinaigrette
- Ginger Cake with Brown Sugar Icing
- Apple Sauce
- Crème Chantilly
It was a cool and rainy day. Perfect for being inside and cooking.
I had done my usual shopping, the day before class, going in and out of 10 or more food shops searching for the best ingredients.
and so on. Just before class I went to an open air market on west 66th Street and bought from my favorite lady Yuna - local organic butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, cilantro, cauliflower. Just harvested!
Such a special time of the year when you can cook vegetables that go from the field to the pan to the mouth. A time of the year that is fast ending... perhaps another 2-3 weeks.
Knowing that everyone would be starving we first made the white bean and chic pea puree and served it on organic, whole wheat bread from Sullivan Street Bread Bakery. This spread has become a staple of my life. I have high cholesterol and I use it instead of butter. It lowers the cholesterol and so it is good for your heart and your blood. Beans also provide iron, and protein. The bean puree is great to have in your frig when you arrive home and are starving and dinner is at least a half hour away from being ready. It lasts 5 days in the frig. The only catch is you have to soak the beans over night, while you sleep 8 hours peacefully. Takes some advance planning but well worth it! I like to heat up the bread by first slicing it and then I pile all the slices on top of each other and put them on a cookie sheet or an all metal pan (i.e. not a pan with wood or plastic handles). I put the bread in a pre heated 350 degree oven for about 7 minutes. That way it is heated but like toast.
Then we put on the rice as it takes a full hour to cook. We sauteed shallots, celery and carrots in olive oil, then added turmeric, cayenne and salt, and slowly sauteed the mixture for 3-4 minutes. The flavor in the spices are brought out to a higher intensity by this procedure. All the while we had an organic chicken stock I had made simmering with the addition of a pinch of saffron. We washed the organic brown sweet rice, drained it and added to the sauteed vegetables, then added the heated stock to the pot, covered, and cooked it for 18 minutes, then added the basmati white rice and cooked it an additional 20 minutes. Off heat and let the rice relax 15 or more minutes and you have a divine rice pilaf that can be served hot or room temperature and lasts a week in the refrigerator. It goes with just about any dinner as a great healthy, tasty side dish. Turmeric has been given credit for preventing all kinds of diseases and cayenne is a healthy spice too. Use it sparingly. Just a pinch per recipe unless you like your food very spicy then 2 or 3 pinches. If you are lucky you will achieve a brown rice crust on the bottom of the pan. It is the combination of the use of saffron and turmeric that makes this possible. You must steep the saffron in the hot stock, don’t skip this step. If you don’t have time to make your own stock, my favorite store bought stock is Perfect Addition which is sold frozen, nationally.
Next we made the fall stew, composed of diced local organic vegetables; leeks, butternut squash, turnips, and cauliflower. The seasoning was just salt, pepper, fresh thyme and olive oil. It takes about 30 minutes to cook. You can be doing other things in the kitchen while the stew is simmering. For this dish put yourself on a stirring budget. The less you stir the better as you want to keep the shape of all the vegetables. This dish can be made in advance and re-heated. Leftovers last a few days, stored in the refrigerator. This dish is packed with flavor and vitamins!
Then we made the salad. I like to wash salad like this: submerge, lift, spin, dry, wrap. I fill a bowl with water. Submerge the lettuce, then lift it out. Rinse out the bowl as it will have sand in it and fill it up again. Do this until the water is clear. Then spin it dry, and wrap it a dish towel. I love the all cotton flour sack towels. They sell them at Williams Sonoma and Gracious Homes and other hardware stores. Place the wrapped lettuce in the frig for 1-2 hours, or longer. Then cut the lettuce in thin or thick strips as you wish.
We tossed romaine, escarole, diced avocado, and diced red onion with a simple but delicious dressing made up of lemon juice, aged sherry vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.
The ginger beef was the piece de resistance! We used prime fillet mignon. It is a Classic Chinese Dish which I have updated and upgraded. We sliced the fillet 3/8 of an inch thick - just shy of a ½ inch. Marinated it in arrow root (which you can buy in any supermarket), a small amount of sugar and soy. We stir fried it quickly, just one pound at time, then added ginger and scallions and a simple seasoning sauce composed of soy sherry and arrow root.
We made three separate recipes. A student asked, "how come we can’t just put all 3 pounds in the wok at once?" For Chinese cooking, only one pound at a time. We want the meat to sear on both sides without over cooking. If we added more than one pound at a time it would stew instead of fry.
We went over all the tips for successful stir frying:
- Buy a rolled steel wok, the old fashion kind. I like the kind with a flat bottom. You can purchase it from www.bridgekitchenware.com
- Heat the wok for 2-3 minutes before you add the oil so the food will not stick.
- The Chant! Hold with the left and stir with the right. You hold the wood handle with the left hand and the spatula with right hand.
- Have all the ingredients in one spot close to where you are stir frying. Being organized is key for success.
- If the door bell rings when you are at the stove, forget about it. Have someone else answer. If you are all alone, put a note on the door, I can’t answer the door, I am stir-frying.
If you want to use an inexpensive cut of meat for ginger beef, such as flank steak, or skirt steak, that is fine and it will be delicious. Just marinate 6 to 12 hours in advance.
Everyone enjoyed the freshly made ginger cake with home made apple sauce accompanied by organic whipped cream. Inspired by the class, all the students said they couldn’t wait to reproduce the meal. I suggested one new recipe a week.
Now I am off to the markets again in search of more wonderful ingredients for my next class. Hope to see you soon!
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