The Weekend That Was...aka Great Eats in DC

Just got back from a fun-filled (and food-filled) weekend @ my sister's in the DC area. Celebrated my Dad's 65th and my son's 7th birthdays with the whole fandamily! And anytime we get together...you can bet the food and wine is plentiful!

My brother-in-law subscribes to a "Go Big or Go Home" philosophy, and I am more than happy to partake and partner up. Here is a sampling...

Friday night: Italian Buffet. Veggie lasagna and two different homemade pizzas. One with roasted tomatoes; one with prosciutto. Both were fresh and tasty, and done on the grill, which really made a difference, especially in the crust. I do not have a pizza stone, but these pizzas vaulted it to the top of my list of kitchen gadgets to get. The pizzas took less time to bake than in the oven, and the crusts were an ideal combo of crispy and pliant... Larry has an extensively impressive wine collection, and he is more than generous in his sharing and sampling. After all, that's what drinking wine is all about, right?? We started with a spicy Demuth Kemos Syrah and moved onto a cultish Cab from Harlan known as The Maiden... both were impeccable...

Saturday night: Surf & Turf. Larry and I ventured to a "locals only" DC-based fish market, at a marina off the Potomac River and right near the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. One look at this market and you can tell it was legit. It was one of the more impressive and bountiful markets I've visited. Right off the boats. Eat it there in the parking lot, fresh or fried. Or take it home in plastic bags, still squirming and/or snapping. Captain White's Seafood City boasts the Chesapeake Bay's Finest catches, and who am I argue?! The place was teeming with live lobsters, shrimp, and all varieties of crab, the most impressive of which are the blue crab by the bushel. We chose five lobsters, along with some fresh, jumbo lump crab meat, and were on our way...

Larry already had a beef tenderloin marinating, and some pineapple salsa prepped for the lobster. When we got back, we cleaved our crustaceans down the middle, removed the tails and claws, stuffed the tails with butter and lemon, and placed them all on the grill. The rest of the lobsters -- shells, innards, etc. -- went into a vat to make a lobster stock for later use. Credit to my brother-in-law for his outstanding economical and efficient use of all the parts!! That's some classic chef training stuff right there!

The third and final component to this smorgasbord feast was a mushroom truffle risotto. While I was merely a prep cook/sous chef for the former entrees, this latter part was where I earned my stripes in Larry's kitchen. I was in charge of babysitting the arborio rice, as it slowly cooked amongst the sauteed mushrooms and chicken broth. After a long while of gentle stirring, we added a dose of white truffle oil, and that just took the taste over the top, not to mention aided in softening up with texture and consistency to get it where it needed to be. And when it was just about right...we finished it off with a healthy portion of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The difference between this type of cheese and straight Parmesan cheese is where the cheese is crafted. P-R is made under strict guidelines in certain provinces of Italy (Parma, Reggio-Emilia, Modena). Parm imitates it, without having the former's pedigree, per se. I have never claimed to have an experienced palette, but I can assure you there is a difference, and it is worth the extra few $$$ to splurge for the real deal!

Everything was primo. The food. The wine. And especially the family!

Best of the Best (of the Best) has begun...

In a recent post on this blog, I committed myself to preparing the dozen or so recipes I earmarked in a new cook book I received, the "Best of the Best Cook Book Recipes" from Food & Wine. Not exactly the Herculean -- or should I say, Julie Powell-ian task -- of working my way through Julia Child's seminal recipe tome (as depicted in "Juile & Julia"), but an undertaking nonetheless.
My first step in this abridged adventure was courtesy of Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman's "Urban Italian." I picked a pasta dish thinking it would be a somewhat simple place to start. Rigatoni Pugliese. And while I was not entirely incorrect (the rigatoni part was a breeze!), the sauce was going to be maiden voyage for me into uncharted culinary waters: making a sauce from scratch.
This one turns out to be a sauce-within-a-sauce, because the it features Carmellini's Basic Tomato Sauce, which is the base for so many of his dishes, as it's main component.
So really, there are two recipes to share here. Let's start with the Basic Tomato Sauce:

1. 2 1/2 (I used 3) 35 oz. cans of good quality Italian canned tomatoes (Andrew recommends San Marazano; I used Cento). Squeeze out the seeds and juice and discard. (* NOTE: this was tricky for me: I didn't know if I was losing too much of the good stuff inside, but Carmellini explains that it's crucial to get the sauce to the right consistency)
2. Top tomatoes chunks with a generous amount of kosher or sea salt (about a heaping tsp) to draw out any excess moisture.
3. Cook down the tomatoes over medium heat in a pan or pot with a wide surface area for about 30 minutes. Ladle out any excess water. Smash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon during cooking to smooth out.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat 1 1/4 c EVOO with a head of garlic (top cut off to expose the cloves), 1 tsp crushed red pepper, and 1 c washed basil leaves (stems on) over medium heat to a simmer. Remove and reserve as soon as you hear the basil start to "crackle."
5. After the tomatoes have reduced by about 1/2, strain the flavored oil in and stir to combine. Cook for about another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and mix it up a bit at the end to help emulsify. (* NOTE: I never got mine to completely emulsify. It looked very oily to me, but don't worry: it still comes together in the end)

I prepped this in advance of the rest of the dish, because the rest is fairly quick and simple:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Blanch 1 bunch of broccoli rabe (cleaned of outer leaves; stems trimmed) for about 90 seconds. Transfer to ice water bath.
3. Bring water back to a boil. Cook 1 lb. Rigatoni until al dente.
4. In a sautee pan, heat EVOO, broccoli rabe, 1/2 can of chick peas (save the liquid and other half!!), 1 clove of thin sliced garlic, and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Sautee until all ingredients are well coated.
5. Meanwhile, blend the liquid of the 15 oz. can of chick peas with remaining 1/2 can of chick peas, for about a minute, until it forms a smooth paste. Add to Basic Tomato Sauce and cook for about 15 minutes.
6. Add sauce to drained rigatoni back in pasta pot and cook for about a minute.
7. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tbsp butter, 2 tsp EVOO (* NOTE: I skipped this because the sauce had enough oil already), and 1/2 c grated pecorino cheese (*NOTE: I used parmigiana reggiano).
8. Transfer to a large serving dish or plate. Top with another 1/2 c grated cheese and the broccoli rabe mixture. Serve immediately.

The reviews were spectacular. There really is no substitue for homemade sauce. This recipe allows for extra sauce, so you can either add it to the dish, or save it for another recipe. Well worth the effort and time.

Our only critique was the bitterness of the broccoli rabe. Not sure if it was operator error, but it just seemed to work against the rest of the flavors in the dish. I also skipped a main ingredient in the sauce: spicy Italian sausage. If you choose to use it, all you have to do is brown 1 lb. of sausage (out of its casing) in a pan, breaking it up into small pieces, and adding it to the sauce before combining with the pasta. I'm sure it will only enhance the intensity of the flavors, and give it even more of authentic Italian taste, but I had to cater to the crowd, so to speak!

One recipe down...how many more to go??... to be continued...

Food & Wine... My Favorite Sites

Just got the new cookbook from the editors of Food & Wine Magazine, "Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes." It features recipes from the 25 best cookbooks of the year. A daunting task, indeed. Flay, Robuchon, Trotter, Tramonto, Batali... they're all represented. Even my chef friend Michelle Bernstein (if you find yourself in South Flordia, you must visit her at Michy's on Biscayne Blvd. in Miami).
I've already tabbed over a dozen of them, from easy yet inspired Italian dishes, to aspirational, classic ones.
My mission will be to prepare all of these sooner than later (I'm no Julie Powell: I have 3 kids, ages 6 and under!) and report back the results, as well as divulge the recipes themselves, so maybe you can try, too...

Also, I wanted to give you a list of some of my favorite foodie sites I like to frequent, starting with the most recent one I discovered (apologies if I'm late to the game on this!)...

www.chow.com
http://newyork.grubstreet.com
www.eatdrinkordie.com
www.foodbuzz.com
www.shefzilla.com
... and, of course, www.foodandwine.com

Random Thoughts

Had one of those "mark it down in the mental rolodex" days last Saturday: Completed my first triathlon that morning, and accomplished all 3 of my goals: 1) Don't drown, 2) Don't crash the bike, and 3) Don't look like a schmuck crossing the finish line ... a great thrill, made even better by having my family there for support...
The afternoon was topped off with my sweet Princess Lindsey's Princess Tea Party to celebrate her 4th b'day. She was in all her glory, and my wife outdid herself with everything from the invites to the decorations and everything in between...

John Hughes passing is the loss of the most influential cultural touchstone of my generation. I could recite The Breakfast Club verbatim at one point in my adolescence. That movie poster hung in my childhood bedroom, alongside the one declaring "Leisure Rules," from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes was funny, provocative, but most importantly, dead on in his depiction of every teenage paradigm we can all, in ways large and small, relate to... Most of us never heard of or will ever visit Shermer, Illinois...but damn if it didn't remind us of where we grew up...

I've now secured a spot as co-host of a Sunday, weekly sports talk show (thanks, Steve Kyler). Every time I think the sports side of my career is exiting stage left, or on extended vacation, at least, it seems something else pops up to keep the embers glowing in me...
Check out http://www.thegameradio.com/, if you care to...

Finished 5th overall in the Home Cooking Star online reality cooking series, and no sooner do I chalk it up to a fun, learning experience, than I see in my latest edition of Food & Wine touting its very own Home Cooking Super Star contest (www.foodandwine.com/superstar)!! So, here we go again...!