On Monday it was all about shellfish. We learned how to shuck oysters and clean mussels and above is a photo of me slaying a live lobster. We made paella, an incredibly delicious mussel appetizer, scallop salad, oysters and shrimp and scallops en papillote. I love shellfish, so this was one of my favorite days in cooking school. I have included the mussel appetizer recipe because it is so simple and so delicious.

Moules Farcies

36 mussels

2 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 TBS shallots

1/3 cup red peppers, brunoise

2 TBS finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 1/2 TBS Pernod

salt and pepper

6 TBS butter

lemons cut into wedges for garnish

Preheat broiler

Scrub the mussels, remove the beard, place them in a large pot, cover and steam over high heat, shaking the pot from time to time until they are just opened. Remove the mussels from their shells, discard one of the shells from each mussels and place the shells on a sheet pan.

Saute the bacon until crisp, remove, drain on paper towels, and crumble. In the same pan, saute the shallots in the bacon fat until soft. Sweat the red pepper and add the parsley, breadcrumbs, half of the cheese, salt, pepper, Pernod, and half of the crumbled bacon. Mix well. Place one mussels in each shell and cover with one heaping tsp of the breadcrumb mixture. Sprinkle the mussels with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Melt the butter and drizzle a little on each. Brown the mussels under the broiler. Serve with lemon wedges.

this recipe is from Roberta L. Dowling’s collection

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 Here are some of the other dishes that we made….

 Paella

Oysters with Watercress Puree and Buerre Blanc Sabayon Vanel

Garlic Clam Pizza with Thyme

Scallop and Orange Salad

And moving on to Wednesday, the baking class this week was all about cakes. Here goes….

Spice Cake with Mocha Buttercream and Caramelized Pecans

Raspberry Crown

This is the cake that I made. I wish I had taken a photo of the pile of dishes that these cakes produced. My cake alone required five separate mixing bowls. This is ladyfingers around the outside and layers of separated sponge cake inside with a raspberry mouse filling. Here’s the inside….

While this is the natural color of raspberries pureed with whipped cream folded in, I am not sure that I like the intensity of this pink. I might be tempted to do this with a chocolate mousse instead.

Citrus Kiss

This is a Genoise with orange flavored buttercream decorated with candied citrus rinds. Really delicious and just screams “health food“- doesn’t it?

Madeleines

New cooking friend Katherine made these. She has a real talent for decorating. I thought these looked terrific.

Walnut Roulade

All in all, an incredible messy, but delicious day in baking. Phew…. I am happy to share recipes with anyone who is interested. Next week….CHOCOLATE CAKES!!!!

Bon Appetit,

Robin

It’s not too late to be part of this really great event to benefit Beverly Bootstrap’s Community Services. Get your tickets now because the contest is tomorrow night at Danversport Yacht Club. A wonderful event for a great cause.

Three local chefs have shopped at Beverly Bootstraps’s Food Pantry and will compete for the title of “Best Chef”. There will be a cocktail competition and delicious food will be provided by local restaurants, caterers, bakers and gourmet markets. Two local brewers will be doing beer tastings and our Master of Ceremonies will be Dave Andelman from Phantom Gourmet.

Please come out to fight hunger and help those in need in our community.

Here is the link to buy tickets..http://www.beverlybootstraps.org

Hope to see you there,

Robin

Lemon Curd Filled Doughnuts with Confectioner’s Sugar!

Since the price of gas is going through the roof, and I am going to cooking school, I thought would give doughnuts a try. Our family will drive a long way for a good doughnut and as a result, we find ourselves at Russell Orchards a lot in the summer and fall. They make wonderful apple cider doughnuts.

As you probably know, doughnuts are made from a yeast dough. Let’s check and see if my dough doubled……

hmm…yes it did.

This project kept me very busy for about four hours. If I were to do it again, I think I would spend more time on the fillings and toppings. Below are my vanilla cream filled doughnuts with chocolate frosting and above, lemon curd filled with confectioner’s sugar on top. I know!

Vanilla Cream Filled, Chocolate Frosted Doughnuts

Making doughnuts is a lot fun but a lot of hard work. I sure hope gas prices go down soon!

By the end of the day, this is how the table at Cambridge School for Culinary Arts looked with everyone’s rich dough breads displayed. What do you think?

Today I am eating a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette!

Bon Appetit,

Robin

Photo borrowed from Casa B’s Facebook page

Friday night Lauren I went to Casa B which is a new restaurant in Union Square in Somerville. Casa B specializes in Spanish/Caribbean small plates. The food is fantastic! We LOVE this spot. Opened two months ago by Alberto Cabre and Angelina Jockovich,            Casa B is an intimate space that balances a fresh, clean, modern design with a warm and inviting atmosphere. It is clear that this couple has poured their heart and soul into the menu and their restaurant design (they both have an architectural design background) – the result is terrific! The tables are all white and one wall is planted with living plants. The silverware is tiny because almost everything is meant to be eaten with your hands.

Here’s a little of what we ordered.

The Crispy Avocado Rolls with prune and cilantro dipping sauce.

The Wild Mushroom Saute with White Sweet Potato

Eggplant and Caramelized Onions

 For dessert we tried the Warm Falling Down Chocolate cake filled with semi sweet 60% dark Taza chocolate, vanilla ice cream and coconut shavings. What a cute presentation…

All in all, a great new restaurant;  interesting small bites, reasonably priced, fantastic service and a fun atmosphere!

Bon Appetit,

Robin and Lauren

Clover Headquaters on Holyoke Street in Cambridge

Yesterday afternoon Lauren and I met in Cambridge. We had planned on dinner at Casa B in Somerville but we had a little time to kill and thought we would walk around Harvard Square. We were on our way to check out some shops, when we looked up and saw the sign… “Clover” hmm , the food truck, Clover. Their restaurant is on Holyoke Street in Cambridge. It was starting to rain so we headed in. Their restaurant space is really cool. A very clean, modern loft space with fun young people serving up delicious falafel, soups, tea and more. If you want to feel young and hip, this is the place for you. Check out their website because they also have interesting events. Last week they had a “Meet the Farmers Night”;  some of their CSA farmers came in to meet anyone interested in signing up for next summer’s CSA shares. In March they are holding an event called “Food Trucks 102″. They have invited some of the people behind the most popular food trucks in Boston to come and talk about the ingredients for a successful food truck. Here’s the link to their site… www.cloverfoodlab.com.

Pouring the tea at Clover

We had tea and shared a chick pea falafel. I think I could eat this for dinner every night. I am definitely going to learn how to make falafel asap.

Here’s the falafel…

Next stop, Casa B in Somerville….

Bon Appetit,

Robin and Lauren

This week at the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts we worked on Moist Heat Cookery on Monday, Butchery (read chicken parts everywhere) on Tuesday night and Lean Doughs on Wednesday. The photo above is from a few weeks ago, but the pizza dough is a lean dough, so I thought I would throw it in for your entertainment.

Moist heat cookery includes braising, steaming and poaching and our focus this week was on meat. I was lucky enough to get to make the Veal Blanquette with two other students. This is a delicious creamy stew with mushrooms and small white onions. This recipe takes some time, but the end result is worth it.

This is Roberta Dowling’s recipe for Veal Blanquette…

Blanquette De Veal

1 oz dried morel mushrooms

3 lbs boneless shoulder of veal, cut into 2 inch cubes

1 medium onion, studded with two cloves

1 large carrot, quartered

2 leeks, white and tender parts only, halved and rinsed well

1 medium turnip, cut in half

1 bouquet garni

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp thyme

24 small white boiling onions (about 1 inch in diameter), peeled

1/2 lb. cultivated mushrooms, wiped clean, left whole if small or quartered

3 TBS all-purpose flour

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. lemon juice

chopped parsley for garnish

In a small bowl, soak the mushrooms in hot water until softened, approx. 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, squeeze dry and reserve. Stain the liquid through a double thickness of cheesecloth and set aside.

Place the veal in a large casserole, cover with cold water, and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat, skimming the scum frequently; do not let boil. Add the morel liquid, onion, carrot, leek, turnip, bouquet garni, salt, pepper and thyme. Reduce heat and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Add the white onions and simmer an additional 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the veal and onions comes out without any resistance. With a slotted spoon, remove the veal and white onions. Strain the stock and discard the vegetables. With a fine sieve or chinoise, strain the stock back into the casserole. Add the cultivated mushrooms and cook briskly for 5 minutes. Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reduce the liquid to about 3 cups, about 10 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook the roux for 1 minute. Add 2 1/2 cups of the reserved stock and bring to a boil, whisking constantly until thickened and smooth. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce, skimming the scum from time to time until it is the consistency of heavy cream, 5 – 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small pan, reduce the remaining 1/2 cup of veal stock over high heat to 1 – 2 TBS. Add to the sauce.

In a small bowl, blend the egg yolks and cream. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of the hot sauce to temper the mixture. Return the mixture to the heat and bring it to just before a simmer, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil.Combine the veal, onions, morels, and cultivated mushrooms with the sauce. Correct the seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice and serve garnished with chopped parsley.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

On Tuesday night we had a butchering seminar that focused on chickens. It was pretty gross. I wonder what the current hip word would be to describe chicken guts? This week is beef and the next week is fish- aghhhh!

Wednesday, we worked on lean doughs which was really fun. I am going to do a separate post on bread because I have lots of photos.

Bon Appetit!

Robin

This week in baking class we made croissants and danishes. Oh my God!!! Unlike some of the other pastries we have been working on, croissant and pastry dough is pretty forgiving. It is, however, time consuming; you will need a few hours at least. The dough needs to be turned six times and after every two turns, it needs to be chilled for at least 30 minutes. This is a great recipe for a stormy winter weekend when you are at home for all or part of the day. You need a little fresh yeast, but everything else is already in your cupboard. Below is the croissant recipe. If you make the dough and put it in the fridge to use the next day, your croissants will be even more delicious.

Croissants De Patissier

From The Making of a Cook, by Madeleine Kamman

STARTER

3/4 cup flour

1 TBS yeast

5-6 TBS warm water

2 TBS sugar

DOUGH

1  3/4 cups flour

2/3 cups whole milk, warmed

1  1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

Egg yolk glaze

To make starter, mix 3/4 cup flour, yeast, water, and sugar in bowl to form a soft ball (mixture will be rough). Add a little more water if necessary to keep the dough together. Place starter in a larger bowl of warm water (approx 110 degrees); when the dough rises to the surface, the yeast has been activated and it is ready to use.

Make the bulk of the bread by mixing 1 cup of flour, milk and salt. Blend in the starter and remaining cup of flour as needed.

Crash the dough on the counter about 30 times. This is really fun; basically you are throwing the dough onto the counter with some umph ( this is good for stress reduction) until the dough does not stick to your hands or the counter top. Dough should be smooth and soft. Flatten to 8″ by 1/3″ square and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, work the butter with your hands or a pastry scrapper to make it soft enough that you can shape it into a 5″X 5″  by 1″ thick square.

Once chilled, put dough on counter, place butter caddy-corner on top of the dough and fold the dough over the butter to make a package. Seal the seams by pinching see diagram below).

Turn the dough six times chilling for 30 mins after every two turns. To turn, roll dough into a rectangle and fold bottom third over middle third, then top third is folded down soit  looks like a book. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat for the second turn. See above…

Finished dough should be chilled for 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll dough into a rectangle approximately 16 inches long by 10 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. If dough seems soft, chill before cutting.

Cut dough in half lengthwise and then into triangles and roll into croissants. Alternatively, cut dough into rectangles and fill with desired filling. Fold dough to make rectangular pouch and seal by pressing down on edges with fork tines or with your fingers.

Let rise until triple in bulk. Gently brush with egg glaze. Bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes).

Egg Yolk Glaze

Mix together 1 egg yolk plus 1 TBS whole milk.

Suggested Fillings

Thinly sliced ham

Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Chopped Spinach and Cheddar or Feta cheese

Shaved Chocolate or chocolate batons

Almond paste

Sauteed vegetables (onions, mushrooms, broccoli, cheese)

If you have time to make these croissants, there is a really great reward at the end! I don’t know if there is anything better! Well, unless you make the danishes and then I am not sure which is more delicious. Here is a photo of some of the danishes that we made…

That’s all for now.

Bon Appetit,

Robin

Sorry I have been a little out of touch, or maybe that’s a blessing for all of you. For better or for worse, I am back.

So… I started thinking about going to cooking school a little while ago and one thing led to another and classes started a couple of weeks ago. I am going to The Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. We meet two full days and one evening a week. It is challenging for me on many levels. Here’s a short list of some of the challenges…

It is dark when I leave in the morning.

There is very little parking in Cambridge, so I am driving to Alewife Station and then taking the T to Porter Square and then hauling all my knives and stuff (in my cool chef wanna-be outfit) a few blocks to the school. It takes a couple of hours to get there.

Once there, there is a lecture and demonstration and then we are let loose in their kitchen to carry out a recipe from that weeks lesson.

It’s a little terrifying for me since the breath and depth of what I don’t know about cooking is nothing less than astounding.

At the end of the day, I have to haul all my knives and books ( in my cool wanna-be chef outfit) back onto the T and then into the rush hour traffic. Once, I forgot to zip up my knife kit and my big chef knife fell to the floor of the subway. Oopps. I can’t believe no one called 911. Obviously I am dangerous with that thing.

Nonetheless, I soldier on. One of the first topics is Eggs. I have read through all the recipes and decide that I should try something that will be really challenging for me. I pick “Roberta’s Eggs” (Roberta is the founder of the program). There are four parts to this recipe; on the bottom, steamed artichoke hearts, next a sautéed spinach with cream, then poached eggs topped with a Hollandaise sauce. Here’s what I didn’t know how to do…

1. trim the artichoke hearts

2. poach eggs

3. make a Hollandaise sauce,

Okay, so this should be easy. Can’t wait for the critique! Thankfully, the chef is very supportive and so are her assistants, so it all worked out okay. Here’s my creation for that day done one with a fair amount of help.

On another day we made Souffles. I picked the Souffle Grand Marnier which was an excellent choice because by some miracle it came out of the oven looking pretty darn good. Actually, it was probably not so much a miracle as being given a lot of very helpful instruction. This is light, sweet and boozy – delicious.

Here are my Cream Puffs filled with Caponata. I learned that Caponata is a savory mixture of fried eggplant and celery, sautéed onions, capers, tomatoes and olives. These are delicious and everyone was really happy to see them because we were up to our eyeballs in eclairs and cream puffs that day.

This week in the baking class, I made this Apple Tart Tatin. In a large enamel saucepan,  you make Carmel, allow it to cool for a couple of minutes and then arrange apples in concentric circles adding melted butter and sugar as you go. You cover the pan with Pate  Brisee (short pastry) and bake for about a half an hour. Pull it out of the oven and in one quick flip, land it upside down on a serving dish! Voila!!

Coming up this week will be Soups and Stocks on Monday and Puff Pastry on Wednesday with a terrifying second lecture on restaurant health and sanitation practices on Tuesday night. Oh no.

     Beverly Bootstraps’ Best Chef

I hope youcan make it to The 3rd Annual Beverly Bootstraps’ Best Chef event on March 5th! This year will be even bigger and better than the last two. The competition will be held at the Danversport Yacht Club with MC  Dave Andelman from The Phantom Gourmet. Four area chefs will compete for the Best Chef title using the ingredients that they have gathered from Beverly Bootstraps’ Food Pantry. In addition we will have “A Taste of the North Shore” featuring a dozen area restaurants, caterers and bakers who will offer delicious food for the crowd. This year we will also have beer and wine tastings. It is a fun evening for a very good cause. You can buy tickets online at the Beverly Bootstraps website www.beverlybootstraps.org. Hope to see you there on March 5th!

Bon Appetit,

Robin

Last night I met Lauren at Bistro du Midi on Boylston Street across from the Public Garden.  Perfect at this time of year; the cozy upstairs dining room is decorated in warm colors, there is a fire blazing in the fireplace and a wonderful view of the Boston Public Garden. The menu is full of fabulous modern French provincial cuisine. Talented executive chef Robert Sisca describes his style as “simple food done beautifully”. Check out the menu at http://bistrodumidi.com.

Lots of colleges in the Northeast have something called the “Jan plan” where you take an extra course in January. My “Jan Plan” is just the opposite – you share the main course! Luckily, Lauren is okay with this. We each had an appetizer – the olive and eggplant dip, green olive tapenade, crostini and the seared prawns, ragout of shrimp and fregola sarda with smoked paprika emulsion. Both were delicious.

                                           Olive and Eggplant dip, Green Olive Tapenade, Crostini

Seared Prawns, Ragout of Shrimp and Fregola Sarda with Smoked Paprika Emulsion

For our entree we decided on the coral infused chitarra pasta, Maine lobster, sea beans and lobster jus. This is fantastic and we would both order it again sometime except there are so many other delicious dishes on the menu!

Coral Infused Chitarra Pasta, Maine Lobster, Sea Beans and Lobster Jus

The dessert menu looks fantastic with a chocolate souffle, a Grand Marnier souffle and  beignets with chocolate sauce among the many choices!!

Not sure why it has taken us so long to get to Bistro du Midi, but this is a really wonderful bistro in a great location. It’s expensive, but there is a lot of flexibility in the menu.  The service was fantastic and our waitress did a really nice job of dealing with my “Jan plan”. Can’t wait to go back!

Bon Appetit,

Robin and Lauren

The Organic Garden Cafe is the place to go if you want to clean up your act after the big turkey gorge! Everything is 100% vegan which means no dairy and no animal products whatsoever.

” We place emphasis on the purity of each recipe and operation. Meals contain no cholesterol or unhealthy fats. Food is high in assimilable proteins and essential fatty acids found in the nuts, seeds, greens, veggies and sprouts we use. Our salt is hand harvested, low in sodium, mineral rich and good for the body….We use no artificial or processed ingredients of any kind. Our wine and beer are also organic.” The Organic Garden Cafe

I had the Black Bean Bowl which is very tasty and completely guilt free. Spinach, brown rice, black beans, avocado, carrot, and scallion with curry and lemon tahini! All of their dishes are thoughtfully designed to taste delicious and maximize nutrition. Thanks Organic Garden Cafe, I needed that!

Above is the Corn Chowder. It’s done with an almonds base and  is really delicious.

Here’s the chili..tons of fresh veggies, light and healthy!

Lauren has been thinking about vegan/vegetarian options for a long time and is much more aware than I am. I grew up with soup in a can and TV dinners – we were really impressed by the convenience of these innovations. Then in the 80s and 90s we became obsessed with the luxury of having food from all over the planet shipped to our neighborhood market  I have a lot of respect for those who put the environment first and for those who stick to their super healthy diet. It’s great to have this ultra healthy spot in our area! I’m inspired to try harder, leave a smaller footprint, and think more about the future of our planet.

The Organic Garden Cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Check out their website at The Organic Garden Cafe!

Bon Appetit,

Robin and Lauren