Chefzilla's Kitchen

I've got a salad. It's a pasta salad. It's an incredible pasta salad. It's a cold pasta salad with spinach and feta cheese, and it's maybe the best cold pasta salad you've ever eaten (well maybe next to the cold sesame noodle salad I call "Vicki's Noodles", found way back earlier on this blog.  In the meantime, this is the easiest salad I've ever made--I always make it when someone tells me to "bring a side dish," and every time I make it, the bowl comes home empty. I made it again on the Fourth of July for a family picnic we hosted (or should I say, my sweet A hosted--it was entirely her idea), and I swear I caught someone licking the bowl.  Try this one on if you're looking for something quick and sensational:

Ingredients:
     1 bag (8 oz.) baby spinach leaves or 1/2 pound good fresh spinach, stems removed
     1 lb. cheese tortellini
     8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
     1/4 cup dark balsamic vinegar
     1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (use the good stuff for this recipe)
     1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

Procedure:

     1.  Prepare the tortellini as directed on the package. Immediately submerse the cooked pasta in ice water and
          let it bathe at least a half hour. Drain the tortellini and let it sit in the colander until the pasta is really dry.
     2.  Wash and rinse the spinach copiously until ALL the sand is gone unless you've purchased fresh spinach from
          the Stoner's stand at Central Market. Their spinach is always clean and fresh.  (I still wash the spinach
          again, but for this recipe, I use a bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves, and I am thoroughly satisfied.
IMMEDIATELY BEFORE SERVING (I mean this!!!):
     3.  Place the tortellini and spinach in a very large bowl, add the crumbled feta cheese and toss well to mix.
     4.  Add the balsamic vinegar and black pepper and toss again to coat the salad.
     5.  Then add the olive oil and toss again, to coat everything beautifully.
     6.  Serve immediately, and then stand out of the way. You might get knocked down in the rush.

I've discovered here that the big fund raising thing in the summertime is barbecued chicken boxes.  Every fire company in the county has its "chicken barbecue" to raise money.  The weekends are full of them.  What you get, for about seven bucks, is a half chicken cooked over a fire; a half cob of oversteamed corn; a cup of "cole slaw," which around here, is cabbage chopped into tiny little pieces, a few pieces of shredded carrot mixed in, and then a huge amount of dressing made of vinegar, mayo and sugar are added, to make a cabbage soup; a dry, stale dinner roll; and a container of lemonade.  It's a Lancaster County tradition.  Maybe it's the same in other places, but they've seemed to raise it here to an art form.  The only thing is, it's terrible, almost inedible.  I'd just as soon give my local fire department the seven bucks and then go home and make the dinner myself.
Hey!  What a great idea!
To begin with, the idea here is that there is no barbecue sauce to be found, just grilled chicken over good wood, after soaking for several hours in a wonderful, surprising, and simple marinade; a really tasty classic cole slaw, fresh local corn, and some home-made lemonade.  Skip the roll, unless you want to find some really nice artisan hard-crusted sourdough rolls.  I have a recommendation for them too, but more about that later.
Here's a cool grilled supper for a hot summer night:

Marinated Grilled Chicken
Ingredients:
2 cups olive oil (no need for extra virgin here. I use Goya brand, available in your local supermarket's int'l foods section.
4 cups apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp fine ground white pepper
1 Tbsp Bell's Poultry seasoning
3 eggs.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in the morning.  In 2 heavy-duty ziploc bags, put split chicken halves from which the wing tips have been removed.  Add half the marinade to each bag, squeeze out as much air as possible, close the bags and refrigerate all day.

Prepare your grill as you like it.  Place old wood chips in water and soak.  Wrap fresh corn cobs in foil packages with a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of butter (I skip the butter.  The corn around here is insanely good, and I prefer my corn naked).
When the coals are white, spread them around half the grill. Lay the soaked wood chips on the other side, away from the hot coals.  Place the chicken directly over a few of the coals, skin side up, and the corn on a higher shelf or away from the coals, and close the grill cover.  After 20 minutes, turn the chicken and corn.  After 20 minutes more, turn the chicken again and move them away from the coals.  Both the chicken and the corn should be done in 20 more minutes. When it is done, remove from the grill and cover with foil for 10 minutes.

While the chicken is grilling, make a simple cole-slaw dressing using cider vinegar, mayonnaise and sugar in amounts that please your palate.  I give no amounts here.  Everyone likes their cole slaw with a different amount of vinegar bite or sugar sweetness.  Then add 2 Tbsp celery seeds.  Mix well and set aside.  Shred white and red cabbage (about 4-1 ration white to red) in a large bowl.  Add 3 grated carrots and 1/4 of a meduim onion, grated.  Mix the vegetables well and set aside..

When serving, set the cole slaw cabbage and the dressing out separately, and let the feasters dress their slaw themselves.  It's a really nice serving touch

Serve all this with fresh-made lemonade, but again, surprise your guests, by adding 2 fresh limes to the lemons.  For good crusty bread, I have discovered an incredible crusty roll at, of all places, Costco.  They call them "Artisan" rolls, and they are as good as store-bought rolls can be. Find 'em.  Serve them hot with small bowls of really good extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter.

And for dessert?  Nothing less than a big bowl of fresh-cut cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, some red grapes and sliced kiwi.  Wow!!!. 

Strawberry cheesecake

 Epicure Market's Cheesecake

You ask for a cheesecake, I give you a cheesecake.  This is one of the richest cheesecake recipes ever,  it is an amazing cheesecake that everyone always has room for no matter how much they've eaten!

New York Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

1 stick (1/4 pound) butter, melted

Filling:

1 lb. ricotta cheese
16 oz. cream cheese
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 extra large eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 tbsp. flour
5 tbsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. cornstarch
5 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Mix the crust ingredients well, until they bind together and form a ball.

2. Press firmly into the bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan, and about a half inch up the sides.

3.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

While the crust is baking...

1. Combine sour cream and ricotta cheese in a large mixing bowl.  Beating at low speed, add butter, sugar and cream cheese.

2.  Increase speed to medium and add flour, eggs, vanilla, cornstarch, and lemon juice.  Beat for 5 minutes.

3.  Pour into the spring form pan when the crust is cooled to the touch. 

4.  Mix one 4 ounces of sour cream and 4 TBSP of sugar until the sugar dissolves completely, then spread the sour cream on top of the cake, leaving a half inch uncovered around the edges. 

5.  Bake in preheated 350-degrees-F oven for 1 hour, then turn off oven and leave in closed oven for one hour longer.  Cool on rack. 

And if you want to get real crazy, finish the cheesecake with this:

6.  After the cake is completely cooled, place one cup of clear strawberry jelly, 6 TBSP of good Amaretto, and a teaspoon of cornstarch in a small saucepan and heat them together, mixing constantly, until they are completely blended and the sauce thickens to coat a spoon.

Cap two quarts of fresh strawberries, and cut the tops off so that they will sit flat with the points up  Arrange them beautifully on top of the cheesecake, and then drizzle the jelly-Amaretto mixture over the strawberries, then chill until the glaze sets.

Serve and await compliments.. 

There's nothing better in the winter than a couple of slabs of ribs, hot and melting off the bone.  Here's the best recipe i know.  These are slow-cooked Kansas City ribs, to die for... Do cook them slow.  They are much better.

Two steps:  First make a sauce.  Do NOT use sauce from a bottle. Make this sauce:
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet (like Vidalia) onion, minced VERY fine
1-1/2 tsp. celery seeds, crushed with mortar and pestle or ground with a spice mill
3 garlic cloves, minced very fine
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. finely ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne
2 cups tomato ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar; more to taste
2 Tbs. prepared spicy brown mustard
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
4 Tbs. butter, cubed and chilled

Mix all ingredients except the butter.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Cover, set aside.

Second, make a dry spice rub, using the same dry ingredients as in the sauce, in the same amounts.
The night before, or first thing in the morning, rub the ribs (oh, you did that already...)
Cook the ribs in a charcoal kettle grill, with the coals stacked on the sides and a drip pan between the two piles of coals (do NOT use starter fluid on the coals).  Fill the pan with a bottle of beer.  Use only about ten charcoal briquets on each side, and give yourself plenty of time (hours).  Make sure the coals are white before you start cooking.  Once the coals are white, coat the grill with olive oil (cheap oil will do), and place the ribs over the drip pan.  Monitor the progress of the ribs, adding two coals to each side every half hour, until you can stick a fork into the meat and withdraw it without lifting the meat off the grill.  The ribs are not ready until then.  At that point, add six coals to each side, flip the ribs and coat the underside with your sauce.  Cook 1/2 hour.  Flip the ribs again, coat the top side with more sauce and cook for another 1/2 hour. They are done.  Let them rest fifteen minutes covered with foil off the grill, and serve.

If you can find an apple tree, cut a branch about 1 foot long and about 1 inch thick.  A dead branch is better.  (If all you can find is a green branch, forget this.  I keep apple wood around for grill smoking).   Chop it up into tiny little pieces. Soak the pieces in water and a little tequila for about an hour.   Place a handful of the soaked apple chips on top of the coals--both sides--during the last hour, when the sauce is on the ribs.  This will give you the smoky flavor you want, and apple is a little sweeter than hickory, which I personally find a bit bitter.

ATTENTION ALL CHOCOLATE ADDICTS:

This one's for you.

There is a gourmet delicatessen and grocery store on South Beach called The Epicure Market.  It is one of the most famous gourmet stores in America, written up in Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines, featured on The Food Network, and on the Travel Channel.  This market originated the idea of selling fine prepared foods and cooked items right in the store, cooked on site and sold ready to eat.  They've been doing it on South Beach since the 1940's. 

This market is where I developed my cooking chops, learning at the elbow of an old Philippino  chef who had run the kitchen at the fabulous Fountainbleau Hotel in the heyday of Miami Beach.

Its bakery is internationally recognized, and they ship product all over the world, with a secret and proprietary shipping method that permits product to arrive at a destination as fresh as it was just out of the oven.  One of the most sought-after products from the bakery at the Epicure Market is its Brooklyn Blackout Cake.  It is a frenzy of chocolate flavors that can only be described as deathly (this is the original "Death by Chocolate").  I have heard it suggested that  the cake be served with whipped cream or high-butterfat vanilla ice cream, or Espresso or marscapone.  Pshaw.!
Make this cake for your loved one and serve it with a cold quart of milk. 

And then die happy.

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

blackout.jpg

Every year, I make a cake for our church's annual spring picnic-outdoor service.  After the service, there is a family picnic, during which we do a "Cake Walk" --  walking around in circles (a normal state of affairs in the Unitarian Universalist sect) stepping on numbers, all done to the pounding of beat of a drum circle. (I played my Djembe--I was one of nine drums).  Desserts are donated, and when the drums stop, a number is picked and whoever is on that number square wins a dessert of his/her choice from the dessert table.  Seven-year-old Morgan won a plate of to-die-for key-lime squares (Florida, after all--just like the lemon squares you all know and love, but better).  At the cake walk, I tasted an incredible Red Velvet Cake, a Lancaster County specialty,  a hit, and I just had to have the recipe.  Here it is:

  Traditional Lancaster County Red Velvet Cake

‘Gredients

1 cup of butter
2 ½ cups of sugar
6 eggs
3 cups of flour
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
¼ tsp vanilla
2 oz. red food colouring
8 oz. sour cream

1. Heat oven to 350. Beat butter and gradually add sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Beat just until blended.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternating with sour cream and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla and food colouring. Spoon into three greased and floured 8 –inch round pans.
3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
4. Frost with vanilla buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting.

I did cream cheese frosting. OY, what else?...

This is a simple cold salad with a sensational dressing.  And, you can spice it up to taste.  Feel free to play with the amounts of cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce.  A vegetarian delight for a hot and humid summer day:

Ingredients:
     1 15-oz can black beans
     1 15-oz can light red kidney beans
     1 15-oz can cannellini (white) beans
     1 green bell pepper, chopped
     1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
     1 10-oz package frozen corn, defrosted
     1 red onion, chopped
     1/2 cup olive oil
     1/2 cup red wine vinegar
     2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
     1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
     2 Tbsp white sugar
     1 tbsp salt
     1 clove smashed and finely minced garlic
     1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
     1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
     1/2 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
     1 dash red pepper (read: Tabasco) sauce
     1/2 tsp chili powder

Procedure:
In a large bowl, combine beans, bell peppers, corn, and red onion 
In a small food chopper, add all remaining ingredients, and pulse until the ingredients are well mixed.
Pour dressing over salad fixin's and mix well.  Chill thoroughly and serve cold.

Serves 8

We're doing cold meal salads today, Kids, one vegetarian and one seafood.  The seafood salad features a homemade lemon-garlic mayonnaise dressing that is so good that you may, if you wish, use that artificial seafood product called Surimi (Chinese: 魚漿; pinyin: yú jiāng; literally "fish puree/slurry", Japanese: 擂り身, which translates to "ground meat").  It's used often as a substitute for crabmeat or lobster meat in casseroles by some low-end hash houses, but it actually makes a pretty good seafood salad, so long as it is identified as what it is--Surimi, usually made from cod or  pollock.  Anyway, the dressing is so good here that you can proudly serve this dish with any boiled seafood.  Try monkfish, too.  It's pretty good.  To make the dressing (and to make all subsequent dressings addressed here, if you can, invest in a small mini-food processor (like the Cuisinarts Mini-chopper) or a hand-held immersion blender--you place the immersion blade in the bowl and push the button.  It works like a food processor.  A hand mixer is not good enough to make good salad dressings.  You need the high-speed blade to properly incorporate the oil into the dressing.  Either one of these tools is fine, you don't need both, but if you like to cook, an investment in one or the other of these is well worth the money.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
     Dressing:
          1 tsp grated lemon peel
          3 Tbsp. lemon juice
          1 tsp. Dijon mustard
          1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
          2 cloves minced garlic
          1/2 tsp salt
          1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
          1/2 cup olive oil (you know how I feel about olive oil)
          1 Tbsp. sour cream

     Salad fixin's
          2 1/2 cups uncooked rotelle pasta
          1 lb. medium shrimp or other lightly boiled firm seafood (not a flaky fish)
          1 cup snow pea pods or sugar-snap peas, blanched, cut in half
          1/2 cup scallions (green onions)
          1 can ripe green olives
          1 1/2 cups garlic croutons
          1/2 cup greshly grated Parmesan cheese
          6 cups torn green-leaf lettuce

Procedure:
First, make the mayonnaise.  Add all ingredients EXCEPT HALF THE OLIVE OIL to a small mini-food processor-chopper.  Pulse quickly three or four times.  SLOWLY drizzle the remaining olive oil into the dressing and continue to mix for about thirty seconds after all the remaining oil has been incorporated.  Set the dressing aside.
Cook pasta and rinse in cold water.  In a large bowl, combine pasta, seafood, peas, onions, and olives.  Toss gently; add salad dressing, toss gently to coat, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, stir occasionally.  Add croutons and cheese, toss gently.  Place 3/4 cup lettuce on a plate and top with a generous portion of pasta salad.

Serves 8
 

This recipe is incredible.  It takes some time, but it is worth the effort.  Do it!!

Roast Leg of Pork

Ingredients:

     Brine

            1.5 liters Coca-cola

            1 head garlic, peeled and smashed

            5 bay leaves

            1/2 cup kosher salt

            1 Tbsp whole peppercorns

     Herb rub:

            1/4 cup fresh sage leaves

            4 Tbsp fresh flat parsley

            10 garlic cloves, chopped fine

            1 Tbsp kosher salt

            1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

            1/4 cup olive oil

     Glaze:

            1/2 cup apple cider

            2 Tbsp brown sugar

            1 tsp ground cloves

Procedure:

            A day ahead, score the leg of pork about 1/2 inch deep to make a diamond pattern on the top half.  In a stockpot, mix the brine ingredients well, place the roast, top side down, in the brine.   Refrigerate overnight.

            On roasting day, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Chop the herbs very fine, mix the herbs with the garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil to make a paste.  Rub the paste generously over the leg of pork.  Place the roast scored side up on a rack in the middle of the oven.  After 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 325 degrees, open the oven for 20 seconds to bleed off some of the heat, and then continue to roast, testing with a thermometer until it reaches 145 degrees in the middle.  It could be anywhere from four to twenty pounds.  It should take at least an hour and a half, and as many as four hours, depending on the size.

           While the the roast is in the oven at the high temperature, mix the glaze ingredients in a saucepan and heat slowly until the sugar dissolves, then simmer until it’s time to turn down the oven.  After the oven has reached 325, brush glaze on the roast every hour until it’s done.

           When the roast reaches the desired 145 internal temperature, remove from the oven, cover with foil, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes before carving.  It will continue to cook under the tent, and the juices will retreat back into the meat. 

Serve with fresh swiss chard sauteed in good olive oil with garlic and toasted pine nuts.

Depending on what part of Italy your recipe comes from, the ratio of flour to potatoes will vary greatly. Some recipes use eggs, some do not.  I do.. To me, the key to magnificent gnocchi is how the potatoes are prepared.  I think this is important.  Don't boil them, bake them.  They come out drier, and the gnocchi end up much fluffier. And no ricotta.  I think it makes them soggy.  If you want a cheesy product, use a finely grated parmesan--a really good one--and only a little.  The ingredient ratios are pretty critical.

What to use:  
    2 pounds of russet potatoes
    2 cups of flour
    1/4 teaspoon of salt
    1 large egg.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake potatoes until easily pierced with a fork (about 45 minutes).
Let the potatoes cool slightly, then peel.  Pass the potatoes through a ricer or grate them into a large bowl.
Add the egg (slightly beaten) to the potatoes. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Add the flour to potatoes a little at a time, mixing well with a wooden spoon. Add just enough flour so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands.  When all the flour has been incorporated, bring the dough together with your fingertips.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a slightly floured surface. Knead the dough as you would bread dough.
Press down and away with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over, make a quarter turn, and repeat the process.
Knead for about 5 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 6 smaller balls.  This next thing is critical:  the touch of your hands on
the dough balls must be VERY light, like you do when you make matzoh balls. A firm touch on the dough ball will result in a heavy product.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough using your fingertips. The rope of dough should be about 3/4 inch thick.
Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces.

You can cook the gnocchi as it is now, but traditional gnocchi has ridges.
To create the ridges, press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork.

With your finger, gently roll the pressed dough back off the fork. This takes a little practice. If you find the dough sticking to the fork,  dip the fork in flour before you press the dough against it.

Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured dish.  To cook the gnocchi, place the dough into a pot of boiling water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove and set aside.

Serve the hot gnocchi immediately, tossed with butter and a little Parmesan cheese or with the sauce of your choice.
You can also try serving them with sauteed mushrooms in a beautiful red wine reduction, and then beating in some butter.
This makes an earthy sauce that make an excellent accompaniment to beef.