Mother's Day

Mother's Day Dinner

This past weekend I was hired to prepare a private dinner for a young woman’s first Mother’s Day. I was contacted by a new father and eager husband who wanted to do something special for his wife, but was somewhat stymied in traditional brunch or dining options due to the care needs of their very young daughter. He explained his desire to hit the ball out of the park for this inaugural event and had idea the to hire a private chef in order to do so. Ideally, this would allow his wife and baby to remain in the comfort of home yet enjoy the luxury and indulgence of a meal out. Add to the equation the presence of his wife’s parents, who were in town for their daughter’s day, I was immediately on board. As excited as I was to be ask to execute this feat, all this sentimentality brought a lot of pressure. I felt like it was imperative to deliver a superlative experience  - And so I began the process with all the feelings and all the anxiety…

Planning:

I worked with the husband to plan the menu according to his wife’s preferences. What started out as “isn’t very picky and likes a lot of things” took a more complicated turn when white meats, healthy components , no fried, thick or creamy components, and a sensitivity to spice were added to the requirements. If you are at all familiar with my blog you’ll know that fat  = flavor and nothing can ever be too spicy in my book. I would baste cheese in hot sauce and butter if I could… Immediately I knew this meal was going to be a bit of a departure, but would be a great opportunity to challenge my style and abilities. To be honest, while I was initially averse to the “nothing unhealthy” notion, I quickly grew to enjoy the challenge when thinking about various dishes to interpret or adapt in healthy ways.

Dinner was three courses, two savory and dessert. As the farmer’s market is finally starting to show signs of life with the best of the spring vegetables starting to appear, I figured a composed and substantial salad would be the perfect opening note for a meal with an eye to health. As far as the main course goes, the mention of white meat immediately brought to mind chicken and the subsequent eye roll. Chicken as a main course is something I would never order out, and rarely, and I mean rarely rarely, prepare at home. With most of my favorite pork preparations on the richer side or at least requiring some kind of spice, the other white meat was definitely out of the question. So I reluctantly started to think about birds again. I love duck, and love to cook duck, but talk about fatty, sadly, a no go. Turkey is nearly as bad as chicken, when it comes to flavorless misery, shudder. Then I thought of Cornish Game Hens. Small, cute, great vehicles for a baste or spice rub, the hens would be a richer, and slightly nuttier nod to characteristics of chicken, but with much more pleasing aesthetics and flavors. I was inspired!

Dessert, a word that strikes fear in my heart. It's arguably my Achilles heel. The reason being, I almost never measure when I cook, and almost all desserts, whether its cookies, cakes, pies, tarts, meringue etc, ALL require measurement and adherence to a recipe. The rigidity in preparation is in direct juxtaposition with my style and what I love about being creative in cooking. Perhaps one day I will enhance my skills to the point I can be both creative and successful in the endeavor, but until then, I will maintain my aversion to dessert.

That all said, I have enjoyed some considerable successes in the sweet course. One of my favorites was a salted caramel custard I prepared for a holiday party. While moderately complex in preparation, I managed to successfully produce it several times one winter season, and it has remained in my repertoire since then. When thinking about dessert for this dinner, I decided that it needed to be something small, due to the naturally rich and unhealthy nature of the course. Additionally, I wanted it to be something I could prepare in advance, that way it would be immediately ready after the main course and allow me time to clean up while the client finished out their meal. This would custard fit the bill perfectly.

With that, the menu, or at least the skeleton, was made. I sent my ideas to the client and quickly got approval, I was off!

Preparation:

As I said, I wanted to prepare the dessert ahead of time. Since, I was also most nervous about the success of this course I decided to make it early in the day the Saturday prior to dinner, just in case it failed and I needed to re-plan. I found my old recipe, as well as some others and decided to try a hybrid. I also wanted to work in some deeper flavors and added some bourbon to the caramel base as I prepared. I almost ruined the custard when, in a panic during the thickening stage, I impulsively added a bit of cornstarch at a stage that in hindsight was far too late. Fortunately, a quick pass through a strainer solved the lumpy issue, and moments later my custard was complete. My taste test confirmed it was delicious and I was about to pat myself on the back until I started to pour it into the serving dishes. To my horror, what had been loosely a recipe for 4, didn’t even come close to filling the 4 white soufflé cups I had chosen. I nearly melted down, as the image of a disappointed look and ruined Mother’s Day dinner filled my head, but then I got a grip. I remembered my trip to the farmers market the previous Sunday, where I had seen beautiful local strawberries. Problem solved! I would hit the market the next morning for my other ingredients, and pick up some strawberries. I would cook the strawberries down with sugar, a vanilla bean and some homemade vanilla extract, almost making a preserve, though when chilled not quite so chunky. I’d layer it on top of the insufficient custard, filling the cup and offering a nice sweet juxtaposition to the savory custard notes. Top it all off with some fresh white chocolate whipped cream (made by dissolving white hot chocolate mix in the cream before whipping) and finish with some black sea salt (just for contrast) and I had the perfect, self-contained, make ahead dessert displaying the best of the season and a delicious sweet and savory, decadent yet fruity, juxtaposition. Slowly, but surely I will get good at dessert.

Sunday morning arrived and I was at the farmers market by 8, partially out of nerves and partially because I fell asleep at 9 the night before. The sun was finally shining after a week of rain, and the hoards had yet to arrive, it was perfect. I figured I would let the market tell me what was going to be in the salad. I found beets, and immediately thought, when roasted, they would be the ideal base, sliced thin and laid out on a chilled plate. I would smear a dollop of goat cheese on top to add a bit of restrained richness. Its nearly the end of asparagus season, but there was still some beautiful options, so I decided I would shave the bases, blanch the stalks and lay a few across the top of the beets and goat cheese to create a hearty foundation for the greens to come. I had decision anxiety when it came to greens. I wanted something pretty and delicate, but something with large leaves like butter or bibb would totally overwhelm the composed foundation components in scale. I couldn’t let bright red beets and glowing green asparagus get covered. Ultimately I stumbled across some local arugula. This would work well, I would bruise it slightly to make it malleable, and when dressed, able to be formed into an appropriately scaled nest of greens that played well with the other ingredients. I thought I was done, but when I pictured the plate in my head, it just seemed underwhelming and incomplete. Radishes are very “spring” and they do add a nice color aspect, but I am very over radishes by the time may rolls around, so that was out. I had almost given up when I spotted some brilliant yellow kale flowers. They look a bit like forsythias, long plumes of tiny yellow flowers, and can be enjoyed roasted with a bit of garlic and olive oil. I did not want to cook them, I decided I wanted the fresh flowers for the pop of color they would add as a final garnish to the plate. Luckily, the farmer was kind enough to give me a single frond for free rather than purchasing a whole bunch, so I didn’t have to munch on flowers for the week to come.  With my components decided, and plating planned, I turned to the dressing. Mark recently shared what looked to be a delicious lemon poppy seed dressing recipe. From the ingredients it looks a little strong and savory for the dish I was hoping to prepare. Mark also recently gave me a jar of honey from his school’s apiary. So I decided to combine the two sources of inspiration. I made a sherry, lemon, honey and poppy seed vinaigrette. It had just the right amount of tempered sweetness, bite of citrus, and subtly nutty yet fruity notes of poppy seeds. I outdid myself on that one,  if I am being honest.

For the main course, the Cornish game hens, I spent considerable time researching various preparations from cuisines around the world, finding it rather difficult to complete avoid spice or fat, my newly forbidden ingredients. Ultimately I decided to go a more traditional route. I would focus on herbs, specifically thyme, something I grow in my garden and one of my favorites with poultry, as the prominent flavoring agent. I conceded I would have to incorporate a little butter, mainly to deliver the flavor of the herbs and to achieve the crispy skin necessary for a successful hen. Despite being a step up from chicken on the complexity and fat content scale, Cornish hens can still often be bland and are easy to dry out. To avoid this, and elevate my herb flavors further, I decided to brine the birds in an herb base. I made the brine in the morning, incorporating thyme, tarragon, lavender, fennel seeds and garlic powder, and let the hens bath in it for two hours prior to being rinsed, dried, and packed for transport. While the birds brined, I made a compound butter with thyme and garlic that I would use to brush on the hens as they roasted, bringing out the desired golden hue and crispy texture. I took a few fresh sprigs with me, which I ultimately place on top of each hen half way through cooking, to serve as a rustic and perfumed garnish. To accompany the hens, I picked up some local rainbow carrots, Peruvian purple potatoes, and adorable cipollini onions, which I would roast simply and use round out the plating with their deep colors and gorgeous char.

I did most of my prep ahead, and having devised specific plating already, I arrived to the client’s home feeling quite well prepared. The entire family couldn’t have been nicer and we had some nice small talk about my passion for food and my current private catering endeavor. Their genuine interest and clear appreciation for food, had me overflowing with anticipation and a desire to succeed by the time I started cooking, a wonderful feeling to have.

Execution went off without a hitch, I even managed to time the somewhat dicey process of roasting game hens perfectly for the last bites of first course. Speaking of, the salad was a huge hit, the dressing itself eliciting repeated praise from the guest of honor.

The hens cooked up brilliantly and down to the garnish the plate looked Ina Garten chic, I was beside myself with pleasure and relief. Looks aside, the flavor was great (I had an extra hen as a doneness guide, taste test subject, and bonus Monday lunch for Mom), and when the clients cut into the meat, they all sung it’s juicy tender praises. Again, the mother of honor made specific mention that it was a juiciest poultry she had ever had (I thanked my instinct to brine).

Dessert brought a familiar feeling of tribulation, but I was confident in my planning. Plating was a cinch, and they hit the table perfectly following the main course. Rave reviews ensued. I think the custard, composition and combination of flavors were new to them, but this worked wonderfully in my favor. Who knew I was do good at dessert?!

In the end I could tell everyone was sated and happy, compliments aside, this was the greatest reward. I was so honored to have been able to provide this new mother, and her family, such a satisfying meal and pleasing experience, on what really was a rather landmark day in their lives. I was thanked profusely, though I could have done without, it was a truly fulfilling experience, menu challenges and all.

I could have left, written this post, and never heard from them again and still been just as satisfied. But, I got the ultimate stamp of approval this afternoon, when Mark, who knows the Mom from past jobs, ran into her and she told him it was “one of the most incredible meals I’ve ever had.” What else could I want? With that success in the bag, I am looking forward to the next one.

The Recipes

First Course: Local Arugula Salad, Roasted Beet Carpaccio, Goat Cheese, Blanched Asparagus with Lemon-Honey-Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

• Ingredients:
• 12 Thick Stalks Asparagus
• 6 Large Beets (washed)
• 8oz Goat Cheese (room temperature, not crumbles)
• 1lb Fresh Arugula
• 1 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds

2 tablespoons each:

• EVOO
• White Vinegar
• Sherry
• Honey

Preparation:

Roast beets, skin on, in 400F oven for about an hour or until tender when poked with a fork, then chill (this can be done the day before). Bring a bot of water to a boil and prepare another pot with ice water. While water heats, shave the tough skin off the base of the asparagus stalks and trim to uniform length. The stalks should be only tips, tender green skin, then have the white interior exposed. Once water is at a rolling boil, drop stalks in and cook for 3 minutes. Remove and immediately place in ice bath. Leave in ice bath 5-10 minutes, then remove and pat dry before plating. In a small bowl add poppy seeds, honey, evoo, sherry and half the vinegar and whisk until emulsified. Taste and add additional vinegar to your preference.

When ready to plate: In a large bowl, use your hands to lightly massage the arugula so it becomes “bruised”. Toss it with the dressing and ensure it can be formed into compact nests roughly the size of your fist. Slice beets very thin (you can use a mandolin) and place on chilled plate carpaccio style in a single layer. Spoon 2 oz of the smooth, room temp goat cheese onto the center. Place 3 asparagus stalks diagonally across the cheese and beets. Carefully place a nest of argula on the center, allowing the beets and asparagus to be visible from the top. Garnish with a nasturtium or kale flowers like I used. Serve immediately.

Main Course: Thyme Butter Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Roasted Carrots and Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 Cornish Game Hens (giblets removed)
• 3 large yellow onions (peeled and quartered)
• ½ pound cipollini onions (skins removed)
• 2 lbs whole carrots (tops trimmed)
• 1 lbs purple Peruvian or fingerling potatoes
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• ¼ cup EVOO
• Brine:
• 2 quarts cold water
• ½ cup table salt
• ¼ cup sugar
• A few good pinches of dried: Thyme, Tarragon, Lavender, and fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Thyme Butter:
• 1 stick of salted butter (melted)
• Handful of fresh thyme or thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:

Brine: Add salt, sugar, and herbs to water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and allow to steep for 5 minutes covered so as not to lose the water as steam. Allow to return to room temperature. Place hens in a large freezer bag , pour brine in and seal. Allow to brine in fridge for two hours. Remove from brine, rinse, and pat dry (important if you want the skin to crisp).  Do not over brine or you will have a salt bomb of a bird.

Compound Butter: Combine melted butter with thyme and garlic and chill until solid.

Carrots/Potatoes: Preheat oven to 450. Toss carrots and potatoes in evoo and garlic powder. Place on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan with cipollini and roast for 40 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are tender, and everything in the pan has a nice golden char. At this heat, be careful not to burn. Ideally this would be done at a lower temp, but at 450 you can do the hens in the same oven at the same time.

Hens:

In a large roasting pan, pull apart yellow onions and cover the bottom of the pan creating a bed for hens. This will flavor the meat as it cooks and help with sticking to the pan. Insert a quarter of the reserved onion into each hen’s cavity, again this will perfume the meat while it cooks. Take a spoon of compound butter and slather over skin of the hen, leaving a larger piece on the top of the breasts so it will melt as it cooks. Roast for 45 minutes at 450F. Every so often, brush or spoon on more of the compound butter onto the hens so the skin crisps and gets golden brown. When there are 15 minutes left, place a single sprig of fresh thyme on the top-center of each hen. This will crisp up nicely and perfume the dish for plating. Hens are done when the temperature is 170F at thickest parts, and the juices run clear when you pierce a thigh.

Plate:

Place carrots cross hatch or log cabin style in center of place. Place a few potatoes and cipollini outside. Place hen in the center of the plate on top of the carrots but ensure that the slender tips are visible from above. Garnish with a grind of fresh pepper and a pinch of sea salt serve immediately.

Dessert: Bourbon-Salted Caramel & Strawberry Trifle with White Chocolate Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 1/2  cup sugar (1 cup and ½ cup divided)
• 1 + 1 pint cup heavy cream (divided)
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup bourbon
• 4 large egg yolks
• Sea salt
• ½ pound strawberries
• Vanilla bean (seeded)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ Cup white chocolate powder (hot chocolate mix works)
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• Black sea salt for garnish

Preparation:

Custard: In a nonreactive sauce pan (stainless steel) cook sugar until completely dissolved, golden brown and begins to smell like burnt marshmallows. Add the bourbon and butter and mix until melted, reduce heat to low. Slowly add the cream, caramel will seize and bubble and become lumpy. Cook with heat low stirring until the lumps dissolve, remove from heat. Stir in the milk and a pinch of sea salt and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Add about a cup of the caramel mixture and mix well. Add the remaining caramel mixture whisking until blended. Put back on medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until it thickens. It is done when it coats the back of a spoon and the spoon leaves a trail (this can take a while be prepared). Pour until 4 ramekins and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto the surface to prevent it from forming a skin. Chill overnight.

Strawberries and Whipped Cream: In a sauce pan, combine strawberries, ½ cup sugar, vanilla bean and vanilla extract and cook until strawberries are falling apart. Place in a glassbowl and chill. For whipped cream, place 1 pint cream in bowl and combine with white chocolate powder and powdered sugar until dry ingredients are dissolved. Using a hand mixer, whip until soft peaks form, chill.

When ready to serve. Remove plastic from custard, spoon in strawberries until ramekins are full. Place a quenelle or pipe on whipped cream and finish with a pinch of black sea salt for color contrast. Enjoy!

Buffalo Beach Bodies - Gluten Free Buffalo Chicken Fingers withHomemade Sauce - American - Dinner 7

So one of our guilty pleasures on nights when we are feeling particularly lazy and cavalier about our calorie consumption, is to OrderUp Buffalo Chicken Wraps from Dog Watch, a local tavern in Fell’s Point. What makes this particularly bad, is not the gluttony of the wrap itself, but the sloth we exhibit in not even walking the 5 blocks it would take to pick up in person. Recently, we had been doing this far more often than I am willing to admit in writing. With summer approaching, and having just booked a trip to Puerto Vallarta for about a month out, this habit quickly became priority number one to break. Couch ordering cheat food is not conducive to beach body goals no matter how you slice it.

The trouble with beach diets are that, at least for me, they involve systematically depriving myself of nearly everything I love for inconsistent stints of time from February to May, that snowballs into sporadic hangry episodes that damages my relationships, after which I relapse with late night pizza or worse, resulting in little to no progress toward my goals. This year I have preemptively improved my approach by joining a gym and actually attending it daily. This has helped me adjust my frame a bit and fostered better regular exercise habits. I have to note, Mark has most certainly not taken up this measure. Physical activity is a major allergen to him, and he’ll attest he doesn’t need it. I could fault him for it, but as much as it pains my jealous heart to admit, I have to concede he’s beach ready 12 months out of the year (a wax and a tan not withstanding).

With exercise as momentum, I have decided to try to avoid the yearly 2 week, extended hypoglycemia crash diet I usually do in the two weeks before Memorial Day. To do this, I have been working to identify the foods that typically bring the highest emotional and hormonal satisfaction and interpret them in new ways that lend themselves to restraint, weight control, and benefit to overall health. My main strategy is to avoid starches (grains, potatoes) as much as possible. This not only reduces high calorie and bulky foods (potatoes cause bloat which is not a look my bathing suit choices permit) but also forces me to get creative when I want something filling and satisfying.

Since Buffalo Chicken Wraps have been our winter go-to, I figured I would try my hand at re-engineering those first. If successful, it would reduce calories, expenses and overall sloth in one fell swoop.

Now I LOVE buffalo sauce in any medium, so that is where I started my experiment.  In its simplest form, Buffalo sauce is hot sauce & butter. Say what you will about butter, but I am never going to let anyone cut it out of my diet. The way I see it, the health benefits of the capsaicin in the hot sauce directly offsets the fat in the butter that goes into making a finger-licking delicious, hot, tangy, and brightly hued red-orange Buffalo sauce. In addition to my love of Buffalo sauce, I also have a penchant for hot sauce itself. In my travels around the country and to Mexico , I have amassed a rather large and diverse collection spanning the spectrum in color and heat. For my sauce I wanted to ensure I had three things, moderate sustaining heat, a noticeable tang, and a bright red color. I didn’t want burn your mouth flavor, or anything smoky, I need that vinegary tang and I wanted to ensure the dish looked good for my Instagram. The next time I do this, I am going to make my own hot sauce, but as this process can take weeks to ferment the peppers etc, this time I used some from my collection.

The first sauce I chose is called “Hot Mess”. Tongue in cheek name aside, this sauce is a favorite. It comes from Chicago’s famous Lillie’s BBQ, is bright and biting on the palate, and has a nice vinegar nose with hints of garlic, it’s my favorite for fried chicken. The second sauce I chose was the “Lagniappe” from Zombie Cajun Hot Sauce company. I chose this sauce for the staying power of its heat (it really lingers), the noticeable viscosity (a thicker sauce coats better) and the deep red color (a contrast to the bright red of Hot Mess). 

Selections made, I melted a stick (ok a little more than a stick) of Kerry Gold Salted butter in a sauce pan. Once melted, I added equal parts of the hot sauce and whisked it together. The vinegar was immediately noticeable on the nose, but soon dissipated. I added a little white vinegar to pump it back up then turned to my other additions. I think the sauce would have been fine as is, but I wanted to see if I could coax out a but more depth of flavor. I hit it will some white pepper, chosen for flavor and color as it will not show as black specks in the sauce. Then I added a little garlic powder, a touch of cayenne, and finally a little bit of Worcestershire sauce, just to give it some base and bring the color down a bit. I whisked the ingredients together, then brought it all to a boil briefly. You don’t need to cook it too long, and I certainly didn’t want to brown the butter, so a few seconds boiling is all it needs. While the sauce cooled I turned to the chicken.

Almost invariably when I cook chicken, I insist on chicken thighs. They just have more fat, and fat means flavor. I got some boneless and skinless thighs on sale at Whole Foods earlier in the week, and had dropped them in a Ziploc with cultured buttermilk to marinate for a few days. When it came time to prep, I drained most of the butter milk and took a knife to each thigh to try to make them more uniform in thickness and shape. So in non-beach body panic mode I wouldn’t think twice about throwing the chicken in some egg wash, club soda, and seasoned flour and frying up some crunchy and delicious fried chicken fingers, but alas, I am going be in my Andrew Christians in less than 40 days so this was not an acceptable option. Instead I used corn starch. While it does violate the no grain rule, for whatever unscientific or illogical reason, I find corn to be a less offensive ingredient when dieting (I am sure someone can look up the verity of this notion). I recently made General Tso’s chicken using the corn starch technique, so I knew it would lend the right crunch and be a perfect vehicle for the Buffalo sauce. Using the residual buttermilk as a base for a batter, I poured in generous amounts of cornstarch to the chicken thighs. I mixed them up while I heated my oil, ensuring the starch “batter” evenly coated them all. I could have seasoned the batter but thought I would let the Buffalo sauce do the talking this time around. I fried up them, each turning a satisfying golden brown, and allowed them to drain a cool a bit before hitting the sauce bath.

I tossed them in my big metal bowl, an act which reminded me of my days joking with the line cooks at one of my former restaurant jobs and staring longingly as they made their famous wings for paying customers. I decided to serve them simply, topped with crumbles of a delicious, earthy and unctuous blue cheese imported from Switzerland we had picked up at Bower’s Cheese in Eastern Market in DC a few weekends back. It was the perfect compliment. Rather than slathered in some creamy commercially produced dressing, the crispy “fingers” were perfectly complimented by the rich and tangy morsels of cheese. Admittedly, this was no Buffalo Wrap from Dog Watch, but if the speed with which Mark ate them is any clue (he is normally the SLOWEST eater I have ever met) then they were a hit. If this success is any indication, I think we may be on the road to Mexican beach bodies by way of Buffalo.

Gluten Free Buffalo Chicken Fingers with Homemade Sauce

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1 stick Salted Kerry Gold Butter
• ¼ Cup Hot Sauce (plus more depending on taste and texture)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Chicken:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into uniform pieces)
• 2 Cups cultured buttermilk (you can substitute 1 cup beaten eggs)
• ½ Cup Corn starch
• 2 Cups high heat oil for frying

Preparation:

Sauce:

Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Once melted, add the hot sauce and whisk together. Add other ingredients stirring as you add. Once evenly incorporated, bring to a boil and whisk for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Before tossing , you will want to whisk the sauce together again as the vinegar and butter will separate.

Chicken:

Marinate chicken in buttermilk overnight. Drain excess buttermilk. Add cornstarch and mix thoroughly to ensure the thighs are evenly coated in the buttermilk batter. Bring oil to temperature, will be ready when a pinch of corn starch sizzles. Fry the chicken, turning every few minutes, for about 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the thighs. Place on a cooling rack or paper towel for 2 minutes to cool. Place in a large mixing bowl, and pour sauce over top. Toss in bowl until evenly coated

Serve with crumbles of blue cheese as I did, or cut up some celery and use your favorite blue cheese dressing.

Enjoy!