Quick & Easy - Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch

Not quite as exciting as the last one, but serviceable. Sunday Lunch is divided into meal sections. Each section has a full meal including dessert. Quick & Easy consists of:

Vine tomato & bread salad
Italian sausage with lentil
Lemon posset

We went to the farmers market for heirloom tomatos which worked out really nicely. The sausages came from Frabonis. The salad was great and we'll definitely do it again - heirloom tomatos, sliced red onions, lime juice, olive oil, parsley and bite size pieces of torn bread. I used a sourdough which I toasted because it was supposed to be stale bread.

There were a LOT of lentils. I cut the recipe in half and we still have enough leftover for four people. They were good, nothing really to rave about, but they did work nicely with the sausage. And Lili liked them - I think that was the only part she ate.

The lemon posset was a little too heavy for summer - or for any time really - a teeny little bite was nice, but overall the cream was way too much. These were just boiled double cream, sugar and lemon juice. I'm not sure how you would thin it down. Bill put it in the iSi whipper which helped a bit - maybe I'll try making ice cream out of it next time.

Tonight is Skate Grenobloise from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook, but I probably won't write that one up because I do it all the time.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Tonight was just a regular dinner night, but I figured I'd try a couple of easy ones from Jean-Georges - Cooking at home with a four star chef. They really were easy, I got home at 4ish, got the mail done, got Lili settled, etc. , started prep at about 5:15 and we were actually eating at 6:10!! I made Pork in Caramel Sauce, which was a sliced pork tenderloin with a nam pla and caramel sauce - really easy, super fast and just gorgeous. Del ate three pieces (I doubled the recipe). Bill said it needed lemongrass foam - we're growing a lot of lemongrass right now because it keeps mosquitos away. No leftovers on this one and definitely something I'll do again.

I had some cioggia beets and some baby turnips so I also made his Caramelized Beets and Turnips - another super easy great tasting dish - also a keeper.

For dessert I did the Warm, Soft Chocolate Cake. This didn't go quite so well. My oven usually runs hot, so I stuck to the short end of the timing on these and it definitely wasn't quite enough. The kids said they tasted good, but it was really runny. Lili had fun with hers, she's having a bath right now to finish it off. Will have to try them again at a longer cook time.

I guess I really should start taking pictures, the pork was beautiful, and there's nothing left of it now....

Mediterranean flavors - Sunday Lunch by Gordon Ramsay

O.k., Gordon Ramsay rocks my world, and Lili loves him too - she sings along with the F word these and "reads" his cookbooks. This was just a perfect meal. It's from Sunday Lunch, which I don't believe has been released in the US yet, I have the UK version, so you have to convert a little on measurements and degrees. I bought it on ebay, for some asinine reason, you can't get UK cookbooks on Amazon US. So, I have no link, but really, it's a great book, google it!

Sunday Lunch features entire meals - starter, main, veg, starch and dessert. The starter for this one was scallops with a cauliflower puree. We skipped this because, well, we live in SC Wisconsin. Scallops here taste like dust - some restaurants can seem to get good ones, but everything I've ever tried from a local grocery store or even a nice seafood shop is just icky.

The main is an herb crusted rack of lamb. I couldn't get a rack, so I made do with individual chops from Columbus Discovery Farm (unfortunately they don't have a website - I do have an e-mail address and they're at the Sun Prairie Farmers Market on Saturdays). The herb crust is a sort of gremolata, parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, bread crumbs and parmesan - there was about half a batch left over after making the chops, but I'm sure I can find something to use it on, it was wonderful.

The potatos are layered with sauteed onions and garlic and cooked in a seasoned chicken broth. The veg was zucchini and cherry tomatoes (I used baby romas) sauteed with a bit of balsamic and olive oil. Dessert was a bread pudding with raisins and dried cranberries, apricot glaze and Cointreau - really simple and very good. Definitely a keeper.

Silky Syrah Short Ribs (Michel Richard)

Val and I did this together, he's taking a class from Tory Miller at L'Etoile this week so he wanted to practice prepping. It went fairly well, it's a lengthy recipe, but not extremely difficult. We only used a couple of tablespoons of the clarified butter, and I would leave the star anise out next time, it was a little overpowering. Also, I didn't trim as much fat off the short ribs as I should have. The sauce was amazing, definitely silky! The recipe is from Michel Richard - Happy in the Kitchen.

We served the ribs with Thomas Keller's recipe for Carnaroli Risotto with Shaved White Truffles from Alba (The French Laundry Cookbook). The risotto was perfect, definitely better than arborio rice, however, either we got a bad batch of white truffle oil, or none of us like white truffle oil. The only one who enjoyed it was Del, but then, Del also belongs to that teeny percentage of caucasians who can eat durian without gagging on the smell.

We also had romano beans from Jen-Ehr farms with fresh pesto. The short ribs came from Fountain Prairie's grass fed Highland cattle. Next week....Gordon Ramsay (well, this week because I'm late posting this...)

ROASTED POBLANO-SAGE-BOURBON SAUCE

2 large roasted poblano peppers, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 cloves roasted garlic, peeled and chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup madeira
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 tsp dried tarragon
salt and pepper
2 T unsalted butter

Mix all together except butter, bring to a boil and reduce by 2/3. Emulsify in a blender or food processor, then strain, return to heat and add butter.

Chocolate Cherry Five-spice cake (flourless)

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
8 oz. semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 oz kirsch
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, separated
1 cup hazelnuts, roasted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

Melt the chocolate together with the butter, cool and combine with kirsch and vanilla. Grind the hazelnuts with the sugar and 5-spice. Mix the yolks in with the chocolate mixture, then add the nut mixture. Beat egg whites till stiff and fold in. Bake in a 9 inch greased springform pan at 350 for one hour.

Topping:

1 can tart cherries with liquid
1 ounce kirsch
1 ounce creme de cacao
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream

Heat cherries, kirsch, creme decacao, 5 spice powder and sugar till boiling, reduce heat and simmer till reduced by half. Add butter. Cool and whip in cream.

Great-Grandma Valentine's Plum Pudding

1/2 lb beef suet
1 c sugar - brown or white
1 lb each currants and raisins
1/2 lb each candied lemon, cherries and citrus peel
1 lb flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Cup cider or sweet wine
1/4 Cup cold water
Brandy or rum

Chop suet fine, then put fruit in. Sift flour, baking powder and spices together and mix with fruit. Add cup of cider or sweet wine, mix, then add baking soda mixed with 1/4 cup of cold water. Mix well. Form into rounds and tie up with cheesecloth or rags tightly. Drop them in a large pan of boiling water and boil for 5-6 hours. Soak with brandy or rum. Should keep for a long time. Makes two large ones or 4-5 small ones. Can add 2-3 beaten eggs, nutmeat or a grated carrot. Don't add any more flour. Lilian Valentine