Mushroom Mornay at Steiningers

When Food Network asks William for his all time favorite lunches out he'd put the Mushroom Mornay at Steiningers in Salem NY at the top of his list. 

http://www.steiningers.com/restaurant.html

I'm convinced she makes this puff pastry herself...and the mushroom sauce is just to die for. I can't recommend this lovely spot in Salem enough...call ahead and make a reservation and save room for dessert!

This photo was taken a few years back in front of Steiningers...me and my mother and the girl my grandmother wanted me to marry!

Have you tried a Portobello mushroom?

I love these mushrooms. They have such a meaty texture and are great on the grill. I make them for an easier dinner.
I fill the caps with a marinade made from olive oil, garlic, basil and some white wine. A half hour is long enough.

The juice that forms in the cap is excellent.

This time I had avocado and gorgonzola.

It's paella season! Pictured above a fresh sea bass. I buy them whole and use the head for my bouillon. I grew up on Hedges Lake and we had to clean all the fish we caught...but I can imagine it's not for everyone. This one needs to be scaled which is a wicked pain in the ass but it does bring back great childhood memories.

Our plum trees are just getting ripe so I made a compote. Sugar, water, cinamon, and some Madeira wine which I thought worked quit nicely with the plums.

So I had to make something to put under the plums of course. I love custards of all kinds - this time I went for a baked egg custard. The texture isn't as silky as pudding because you use the whole egg but I just didn't feel like having 4 egg whites left over. I all ready made two things - I wasn't going to make a whip for my own ass like my father always said and make three!

I put the plum compote in my bean pot which gave it a rumtoof sort of feeling...for my German followers!

Parmesian bread sticks

Dust off the bread machine and treat yourself to some cruncy parmesian bread sticks. I added some dry herb de provence and rolled them in lots of parmesian.

It couldn't be easier...
That's the finished product on the home page.

I'm still cookin'

Boy does the time fly when you get older. My camera died so I was without for a while and now Miguel saved me and gave me Javier's old one. Love the start-up sound Javier! Anyways - I'm still cooking - a little bit of everything. Here some recent successes...

Pasta with shrimp garlic and basil...thanks Pats and Marg for the smiley face spatula - I think of you every time I use it!

I'm forever roasting chickens.


Eat your red fruits - most of these come from our garden.


My Uncle Dick taught me everything you need to now to build a good sandwhich.
I cooked the eggs myself but the crab salad is from the store!


I've been on a Ossobuco craze recently - I think I've made it 6 times in the last 3 months....this version is Milanese. Veal shanks that melt in your mouth. If you dare the marrow is delicious.


I bought some of the small squid at the market. We floured the tentacles and deepfried them - if you like that sort of thing this was an OMG. I felt like I was in Greece. William made his famous squid in tomato sauce and parcely with the bodies - no foto but trust me it was fab.

Thanks for the artwork Marlou!

I decided it was time to change the look of the blog a little bit.

Thanks Marlou for providing the "cover" artwork for so long!

Peter's Chicken Curry with Orange Cucumber Raita

I've now been making curries for a few years and learned with the help of the cookbook Curries Without Worries (Sudha Koul) and my girlfriend Lidia. My key ingredients....ghee - curry powder - ginger - fresh corriander...but use your imagination!
It's not that much more work to make the curry powder yourself - what I don't have pictured is tumeric....which is the bright yellow powder without much flavor that gives curry it's yellow color. Tumeric is usually sold in powder form but the rest of the spices you can roast in the oven for great flavor...fennel seeds...star anise...cumin seeds...corriander seeds...red pepper....bay leaf

I almost forgot coconut milk...it does make a difference.

I grind the spices the old fashioned way.

Have ja ever seen a ginger grater? This one I inherited from my dear old friend Bruce Kurtz.
It's ceramic and has tiny razor sharp teeth. Hold tight and run the peeled ginger back and forth.

There are all kinds of fancy garlic gadgets...I love my mushroom from Bennington a gift from my brother A.J. It's sole purpose is to smash garlic so you can get the skins off easily. I need to oil my shroom. A.J. is our family's most experienced restaurant chef....really!

Brown the chicken parts in hot ghee. Take them out and let them sit for a minute.

In the same ghee (remove some if you like to brown with a lot of oil - it should just cover the bottom of your pan) add onions, garlic, ginger, and the crushed spices and tumeric until just past golden, deglaze with a little white wine, then add the chicken, carrots, coconut milk... a peeled chopped potato or two if you want...lastly fresh chopped corriander. I use some chicken stock but I try never to add more than a cup. I'm not really into thickeners like corn starch but that's always an option. Over the years I've reduced the amount of stock and added an extra can of coconut milk and a potato...simmer on low for an hour and half or two. It's always better the next day.

I love to have a Raita with my curry...this is a peeled, deseeded grated cucumber mixed with yoghurt (sour cream if you want but you can skip it) mandarin oranges, fresh chopped corriander and a dash of salt. It's a great compliment to curry along with some chutney...see my recipe on this blog october 2009 green tomato chutney...yum!

I'll have to make a Razmah soon...also an excellent sideidish with curry...Sudha describes it as Kidney Beans for Kings.

Lidia & Miguel's Paella - it's not as difficult as you might think

Paella orginates from Valencia, Spain - the birthplace of my dear friend Miguel's mother. Lidia and Miguel made it for William and I for the first time years ago at their old place in Biezelinge...it was the first time we ever went to thier house on a lovely summer evening and we sat on their back porch looking out over the sheep in the neighbor's pasture. Lidia chopped and Miguel cooked. I think I watched them make it 4 or 5 times before I tried it myself.

Well they're back! And we made it again this past weekend.

It's not mussel seaon so the foto above is with scallops but I couldn't resist showing a foto with mussels which is usually how I make it. Use what you can get and looks fresh...some frozen fish works just perfect as well....I often use a mixed fruits of the sea with mussels, shrimp and squid.

Miguel doesn't use a cover when cooking his paella - I use aluminum foil because I don't have a cover big enough- both methods work just fine. Remember it's a rice dish - and if you use wood or charcoal you may have a harder time controlling the temperature - so keep some water, white wine or stock - or a combination of these things - close by to add when needed. The mussels add natural moisture as well but without a cover you still might need to add a little liquid.

This past weekend I used this lovely selection of ingredients below to make my paella. I use arborio (Italian) rice most of the time because it's easier to get- but if you can get ARROZ CALASPARRA buy a big bag- that's the spanish paella rice. It keeps and it really does make a difference which rice you use. I would NEVER use basmati but that's just me. Roughly speaking I use a cup of rice to two cups of stock for this recipe.

Red and yellow peppers - just not into the green these days
onions, shallots and garlic - yes all three

frozen peas
fresh tomatoes
fresh corriander and scallions not pictured

lemon grass, pounded - only 'cause I had it

chicken stock with some white wine

saffron (as much as you can afford - powder is also good - I add it to the stock)

scallops (or shrimp, langostino's, squid, etc.)
sea bass (whole-cleaned & cut in pieces - it has big easy bones)

cod fillet cut in pieces

mussels if you can get them!
olive oil

Saute the onions, garlic and shallots in olive oil over a hot fire...this time I happened to have lemon grass. When that's starting to turn light brown add the rice and stir well....and then add the stock and peas...use plenty of olive oil.

Add the fish (I clean and chop the fish into pieces myself - it's cheaper and not difficult) after the rice has cooked 10-15 mintues....you might do this in stages as well - adding the scallops last because the have the shortest cooking time.