Three-Tomato Salad, Version 1

Recipe: Three-Tomato Salad, Version 1
Page: 73
Date Cooked: November 27, 2010

While this recipe is called a "Three-Tomato Salad," Jonathan Waxman makes note of this misnomer. In actuality, it's the "Multiple-Tomato Salad, Version 1." I may be giving away the punchline....this salad was soo good yet so simple.

Ingredients: Red tomato on the vine, yellow tomato on the vine, orange tomato on the vine, Kumato tomato, grape tomatoes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, basil

The tomatoes were sliced and arranged on plates in alternating colors. The olive oil and vinegar are whisked together. The salads are sprinkled with salt and pepper. The vinaigrette was spooned on at the last moment. Finally, basil was placed on the top.

Three-Tomato Salad, Version 1

The tomatoes speak for themselves and I was lucky to pick out some really great ones. The Kumato tomato was something I had never tried before and am now a believer. They definitely have more of a sweetness than regular tomatoes and were delicious.

This salad was simple and delicious. Not to mention, I personally think the colors and presentation look so wonderful and impressive. The salad was actually eaten with Bacon and Gruyère Burger with Guacamole and paired very well. The heaviness of the meat from the burger and lightness of the tomatoes and basil just went together superbly.

Enjoy!

Bacon and Gruyère Burger with Guacamole

Recipe: Bacon and Gruyère Burger with Guacamole
Page: 112
Date Cooked: November 27, 2010

"A burger is a miraculous meal in any guise."  Jonathan Waxman starts off the Bacon and Gruyère Burger with Guacamole with this line. I find it difficult to disagree with this statement. And considering that an average American eats 100 burgers a year, I doubt many people could disagree. Considering an overall fondness for burgers, this one looked like a winner. Bacon - good. Gruyère - Good. Guacamole - Good. How could you go wrong with all these delicious ingredients on a burger?

Ingredients: Ground chuck (80/20 lean-to-fat ratio), salt, pepper, bacon, avocados, sweet onion, olive oil tomato, gruyère, kaiser rolls

Jonathan Waxman gives you the option of preparing a medium grill fire to cook the burgers or cooking them in a cast-iron skillet. Considering it was a 30 degree Pennsylvania night - the cast-iron skillet seemed to make the most sense. The beef was mixed with salt and pepper and shaped into 4 burgers. Considering the recipe called for 2.5 pounds of meat, these were pretty large burgers.

Beef shaped into 4 burgers.

While the bacon cooked in the cast-iron skillet, it was on to making the guacamole. The guacamole included avocados, onion, and olive oil.

Left: Bacon cooking in skillet
Right: Finished guacamole

Once the bacon was cooked, the burger were added to the skillet and cooked, dare I say, perfectly. They were then topped with cheese and removed.

Right: Burgers being cooked
Left: Finished burgers topped with gruyère 

The rolls were lightly toasted. The burger was placed on each bun, topped with guacamole, bacon, and tomato. And ready for consumption:

Bacon and Gruyère Burger with Guacamole

The verdict: Too much meat. I know for many this may seem impossible, but really it was just too much meat. You couldn't appreciate the flavors of the cheese and the guacamole because of it. I ate it all as did my dinner guests and I can say I liked it. But it wasn't that perfect burger I was hoping it would be.

However, the next day, the left-over burger patty was sliced in half and made into 2 burger. This time around it was delicious. I was able to get a bite of every component and appreciate all the flavors.

Leftover burger with half the amount of beef

So all in all, I think the burger has definite potential, if you scale back the amount of beef. 2.5 pounds for 4 burgers is A LOT of beef. But the flavor combination is without a doubt successful.

Enjoy!

Warm Squid Salad

Recipe: Warm Squid Salad
Page: 84 and 102
Date Cooked: November 14, 2010

Squid is food item I truly enjoy but rarely cook on my own - after this recipe however it may become part of cooking repertoire. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about making the aioli (it appears that the third time was not the charm).

Ingredients: fresh bread crumbs, endive, escarole, frisee, squid, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, white wine, rice wine vinegar, egg yolks

When I read through the recipe and ingredients, I immediately noticed that Jonathan Waxman called for making aioli. Still high off of my previous mayonnaise making attempt, I decided to make the aioli first. This time around, Jonathan Waxman calls for the use of a blender, as opposed to using a whisk like the times before. Of course, when I read this portion of the directions, I was somewhat relived. I figured, "Oh yeah...using a blender will make this much easier!" Unfortunately that wasn't the case. The first time I tried to make aioli, I put the eggs and garlic in the blender and added the olive oil super slowly as the motor continued to run - it just became a liquidy mess.

Aioli making attempt #1

The second time I blended the eggs and garlic first in a food processor, placed that into the blender, and then added the olive oil as the motor ran. It was soo close, but the aioli seemed to "break." Nonetheless I used the outcome of the second attempt to finish the recipe.

Aioli making attempt #2

Luckily for me the rest of the recipe was much simpler and I tried to let go of the frustration from a failed aioli. I made some fresh bread crumbs and let them toast in the oven and then washed, dried, and tore the greens. Jonathan Waxman makes explicit note of the fact that frozen squid will not suffice for this recipe. Luckily for me, my grocery store carries fresh squid on a regular basis and it was already cleaned! The squid was sliced into 1" lengths and laid on paper towels to dry. I made sure to use a mixture of both the body and tentacles.

Squid

The squid was salted and peppered and then placed in a skillet of olive oil. Once all the squid was cooked (had to do 2-3 batches at a time). Garlic was added to the skillet and browned. Both the squid and garlic were placed in a bowl and covered to keep warm.

Cooking the squid

The skillet was then deglazed with some white wine and reduced. Vinegar, olive oil, and the aioli were all added in to make a sauce. The sauce was poured over the squid and garlic mixture, along with half of the toasted bread crumbs.

Squid, garlic, sauce, and bread crumbs

Finally, the squid mixture was tossed with the greens. The salad was put on plates and garnished with the remaining bread crumbs. The final product...

Warm Squid Salad

Despite my aioli disaster, I really enjoyed the salad. Every component balanced each other. The crunch of the greens, the flavor of the breadcrumbs, and then perfectly cooked squid it was just wonderful. I ate the left-overs the following night, and of course the squid was no longer warm, but the salad still tasted delicious.

I can only imagine what it would have been like had that gosh darn aioli come out right. So people of the blogosphere: You have to help me out with these mayonnaise/aioli recipes. They are beginning to drive me crazy. Nonetheless, I will keep on trying!

Enjoy!

Note: Jonathan Waxman calls for the aioli recipe on page 102. However, he later refers to the aioli as red pepper aioli. The aioli was never flavored with red peppers. It didn't call for it. Looks like I found a typo.

Shrimp BLT

Recipe: Shrimp BLT
Page: 105 and 236
Date Cooked: November 5, 2010

I am a firm believer that a good sandwich can make your day and can be had for any meal. It's a perfect vessel to get a number of flavors in between two wonderful pieces of bread, making it oh so satisfying. Having expressed my love for the sandwich, I can also say that a BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) sandwich isn't really my thing. While I love bacon, the BLT was never quite my it sandwich and seemed to disappoint. I was always wanting more. Luckily, Jonathan Waxman led me to the solution.....Shrimp BLT.

Ingredients: Bacon, shrimp, tomato, salt, sourdough bread, lemon, corn oil, olive oil, egg yolks, butter lettuce

The best part of this sandwich was of course its simplicity. The bacon is cooked slowly in a large cast-iron skillet. It is then removed from the pan and the shrimp are added to the remaining bacon fat until they are cooked through.

Top Panels: Bacon cooking slowly
Bottom Panels: Shrimp cooking in remaining bacon fat

While the bacon and shrimp cooked, it was on to making the mayonnaise. Now this was my second try at making mayonnaise, and well the first attempt wasn't too successful. This mayonnaise recipe was also slightly different from the first. It didn't require as many flavorings (i.e garlic and parsley) and also required two types of oil. 

The lemon juice and egg yolks were whisked for a few minutes and the oil mixture was added slowly. The whisking continued until all the oil was used. And the result....success! Well, at least a far better mayonnaise texture than the first time! If anything it was a step up and I'm hoping the next time it will fully have that mayonnaise feel. Nonetheless, it tasted good.

Finished mayonnaise!

With the bacon shrimp, and mayonnaise ready, the sandwich was ready for assembly. The tomatoes were sliced and lightly salted. The bread was toasted and mayonnaise was spread on each side. Some lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and shrimp were added to make the final product.

Shrimp BLT

The sandwich was delicious. It tasted fresh and the marriage of the shrimp and the bacon with those veggies = yummm! I suggest that if you try to make this sandwich find bigger bread slices (the bakery I went to only had this size of sourdough). Moreover, I may have become a mayonnaise convert, fresh mayonnaise that is. I have no other explanation other than it just tastes better. All in all, perhaps a BLT is the sandwich for me, with shrimp of course!

Enjoy!

I want to thank Pansy and Bramjot Uberoi for assisting me in making this sandwich. Thanks to Pansy for letting me use her kitchen and Bramjot for putting some manpower behind that mayonnaise whisking.

Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Pepper Sauce

Recipe: Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Pepper Sauce
Page: 206
Date Cooked: October 15, 2010

I am a large fan of tuna steaks. It is a great alternative to other seafood and also has the potential to appeal to red meat eating patrons. I also appreciate that tuna can be cooked very rare and accepts flavors well. And all of these aspects of tuna are accomplished in Waxman's "Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Pepper Sauce."

Ingredients: Limes, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, coriander seeds, tuna steaks, cilantro, red bell peppers, chiles, unsalted butter, black peppercorns, olive oil 

The first step is to create the marinade for the tuna steaks. Half of the lime juice, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, fresh grated ginger, and coriander seeds are all whisked together. The marinade is poured over the tuna steaks with a few cilantro springs. The tuna is then marinated at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Tuna steaks in marinade with cilantro sprigs

While the tuna marinated, it is on to coring and stemming the peppers and chiles. Jonathan Waxman calls for the peppers to be cut into 1-x-2 inch triangles Honestly I'm not sure why exactly the peppers are cut in this manner. Initially I was under the impression it was a cooking technique but I am pretty sure it is a presentation thing. Nonetheless, I did my best to get those peppers into triangles.

Left: Cored and stemmed peppers and chiles
Right: Peppers and chiles cut into 1-x-2 inch triangles

The final component of the dish is the ginger-black pepper sauce. The peppercorns are added to butter until fragrant. In the meantime the tuna is removed from the marinade. The marinade is strained and added to the peppercorn pan, along with the rest of the lime juice. The sauce is then reduced.

The ginger-black peppercorn sauce being reduced

Now that all the components of the dish are prepared, it is on to cooking. The peppers and chiles are sautéed   in the olive oil for about 8 minutes, removed from the pan, and then covered to keep warm. In the same pan, the tuna is cooked until medium rare (a few minutes on each side). 

Pan-seared tuna until medium-rare

Simultaneously, the sauce is reheated, brought off the heat, and butter and ginger are whisked into the mixture. Now on to the final product...

Tuna Steaks with Ginger-Black Peppercorn Sauce

This dish was flavorful and tasty. The sauce had such a punch of ginger and pepper and complimented the tuna steak perfectly. Moreover, the tuna steaks were cooked to medium-rare, so you could enjoy the seared outside and yet enjoy the texture of the tuna steak. My one critique of the dish was that I had a lot of the peppers and chiles left over. Overall, I think this dish has an elegance to it and can be quite impressive when served.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Jonathan Apple Soup

Recipe: Butternut Squash and Jonathan Apple Soup

Page: 60

Date Cooked: October 15, 2010

“The true test of any cook is his or her ability to make a simple soup.” Jonathan Waxman opens with this line in the soup section of “A Great American Cook,” and his words are no secret in the culinary world. The one thing I do know about soup is that if done correctly the flavors have the punch of an entire entrée. 

Here in Pennsylvania it is apple season and it seemed only appropriate that I try to make as many recipes as possible that require this ingredient. While the recipe speaks highly of the Jonathan apple (a variety I had never heard of), I could not seem to locate it and used McIntosh apples instead (the recipe calls for Jonathan, McIntosh, or Jonagold apples).

Ingredients: Butternut squash, unsalted butter, kosher salt, McIntosh apples, white onion, garlic, black pepper, apple cider

The squash was cut, the seeds were scooped out, and it was then dotted with some butter to roast in the oven. About half-way through the squash roasting time, the apples were placed into the same pan till both the squash and apples were tender. The smell of butternut squash, apples, and butter roasting in the oven were amazing – it definitely felt like fall in my house.

Roasted squash and apples

While the squash and apples cooled, I went on to slice the onions and smash the garlic. The onions and garlic were sautéed with some butter, salt, and pepper for approximately 15 minutes. As the onion mixture sautéed, the squash and apples were chopped coarsely.

Left: Sautéed onions and garlic
Right: Chopped squash and apples

The squash, apples, apple cider, and water were added to the onion mixture. Everything was brought to a boil and then left to simmer for 20 minutes.

The soup simmering

After simmering, I placed batches of the soup into the blender to puree – while also adding some extra salt and pepper. The soup is then ready for consumption!

Butternut Squash and Jonathan Apple Soup

My initial take on Butternut Squash and Jonathan Apple Soup was that it was sweet. I think part of this had to do with the apples (those apples were delicious!) and the other side is that I didn’t add enough salt and pepper. Nonetheless, I thought the soup was great. The richness and smoothness was spot on and the flavor was perfect. Moreover, for a soup, this took relatively little time and effort. There is little to no doubt that I would make this again!

Enjoy!

Steamed Artichokes with Garlic Mayonnaise

Recipe: Steamed Artichokes with Garlic Mayonnaise
Page: 251
Date Cooked: October 5, 2010

When I started this project I realized that the task was daunting - cooking every recipe takes time and dedication. However, the one thing that put me at ease was the vegetable recipe section in "A Great American Cook," where the directions are short and sweet.

This vegetable section recipe included steaming artichokes and making my own mayonnaise - both firsts for me.

Ingredients: Artichokes, lemon, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, egg yolks, sea salt, garlic

The only time I eat artichokes are when someone else prepares them. And I do enjoy them. While I have bought artichokes from the store on numerous occasions, they tend to stay in my fridge until I throw them out. All because I never really knew what to do with a whole artichoke and was somewhat intimidated to prepare them. However, I can safely say that after this recipe I no longer feel that way!

To steam artichokes was just so simple and I'm somewhat disappointed no one informed me of this sooner. I cut about one inch from the top of the artichoke, trimmed down each leaf, and then cut the stems so they would stay upright in the steamer basket. They were then placed into a pot to steam for about 40 minutes.

Artichokes ready to be steamed.

While the artichokes steamed, I began making the mayonnaise. The juice of the lemon, chopped parsley leaves, egg yolks, and salt were all combined into a bowl and then whisked for 3 minutes.

Left: Lemon juice, parsley, egg yolks, and salt
Right: Components after being whisked for 3 minutes

Then came the difficult part of the mayonnaise making process: adding the olive oil. The olive oil is initially added a few drops at a time till the sauce emulsifies. It is then carefully drizzled at a slow pace to avoid curdling. The garlic is then added to the sauce.

Simultaneous whisking and olive oil drizzling. 

I thought I had the followed the directions just as they had been laid out in the recipe. Unfortunately, my mayonnaise never did look like mayonnaise. It did thicken, but it never had the light and fluffy texture that I wanted.

Garlic Mayonnaise

Though the mayonnaise didn't have the right consistency, I did end up with perfectly steamed artichokes and used the "mayonnaise" for dipping. Despite the incorrect texture, the mayonnaise mixture was delicious! It also went perfectly with the artichokes. The sauce gave the perfect amount of acidity one would want with steamed artichokes. Furthermore, the lemon juice, parsley, and garlic produced an amazing flavor.

All in all, I decided I have to give mayonnaise making another try (and luckily for me, this isn't the only time Jonathan Waxman calls for making mayonnaise). Again in spite of not producing a perfect mayonnaise - it still turned out to be a tasty dish. And, hey, I'm not afraid of preparing artichokes anymore!

Enjoy!