Duck Legs with Quince, Plums and Sage

This is a pretty broad adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe. I followed his steps pretty closely but all the ingredients except the duck and plums are different (his recipe had a more Asian slant, with chilis and cinnamon and soy sauce). Since I made this up as I went along, there are no quantities- just use your judgement.


Duck legs
Oranges
Plums
Quince
Sage leaves
Fennel seed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chili flakes
Honey

Marinate the duck legs in orange juice and olive oil with sage, fennel seed, salt, pepper, and chili flakes for an hour or more. Cut the plums and quince into large chunks and toss with a little lemon juice (to keep the quince from discoloring) and honey (you can skip the honey- my plums were not very ripe so I wanted to sweeten them up a little). When the duck is done marinating, toss the quince and plums in the marinade and arrange in the bottom of a baking pan, with the duck legs on top. Roast in a 325 degree oven for 2 hours.

I served this over creamy polenta (surprise!), with a big green salad on the side and roasted squash.

Roasted Vegetables with an Egg

Pretty simple: just some roasted sweet potatoes, squash, beets and fennel with an egg on top! If I was better at poaching eggs, I think that would have been even better, but this was very tasty.

Spinach with Avocado, Grapefruit, and Fennel

This is also really good with smoked whitefish or trout, if you have it.

Croque Madame (or Monsieur)

For Croque Monsieur, skip the eggs.

2 slices good bread
Sliced gruyere cheese
Thinly sliced, aged ham (proscuitto works great)
Dijon mustard
Butter
2 eggs

Spread mustard on both slices of bread. In a large frying pan, melt the butter, and place the bread in it, mustard-side up. On one half, arrange the sliced cheese, and on the other, the ham. Cook until the bread is nice and brown on the bottoms, and flip the cheese half onto the ham half to assemble the sandwich, keeping it on one side of the pan. Crack the eggs into the empty side of the frying pan and fry until the white is mostly cooked. Cover the pan with a lid to finish melting the cheese on the sandwich, and to just cook the top of the egg yolk (you want the yolk to still be runny, just not raw). Serve the eggs on top of the sandwich, with a nice green salad on the side.

National Sandwich Day! (Finocchiona, Manchego and Figs on Walnut Bread)

Pasta with Caramelized Sweet Potatoes, Arugula, Purple Basil and Goat Cheese

To caramelize the sweet potatoes: parboil them just so they are barely cooked, and then let them caramelize in a hot pan with olive oil (or butter!), some garlic and seasoning. To make them extra sweet, you could add some honey or brown sugar.

Chorizo and Butter Bean "Stew"

As I've posted many times before, I have a huge crush on Jamie Oliver. Ever since his days as the Naked Chef, I've been following his cookbooks, television shows, products, projects and now... his magazine. I love getting Jamie Magazine every other month more than any other piece of mail. It's chock full of simple, rustic recipes, including the magnificent "recipe a day" centerfold, and is a constant source of cooking inspiration for me. I am so excited for his American tv series to start!

I had leftover polenta from last night's dinner, so I decided to have it for dinner with this chorizo and butter bean "stew" from the latest issue of Jamie. One thing I love about Jamie's recipes is that they are very intuitive, so even though he provides quantities and instruction, it's pretty easy to just look at the ingredients and improvise. I made this by just sauteing some Spanish chorizo with onion, adding some canned tomatoes and beans, and simmering until it was all good and soft. It was, as Mr. Oliver would say, "easy peasy" and deliciously smoky on a cold autumn night.

*Note: I also served this on top of crostini as an hor d'oeuvre at my last dinner party and it was a huge hit! I paired them with my "Out Like a Lamb" cocktail, which really complimented the smokiness of the chorizo. To make crostini, just slice good bread, brush with olive oil, and bake for a few minutes until it gets crispy. Then top with whatever you like!

The Bee's Knees!

This is a classic 1920's cocktail that I recently discovered and LOVE.

3 parts gin
2 parts lemon juice
1 part honey syrup (1/2 honey, 1/2 warm water, whisked together)

Polenta with Roasted Winter Vegetables and Swiss Chard in "Bagna Cauda"

Bagna cauda is an anchovy-based sauce that is used for dipping vegetables. At the River Cafe in London, I had it with some delicious winter vegetables, and I decided to make a main course out of it at home by serving it over polenta. I just roasted beets, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and fennel with a little olive oil, thyme, and fennel seed. Meanwhile I made the sauce with anchovies, garlic, olive oil, and a little sweet vermouth and lemon juice, and I wilted some swiss chard in that while I made the polenta. The saltiness of the anchovies really complimented the sweetness of the root vegetables. Yum!

Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Tacos

This is pretty much a direct rip off from Doña Tomas... except theirs were called "quesadillas" and served with an amazing tomatillo salsa. Lacking tomatillos, I just used lemon thyme instead of regular thyme to add a little citrus to the dish.


1 medium sweet potato/yam, peeled and diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
lemon thyme
goat cheese
salt and pepper
3 small corn tortillas

Parboil the sweet potato. Sautee the onion and garlic until lightly caramelized. Add the sweet potato and season with thyme, salt and pepper. Serve in small corn tortillas.

Pasta with Tuna and Arugula

1/3 pound pasta (any kind- all I had were tortelli)
1/2 can tuna packed in olive oil
about 1 C arugula
1/4 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp red chili flakes
salt and pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

This is an easy dish that can be varied in a million ways. You could add capers (I meant to but forgot), or tomato paste, or broccolini, or use anchovies instead of tuna... All I do is quickly sautee the onions and garlic with the chili flakes, add the tuna just to heat it, and then throw the arugula on top and let it wilt while the pasta boils. Then you can just squeeze a little fresh lemon juice into the mixture, toss it with the pasta, and eat! Yum. These quantities serve one, by the way.

Bibb Lettuce with Elephant Heart Plums, Proscuitto, and Mint-Yogurt Dressing

Banana Milk "Shake"

I used to make this all the time in college, but I forgotten about it until I had a banana-Dulce de Leche milkshake in LA last weekend, and now I can't get enough!


1 Banana
1 Cup Milk
1/2 oz Simple Syrup (or more if you like it sweet)
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend and serve over ice! (Peanut butter and honey on walnut bread optional.)

Endives, Baby Spinach, Comice Pears (from Dad's garden!), and Shaved P'tit Basque with Aged Balsamic

I have been really into endives lately. They add such a nice crunch to baby greens.

Warm Fingerling Potatoes with Olive Oil and Sea Salt, Over Baby Greens

Endive and Watercress Salad with Pluots and Marcona Almonds in a Lemon-Yogurt Dressing

Lemon-Yogurt Dressing
1/4 C plain yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Still Hungry?

Hello again! I am thinking about posting on this blog again. Most of the things I cook lately are very simple (and don't really require recipes), but I would like to keep a better record of them, so I guess that this will be more of a collection of different combinations of ingredients from here on out (with the occasional real recipe, I'm sure). Summer makes it easy to take advantage of all the wonderful local produce available. Here are some of the things I've eaten over the last couple of months:


Tomatoes on toast with Fleur Verte goat cheese.


Blistered Padron peppers with sea salt.


(Richard made this one, but I intend to copy it.)
Tomatoes, basil, snap peas and grilled chicken in a garlic-anchovy dressing.


Sangria made with kumquats, key limes, plums, nectarines, grapefruit, and Moscato D' Asti.


Little gems lettuces with Mission figs and mint in a creme fraiche dressing.


Homemade pot pie and a spinach salad with mint, basil, fennel and strawberries with pecans and ricotta in an orange-balsamic dressing.


"The Eton Mess" (strawberries, whipped cream, and crushed meringues).


A gimlet with bergamot-basil simple syrup, lemon juice, and vodka.


Scrambled eggs with broccoli rabe and aged Danish gouda served with fruit salad and toast.


Tomato-grape salad with mint and feta.

Aperitif

Well, it should come as no surprise to you that after nearly a year without any posts, I've decided to close up shop here. The truth is that although I still love to cook and share my recipes, I just don't have time to maintain all these blogs! So in the future, there may be the occasional recipe posted on Printer & Piemaker, but I will no longer be posting here. Thanks for stopping by, and in the words of Paula Deen, I wish you "Best Dishes."

Peach Clafoutis

My friend Max and I went peach picking last weekend and made a clafoutis from our pickings. It was deliciously eggy, and would have been even better if I'd had the time to make my friend Piper's peach ice cream to go with it! Maybe next year...


6 medium peaches (about 2 1/2 cups of cut fruit)
3/4 C heavy cream
Vanilla (seeds from a bean or extract)
1/2 C milk
4 eggs
1/4 C sugar
1 Tbs amaretto
2/3 C flour
Confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Drop the peaches, whole, into a large pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath. The peels should come off easily. Slice the peaches, and arrange in a well-buttered baking dish.

Whisk the eggs with the sugar, flour and vanilla. Do not over whisk! Then add the cream, milk, and amaretto. Pour over the peaches and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown on top. Dust with a little powdered sugar and serve warm.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

These are delicious on panini or bruschetta, or served on top of a juicy steak. I used them on these little open-faced steak sandwiches I made for a party last month, with blue cheese and arugula.

2 pints cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper


Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and arrange in one layer, cut side up, in a baking dish. Season well with salt and pepper, and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast in a 300 degree oven for between 2-3 hours.