Ready. Set. Roast!

As I mentioned in my year end post, I've been roasting.

There really is not much I have not tried to roast...

Artichokes.  Check.  (With Meyer lemons...a tasty addition if I do say so...)

A giant bag full of garlic and four types of shallots, given to us by a college friend, who's become quite the gardener and has the good fortune to live in Oregon.  Check.

(Sprinkle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Roast.  Pile the resulting, heavenly 'marmalade' on bread or roast chicken.)

Cauliflower.  Check.  (Thought you didn't like cauliflower?  Have I got news for you!)

Ok, these sound good, but really...not that radical, right?

So try this....
how about Clam Sauce?!

TWIST!

Yes, folks...in the past month, I've come across two new roasting recipes that have me giddy...so I thought I'd share.

First.  Yes, you heard me.  Pasta with Clam Sauce.  ROASTED!
Ridiculously easy and oh so delicious, that it had me asking, where-oh-where has this recipe been all my life?  The magical thing that happens here is with the tomatoes...fresh, cherry tomatoes love being in the oven.  (Live clams?  Hmmm, maybe not so much, but hey.... that's the food chain for you.)  For a Clam Sauce lover like me, this was nothing short of nirvana.

You start an oven-safe pan on the stove with some pancetta and then, while your spaghetti is cooking in another pot, toss the remaining ingredients into your skillet before popping the whole thing into the oven.  Presto!  The result is perfect broth-y goodness.  The clams release their natural juices into the sauce, an intoxicating blend of pancetta balanced with the brightness of tomatoes and white wine.  A shower of torn fresh basil leaves and chopped parsley as garnish at the end.  Lean over, close your eyes and take a sniff....you are in Italy.   The recipe is from a Tyler Florence book, and I have to say...yes, it is indeed The Ultimate Spaghetti with Clams.

But maybe you're like my brother, and you live in that arctic tundra known as Minneapolis...and you're thinking, "yeah, well, that's all great, but umm, where are we supposed to get fresh clams?!', or maybe you don't even like clams or clam sauce.

Then I say to you, Roast Pears!

And I mean, underripe pears.  (We can ALL find those, right?!)  This roasted pear recipe (from Sally Schneider on The Atlantic's food channel) is so wonderful, I urge you to get pears as soon as is humanly possible--do not pass GO--get your hands on a real vanilla bean (the true hero in Roasted Pears) and pre-'pear' to be amazed.  (sorry, just couldn't help myself there...)

Here, the most humble ingredients (pears, water, sugar, butter, lemon juice and the vanilla bean) are completely transformed in a hot oven.  What you get are meltingly wonderful, carmelized pears...perfect spooned over ice cream, OR, drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with toasted slivered almonds, OR drizzled over oatmeal, or pancakes...there is no stopping these pears and their magical powers to make people swoon.  The vanilla-flecked pear juices which become like a caramel sauce in the oven...they alone are worth the effort.  Trust me on this.

Now go on...get out there and start roasting...and don't look back!

Note:
About vanilla beans...skip the shriveled, dried up specimens packaged in expensive little bottles you find at the supermarket.  You want plump, moist vanilla beans so consider either your fancy grocery store where you'll find them sold individually in glass tubes, or I've been using mail order (I used to buy vanilla beans at Trader Joe's, but mine has stopped carrying them -- they were a total steal and pretty good quality, but alas, no more.) and the quality has been impeccable.  It really does make a difference.
My favorite source is Spice House and they have several locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, if you live out that way.

Essential Roasted Pears
adapted from Sally Schneider


Serves 4

    • 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
    • 1/2 vanilla bean (optional)
    • 1 1/2 pounds slightly-under-ripe, fragrant, medium pears, peeled if desired and halved though the stem
    • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    • 2 tablespoons water
    • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the sugar in a small bowl. With a thin, sharp knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and scrape out the seeds. Stir the seeds into the sugar.

Arrange the pears in a large baking dish, cut-side up. Drizzle the lemon juice evenly over the fruit, then sprinkle with the sugar. Nestle the vanilla pod among the fruit. Pour the water into the dish. Dot each pear with some butter.

Roast the pears 30 minutes brushing them occasionally with the pan juices. Turn the pears over and continue roasting, basting once or twice, until tender and caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes longer (if the pears are small, test for doneness after 35 or 40 minutes of cooking; a paring knife poked into the thickest part of one should meet with no resistance). Serve warm.

Dining In

Let me say right off the bat here that I love eating out.  I've always loved it.

When I was about eight, my family spent a long weekend on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel.  On our first morning there, we sat in the hotel's formal dining room for breakfast and were treated to our plates of scrambled eggs and French toast delivered to the table topped with high-domed silver covers, which the waiters removed with a flourish.  My mother loves to tell the story of how I turned to her after first seeing this and  said  "I feel like a queen!"

It is indeed a treat to have someone prepare and serve your meal...BUT...(you knew there was going to be a but, right?!) for the past several years, I've been championing a different style of eating out.  I can't pinpoint exactly which overcrowded Saturday night out at a 'hot' restaurant with an hour-and-a-half wait converted me, but there was indeed a turning point.  No more going out on Friday or Saturday.  It had simply become unpleasant to eat out during the weekend.  And, remember Anthony Bourdain's book, Kitchen Confidential?   I've taken to heart his admonishment that weekend diners are getting the worst service and food.  

So for some time now, we've been following the George Costanza rule -- Do The Opposite -- and eating out on the occasional weekday, while saving weekends for cooking and having friends over.  So here I am...ready to convert you, first, by telling you that this schedule is AWESOME!  No more jostling in the bar with the crowds, no more trying to flag the overworked wait staff for a water refill or another glass of wine.  And, think about it...it really does make sense.  If you cook or entertain over the weekend, you'll have time to shop and when your friends are over and enjoying a leisurely dessert, no one will be pushing you out hoping to turn the table quickly.

Over the holiday weekend, we were cleaning out a closet filled with moving boxes and I came across my long-missing file folder boxes of Cook's Illustrated magazines.  It was as if I had found a long lost friend.  These were back issues I'd saved from when the magazine first started and I affectionately referred to them as The Cooking Nerds.  So I spent a highly entertaining hour sitting on the hallway floor reading and, wouldn't you know it...re-discovered one of my favorite 'recreate-a-restaurant-dish-at-home' recipes ever!

Remember when Italian restaurants were just that?  Typically they had red checkered tablecloths and things like Veal Scallopine, Eggplant Parmigiana and Spaghetti with Meatballs on the menu.  (...reminds me of Rao's Cookbook!)  If you grew up in Chicago, or New York, Italian restaurant menus often included Shrimp Scampi.

This was always my favorite--tender shrimp, bathed in a delicious garlicky, lemony, sauce, perfect for mopping up with a slice of Italian bread.  Mark Bittman is also apparently a fan of Shrimp Scampi, and he put together the recipe below for Cook's Illustrated.  It's fantastic and ridiculously easy--my favorite combination.  I had it marked from the January 1999 issue where it first appeared, and made it pretty regularly.  Since moving almost two years ago, the recipe has been sadly out of sight, and out of mind.

That very afternoon I found the magazines, I made the shrimp scampi and served it right from the pan.  With a nice salad and a loaf of good bread for soaking up the lovely sauce, it was the perfect 'restaurant' meal, at home.

I'm happy to report...there was no wait for a good table.

*          *           *           *

Simple Shrimp Scampi

serves 4

adapted from Mark Bittman, in Cook's Illustrated

NOTE:  My own adjustment is to use a larger skillet (Bittman originally suggests 10-inch).  Make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go -- this dish takes just minutes.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds large shrimp (21-25 count per pound) peeled, deveined and rinsed

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

Salt

Cayenne pepper

Heat oil and garlic in a large (I used 12-inch) skillet over medium heat until garlic begins to sizzle.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until fragrant and pale gold, about 2 minutes.
Add shrimp, increase heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp turn pink, about 7 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook or the shrimp will become tough.

Off heat, stir in parsely, lemon juice, and salt and cayenne pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Dining out photos, above:
Tacos at Tacubaya, Berkeley, CA
Fish and Chips at Fish in Sausalito, CA
Vegetable kabobs at Greens, San Francisco, CA