Easy Does It

I’ve changed. Long gone are the days (described for the last few weeks), when I would never buy anything prepared to serve at home. I made all my own stocks, my own mayonnaise, my own ice cream, all sauces 100% from scratch, and so on. I even churned my own butter! Must have been on some kind of ego trip.

Now I buy many of those things as components, albeit vetted very carefully, when I cook. There are plenty of top quality foods, ingredients, and prepared foods available. I buy my fruit in one place, my meat in another; some cheeses in one place, others elsewhere; olive oil in one place, vinegars in another. That’s my drill.

I no longer cook during the winter; only one dinner party on New Year’s Eve for a small group of very close friends. But during the summer we have a beach house on Fire Island, a very casual barrier island off the coast of Long Island; there it seems all I ever do is cook, with the house always filled with family and friends.

Just as I have changed, so has my cooking style. When I taught those classes, almost everything was spilling over with butter, heavy cream, and starches; the more fat the better! Many of my techniques were over-complicated and I doubt most of what I taught was incorporated into my students’ everyday cooking; but as I looked over my folders, I saw that some of them were truly timeless; one was an avocado cream with honey served as dessert that shocked me as being somewhat ahead of its time-- this was 40 years ago. Was this really me?

I have learned not to be afraid of recipes. When I cook, I often vary my ingredients or method just a bit to keep it all interesting. Few recipes, I have found, are set in stone, and it helps keep the passion alive.

On the other hand, many principles of baking are more of a science, with rules for balance that must never be violated, as I have, on occasion, learned the hard way in my Love and Quiches business. We can vary the flavors, the decorations, and the presentation, but never the inviolate principles. Our products must travel halfway across the world; they must be perfect.

I still use only butter (never margarine or other substitute), but I use less of it; I use olive oil in most of my cooking, but not too much; I add wines and broths to add flavor without adding calories. When I’m tempted to use cream, I often use light cream instead, or even milk, with excellent results. Dijon mustard adds a lot of flavor to a myriad of foods without adding calories. I use only Vidalia or other sweet onions when cooking; I use more shallots than I do garlic; I use wild mushrooms-- all kinds-- with reckless abandon. One inviolate rule is that I still make all my own salad dressings (never store bought), but I am not averse to finishing off a lovely cauldron of Pomodoro or Bolognese sauce with a jar of Classico brand Tomato and Basil sauce to gather it all together.

I plan to turn this blog into a book once I have finished recording my almost forty-year journey, from my kitchen where I founded Love and Quiches to where we are today. That was my primary purpose here; a business memoir where I’ve held nothing back. And then, for fun, both from back then and from today, I will share some of my favorite recipes, but for now I will share just a few that I use over and over nowadays; my easiest and most favorite, to compliment and enhance so very many dishes.

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Mustard Sauce:
heavy cream (or light cream or whole milk), one cup
low salt chicken stock (homemade, supermarket, or store bought from a favorite gourmet shop), one cup. Combine first two ingredients and simmer in saucepan (low heat to prevent burning) on stove top until reduced by exactly half. Remove from heat.
Dijon mustard, one third cup. Stir into warm, reduced liquids.
salt, add to taste.
white pepper, add to taste.
Serve warm over anything: meat, fish, poultry, or vegetables. Can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, or frozen for a few months, but defrost thoroughly before reheating. Reheat very gently to avoid curdling. This recipe can be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled for larger gatherings, but increases the reduction time for the liquids quite a bit. Be patient.

My Famous (but don’t tell) Barbeque Sauce:
ketchup, one cup
“All Fruit” Marmalade, one cup (I prefer Polaner brand)
white wine, one cup
Dijon mustard, one half cup
Combine all four ingredients and cook gently (low heat to prevent sputtering) on stove top until well combined. You can up the mustard, if desired, for a stronger sauce, or add some fresh ground black pepper, but I serve it as is. This no work sauce keeps forever in the fridge, and is always a big hit.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Balsamic vinegar, one half cup
Dijon mustard, one tablespoon
salt, one teaspoon
fresh ground pepper, to taste
olive oil (best quality, very important), one cup
Stir together first five ingredients until well combined
shallots, one large (well diced to make three or four tablespoons).
olive oil, one tablespoon. Sauté shallots in the oil for a few minutes until translucent. They will turn very sweet. Be careful not to burn them.
Stir shallots into prepared dressing. This dressing compliments almost any combination of greens. The mustard can be eliminated for a lighter dressing, and white balsamic vinegar (thanks to my friend Alan) can be used, instead, for another elegant variety.

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As mentioned above, I would love to share some of my more complicated, but very best recipes (such as Wild Mushroom Ragu with Risotto, Bolognese Sauce with Tagliatelli, and Gazpacho with Fresh Crabmeat, as well as a few from my cooking classes from way back), but I have found that just these few have been quite difficult to translate into this blog format. I promise to try; otherwise it will have to wait for the book.

When I cook, I just keep making adjustments: a little more wine, or stock, or olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, and so on until the flavor is just right. I use my instincts here just as I have learned to do in business; what ingredients to add and how much vs. what to do next and when -- a skill learned from experience that has served me well.


Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/