Coq Au Vin (France)

      Throughout the kitchens of France there is a particular stew that is served almost on a weekley basis.  But, calling it a stew just doesn't do it justice.  In all the world, I do not know of any other stew which use an entire bottle of good quality burgundy, and there is also no other stew which uses the best part of a chicken.  Unfortunately, there is not other type of food which Coq Au Vin resembles.  So like many of the other French classics a stew it remains.
      The rules of classic french cuisine dictate that Coq Au Vin should be made using a well aged cock, aka an older male chicken.  But as this would require an extreme amount of control over livestock it has become nearly impossible to follow this rule, and most simply use what they can get from their local grocer. 
      My recipe for Coq Au Vin calls for chicken leg quarters, which is a fancy way of saying the still attached chicken leg and thigh.  I call for this because white meat never seems to hold the moisture as it should, which cause you to lose alot of that great flavor from the wine.  Also I call for a good quality burgundy, which means that it may cost you a good thirty dollars rather then ten.

Coq au Vin

5 pounds chicken leg quarters

1/2 pound slab bacon

12 baby onions

5 cups baby bella mushrooms

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bottle (750 ml) of a good quality burgundy

2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons fresh basil

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons fresh parsley

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

Season the chicken leg quarters with salt and pepper.  Slice the bacon thin and place in a large dutch oven, when the bacon has browned remove it from the heat and place on a paper towel lined plate until needed.  Meanwhile saute the onion in the bacon drippings.  Add in the garlic and mushrooms and saute just until tender. 

Add in the chicken and brown it on all sides.  Add in the wine, broth and the herbs.  Cook the mixture for 45 minutes over high heat, until chicken has cooked through.  Re-introduce the bacon and cook for an additional 5 minutes. 

In a bowl melt the butter in the microwave.  Mix in the flour to make a rue and set aside.  Remove the chicken and vegetables from the dutch oven and place on the intended serving platter.  Mix the rue in with the sauce that is in the dutch oven and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. 

Serves 6

Stuffed French Toast (United States)

      It is very hard to say where the technique for making french toast originated.  After all, dipping day old bread in an egg batter and frying it with some butter has been around ever since people began baking bread.  In England they call it Eggy Bread, in France it is called Pain Perdu (lost bread), and for some reason Americans call it French Toast.
      Now stuffed french toast is very American.  Filling a breakfast item with sweet custard and an assortment of different flavors just screams "Melting Pot".  Now if you want to make a more traditional Stuffed French Toast you should use slightley stale Texas Toast and fill it with some sweetened cream cheese.  Cook it as you usually would by frying each side and then garnish with berries.
      For people like me simple is well and good, but something that I refuse to serve.  Not because I like to be an educator of fine foods or because I like to show off.  For me cooking with great presentation is one of the few skills I have that I can give my friends and family to show that I care.  Which is how this recipe actually came about.  Lemon Rosemary French Toast, instead of bread I make it with pound cake and fill it with a lemon cream and a rosemary lemon syrup.  If you need a good wake up call for a person you love, then this is the recipe for you.

Lemon Rosemary French Toast

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoons  lemon juice

4 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoon sugar

12 slices slightly stale pound cake (1 inch thick)

5 eggs

1 cup half and half

2 tablespoons powder sugar

3 teaspoons dried rosemary

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons minced rosemary

mint sprigs and fresh blueberries for garnish

In a large bowl mix together the cream cheese, heavy cream, tablespoon lemon juice, cornstarch and 2 tablespoons sugar.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for up to two hours.   

In a medium bowl mix together the eggs, half and half, powdered sugar, rosemary, and lemon rind.  Whisk the mixture thoroughly and gently dip each piece of the pound cake into the egg mixture.  Butter a 10 inch skillet and cook over medium heat.  Place the soaked french toast into the heated skillet and cook for about 3 minutes per side.  Or until the bread has become golden brown.

Once you have completed all 12 pieces of pound cake.  Place on a large plate to allow it to cool while you make the syrup.  To make the syrup combine the 1 cup sugar, water, and 1/2 cup lemon juice bring to a boil and then remove from heat and allow to thicken.  Add in the rosemary and and set aside until ready to use. 

To assemble place four slices of the French Toast onto four separate plates.  Spoon some of the cream mixture onto each and repeat the layering process ending with the third piece of French Toast.  Drizzle the french toast with the syrup and garnish with the mint sprigs and blueberries.  Serve Immediately

Serves 4 

Christmas Pudding (England)

      Over the past five years that I have catered parties independently I have come across one thing which I swore I would never attempt to make again while in a time crunch.  This dish was Christmas pudding.  To be fair it didn't have anything to do with the dessert itself, if made properly the dessert is a very rich way to end a good meal.  But the first time I attempted to make the dessert I had once again bitten off more then I could chew.  The week before I was to cater the party is was working as the master electrician for a Christmas show which had me spending all of my time at the theatre and game me only about 5 hours to sleep every night, making it very hard to prepare anything.  To make matters worse my obsessive compulsive client, who will remain nameless, had asked for a dish I had never attempted let alone perfected... Christmas Pudding. 
      The recipe she had requested I use was the old way of preparing Christmas Pudding, which I will explain in just a bit, and require the use of suet, something else I will explain in just a moment.  I had my pumpkin cognac cheesecake, a mass amount of sugar cookies, black forest cake, and a tower of cake truffles.  And in the center off all these beautiful desserts was my first Christmas pudding, which had split in half when unfolded.  Luckily with some powdered sugar no one had noticed my flop, but what my client did notice was that I did not flambe the thing during the course of the night.  Something which she had wanted very much for the ascetic appeal.
      Now that I have grown from this experience the recipe I use it a bit different from the classic.  But enough about horror stories from holidays past.  The Christmas Pudding is the last of the suet puddings that still are actually made in England.  The concoction uses bread crumbs and a variety of different dried fruits to create a cake like dessert which was originally made in a molded pan and flavored with chopped suet. 
      For those of you asking yourself what the heck suet is, it is the fat extracted from kidneys.  Usually beef kidneys.  This is most likely more modern recipes from trend setting ladies like Betty Crocker do not call for suet as telling people that kidney fat is in your dessert tends to turn the stomach. 
      The use of alcohol to flambe the dish was not introduced until 1714 when King George I brought the dish back to England after a very long Protestant ban on the dish.  His kitchen staff was actually primarily French and they could not resist giving the dessert a bit of the famous French flair.  George love it so much that it just stuck. 
       The recipe I use now is what my one friend calls, a Caribbean Christmas pudding as I changed the liquor from brandy to dark rum and use panko bread crumbs (Asian coconut bread crumbs).  If you really want an eye pleasing presentation at your Christmas dinner make this dish and flambe it, just make sure that you do so with a very long match. 

Light Christmas Pudding

1 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup candied orange peel (recipe follows), finely chopped

1 cup maraschino cherries, finely chopped

1/2 cup dried currants

1/3 cup dark rum, plus extra if you intend to flambe the pudding

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon dried ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons lime zest

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 cup heavy cream

In a medium bowl combine the 1/2 cup rum and the dried fruits and orange peel.  Allow to sit in the rum for about a half an hour giving a light toss every often.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and the spices. Stir in the lime zest and set aside.  Cream together the butter and the brown sugar until it is very smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add in the bread crumbs mix well, and then add in the flour mixture.  Fold in the rum soaked fruits and the the cream.  Mix until well combined.

In a very wide stock pot or dutch oven pour about an inch of water into the pan and bring the water to a boil.  Meanwhile heavily grease a 6 cup souffle pan and pour the batter into the souffle dish.  Place either a trivet or a set of three inverted Ramekins into the pan of water. 

Adjust the temperature on the stove so that you get a nice gentle boil going, place the souffle dish onto the trivet/ramekins.  Cover the pot and steam, check about every 45 minutes so that you can replace the water if need be.  Cook until the mixture has cooked through he center and risen slightly in the center.  This should take about 3 hours. 

Remove the pudding from the pot and allow it to cool.  Invert the pudding onto your intended serving plate.  Warm about an extra 4 tablespoons of rum in the microwave and pour over the pudding, ignite it with a long match and allow the flames to die down.  Serve when the flames have died out with a dollop of whipped cream.  Refrigerate all leftovers. 

Serves 10-12



Candied Orange Peel

3 firm, ripe oranges

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Using a a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, remove the orange peel making sure to leave behind the white pith.  Use a knife to cut the peel into this strips and place the strips into a saucepan.  Cover the orange peels with cold water, bring the water to a boil and drain.  Rinse the peel under cold running water for a few minutes. 

Return the peel to the saucepan with the sugar and water and cook until the peel is bright and shiny with no liquid remaining at the bottom of the pan.  Spread the candied peel on a prepared aluminum foil covered cookie sheet.  Allow to cool, making sure to separate the peel so that the strips do not stick together.  Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

Makes 1 cup of candied peel

Cheesecake (Europe)

      The funniest thing about cheesecake, is not how it is made or how insanely addictive it is.  The funniest thing about cheesecake is where it originally came from.  Maybe it's just me, but I find it funny that a dessert that is so extremely sinful came from a people who are so devoutly religious.  The first cheesecakes where made by the Jewish people.  These original cheescakes were more of a cream pie made using cottage cheese.  Somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century the dessert made the leap to Europe where different cultures used different ingrediants until it became the wonderful dessert that we know today.
      In the last thirty or so years cheesecake has hit the culinary world by storm.  After all cheesecake is one of the most versatile desserts known to man.  You can make them with strawberries, chocolate, irish cream, mango's, coffee almost any flavor can be added to Cheescake and taste good. 
      For Oscar and Evelyn Overton cheescake was much more than a dessert in 1971 they opened a little restaurant known as "The Cheescake Factory" which would later become one of the highest grossing restaurant chains in the United States with additional restaurants in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
      When you make a cheesecake, you need only follow a few simple rules.  First make sure that you always use a good quality cream cheese and allow it to soften.  Second always mix the cheesecake by hand, I know this is a pain to do but if you use a mixer it will become far to airy and you will have that cracked top effect which will make you so very sad.  Third if you are going to make a cheesecake make the sour cream topping which is in the original recipes, it is so much better than whipped cream.

Baked Cheesecake

5 cups pecan shortbread cookies

3/4 cup butter

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese

5 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 containers (16 ounces each) sour cream

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Place the shortbread cookies into a plastic bag and pound them using either the flat side of kitchen mallet, or a rolling pin.  Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl and mix in the graham crackers.  Press the cookie crumbs into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 10-inch spring form pan (the best way to do this is to to use a sheet of parchment paper and use a coffee cup or measuring cup).  Place the crust into the refrigerator until needed.

In a large bowl cream the cream cheese with a wooden spoon (it is very important that you do not use a mixer to make this cheesecake using a wooden spoon may be hard to do but it gives the best results).  Add one egg at a time to the creamed cream cheese, making sure that you have fully incorporated each egg before adding the next (VERY VERY IMPORTANT).  Add the 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and mix well.

Pour the mixture over the crust.  Wrap aluminum foil around the outside of the spring form pan just in case the melted butter leeks from the pan.  Place the spring form pan on top of the cookie sheet and into a 300* oven for 35 to 45 minutes (If the cheesecake cracks remove it immediately from the oven or it will become dry).  The cheesecake should appear very puffy but when removed from the oven it will deflate.

Allow the cheesecake to settle for 10 minutes while you prepare the topping.  In a small bowl mix together the sour cream, sugar, remaining vanilla, and lemon zest.  Pour the sour cream mixture over the cheesecake and place back in to the oven for five minutes so that it will set.  Remove the pan from the oven and refrigerate with the top covered overnight. 

After the cheesecake has chilled overnight place the bottom of the spring form ban on top of the bottom of a coffee can.  Release the sides of the pan.  Serve the cheesecake immediately or cover and chill until ready to serve ( if you like you can freeze the cheesecake for 3 months, just allow to thaw before serving).

Serves 10

Blondies (United States)

      What do you call a brownie without chocolate?  A Blondie.  Not its not a joke, just a simple fact that every baker should know.  Unlike it sibling the brownie, a Blondie is made with no coco-powder, and the addition of brown sugar which give it its unique golden brown color.
       More recently the Blondie has gotten a makeover with additions of fruit, white chocolate, and a wide assortment of different nuts.  I welcome you to try any sort of mixing with these unique bars since, like a brownie, the taste should be based off your personal preferences. 

White Chocolate Pecan Blondie's

1/2 cup butter

1 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans (chopped into quarters)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips.

Spread the pecans onto a cookie sheet and place in a 350* oven for about 5 minutes to toast.  In a medium bowl cream the butter and sugars together.  Add in the vanilla, mix, and then add in the eggs one at a time. 

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the toasted pecans.   Line a 9x13 baking pan with a piece of parchment paper (do not use wax paper, trust me).  Pour the batter into the pan and place in the oven for 8 minutes.  After 8 minutes remove the Blondie's from the oven and place the white chocolate chips into the batter (may require you to push them into the mixture if your oven cooks slightly hotter).  Return the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the Blondie's comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about five minutes and then cut into bars of desired size.

Serves 12

Cheese and Ale Soup (England)

      In England, no one pub is the same.  Each pub is its own separate community filled with unique personalities and histories, go into one and you can have an adventure go into another one and it can be an epic quest. 
      What each of these pubs do sometimes have in common, is that they usually serve some of the same foods.  Though they each have their own unique flavors and alcoholic pairings, there are some foods that you will always come across.  One such being a cheese and ale soup.
      Now for those who don't know how good this soup tastes may shutter at the thought of mixing a dairy product with alcohol.  But I can assure you that like many strange foods, the taste is much different then the ingredients which go into it.  The secret to making this soup, is in the title.  You need a good cheese and a very good ale.  Use only a mild cheddar, as the you do not want a sharp cheddar which will overpower the soup.  And when choosing your ale you should find a nice amber ale, use a dark or pale and for some reason the soup turns out rather grainy.

Cheese and Ale Soup

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup onion (minced)

3 tablespoons garlic (minced)

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup British amber ale

2 cups half and half

2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese



In a large stock pot melt the butter, add in the flour to make a rue and continue stirring until the flour has cooked through (aka turned a golden brown color). This should take anywhere from 8 to 10 minutes.  Add in the onion and saute until tender (they will be very transparent and golden). 

Add in the ale and chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and add the half and half.  Stirring frequently add the cheese by crumbling hand fulls of the cheese into the soup pot.  NOTE: it is very important that you keep stirring during the addition of the cheese and after as well so that any non-melted cheese does not settle at the bottom of your pot and burn.  (If some cheese does burn in the pot, the best thing to do is to add some distilled white vinegar to it and allow it to come to a boil, then clean the pan with a thick bristled scrubber.)

Ladle the soup into individual bowls and serve with some toasted Italian bread for sopping up the remaining soup. 

Serves 6-8

Tiaramisu (Italy)

      Leave it to the Italians to mix coffee and dessert and find a way to make it taste like mana from heaven.  Tiaramisu, literally meaning "Pick Me Up", is so called for its very unique coffee flavor introduced in layers of custard and lady fingers.
      If you go anywhere in the world you will at least come across one restaurant that serves this dish.  However, it may be made in an entirely different manner.  Like so many authentic Italian dishes, there is no one true way in which the dish is made.  Though, I have had many nightmares that there is a secret Mafia of old Italian women who beat you with a pizza peel if you don't make the dishes exactly as they should be.         
      Tiaramisu can be prepared in many different ways.  For instance, one women might make the dish with no mascrapone while another prefers an alcohol infused custard.  One person will tell you to put the layers in a spring form pan but another might use a glass 9x13 pan.  Then there are those who make it with lady fingers where others make it using layers of sponge cake.  Long story short, there is no right way to make Tiaramisu.
      My version of this classic Italian dish is what I like to call the wallet friendly version.  First and foremost, I do not use mascarpone in my tiaramisu (my apologies to the classic Italian cuisine Mafia).  Alot of the times when I send someone out for it they end up having to go through about five grocery stores before finding it, if at all, and then they have to shovel out loads of cash just to purchase it.  Secondly I don't use lady fingers (saying this probably now constitutes a hit),  I prefer the absorbency of sponge cake so that the dish stays together when I cut it.  And, lastly, I make my tiaramsu a bit adult friendly with a special 21 and over ingredient.

Tiaramisu

6 egg yolks

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 (8 ounce container) cream cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 3/4 cup whipping cream

1 layer (9 inch) pre-maid sponge cake

3/4 cup Kahlua or other espresso flavored liquor

1/4 cup hazelnut flavored instant coffee powder

1/4 cup unsweetened coco powder

In a medium sized glass bowl (it has to be glass even metal has bad effects) whip the egg yolks and sugar, until the mixture turns a lemony yellow.  Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil and place the glass bowl with your egg mixture on top, creating a double boiler.  Reduce the heat to low and whisk the mixture vigorously for 8 to 10 minutes.  Then remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool.

While the egg mixture cools use a serrated knife to split the 9 inch sponge cake into 3 equal sized layers.  Once this is done prepare a 9 inch spring form pan by placing a layer of plastic wrap (this may take two pieces) on the underside (aka the one that does not get placed on the inside of the pan when sealed) of the pan and line the inner sides (aka the sides that do touch the food).  This is to ensure that the dessert doesn't stick to the sides, while making sure the plastic wrap does not go to the serving table. 

In a small bowl combine the cream cheese, sour cream, and milk.  Mix well then fold into the cooled egg mixture.  Combine the whipping cream and vanilla and whip until very stiff peaks form.  Gently fold this into the egg mixture and set aside.

To assemble place the first layer of sponge cake into the pan, brush the layer generously with the Kahlua, then spread 1/3 of the cream mixture on top.  Repeat these steps two more times making sure to press the cake layer down onto the cream.  Refrigerate the dessert for 2 hours or overnight (at this stage you can cover it tightly and freeze it for up to 1 month).  When ready to serve combine the instant coffee and coco powder and dust the top of the tiaramisu generously.  Remove the sides from the spring form pan and discard the plastic wrap.  Serve immediately.

Serves 8-10