Black Garlic – Crazy good or just Black Magic?

How it’s made

I am about to post a recipe for a crazy good sandwich but realized that a lot of people may have never heard of one of the ingredients, Black Garlic before.  So, how exactly does garlic become black you ask? You may be surprised to hear that the unique color, taste, and texture of these cloves are accomplished without any additives. Black garlic is produced by fermentation, a technique that has been around for many thousands of years.

Garlic contains sugars and amino acids, so, when garlic undergoes fermentation, these elements produce melanoidin, a dark-colored substance that is responsible for the color of black garlic.

Don’t freak out, but the cloves are soft.  They also have a balsamic flavor and an almost undiscernable garlic taste. They are delicious as is or you can put them in a sauce or a salad or a sandwich.

It’s Supposed to be Good for You

In Taoism mythology, black garlic was rumored to grant immortality. While I can’t promise you that, there’s no doubt that black garlic is great for your health—it’s loaded with nearly twice as many antioxidants as raw garlic.  It also contains S-Allycysteine, which is fancy talk for a natural compound that has been proven to be a factor in cancer prevention.

Huh, I wonder how this can be worked into a Martini…..food for thought :)

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Paying Homage to Ben & Jerry’s Branding Department

 Notable flavors for 2011…..well played B&J

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Pickled Cranberries – Your next favorite condiment

Pickled Cranberries

(This recipe will make around 4 – 12 oz jars of berries)

2 –  16-ounce bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained, or frozen berries

2 3/4  cups sugar

2 1/2 cups cider vinegar

1 cup apple cider

12 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 – 3-inch cinnamon sticks

2 teaspoons peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger

Have washed and hot 3 – 12 ounce jars and lids.

Combine all of the ingredients with  1 cup water in a large saucepan.  Listen as it heats up as the berries will start to pop as they burst their skins.  Stir gently and bring to a rolling boil.

(This is what a rolling boil will look like as it happens suddenly). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  It will smell great!

Pour the pickled cranberries into decorative glass jars or plastic containers. Cover with the remaining liquid and attach lids. Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. They say that these will get better the longer you keep them. You can serve them with meat and cheese platters or on a sandwich or along side a roasted beef or chicken dish.

*I will come back and post the finished product once they have cooled and I can put them in their jars!

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Mamma Agata’s Cooking School on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Friends of mine are on the trip of a lifetime in Italy. Their stop today at Mamma Agata’s farm in Ravello inspired me to post about our visit to Mamma Agata’s for her now famous cooking class in their private home and kitchen on their mountainside farm in Ravello Italy. The cost was around $250 American dollars each and hands down the best money spent EVER and THE highlight of our trip! Everything we used to make the food that day came from their farm.

You are greeted with a cappuccino and a slice of Mamma’s delicious Lemon Cake. (I ate the cake before I thought to take a picture.)

As you can see their home’s beauty is astonishing (and makes me look like a talented photographer) but you can’t take a bad picture there!  The food and the fellowship of our day was life changing for me.  Here is their Facebook page (make sure to check out the pictures of this year’s harvest!) https://www.facebook.com/MammaAgata

Mamma has a cookbook called “Simple and Genuine”  that is now its third edition!  You can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/Mamma-Agata-Genuine-Chiara-Lima/dp/889046450X

Here is its review:

Finally! the long anticipated culinary secrets of Mamma Agata are revealed! In what promises to be one of the most sought after Italian cookbooks of the century, Mamma invites you to stroll along side as she unveils the culinary secrets and recipes that have pleased the pallets of some of the world’s most noted celebrities. Humphrey Bogart, Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Susanna Agnelli and Federico Fellini are just a few that have relished the menus that “Baby Agata,” as Bogart lovingly named her, created using genuinely pure and simple ingredients generated by her own garden. Now you can create dishes filled with the same pleasing aroma and intense flavor that graces Mamma’s kitchen. Browse through the many exquisite photographs as you anticipate the pleasure of creating Pasta e Fagioli or her world famous Torta al Limone for your own guests. Tempting recipes include: Lemon Cake, the Fried Pizza!, Lemon Chicken, Gnocchi with Dried Tomatoes, Roast Beef, Marmalades, Breads, and many more! Mamma Agata will graciously walk you through her terraced gardens explaining how each ingredient is best used, which ingredients to purchase, and which to ignore. She’ll show you, step-by-step, how to create mouth-watering menus that will transport your guests back to a time and place where friends were family, and each day was a reason to celebrate life! But so much more than recipes! Listen to Mamma as she tells of Fred Astaire waltzing around the courtyard with her elderly mother after spaghetti alla puttanesca and serving the “naughty” Liz Taylor and her Richard Burton. Understand the very essence of Mamma’s family and the incredible love that compelled them to humbly offer up everything they had to a community suffering the effects of the second world war. Unbridled passion and untold sacrifices. Genuine love and inexplicable joy. Elegant simplicity, indeed.

I have given this book as a gift numerous times to friends as it is an entertaining and captivating read.  The recipes (with beautiful photos) are indeed simple.  Momma, (who does not speak english) speaks through her mad talented daughter, Chiara as she speaks english beautifully.  She told us said that Jackie O was a delight and even washed out her coffee cup when she was finished!

All of the food that they use is grow/raised on their farm that spans the side of the mountain down to the sea. They make their own wine, press their own olive oil and all of the ingredients are grown on site.

The day is spent both observing and participating in the preparation of their standard dishes.

Chiara showed us how to make eggplant roll-ups that are a lot like a sushi roll.  They are strips of deliciously deep-fried, lightly floured eggplant strips which are then filled with pickled pumpkin and sun-dried tomato, and gouda and arugula.

They are then rolled up and served as an appetizer….so easy and like all of their food, delicious!

Here are some of the dishes made through out the day:

Farmers spaghetti made with their delicate meaty olives grown right on the farm. Their olives are not salt-laden as they are here and the taste and texture is different and made an olive lover out of me!

This is Lemon Chicken made with a chicken that was alive when we got there and ended up a delicious dish. (We were spared the inevitable execution as carried out by Chiara’s husband.) It’s a tricky dish in that you must add the lemon at the proper time or it is bitter.

Another is Sausage and Peppers with pasta and has become a favorite I have made many times. This pasta is then topped with the simmered sausage and the colorful peppers that were first deep-fried in peanut oil which does not crisp the peppers but rather leeches out any bitterness and gives it a nice texture and brightens their colors.

The sausage is their own home-made sausage, but at home I use sweet pork sausage that i get at Trader Joes.  Most of Mamma’s dishes she made that day had their basic tomato sauce as a base or an element somewhere in the dish. It is made from the five varieties of tomatoes they grow on their farm. They make the sauce in the Fall for the year and bottle it up for daily use.

Since we do not have that same luxury, I have found a suitable substitute right here in our backyard!  It is a basic marinara sauce that is a shelf staple at Trader Joes! It is simple and the closest to what I had in Italy.  It is also very inexpensive.

This is what you should look for:

We ended our day of cooking with a feast on their terrace that over-looks the ocean and their beautiful farmland.  It was beyond breath-taking. The terrace has been host to countless weddings and in my opinion is the ultimate setting for a fantasy wedding.

Adding to the feast they also serve their home-made wine and both Limoncello and Tangerinecello!  Absolutely beautiful and potent. (Which I have since made and will post the recipe for Limoncello.)

This experience that made me realize that life is all about the memories that we make with our family and friends.

Cause that’s all you get to take with you.

Ciao!

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The Bulldog Northeast – One of my all time favorites!

Here, bar food like Vienna-beef hot dogs and truffle fries are the indulgence of an inventive chef, not pretentious irony. Or just come for the twenty-four regional beers on tap.” (Esquire)

When I first met friends at the Bulldog, I was stunned to see the choices on their menu.  This was a great beer joint but I knew that this was something special….not your regular Bar Food Fare:

Steak Tartare…..really?

Hella yah really.  Fresh cut raw beef with Dijon mustard, crumbled egg, onions,capers and cornichons. Served with toast for a mere $8.00

Not to be outdone, this tasty pyramid of melt in your mouth goodness comes in BOTH a Steak Tartare and a delicious Tuna Tartare.

Tuna Tartare -Diced Ahi, sesame oil, togarashi, Tamari, served with toast, a bargain at $9.00

This is an oasis for a clever seasonal cocktail like an Orchard Manhattan, which is a cinnamon apple infused Maker’s Mark Manhattan served up.  It has a big girl drink punch with a smooth apple spice after note.

It is the home of a plethora of beers available via beer flights, Pints, 10 oz pours, Import Craft Cans and by the bottle and beers available on tap for days!

This was is a dish that makes you hear the angels sing….I kid you not

Tater Tot Hot Dish

Braised beef, seared brussel sprouts, roasted mushroom béchamel, truffled tots. $12.00

This is a tater tot truffled dream is a marriage of tasty braised beef and creamy béchamel.  This is comfort food at its elevated finest.  Yet you can still feel right eating this in a baseball cap…..without feeling blasphemous.

14 Mind-blowing Burgers to choose from, I suggest this:

Junk

Fischer Farms Bacon, mushroom, lettuce, tomato, onion, and roasted garlic aioli.$12.00

All burgers are made with domestic Kobe beef and ground in-house daily, served with fries. The cheese options seem endless: Stilton, Tillamook, House made Mozzarella, Brie, Provolone, Swiss, American and Pepperjack. Add artisan cheese for $2. Amazing……

Some of you may want to substitute a garden salad for $2.50 but you really want to upgrade to seasoned fries or tots for additional charge trust me.

Beyond the fantastic fare, here is the drug that kept me coming back for more four years running:

French Fries

Cut in house. Available plain, fennel dusted with tarragon aioli, Togarashi with wasabi mayo, or truffled with parmesan cheese as priced below. Substitute tots for $0.50.

• Plain: $3.50
• Fennel: $4.50
• Togarishi: $4.50
• Truffled: $5.50  (like so many others, I was a truffle virgin and this was the gateway drug that lead me to other elevated cuisines after my first “taste” which I believe was their plan all along)

Better yet, their form of crack is also in tater tot form…holy freaking hanna:

Tater Tots

Served with sriracha mayo, fennel dusted with tarragon aioli, Togarashi with wasabi mayo, or truffled with parmesan cheese as priced below.

• Sriracha: $4.00
• Fennel: $5.00
• Togarishi: $5.00
• Truffled: $6.00

House Made Truffled Chicken Nuggets

Served with BBQ or Sweet & Sour sauce.$6.00 These are not your Micky Dees prefab mystery meat nuggets…..this is the real thing.

Dessert…definately make room for a cupcake.

Cupcakes – $3.00 – These daily marvels are homemade…….did i mention they were homemade?

 

(Made in-house daily / Ask server for flavor of the day!)

 

 

Here is an example of some of their 30+ flavors, each one better than the last!

German Chocolate Cupcake; wait for it…………………………

 French Toast Cupcake with Maple Carmel filling

•  Salted Nut Roll
• Banana Cream Pie
• Boston Cream Pie
• Strawberry Shortcake w/Whipped Cream
• Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake w/Whipped cream
• Orange Blueberry w/Cream Cheese Frosting
• Lemon Lavender Blueberry
• Cappuccino w/Espresso Mouse
• Red Velvet Sour Cherry Custard Almond Butter Cream
• Tres Leche w/Toasted Meringue
• Tiramisu
• Lemon Raspberry w/Cream Cheese Frosting
• Dreamsicle
• French Toast

The place is a great place for lunch, a drink after work with dishes to share but also for Sunday Brunch.  It is also a great night-time destination for cocktails and beers for those out on the prowl ;)

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Roasting Stuffed Pumpkins –

 So Why Do We Carve Pumpkins?

 The story of the Jack o’Lantern comes from Irish folklore. Jack was a crafty farmer who tricked the Devil into climbing a tall tree. When the Devil reached the highest branch, Jack carved a large cross in the trunk, making it impossible for the Devil to climb down.

In exchange for help getting out of the tree, the Devil promised never to tempt Jack with evil again. When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven for his sins and turned away from Hell because of his trickery. Condemned to wander the earth without rest, Jack carved out one of his turnips, took an ember from the devil, and used it for a lantern to light his way. He became known as “Jack of the Lantern.”   

Roasted Stuffed Pumpkins

I found a way to make a delicious Fall inspired dish. Last year, I made a roasted stuffed Pumpkin and declared it to be one of the best things i had made.  It is simple and so open to interpretation. I like to make mine with the tastes of Fall.  Here is a recipe that gives you a base to work from but will allow you to add and subtract some of your own favorites as this stuffing can be it sweet or savory. I of course like a combination of the two.  You make it with the small Sugar Pumpkins in season right now.  They are a couple of pounds a piece up to 4+ lbs and you can eyeball what would be best suited for you. 

Cut your little pumpkin top at an angle as you would any pumpkin you were carving for your doorstep.  Clean all of the gunk out of the pumpkin and make sure to take all of the seeds out of the pulp. It is a little gross.  Scrape all of the stringy pulp off of the top and the sides. Save those seeds for another recipe coming for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds!

Ingredients:

• (1 1/2-pound )  pumpkin seeded and cleaned of all pulp
• half pound of Sweet Italian Sausage removed from case
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped onion
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped seasonal apple
• Three handfuls of cubed bread
• 1/4 cup(s) dried craisins re-hydrated in warm water
• 1/4 cup sliced smoked Gouda cheese
• 1 teaspoon(s) fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon(s) fresh oregano,  chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) fresh ground  pepper
• 1 pint heavy cream (you won’t use it all)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of Chinese 5-Spice divided (one will be for the filling the other will be used as a rub for the inside of the pumpkin with the brown sugar)
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

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Directions; the how to’s:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (make sure your oven rack is low enough to put the pumpkin in with the top on!)
2. Rub the inside of the pumpkin with olive oil and then a mix of the brown sugar and a teaspoon of Chinese 5 Spice. Rub it in to coat the inside and inside lid.
3. Decase and crumble the sausage meat and add the onion and place it in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Cook the sausage until it is almost done — about 8 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice, the chopped apple and sausage and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the torn herbs (Thyme and Oregano) just to combine.
4. Combine the torn/cubed bread and sausage, onions and craisins and spices in a bowl. Add a big pinch of salt and some pepper. Fold in the smoked gouda slices.
5. Stuff your pumpkin to the top with the bread and meat mixture (DO NOT pack it in tight.) Carefully pour the heavy cream into the mixture until it reaches the top. Put the lid back on.
6. Place the pie pan in a 375 degree oven for at least two hours. Carefully take the pan out of the oven (as that baby can slide off of the pie pan.)  Once it has cooled for 30 minutes, slice it as you would a pie into four sections and make sure the stuffing is evenly distributed. Have it as a main course with a salad or as a side, either way it will be delicious!!!

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