Back in Berkeley Feast

It's been a very, very long time, but I have so many delicious things for you ahead that you might actually forgive the hideous post I left you with for the past year. Today we have a feast, made with my lovely cooking buddy Katie - you can see previous feasts we've done here, here, here, and here (these are worth clicking on, I promise). I'm back from a year (plus a few weeks more recently) in Paris, and Katie's back (unfortunately temporarily) from the UK. We put this whole thing together in 2 1/2 hours, which I still can't believe. But each dish is extremely easy - even the homemade gnocchi - and can even be done on a weeknight.

Quick-pickled carrots, radishes, radish sprouts, sunflower seeds, 

baby gem lettuce, oven-dried beet chips, chevre, anchovy

Corn soup, bacon, chives

Braised squid in Piperade

Ricotta gnocchi, lamb meatballs, fresh peas, mint

Chipotle Corn Chowder

This is a creamy, hearty soup perfect for summer colds (like mine this week). It's easy and quick to make, and very adaptable-- you can turn it into a creamy chowder or leave it unblended; you can add crab, shredded chicken or tofu to turn it into a main meal; you can adjust the level of spiciness as you like.

You'll need (serves 6 appetizers or 4 main courses):

5 ears of corn

2 medium leeks

1 onion

3c milk

1-3 chipotle chilies in adobo

1 8oz bottle clam juice (optional)

2T butter

1 bay leaf

2T tomato paste

2c chicken stock or water

Cut corn kernels off cobs with a large sharp knife. An easy way to do this is to break the ears in half and place one half cut-side down on a cutting board; then angle your knife slightly towards the cob and cut down.

Place the shorn cobs in a pot and cover with milk. Add clam juice, if using, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring often.

In the meantime, clean and thinly slice leeks. Slice onion. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onion and leeks and salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, until leeks turn bright; then add corn and cook 10 more minutes, stirring often. Add tomato paste and chipotle chiles and cook 5 more minutes.

Remove corn cobs and bay leaf from milk. Add corn mixture. Cook about 5 minutes.

Blend soup in batches and return to pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thin with chicken stock, water, or milk.

Thanksgiving 2008

No pictures in this post; just an update on Thanksgiving, since people have been asking. I'm not doing a real post for two reasons-- one, we basically did the same thing as  last year, since last year's Thanksgiving was so ridiculously good; and two, I didn't have a camera on hand for pictures. Honestly, some of the tastiest things are the least photogenic-- stuffing, for example. So the menu was: (most of the recipes are on last year's post, linked above)

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

Brined & BBQ'd Organic Turkey

Gravy (made from turkey stock, which we made the day before)

Wild Mushroom Stuffing (recipe below)

Butternut Squash Gratin

Spicy Cranberry Relish

Jelled Cranberry Sauce (yeah, the Ocean Spray kind. I love the stuff.)

Lemony Brussel Sprout Hash

Sour Cream Cheesecake (my dad's delicious contribution)

The wild mushroom stuffing was really amazing, and can easily be a vegetarian main dish or brunch dish any time of the year. We tweaked last year's recipe a bit. Here goes:

Make cornbread and let it sit out overnight so it dries out a bit.

Cut the cornbread into crouton-sized (1/2inch) cubes. Toss cubes and all crumbs into bowl. Add 2T each chopped thyme & sage; add olive oil and toss until well-coated.

Spread seasoned cornbread cubes and crumbs onto a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until golden. Cubes should be crunchy. It's ok if the crumbs get a little dark.

Clean 2lbs mushrooms. We used 2/3lb shittake, 2/3lb oyster, 2/3lb chanterelle. Reserve the shittake stems.

Add shittake stems to 4c chicken (or veggie) broth and bring to a boil. Lower to a strong simmer and cover. Cook about 20 minutes, until reduced by half. Strain. You should have 2c mushroomy broth.

Slice mushrooms.  Slice 5 large shallots. Saute shallots and mushrooms in about 1T butter and 1T olive oil until golden brown, about 20 minutes (they'll release liquid, and then start drying out and browning). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the cooked mushrooms to the strained broth.

An hour before serving, beat 1c heavy cream with 3 eggs. Combine with mushroom mix and cornbread cubes only. Pour into gratin dish. Sprinkle cornbread crumbs on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, until set (a thin knife inserted into the gratin will come out clean).

Fennel and Corn Brown Rice Risotto

This makes a great vegetarian main dish or shellfish side (it'd be delicious with prawns, cooked separately, of course). Be sure to get the vegetables well caramelized; this makes the entire risotto deep brown and very flavorful.

You'll need (serves 3-4):

1c brown rice

4c chicken or vegetable broth

1 onion

1 large fennel bulb

1 ear of corn

8 mushrooms

1T olive oil

1T butter

1c vermouth

1/2c parmesan, grated

1/2c sharp cheddar, grated

Finely chop onion.

Melt butter and oil in large heavy skillet. Add onion.

While onion cooks, chop fennel bulb and add that too (reserve fronds). Remove corn from cob and add it as well, with some salt and pepper.

Clean mushrooms and chop them rougly. Once the veggies look golden brown, add mushrooms and cook 5 more minutes. 

Add rice (and more oil if necessary); stir and cook about 1 minute. 

Add vermouth slowly, scraping at the bottom of the pan (you should have a well-browned fond). Let cook until vermouth boils away.

Add broth slowly, stirring almost constantly, adding more when the mixture looks dry. Cook about 1 hour until rice is tender but not mushy.

Stir in cheese and fennel fronds and serve.

Corn Soup

This soup really highlights one of the best foods of summer-- corn. I used sweet white corn and very few other ingredients. The corn has a sweetness and complexity of its own. If you want a corn chowder with tomatoes and other chunkiness, this soup is not for you. The only thing I'd recommend adding to complement the velvety corn is perhaps some dungeness crab as a garnish. This was unfortunately outside of my post-travel budget, but the soup was delicious as is.

You'll need (makes at least 4 servings, as a first course):

3 large ears of corn
4c chicken (or veggie) broth
2c water
1 onion
cayenne
paprika
salt & pepper
2T heavy cream
2T butter
a bit of basil chiffonade for garnish, optional

Chop onion. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and add onion and salt.

While onion is cooking, clean corn. Break ears in half and stand one half on cutting board, cut side down. Using a sharp chef's knife angled towards the corn, slice the kernels off, being careful they don't scatter all over your kitchen (if you have a bundt pan, use the middle hole to support the corn and the kernels will fall into the "moat"). Do this for all the corn, reserving the cobs. As you cut off the corn, add it to the onions.

Pour chicken broth into a small saucepan. Add the cornless cobs. Cover. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let steep.

Cook onions and corn over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes, until corn is golden brown and sticks slightly to the bottom of the pan. Add broth with cobs and 2c water. Bring to a boil; lower to a simmer and cook, partially covered, about 20 minutes, until corn is tender.

Remove cobs, draining carefully, and discard. Ladle soup into a blender and puree in batched-- be very careful when blending hot liquids, as they expand (never fill blender more than halfway).

Return pureed soup to pot. Stir in cream. Thin out if necessary with milk or water. Serve garnished with basil leaves.

Seared Scallops on Caramelized Corn with Arugula and Tarragon Butter

This is remarkably easy and can (and should) be done at the last minute, though you can caramelize the corn earlier and just heat it up before serving. Unfortunately, we all dug in before I could take a picture-- what you see above was all that was left by the time I remembered this blog. This was the appetizer for my veal cheek pappardelle.

I thought this wine went really well--
it was crisp and slightly fruity.

You'll need (4 appetizers or 1 main course):

4 scallops
2 ears of corn
2c wild baby arugula or other microgreen
3T butter
1/4c vermouth
2T chopped fresh tarragon

Holding corn on its end (big end down), slide a large knife down the ear, angled slightly in, so kernels come off whole and fall onto a cutting board (some will jump away. catch them).

Melt 1T butter in a heavy skillet. When butter foams and turns golden brown, add corn, salt, pepper. Distribute in a single layer and don't stir. When corn starts to pop, stir and taste: the kernels should be golden and taste sweet. Remove from heat. (You can do this part ahead).

Rinse and dry scallops well. Season with salt & pepper.

In the same pan (wipe it clean with a paper towel if there's black bits), add 1T butter and melt over high heat until golden. Add scallops; once they're in the pan, don't move them. In about 45 seconds, a brownish crust should form on the bottom and creep up the sides; flip them at this point and cook about 45 seconds more on the other side. Remove from pan.

Clean out pan if necessary. Deglaze with vermouth. Let simmer until it loses its alcohol smell, about 45 seconds. Add remaining butter, swirling to create a creamy sauce. Add corn and tarragon; toss to coat.

Arrange arugula in a circle on a plate. Fill circle with corn; top with a scallop.