Iron Chef Dinner Club* III kicked off, as usual, with a meeting at the Chagrin Falls Eagles club to reveal the secret ingredient. Once again, Ron Kooser stepped up to be our Chairman and chose the secret ingredient. He along with his wife, Linda, and friends Kent and Olivia, would act as the judges. We also had a surprise guest judge: Danny Binder, son of participants Jack and Mary Kay Binder, who was home visiting from Washington & Lee University.

With citrus being revealed as the secret ingredient, each team drew  a course, and a number which corresponded to the order in which a fruit would be chosen from the available selections. Selections from which to choose were grapefruit, Minneola tangelo, lime, lemon, key lime, Mandarin orange, and blood orange. The Minneola was unusual, so that’s what I chose when it was my turn to pick.

It Takes Two to Tangelo

According to the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension at the University of Florida, the Minneola tangelo is “a Duncan grapefruit x Dancy tangerine hybrid released in 1931 by the United States Department of Agriculture Horticultural Research Station in Orlando. This tangelo (like other tangelo cultivars) is therefore 1/2 tangerine and 1/2 grapefruit. The fruit is quite handsome and a genuine pleasure to eat.” After tasting one I have to agree.

The Minneola tangelo typically has a stem-end neck which protrudes to make the fruit pear or bell-shaped. A Duncan grapefruit/Dancy tangerine hybrid is marketed as the Honeybell and is highly sought after as a mail or online-order gift fruit. Look for Minneolas in your local market instead from December through February. They’re nicely orange in color and about 3 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter. I picked up some at Heinen’s. They were 3 for $2.00.

Creative Juices

For my appetizer I wanted to make something somewhat unique that would travel easily and not require any extensive prep immediately before serving. After researching many different recipes I decided to take ideas and ingredients from several and came up with modifications to include the Minneola. I ended up with Pineapple Minneola Meatballs.

I was cooking for 17 people, so I scaled the recipe to make about 72 meatballs. Divide quantities in half for a single batch:

Combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. It’s meatballs, so get in there with your hands and mix it up well. Shape into 1-inch meatballs (I used a disher to make sure mine were uniform in size) and pan fry in a little Canola oil, turning frequently until browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. I did mine in my Calphalon 12-inch Everyday Pan in batches of about 20. Leave enough room so the meatballs fry properly. Too many in the pan and they will cook from the steam and will not brown properly. Remove to a mixing bowl when finished and drain the excess fat from the pan.  For the sauce, add the onions and cook for about a minute until they release some flavor and just begin to soften. Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients and cover and cook over medium low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring gently to deglaze the pan. Remove the cover and simmer until thickened to the desired consistency. To serve, place  a little sauce on a plate, top with 3-4 meatballs, top that with a little more sauce, garnish with a Minneola supreme and some chopped green onions.

Pineapple Sauce and the Supremes

Cutting any sectioned fruit into supremes is easy with a thin, sharp knife. Simply cut off the ends, then slice down each side to remove the skin and pith. Then slice along each section membrane to remove the sections of the fruit. Minneolas contain some seeds, so be sure to remove them, too. I was surprised at how juicy and sweet the Minneolas were. I cut mine over a small bowl to catch the juice and ended up with almost 1/2cup per Minneola. All that succulent juice reduced down nicely to form a delicious fruit sauce.

In hindsight I would have plated a little differently and perhaps added a little more to the dish; maybe some candied Minneola zest as a garnish or some tarragon or cilantro as a accent. But overall, the meatballs were very tasty and I was pretty happy with my dish, especially since I’d never made it before.

Here’s the complete list of all the dishes prepared using the secret ingredient:

• Lime Shrimp Ceviche
• Pineapple Minneola Meatballs
• Salad with Pecans and Mandarin Orange Dressing
• Salad with Walnuts and  Cranberry Grapefruit Dressing
• Spiced Mahi Mahi with Cous Cous and Blood Orange Salsa
• Key Lime Cake with White Chocolate Frosting
• Lemon Angel Food Cake with Lemon Custard Filling

All were terrific, as was the Chairman’s beverage of the evening, Citrus Surprise. I don’t know what was in it. All I know is that if you weren’t careful, it snuck up on you in a hurry with a surprising kick!

I’m always impressed with the culinary skill and creativity displayed by our dinner club members. Even though we all enjoy a little competition, everyone appreciates tasting something new and exchanging ideas. In researching recipes for ideas, I not only learned about a new ingredient, I found at least three citrus dishes that I want to try as a result of this challenge: a fiesta citrus soup, Asian crab cakes with citrus wasabi mayonnaise, and citrus bruschetta. For me, that’s part of the fun of trying something new in the kitchen.

For our next Iron Chef Dinner Club, we discussed having everyone prepare the same course, probably appetizers, since that will make it easier for the judges to compare each dish throughout the meal. An evening of tapas-like food sounds good to me!

It was a fun evening, and this much I know for sure: I definitely got my vitamin C allocation for the day!

*About once a year, our dinner club prepares an Iron Chef-like meal with a secret ingredient. Each dinner club team draws a course and must prepare it using the secret ingredient. Taste, creativity, and presentation are all judged.  Our Chairman provides an adult beverage based on the secret ingredient for all to share. Of course, everyone wins, because, after all, we all get to eat a great meal!

The biggest events in the world of sports are often accompanied by great food. Among other things, I’ve made gumbo, finger food, and thrown together a pot of chili using no particular recipe. Chili is one of my favorite things to make because it’s easy to put together and, cooked low and slow, the longer you cook it the better is tastes. It’s also fun to make because the nuances of flavor you can get are subtle, deep, and unique. It’s no wonder that competitive chili cooks are so protective of their recipes.

After helping my friend Tim move a piano across state lines, his wife, Cami, treated us helpers to a terrific lunch of Swamp Club Chicken Chili. The recipe comes from the original owners of the Swamp Club, a restaurant/night club in the Cleveland suburb of Solon that enjoyed it’s biggest success in the 90′s. Over the years the same location was home to Eugene’s, Sapphire Grille, and Allure. The building is gone now, razed during development of new retail space, but this dish from the Swamp Club lives on.

Here are the ingredients:

Brown the ground chicken in the olive oil until it is no longer pink. Since the chicken contains very little fat, you may have to add  little more oil. Eye-ball it and add additional oil sparingly. The chicken will not separate as well as ground beef does, so if you want a fine-grained texture to the meat, use a pastry cutter or a large fork to break the chicken into smaller pieces. Once browned, remove the chicken to a mixing bowl, leaving as much liquid as you can in the pan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until soft, about five minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the chicken to the pot and add the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.  Serve over bow-tie pasta and top with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

Except for the pasta, I made this entirely in my 6 1/2 qt. Dutch oven. And since we were having friends over to watch part of the big game, I had to also keep the pasta fresh for a while. I did this by cooking it until it was slightly underdone, shaving 30 seconds to 1 minute off the recommended cooking time. I drained the pasta using a strainer and retained a few cups of the pasta water to put back into the original pot. Drizzled the cooked pasta with a little olive oil and tossed to coat to prevent the pasta from sticking. I then set the pasta-filled strainer on top of the original cooking pot, covered it, and set the heat to low so the water was just below a simmer. The small bit of steam from the heated water kept the pasta moist and warm without cooking it further. Just remember to keep checking the water so your pot doesn’t go dry.

What I like about this recipe is that it offers traditional chili flavors with a southwestern/Cincinnati chili influence. The textures offered by the main ingredients and the contrast of the pasta differentiate this chili from the norm. The heat is just right, noticeable, but not overpowering, and the coriander adds that little extra something that you can’t quite define but are glad to enjoy. And like most one-pot dishes, it was even better the next day.

Got a favorite chili recipe? I’d love to hear about it!

Rub your temples, immerse yourself in thought, and marinate on this: The best way to impart amazing flavor to your food is to do stuff to it before you cook it.  The list of stuff you can do includes three of the most common methods to boost flavor: marinating, rubs, and brining. While you can marinate with a brine, you can’t brine with a marinade. If that rubs you the wrong way, break out your spices and rub that confusion into submission. Capisce?

Let Me Marinade You

Most of us have marinated food before cooking at one time or another, usually in the refrigerator, and your local supermarket likely contains many varieties from which to choose. In recent years many salad dressing makers have branched out into the marinade category after realizing that their dressings were being used as marinades.

In addition to imparting flavor, most marinades claim to tenderize as well. And while most marinades contain some acid ingredients–usually vinegar, wine, or citrus juice–that can dissolve proteins, they don’t do much beyond the surface of the food. (Most wet and dry tenderizers are based on enzymes of the papaya and are grandchildren of the late 1940′s commercial tenderizers that used papaya enzyme.) They do help add salty, sweet, acidic, and spicy flavors which contribute very well to overall enjoyment.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

Rubs get flavors onto meats quickly. Meats with lots of surface area like flank steak, chicken breasts, and tuna steaks are good candidates. Rubs are fast and don’t add much rep time when cooking, so if you get a little last minute inspiration, you can use a pre-packaged rub or mix up one of your own if you have the right spices handy.

Rubs, as the name implies, are not simply sprinkled on top like seasonings. They’re meant to be worked into the meat thoroughly. Remember the scrub you used to get from mom after playing in the mud? You’ve got to get into all those nooks and crannies if your rub is going to do its job. Because most commercial rubs contain salt, your initial application of a rub, when left to rest for a few minutes, will pull moisture to the surface, enabling you to apply a second, third, or fourth layer.

Rubs are food-specific in flavor and texture; you wouldn’t use the same rub on chicken as you would on pork or tuna. Take a look at some commercial rubs to get ideas for what to include in your homemade versions. As always, your palate may vary.

Brine, Women, and Song

In I’m Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0, Alton Brown nails it: “Had Shakespeare chosen to reach for a culinary metaphor in his love sonnets, brining would have been the one. Brining is a wonderful thing because it’s invisible. You brine a piece of meat, cook it, cut it, serve it, and everybody tastes it and exclaims in disbelief, “Man, this is great meat. You’re a genius!” Learn to brine pork and poultry and soon you’ll be clearing room on your mantle for that Nobel Prize in cooking.” My mantle awaits.

Brines are mostly salt and sugar dissolved in water.  Add a few herbs and spices and you’ve got a magic elixir that will amaze your taste buds and change the way you cook forever.

The effectiveness of brines is simple, really. Chemistry tells us that osmotic forces enable water to flow with relative ease throughout meat. Salt a steak before cooking and you’ll see how it pulls water from the cells to the surface. Because the cells in the meat are always seeking balance, the salt on the surface needs to be balanced with the salt inside, so water is pumped out. We can use that to our advantage to pump water in, too.  If our brine is on the salty side(about 5% solution), the cells will seek to balance the salt content on the inside and will pull the salty water into the interior of the meat. The result is nicely seasoned meat that is also plump full of water. And because other flavorings are water-soluble (sugar, herbs, and spices), they’ll tag along with our salt water to add even more flavor. The salt solution traps water and flavorings in the meat and retains it during cooking resulting in juicier meats that are also harder to overcook.

The Basic Brine

I’ve used several brines with great effectiveness. A basic all-purpose brine recommended by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn in Charcuterie consists of the following:

When brining a whole turkey, I added the following to the basic brine:

The roasted turkey was so juicy and flavorful it was hard to tell the white meat from the dark meat. It was even better the next day. I was floored by the difference brining made in the flavor, texture, and moisture that permeated the turkey. Even after resting for 30 minutes, the breast meat slices were dripping as I carved. I took some to my mom’s house and made everyone taste it. What can I say; I was excited!

For a pork roast, I used one of Alton’s brines:

The roast had just a hint of citrus flavor and was buttery in texture all the way through. I never tasted a pork roast like it. Like the turkey, the pork was extremely juicy and the flavors and textures were surprising with every bite.

Brining Times

Leave a piece of meat in a brine for too long and it will be too salty, so when in doubt, cut brining time short. Make sure you give the brine time to work and the brined meat time to rest before cooking or all your effort will be lost. Here, from Charcuterie, is a general guideline on brining times:

Some general brining tips:

WHY stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine,
with wonder smit by its transparency,
And all-enraptured with its purity?
Because the unstained, the clear, the crystalline,
Have ever in them something of benign;
Whether in gem, in water, or in sky,
A sleeping infant’s brow, or wakeful eye
Of a young maiden, only not divine.
Scarcely the hand forbears to dip its palm
For beverage drawn as from a mountain-well;
Temptation centres in the liquid Calm;
Our daily raiment seems no obstacle
To instantaneous plunging in, deep Sea!
And revelling in long embrace with thee.
~William Wordsworth – 1833

I’m not sure if it’s poetic justice or just a cruel twist of fate that the return of my cooking blog begins with a post about SPAM.  Depending on who you ask, it’s either loved, hated, or looked upon with indifference.

The first can of SPAM Classic was produced in 1937 in Austin, Minnesota, and 73 years and 7 billion cans later, it’s still going strong.  SPAM is particularly popular in Hawaii–where it has been dubbed “The Hawaiian Steak”–as well as in the territories if Guam and the Commonwealth of the Norther Mariana Islands. SPAM celebrations are held across the country in small local festivals and events known as Spam Jam and Spamarama. There is SPAM Classic, Honey SPAM, SPAM with Bacon, and Hot and Spicy SPAM. Through the years the virtues of SPAM have been sung by Edward R. Murrow, Gracie Allen, Dwight Eisenhower, and Margaret Thatcher, and of course, Monty Python. There is a SPAM Museum and a SPAMMobile.

Any way you look at it, SPAM is prolific–almost as prolific as that annoying stuff that shows up in your email inbox–and it deserves a mention as a cooking ingredient. Especially when it’s the central ingredient in a cook-off help annually at theFraternal Order of Eagles in Chagrin Falls.

And so it was that on this fine day I spent the late morning preparing my entry for the contest – Spicy Baked Ziti with Crumbles SPAM. Based my concoction on a recipe for Baked Ziti with Crumbles Italian Sausage found in Cover & Bake. Having entered this contest in the past, I had a good idea of the different kinds of dishes that would be submitted, and I not only wanted to prominently feature the main ingredient, I wanted to make something that I’d want to eat.

Here are the ingredients from the original recipe:

Here are my additions and substitutions:

I began by pre-heating my oven to 400 degrees and putting a pot of water on to cook the pasta. I also got a skillet heating to brown the SPAM. While I waited for the oven, water, and skillet, I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

Since the original recipe called for the sausage to be removed from its casing and browned, I wanted the SPAM to be as close as possible to the consistency of the sausage, so I first diced it into 1/4 inch cubes. Then I used a potato masher to make it look more like ground meat. I also peeled and minced my garlic, picked some fresh basil from the plant I still have from last summer and got my seasonings ready to go.

Once my water reached a boil I added about 2 T of salt along with the pasta. That might sound like a lot of salt, but pasta water should taste like the sea; it’s the easiest way to impart flavor to your pasta and you’ll notice the difference in the finished dish. The Ziti normally takes about ten minutes to cook al dente, but since this dish finishes in the oven, I wanted the pasta to be slightly underdone before it went in the oven, so I set my timer for nine. When the pasta was done, I drained it, reserving about 1/4 cup of the water and added it back to the pot where I tossed it with 1 T of olive oil.

Meanwhile, I added 1 T of olive oil to my hot pan and when it began to shimmer, added the mashed SPAM. I cooked it until it started to brown, which took longer than it would it I had used the sausage. Once I obtained the brown I was looking for, I added the

Coriander, Cumin, and Cinnamon to taste. (These three spices–especially the Coriander and Cinnamon, used in very small quantities–can add amazing flavors to many dishes. They add and enhance flavors that you won’t be able to immediately recognize, you’ll just know it tastes good.) The garlic and red pepper are next, cooked until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then, the tomatoes go in, simmering for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Finally, stir in the basil off the heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the tomato sauce and reserved pasta water to the pasta and stir to combine. Pour half of the pasta into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with half the mozzarella and half the Parmesan. Add the remaining pasta and top with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake until the cheese

melts, about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese begins to brown, about 5 minutes more.

I enjoyed putting this dish together and it turned out tasting very good. My competition included Chocolate Covered SPAM, Italian Wedding Soup with SPAM Meatballs, SPAM Corn Chowder, SPAM Sliders, SPAM Baked Beans, SPAM Carbonara, and SPAM Deviled Eggs, among other dishes. But alas, I did not win, didn’t even place in the top 5. Oh well, there’s always next year. At least I have half a dish of pasta to eat. And some leftover SPAM.

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M’s and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” – Dave Barry

Celebrated every year on October 28, National Chocolate Day is another reason to eat chocolate. Like you need one.

Many restaurants are known for their chocolate desserts. One of my favorites was a White Chocolate Gelato with Raspberry Sauce I had at California Pizza Kitchen about ten years ago.

Morton’s, the steak house of steak houses, is praised not only for their steaks, but for their Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake. Morton’s serves over thirty thousand pieces of this cake a month around the world. Served with vanilla ice cream, and raspberries, the real prize of this dessert is the soft chocolate center. To get the consistency, you must bake small, individual cakes; for these, you need 6-ounce soufflé dishes or ramekins.

 
Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter six 6-ounce soufflé cups and sprinkle each with granulated sugar. Tap out the excess sugar.

2. In the top of a double broiler set over barely simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together. Remove the top of the double broiler pan from the heat.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set on low speed, beat the egg yolks and eggs for about 2 minutes, or until light and smooth. With the mixer running, pour the melted chocolate into the bowl and mix for about 2 minutes longer.

4. Put the confectioners’ sugar and flour in a fine-mesh sieve and sprinkle into the chocolate mixture. With the mixer on medium speed, beat for 30 seconds, or until well mixed.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared soufflé cups, leaving about ¼ inch of space below the rim. Set the soufflé cups on a baking sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and about 1 inch higher than the rim. The centers will be soft but not sticky.

6. Remove the cakes from the oven and immediately invert each onto a serving plate. Remove the cup and garnish each plate with three raspberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I say you make this anytime you feel like it. Why wait for October 28th!

Tradition is a big part of cooking. Cultures are defined by cuisine, especially where food traditions run deep and food is linked to family, social, and seasonal events.

As we approach Halloween, Fall clam bakes are in full swing (like the one we attended yesterday – thanks Jon and Suzanna!) and pumpkin carving not only creates scary looking jack-o-lanterns, it creates another opportunity to continue or start a tradition of roasting pumpkin seeds. It’s easy, fun, and it gives you something to do while the kids are working on their pumpkins.

Pumpkin guts are gooey, but you’ve got to get in there and get them out anyway, so you might as well get over it and make a tasty snack while you’re at it. Just separate the seeds from the pumpkin flesh and strings. To wash the seeds, put them in a bowl of water and rub them between your hands to get the rest of the goo, flesh, and strings off. Put them in a strainer to drain for about 30 minutes, then spread them out on a baking sheet. Let them air dry or use a hair dryer to dry them more quickly.

In the meantime, set your oven to 300 degrees. In a pan big enough to hold your seeds, melt 4 tablespoons of butter and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt,  and 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice. Add the seeds and toss to coat, then spread them in a single layer on the baking sheet. For milder, more traditional flavor, omit the cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Check every few minutes and stir about every 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste and serve hot or cold.

Roasting pumpkin seeds can be another family tradition that everyone will look forward to. What kind of Fall food traditions do you enjoy?

Last weekend, the farmer’s market yielded some beautiful pattypan squash. I hadn’t eaten them before but the way they were described to me, they sounded like something I would like; zucchini-like but with a nuttier flavor. I’m all for nuttier food.

Pattypan are easy to cook. They can be roasted, baked, sauteed, steamed, or stuffed.

I trimmed the ends, cubed them and sauteed them in some butter and garlic until browned, then added a few cubes of frozen stock for a little additional flavoring. A little coriander, a little salt and pepper, a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a dash of soy sauce later and we had ourselves a tasty treat!

Summer time is grilling time, and even though you may use your grill year round, you just can’t beat the sizzle and aroma coming from a hot grill while enjoying an icy cold adult beverage! I’m a George Hirsch/Bobby Flay kind of griller–I’m not afraid to try anything on the grill–so when our dinner club gang decided to do an “Everything Grilled” edition, I knew it would be fun and delicious.

We began with an appetizer of grilled prosciutto-wrapped figs, stuffed with smoked mozzarella. A terrific start indeed!

The main course was barbecued ribs with a selection of sauces. The ribs were started two days ahead with a 24-hour marinade in pineapple juice followed by another 24-hours bathed in Willingham’s Original Mild Spice Rub before being finished on the grill. The ribs were absolutely delicious; tender, sweet and spicy all at once, especially with a variety of sweet, spicy, and smoky sauces to choose from.

Dessert was grilled pound cake with pineapple jalapeno and mint chutney and tequila whipped cream. It was the perfect finish to a great meal!

Renée and I drew salad as our assigned course and settled on a recipe by Stefanie Paganini for Grilled Peach, Almond and Arugula Salad:

Toss all ingredients together in large bowl with Balsamic Vinaigrette. The proportions above will serve 8.

We really liked the combination of flavors in this recipe. The spicy bitterness of the arugula, the sweetness of the grilled peaches, and toasted almonds and ginger topped with balsamic vinaigrette just sounded really terrific.

This recipe calls for freestone peaches which  is a peach which has a ‘free’ stone, meaning that the flesh of the fruit can easily be removed from the stone, with little to none remaining attached to the stone. Other varieties are clingstone and semi-freestone, which perform as the names imply. US-grown peaches are available from May to mid-October. Any you may find from October to May are generally imported from Chile.

Selection and storage are important if you want truly delicious peaches. Tree ripened peaches have reached their maturity before being picked, which means they will be juicy and sweet without a meaty texture to the flesh. Don’t buy peaches stored in the cold section, those that are rock hard, green, mushy or have shriveled skins. Look for well-rounded fruit with deep yellow coloring under a blush of red. Ripe peaches will be fragrantly sweet and will be firm, but will yield to gentle pressure. These will ripen in two to three days at room temperature.

At home, store your peaches on the counter at room temperature until they ripen completely. Ripening can be helped along by placing the peaches in a paper bag. To move it along even faster, add a banana or an apple to the bag. Ripe peaches can then be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a day or two before eating or they will lose their juice and flavor. Wash them in cool water and dry with a paper towel to remove any remaining fuzz.

To pit freestone peaches, cut along the seam all the way around and through the fruit to the pit. Twist each half in opposite directions and they will come off cleanly. Clingstone peaches are best pitted by cutting them into sections and removing the sections one at a time. Peeling is easy; simply blanch the peaches for 30 to 60 seconds and peel with a paring knife.

Grilling fruit caramelizes the natural sugars, softens the flesh and releases juices. The flavors of the fruit become concentrated and the smokiness of grilling adds an element that enhances the taste of fresh fruit.

The best way to grill fruits or vegetables is to begin by brushing the grill clean and spraying the grates with cooking spray or brush them with salad oil before lighting the grill. This enhances the flavors and keeps foods from sticking to the surface. Pre-heat your grill to medium heat.  Place the fruit, cut-side down on the grill and cook, uncovered, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn over and continue grilling until the fruit is tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes longer.

Making your own Balsamic Vinaigrette is simple and enables you to add an additional level of freshness to your salad.

The key is to slowly add oil to create an emulsion. Done properly, the emulsion will not separate and you won’t have to shake up your dressing to remix the ingredients. You can do this with a whisk, but the power and speed of the food processor not only creates a strong emulsion, it also aerates the dressing to make it slightly thicker.

The finished salad!

Over the last few years Renée and I have had the pleasure of joining with a group of friends every other month or so for dinner club. When we started, each couple would prepare a different course, with the hosts making the entrée. Then we moved on to specific cuisines: Italian, Asian, Mexican; then to decades: 50s, 60s, 70s. It has always been fun to make different dishes and we have enjoyed some really terrific meals thanks to the culinary talents of our fellow dinner clubbers.

With the excitement surrounding last year’s Next Iron Chef competition involving Northeast Ohio’s own Michael Symon, we thought it would be fun to have our own Iron Chef-like competition for dinner club. We talked through many iterations of how we would conduct this event and what the rules would be and finally decided on the following:

- Ron Kooser–who apart from being the father of our friend and fellow dinner clubber Sheree, is President and COO of Cini-Little International, a world-wide provider of facility planning and operational consulting for all types of commercial foodservice facilities–would act as our Chairman and choose the secret ingredient.

- The morning of the dinner, a meeting would be held at our local Eagles Aerie where drinks would be consumed and the secret ingredient would be revealed.

- Courses to be prepared would be drawn from a hat to determine what each couple would bring to the dinner.

- Chairman Ron and his wife, Linda, along with friend and fellow Cornell School of Hotel Administration graduate Kent and his wife, Olivia, would act as the judges.

- Each couple would present their preparation to the judges and explain their use of the secret ingredient.

- Everyone would eat great food and drink great drinks.

And so it was that at 10:00 on a Saturday morning the secret ingredient was revealed: Blueberries!

And…They’re Off!

Each team then set out to find unique recipes, shop for ingredients, and prepare their dish. I was on a training ride that morning and had to help coach three lacrosse games that afternoon, so Renée attended the morning meeting. Our course was Appetizer, so we met at noon to choose our recipe: Goat Cheese Mousse with Red Wine Caramel.

We wanted something that combined sweet and savory and this recipe seemed perfect. (We didn’t find out until later that it is from Karen Small at the Flying Fig in Cleveland!) The original recipe called for crostini topped with goat cheese mousse, red-wine caramel and strawberry compote. We thought it would work well with blueberries, too, so we went for it. (The recipe below prepares 4 servings; we had to make enough for 20.)

1. In a saucepan, bring the wine, port, black peppercorns, shallot, thyme sprigs and 1 cup of the sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Using a moistened pastry brush, wash down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan. Cook over moderate heat, without stirring, until syrupy and reduced to 1 cup, about 35 minutes. Strain and discard the solids. Let the caramel cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, toss the blueberries, orange zest, water and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and let stand until juicy, about 30 minutes.
3. Bring the blueberries to a boil and simmer over moderate heat until slightly thickened and jammy, about 15 minutes. Transfer the compote to a bowl and let cool.
4. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the goat cheese, cream, ground pepper and chopped thyme until creamy. Spoon the mousse into a bowl and serve with the compote, caramel, crostini and walnuts so guests can assemble their own.

The caramel, compote and mousse can be refrigerated separately for up to 3 days and brought to room temperature before serving. Each component can be used in a variety of sweet and savory ways: The caramel, for instance, is great drizzled over just about any cheese or vanilla ice cream.

The evening was fun, and of course, delicious! Here are the dishes enjoyed by all that evening:

Appetizers:

Carmenere-Marinated Skirt Steak with Blueberry Chimi-Churri

Goat Cheese Mousse with Red Wine Caramel and Blueberry Compote

Salads:

Marinated Shrimp with Blueberry accent and Merlot Reduction Sauce

Blue Cheese, Greens, and Maple Blueberry Dressing

Entrées:

Blueberry Turkey Burgers with Lemon Mayonnaise and Blueberry Slaw

Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon with Fruit Chutney and Blueberry Sauce served with Parmesan Fingerling Potatoes

Dessert:

Blueberries over Pancotta with Homemade Chocolate-dipped Biscotti

Our Judges:

Kent, Linda, Ron, Olivia

When the cold and snow seems like it will never end, sometimes you just don’t feel well. First I had it, then Renée got it. Her doctor called it the “Creeping Crud” and said, since it was viral, there was nothing to do but wait it out. She’d been feeling lousy for over a week, so I thought little homemade chicken soup might make her feel better.

I had lots of frozen chicken stock on hand, along with carrots, leeks, mushrooms, green onions, parsley, and some frozen chicken pieces left over from the last time I made stock. I cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and browned it in a little butter in a dutch oven. After removing the chicken, I added a little more butter and tossed in the vegetables along with some kosher salt and a little fresh ground pepper. When those were browned and tender, I deglazed with a little white wine before adding the defrosted chicken stock. I seasoned again and added the chicken pieces. Then I added Ditalini pasta and brought it to a boil, then reduced it to a simmer and let it cook for about 10 minutes before adding about 3/4 cup of heavy cream to give it some body and smoothness.

Some people cook their pasta before adding it to the soup. I like thicker, hearty soups, so I like to cook it in the soup so that the pasta  absorbs all the flavors of the broth. I can always add more stock later if it gets too thick.

Here’s what it looked like the next day:

Yup, sometimes, some good home cookin’ is all you need for what ails you. Sometimes, you just need a nap.