Pear and Raspberry Crumble

As I mentioned previously, The Gastronomer tends to acquire cookbooks at a faster rate than she can try out the recipes. Last year, I decided to help her out by attempting at least one dish from each of the neglected books. At the time, this task appeared quite feasible, but since then our collection has swelled by a factor or two or three, and it seems that our cooking progress may never catch up. In any case, one of the cookbooks we received was entitled "Ready, Steady, Spaghetti: Cooking for Kids and with Kids." As we are not kids and rarely cook with them, this book was an excellent candidate to gather dust on the bottom bookshelf, but I resolved to find a recipe suitable for adults and give it a whirl.

This crumble caught my eye, as desserts containing raspberries often do. Being from a children's cookbook, the recipe was quite simple and straightforward; fortunately, this is just how a crumble recipe should be. I served it as a fruity, sweet conclusion to the meal that started with smoked mackerel pate and Filipino pork adobo, and it turned out fantastically. The only downside I could foresee from the perspective of cooking with kids is that the most labor-intensive part of the preparation was peeling and cutting the pears: not the most child-friendly kitchen task. Still, it's hard to find a recipe for which kids can really do all the steps independently, and this one is easy and yields a delicious end product.

Recipe from Ready, Steady, Spaghetti: Cooking for Kids and With Kids.

• 6 large pears
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 star anise (optional)
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• ice cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Peel, quarter, and core the pears, then cut each piece in half lengthwise. Put into a large saucepan and sprinkle with the sugar. Add 1 tablespoon of water and the star anise. Cover and bring to a boil.

Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is tender but still holds its shape. Drain the pears and discard the star anise. Transfer to a large ovenproof baking dish or six 1-cup ramekins. Sprinkle the raspberries over the pears.

Combine the flour, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the fruit, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Leave for 5 minutes, then serve with ice cream.

Yield: 6 servings
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: Not given
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Filipino Pork Adobo

When I was drawing up the menus for The Gastronomer's 28th birthday meals back in February 2010, this recipe seemed like an ideal introduction to the "complete world of pork." It seemed straightforward and not too intimidating, and it was hard to imagine how it could fail to be delicious. Then last summer I was introduced to the wonderful pork adobo from Los Angeles's first Filipino food truck, The Manila Machine, and I became even more excited to try making Filipino-style adobo myself.

I managed to buy the Boston butt already chopped up as "stew meat", which made the prep a breeze. The adobo was a hit with the birthday girl, and I enjoyed feasting on it for lunch for the remainder of the week.

Recipe from Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork.

• 2 lbs boneless Boston butt, cut into 3-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup rice or white vinegar, or more to taste
• 3/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1/4 Asian fish sauce (I used Squid brand, The Gastronomer's family's favorite)
  
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth or water
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 4 bay leaves
• 5 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon Asian hot chili oil, or less/more to taste (I used Sriracha)

Put the pork and all of the remaining ingredients in a casserole or large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, until the pork is tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Skim and discard the fat from the surface. Taste the broth and add more vinegar, sugar, or chili oil to balance the flavors to your liking. Serve the adobo over jasmine rice.

Yield: 4-6 servings
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: Not given
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (30 minutes of active time)

Smoked Mackerel Pate with Apple and Lime

A new cookbook for The Gastronomer to review arrives at our doorstep at least once a month; thus over the past couple of years we have acquired a rather impressive recipe library. With such bounty in our bookshelves, it was pretty tough deciding on 15-20 dishes to make for her 2010 birthday present. With the exception of the Susanna Foo trifecta that I prepared for Meal #1, I resolved to go for diversity and make no more than one dish from each cookbook. I also stayed away from my old friend The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook--it was time to test myself with less user-friendly recipes.

Indeed, this recipe proved to be a bit of a challenge--making the pate was a breeze, but splitting the pieces of toast in half without breaking them was tricky, as was peeling the lime and separating the wedges without having them fall apart. As it turned out, a whole slice of lime on each toast section was way too much sourness for our tastes anyway, so we ended up eating most of the sections with small pieces of shredded lime that were the unfortunate byproducts of my initial peeling/separation efforts. The pate on its own was delicious--I'll definitely make it again.

Recipe from Appetizers by Shane Osborn.

For Pate

• 5 oz smoked mackerel (skin removed)
  
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• salt and pepper
• juice of 1/2 lime

For Serving

• 2-3 thin slices of white bread
• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 1 lime

Make Pate

Put the fish into a food processor and process briefly to a paste, about 30 seconds. Add the softened butter and process again until smooth, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and add half of the lime juice, to taste (reserve the rest of the lime juice for the apple).

Make Melba Toasts and Serve

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the broiler (unless you prefer to use the toaster). Toast the bread slices until lightly colored on both sides. Cool slightly, then remove the crusts and cut each slice horizontally in half. Rub with your fingers to remove loose crumbs. Cut into quarters, then halve each toast to make wafer-thin triangles. Place on a baking sheet. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes to curl, then bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

Peel, halve, and core the apple. Cut into very thin slices and toss in the reserved lime juice to prevent discoloration. Peel the lime, removing all pith, then cut the sections from the membrane. Place a generous spoonful of fish pate on each melba toast triangle and top with an apple slice and a lime section.

Yield: 16 toast sections
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: Not given
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 35 minutes
Substitutions: The original recipe called for smoked eel (which alas, I couldn't find) but listed smoked mackerel as an acceptable substitution. I used Blue Hill Bay peppered mackerel from Whole Foods. Since the mackerel was already nicely seasoned, I didn't add any salt or pepper to the pate. The recipe suggested to bake the Melba toasts for 10 minutes, but I burned my first batch, and ultimately found that ~6 minutes was more appropriate with the bread I was using.

Homemade Noodles with Pork from Shanxi

In my first post about The Gastronomer's 2010 birthday meals, I mentioned that I was trying to seek out recipes that would that would push my limits as a cook. Making knife-cut Chinese noodles from scratch certainly qualifies. This recipe definitely has the potential to achieve the ideal Chinese noodle texture, although mine were a bit too square and thick. Next time I'll roll the dough out thinner. The pork mixture is awesome and could be served over fettuccini or linguine if you're not feeling so ambitious. I'm going to try making this one more time to perfect the consistency of the noodles, and then it's going onto the Brightest Stars list for sure!

Recipe by Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine

For Noodles

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 tablespoon corn oil

For Topping

• 1 pound boneless lean pork, cut into 1/4-inch dice (this will retain its moisture when cooked better than finely ground meat)
  
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 3 tablespoons corn oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons brandy
• 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 scallions, chopped
• coarse salt
• freshly ground pepper

Make Noodles

Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour the water into the well, stirring to incorporate the flour. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand until smooth, about 5 minutes. Alternately, place the flour in a food processor and, with the motor running, add the water. Process until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Place the dough in a large bowl and cover with a damp towel, then loosely cover with a piece of plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours so the gluten in the dough relaxes.

Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle (or slightly thinner--I found that 1/4-inch x 1/4-inch noodles were a bit too thick). Sprinkle the surface of the dough lightly with flour and fold the rectangle in half to form another smaller rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/4-inch wide strips. Place the noodles on a baking sheet. Sprinkle them lightly with flour and separate them with your hands. Cover with a towel.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, then add the oil and half of the noodles. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, tasting one noodle to make sure the center is cooked but still firm to the bite. When the noodles are cooked, scoop them out of the water with a Chinese strainer or slotted spoon and place in a colander to finish draining. Repeat with the remaining noodles. Serve immediately.

Make Topping

While the dough is relaxing, begin preparing the topping. Place the diced pork in a large bowl and mix in the soy sauce and the cornstarch. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, mix well, and marinate for a few minutes at room temperature while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the onion and garlic and cook over high heat, stirring, until the onion is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the pork, along with any marinade, and continue to cook, stirring, until the pork is no longer pink. Add the brandy. Cover the pot, turn the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the potato and mix well. Pour in the stock, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the pork and potatoes are completely cooked.

Add the tomatoes and the scallions. Continue to cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes more, or until the sauce is thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the pork sauce over the freshly cooked pasta and serve along with small bowls filled with any or all of the following optional garnishes: balsamic vinegar, chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, julienned cucumber, chopped fresh basil, chopped fresh cilantro, and julienned leeks.

Yield: 4-6 servings
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: Not given
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 3 hours

Cold Marinated Scallops

Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine is well on its way to becoming the second unofficial cookbook of Stellar Recipes, joining the ever-reliable America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Before serving poached pears for dessert during the first of The Gastronomer's 2010 birthday dinners, I made these scallops as a starter. Despite not being a tomato lover, I found them to be quite delicious, but The Gastronomer later told me she thought they were a bit too oily. Nevertheless, it's a very interesting recipe--I had never cooked with Bloody Mary mix before, and certainly never thought of mixing it with ginger, scallions, etc.

Recipe by Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine

• 1 pound medium sea scallops
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup diced onion
  
• 1 tablespoon peeled, grated ginger root
• 1/2 cup scallions, white part only, diced (about 3)
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup bottled Bloody Mary mix
• Coarse salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper
• 1/4 julienned basil or cilantro leaves

Wash the scallops and pat dry. Place them in a single layer between sheets of paper towels until they are completely dry.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, about 300 degrees F, add the scallops. Cook, turning, until the scallops are just cooked, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook, or they will toughen.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the scallops to a strainer and drain. Place them in a bowl, toss with the lemon juice, and refrigerate.

Remove all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the skillet and lower the heat to medium. Add the onion, gingerroot, and scallions. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the tomato and Bloody Mary mix, and stir to combine. Let the sauce cool.

Just before serving, drain the scallops. Spoon the sauce over them and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with the julienned basil or cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings
Estimated Start-to-Finish Time: Not given
Actual Start-to-Finish Time: 2 hours