Honoring My Dad

Great Grandma Anna, My Dad and My Grandma Rita, circa. a long time ago

My dad was not in the kitchen a lot when we were growing up. That’s not to say he did not have some specialties. My dad was a whiz on the ice cream maker back in the day. Not the easy, fancy ones of today. I am talking old-school all day long, rock salt using machines of yore. He would make rum raisin, strawberry, peach – whatever was in season.  The texture of the end product was always in question, would it be a little runny, or would it be the perfect creamy texture? But the taste was never in doubt. The rum raisin always packed a heady punch (especially for a six-year old), the peach always tasted just like summer.

Another Jack Ahearn classic is cheesecake. My dad has a cheesecake for every occasion. His concoctions range from the classics – strawberry and lemon to the more exotic raspberry white chocolate and pumpkin. He is a veritable Cheesecake Factory.

My Dad and Mom, circa. kind of a long time ago

As we grew older and mom went back to work dad stepped up more and more. It was not just ice cream and cheese cake.  In the beginning it was not always the most exotic fare, perhaps a steak-um sandwich with fried potatoes. Or, another favorite was an omelet with um, fried potatoes. You might start to see a trend here. My dad is a fan of potatoes.

But a funny thing happened as we grew older, and out of the house. My parents became gourmands. And my dad was the head gourmand. While my mom has always been an excellent cook, she is very traditional and sticks to her favorites. It was my dad who was always trying new things out – from Low Country boils to Cioppino.

My dad always makes sure he has the freshest fish, vegetables and best cuts of meat. He introduced anchovies into our lives (much to my mom’s chagrin). He even made me try venison once (I hated it, still do). I view my dad’s style of cooking as innovative. He seems to posses that quality that a lot of male chefs have – love of trying new recipes, new techniques and new ingredients. To this day my dad is still one of the most inventive chefs I know. And the first to try any recipe.  When I got back from Croatia and gave him the Ajvar recipe, he was the first person to make it. I have not even made it yet.

One of my favorite things to do is to call my parents on Sunday and discuss what they cooked over the weekend. And in turn I tell them what I whipped up for a dinner party. It’s nice to have this language to share with your parents. I love hearing about my dad’s pesto sauce he made or the fresh grouper he stuffed. But most of all I love the shared connection and the talks that that are squished before, between and after we talk about our dinner.

Here’s a recipe of my father’s I think is super tasty. It’s not one of his most exotic, but it is a winner.

Lemon Grouper

• Grouper fillets
• Fresh breadcrumbs
• Garlic
• Butter
• Lemon
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Salt
• Pepper

Cut skinless grouper fillets into serving size pieces, salt and pepper.

Prepare fresh breadcrumbs and coat the grouper fillets.

Place on a dish and let sit in the refrigerator and hour before cooking.

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Remove fillets from refrigerator and sauté for 4 minutes on each side in butter.

Place sautéed fillets in a baking dish that is coated with a mix of olive oil and a generous amount of butter.

Squeeze the juice of 2 whole lemons over the fish.

Cover the fish with minced garlic.

Place the fish in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the fish is baking finely chop Rosemary and Thyme.

After 20 minutes sprinkle the fish with the herb mix and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. Then you are done. Serve with Pinot Grigio.

Summer Grill Out Celebration

Eating on the patio

So I have a had a few requests for less content and more pictures.  While this post will follow this mantra, not all of them will – so enjoy.

This past Saturday Chris and I had some close friends over – the Nite’s and Gary Marburger and his lovely wife Jessica Lee to celebrate my new employment and do some grilling. I originally intended to do a traditional Italian meal as inspired by our recent honeymoon. But I realized I wanted something more summer-oriented ( and I ate pasta three times last week). Frantically, I searched for a replacement.  After reading a few Food & Wine magazines I found my centerpiece – grilled chicken thighs with a roasted garlic and ancho chile sauce. After that decision the other dishes fell into place quickly.

Yummy Grilled Scallops with Honeydew Melon and Avocado Salsa Salad

The first dish was a grilled scallop salad with honeydew melon and avocado salsa. It was originally supposed to be just the scallops with the salsa, but I saw it as a great salad. So as Chris was grilling the scallops I plated six separate servings of  spinach, diced cucumbers, feta cheese and then I topped them with the salsa. After the scallops were grilled we plopped them on top and then we served the salad up with a nice Vino Verde. It was superb. A nice, light summer starter. I highly recommend this recipe. The salsa was incredible – not too sweet and a little creamy.

Jessie and Gary Digging into the Main Course

For the main course I stayed with the theme of a nice, light summer meal based on the grill. The roasted garlic-ancho chile chicken was accompanied by grilled corn with a mango-jalapeno butter and saffron rice topped with red pepper, asparagus, peas, celery and artichokes. It was a beautiful meal if I do say so myself.

Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Paella

Unfortunately (or fortunately for myself), we drank a lot of wine that night. Hence there are no picture of our absolutely perfect dessert. There is a family recipe the Nugent’s passed down called a “Magic Pancake.” It is essentially a dutch pancake with lemon zest and powdered sugar. It was one of the first things Chris ever made me and I loved it. The dessert Chris made was similar except he added raspberries, blackberries and topped it with nutmeg and cinnamon-flavored whipped cream. A perfect ending to a perfect evening!

Here is the recipe for the scallops and salsa, minus the salad part. This recipes is taken from Food & Wine Magazine.

Ingredients

1. Finely grated lime zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3. 1 1/2 pounds honeydew melon, rind removed and melon cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 1/2 cups)
4. 1 Hass avocado, cut into 1/4-inch dice
5. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6. 2 pounds large sea scallops

Directions

1. Light a grill. In a large bowl, combine the lime zest and juice with the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the diced honeydew melon and avocado. Season the salsa with salt and black pepper.
2. Drizzle the scallops with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until nicely charred and just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the scallops to plates, spoon the salsa alongside and serve.

Iron Chef: Brunch Edition

Even the brunch menus were conceived with much thought and attention to detail

You can probably tell by the fact that I have a food blog that I really like food. What you might not know is Chris and I are surrounded by friends and family that love food as much if not more than we do.

Recently, Chris and I were honored to be asked to judge a cooking competition a group of friends host.  The premise consists of three couples (Sarah and Chris Swanson, Abe Kant and Erin Stark and Rob and Amanda Nite) cooking three courses a piece – nine plates total – all centered around a theme.  For example the last competition was all about incorporating citrus.

This event was a bit different. All the past meals were in the evening and had a food item theme. This time the theme was brunch. The chefs were tasked with creating a savory, eggs benedict and a  sweet course. Usually the chefs do the judging. But after much harassment by me, they caved and allowed us to be involved. In total there were three judges – me, Chris and John Villareal. John is another fantastic cook you will be reading about in future posts. He is a first-rate smoker (and by that I am referring to meat).

So last Saturday morning at 11 a.m. armed with pencils, a grading sheet and a BIG appetite we got started.

The Savory Course Showdown

Yes, that is a vodka shot at 11:30 a.m.

A little after 11:30 the games began. First up was team Swanson. They served us a  buckwheat blini with homemade creme fraiche topped with caviar – oh and a shot of vodka.  I should probably mention there was a lot of liquid bribing going on. The Kant-Stark team made us pre-brunch apricot juice (fresh-squeezed) and champagne cocktails. Back to the Swanson dish. It was fantastic! I will be honest I was very skeptical at first. I am not much of a caviar fan. But I simply loved the combination. Everything worked well together and the vodka shot finish was surprisingly appropriate. I really enjoy it when I find a dish that surprises me.  And this one did.

Lobster Crepes with caramelized mushrooms and onions - score Team Nite!

Next up was Team Nite’s creation. This dish consisted of a homemade crepe lined with eggs, caramelized onions and mushrooms and brie and then a thick, yummy chunk of lobster is rolled up in there. And it’s topped with a chive sprig and a champagne shallot sauce – seriously??? I thought there were laws against such yumminess. But no one got arrested so I guess I was wrong.

The Stark-Kant Yummy Latke Pancake Creation

Up last was Abe and Erin’s savory dish. It was superb. Their dish was a scallion latke, topped with bbq duck and homemade hoisin sauce. While it was not super brunchy the flavors were AWESOME!!!! I really enjoyed Abe and Erin’s creativity in this process. As you will see in the next dish they are a team that pushes the envelope. Sometimes with hits and other times misses. This dish was a hit. All of the judges raved about this one.

Eggs Benedict Course: AKA the Heart Clogger

Chicken-fried tenderloin topped with a homemade dill-lemon biscuit

First up for the Eggs Benedict category was the Nite’s. Once again they hit a home run. Rob’s creation started with a homemade lemon zest, dill biscuit atop a pan-fried and flour-dredged beef tenderloin topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce. This was probably my favorite dish along with the lobster crepe. The tenderloin was so flavorful and tender.

The Most Creative Dish winner!

What do you get when you cross homemade challah bread dipped in an orange zest french toast batter topped with maple syrup, refried beans, sugar-cured ham, muenster cheese, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce? Give up? It’s Abe and Erin’s Eggs Benedict Course. This dish while exceedingly creative definitely did some warring on the taste buds. I did not know whether I was in love with the orange zest or if it was overpowering. Did I like the beans or were they unnecessary? It was a lot to take in. But once again I really love how Abe and Erin are not afraid to just try something. I have so much admiration for how they approach their dishes. And even though this one was a bit much for me, it was still a million times better than most dishes I get at fancy restaurants. And this dish did win most creative and I definitely agree.

The Awesome Swanson Spanish Eggs Benedict

Last, but not least was the Swanson’s Spanish Eggs Benedict. The foundation was a homemade dense and yummy English muffin, with saffron butter and jamon serrano topped with a poached egg and pimenton hollandaise.

This dish to me epitomized the Swanson’s simple, continental cuisine that they seemed to be going for in their menu. They were almost the counterpoint to Abe and Erin’s unrestrained experimenting. The Swanson’s seemed to have such a zen, practiced approach. While the Nite’s I would characterize as classic American with a twist.  Their menu was filled with traditional, solid fare executed with just a touch of edginess.  All the team’s end results were phenomenal. I just found it significant that the team meals carried with them such personality.

The Sweet Side

Abe and Erin's Lobster Salad

The Nite's homemade danish with ricotta filling and a raspberry coulis

The grand finale was the sweet course. To start us off we had Abe and Erin who prepared a nice, light salad with fresh baby greens, lobster, avocado, grapefruit drizzled with a grapefruit vinegar, chive and shallot dressing. I loved this salad. Especially after the heaviness we encountered in the first two courses. Unfortunately I docked them a couple of points just because it was not very brunch-y (yes, we had to judge on brunchiness as well as taste and appearance). But they made up for this in taste. Second up was the Nite’s who plated up danishes filled with a lemon and ricotta mixture, topped with raspberry coulis and garnished with mint and raspberries. I thought this was yummy. It was simple, yet tasty.

Trio of Zeppole

The Swanson’s finished the event up with a trio of zeppole, essentially Italian donuts. The trio consisted of espresso glazed, apricot filled and raspberry filled. Topped with powdered sugar and plated on chocolate shavings this was an awesome dessert. The zeppole were very similar in texture to beignets but a bit more dense. And the fillings were not overpowering, just perfect.

The Results

So after feasting for four and a half hours (yes, you read me right) we got down to the scoring. Really, all you need to know is Chris and I won for best dressed… Just kidding, kind of.  So here are the results:

• The Nite’s won for best overall (judge’s decision)
• Erin and Abe won best overall (chef’s decision)
• The Swanson’s Egg’s Benedict recipe was the meal voted best overall by points
• The Nite’s also won best overall brunch based on the points
• And the most creative dish was awarded to Abe and Erin for their Egg’s Benedict