Death Of Notes : Simply Recipes Food and Cooking Blog

Hello from Des Moines!

I'm in Des Moines for Niman Ranch’s 12th Annual Farmer Appreciation Dinner. I will regale you with tales of hog farming and pork eating after my return on Sunday. Here you can see the view from my hotel room of historic and scenic…well, I'm not sure what street that is yet, but for the sake of this post, let's just assume it's historic and scenic.

Stay tuned for more from Iowa, as well as a brand new (sort of) video recipe post tomorrow. Also, if you are wondering if I'm going to try and cook pork in my hotel room, what do you think? ;-)

Savory Gorgonzola Bread Pudding – A Cure for the Steak Side Dish Blues

I'm calling this savory Gorgonzola bread pudding because that's what they called it at the restaurant I stole the idea from. Hey, that's the least I can do.

By the way, that restaurant would be 2223 Market, San Francisco, and when I saw it sitting there next to my grilled rib eye, I knew it was only a matter of time before it made its way on to the blog.

If you’re afraid to call it a savory "bread pudding" because it sounds a little too desserty, then at least do me a favor and call it a dressing, and not a stuffing. You know I'm no fundamentalist, but I've decided that for something to be called a stuffing, it actually needs to be stuffed into something.

No matter the name, this should make for a welcome respite from the usual side dish rotation. Maybe it's because the meat is so expensive, but I find cooks get very conservative when it comes to choosing accompaniments for a steak dinner. No one ever got in trouble serving a baked potato, but sometimes you have to take a chance, and this would be a bold, and I predict, well-received choice.

As far as the recipe goes, it's quite straightforward, and I pretty much cover all the variables in the video. You may wonder where the garlic is, which is a damn good question. Since I was going to serve the steaks with a garlicky sauce, I decided to show a little restraint.

Speaking of restraint, be careful with the Gorgonzola. The only real way to mess this recipe up would be to overdo it on the cheese. Gorgonzola is about as subtle as a frying pan to the forehead. Also, don't pack your ramekins too firmly. The only thing I like better than nooks, are crannies, and you want lots of both here to provide the surface area for a nice crunchy top. Enjoy!

Savory Gorgonzola Bread Pudding Ingredients:
(for four 5-6 oz ramekins)
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 onion, diced
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 cups cubed bread
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup cream
1 oz (about 2 tablespoons) Gorgonzola, or other blue cheese

View the complete recipe

I Don't Hate the Sun, I Just Hate What it Does to Drying Tomatoes!

The list of things I don't enjoy eating is a very short one, and near the top of that list is sun-dried tomatoes. I love the concept – sweet, vine-ripened plum tomatoes, slowly drying in the hot Italian sun – while we're waiting, we play bocce ball, drink jug wine, and eat lardo. What a scene.

Too bad I hate the taste. To me, and I've had dozens of varieties, sun-dried tomatoes have a really strong, bitter, almost medicine-y flavor that I just can't handle.

When I first started my culinary career in San Francisco, in the early eighties, sun-dried tomatoes were all the rage, and more than once I had to choke them down, smiling, as not to seem unfashionable.

While they look similar, the oven-dried San Marzano tomatoes in this video recipe were truly delicious, and nothing like the ones that have disgusted me for decades. The flavor is much milder, the texture much softer, and you can't ask for an easier technique.

I was going to list everything these would be good on, with, and in, but I think it will be much faster to just list what they would not be great with. That includes chocolate butterscotch pudding and Tofurky (although in fairness, nothing is good with Tofurky). That's it! They are awesome with everything else. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
San Marzano tomatoes, or other plum-style tomato variety
olive oil
sea salt
fresh thyme

Three End-of Summer Suggestions

Summer's coming to an end soon, and you're a little melancholy, but what better way to cheer up than by trying a few recipes that really shine this time of year?

You have precious few days of fresh peaches left, and this quick and easy tartlet recipe will give them the send off they deserve. A little Chinese Five Spice is the not-so-secret ingredient, and helps make these so delicious no one will even notice you used pre-made pie dough.

Okay, so you can get onions anytime of the year, but when I think cooler weather ahead, I think of root vegetables. By the way, if you were just thinking, hey, I should post a comment about onions being bulbs, not technically roots, don't. I hate when the facts get in the way of a post's theme. Anyway, this onion soup recipe always gets rave reviews, and is just perfect for a rainy fall day.

There are few tomato varieties as sweet as Sun Gold. These little orange cherry tomatoes are not only super-sweet, they are very plentiful this time of year. I'll admit, they are best eaten raw, but they also make a very nice fresh pasta sauce.

Enjoy!

Green Coconut Chicken – This Could Be a Curry Recipe

I was calling this green coconut chicken recipe a curry all the way up until I started writing the post. The problem with calling something a curry is that people expect it to taste like a curry, and that could mean a whole bunch of things, not all of them good. So, I decided to call it something that wouldn’t necessarily recall a strong taste memory.

While there is a nice dose of red curry powder in the braise, it's certainly not the dominate flavor. For something that may seem quite exotic and boldly spiced, this a surprisingly mellow dish. If you've never cooked with coconut milk, this would be a nice recipe to change that.

The coconut milk adds a subtle sweetness and richness that makes it a great vehicle for moving around all kinds of tastes and textures. I've used this same exact procedure for countless versions using beef, pork, lamb, duck, and seafood, with great results. It's not low in fat, but my sources deep inside the coconut industry tell me the fat is quite unique and healthful.

Regarding the red curry powder: I decided to use a standard supermarket brand as to make this as accessible as possible. I went with the McCormick Gourmet Collection Red Curry Powder, which contains coriander, cumin, chili pepper, red pepper, and cardamom.

This blend does have some heat to it, but if you like your green coconut chicken on the spicy side I suggest a little extra blast of sambal or sriracha. Enjoy!

UPDATE: We have a report that using regular limes, and leaving them in the stew, made the recipe too biter. I used those small key limes, which are very mild, so mine was fine. So, if using regular limes, maybe best to just use the juice and leave them out. Thanks, Qin.

Green Coconut Chicken Ingredients:
4 full leg sections (thigh and drumstick)
salt
vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
6 thick slices of fresh ginger
1 tablespoon red curry powder
3 green jalapeño
6 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch green onions, light parts
1 bunch cilantro
1 can coconut milk
2 tablespoons fish sauce or to taste, or soy sauce to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 lime, juiced
eggplant or zucchini, cut in 1-inch chucks
2 cups sweet potatoes or butternut squash, large cubes
thai basil

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Due to the tragic explosion and fire in San Bruno last night, the Comcast service to our house had been knocked offline. We just got our connection back, and are feverishly working away to catch up. Stay tuned for some delicious new content soon!

About My Cookbook: "A" Book, But Not "THE" Book

Here's a little HD walk-through of the new cookbook. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any confusion that this was some sort of official Food Wishes cookbook. Hopefully that will happen very soon, but in the meantime I'm very proud to have authored this great collection of American recipes for the highly regarded Parragon Publishing.

As I brag about in the video, what you see, is what you get. I was allowed to photograph all the recipes I prepared for the book. For better or worse, there are no photo studio tricks here – just simple home cooking as it really looks, imperfections and all.

I'm not exactly sure whether I'll sell them directly from the blog, or simply refer people to Amazon, but I will post more detailed ordering information as soon as it comes available. You can pre-order the book on Amazon, but be sure to use this link, so Chef John gets a little taste of the action. Thanks!