Party Season

Picnic really does know how to party! I’m so lucky to have a great staff that handles everything and lets me just deal with what I do best, design the menu and execute it. We’ve done a ton of catering in the past few weeks. We did a really fun bat mitzvah at Ridgewood Women’s Club last week. I’ve posted a picture of the table setting and the terrific cake. All week, we were the caterer for the crew of Kitchen Nightmares, who made a visit to Ridgewood for a shoot. Also, we did a party for Chris Christie, as well as numerous first communions, showers, and brunches. Yesterday, we did the first wedding of the season. It was a really neat location. A home from 1805 that had been expanded to a gorgeous Victorian. The wedding was in the garden with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres following. Then, we did a plated dinner under a tent.
Plated dinners are a challenge for a caterer working from someone’s home. We don’t have the huge industrial kitchen or equipment on site to keep everything warm, so it is a scramble. The wait staff takes the orders (last night we had two choices) and the expeditor then tells the chefs (last night it was myself, Michele and Javi in the kitchen) the total numbers. We cook as fast as we can, and then plate and off the staff goes to deliver the meals, hot to the tables. Today, we’re all exhausted but happy with a great wedding!

A tisket, a brisket

I love a good brisket. It’s a versatile cut, I love to braise in winter, smoke on occasion, and slow grill with radiant heat. But, with the recent chilly wet weather, I cooked my brisket indoors in a 275 degree oven with great success. The secret, for me, is that I order a thin cut brisket untrimmed. In other words, lots of fat is protecting the top of the brisket which then slowly melts in keeping the meat so tender it melts like butter in your mouth. Many barbecue experts consider brisket the ultimate barbecue meat, and I might just agree, but you can do many things with brisket at this slow cooking temperature. You can braise it, dry rub it, wet rub it, or smother it in homemade barbecue sauce and the end result, regardless of your seasoning is a really tender albeit rich piece of beef.
For the brisket. Ask you butcher to leave the fat cap on. It is the reason we’ll have a tender finish.
For the wet rub
1 cup of brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
1T allspice
2 T cumin
2 T hot paprika
2 t cayanne pepper
1 package of Lipton onion soup mix for that old fashioned goodness
1 cup ketchup
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T ground black pepper

No need for salt, the onion soup mix takes good care of that.

Mix all that stuff together and rub on the fat side of the brisket. You can score the fat a little bit so that the rub gets in there and doesn’t slide right off.

Place the brisket in a roasting pan, fat side up (obviously)
Cover it with parchment paper, then aluminum foil.

Cook in a 275 degree oven for 6-7 hours.

Let rest for 20 minutes, slice, trimming most of the fat off.

Happy Milk, Happy me!

I love milk! And, I mean love, love, love milk. I drink upwards of half a gallon a day. I try to use 2 percent, but more often than not, I grab the whole milk. And, not any whole milk, unhomogenized whole milk. As a matter of fact, my “reduced fat” milk is unhomogenized as well. It is not easy to find, so I am always thankful for Whole Foods. The milk is about $5 for a half gallon, but well, well, worth it. It is creamy, rich and you really have to shake it well. I admit, sometimes I don’t.

It is something that most of us here in the States are not used to (unless we are dairy farmers or happen to live near a dairy farm). The milk is pasteurized, meaning any impurities are removed, but it is not homogenized. In other words, the fat in the milk separates from the water and collects at the neck of the bottle. Yummy cream, to be exact! But, normally we homogenize it by breaking the fat into small sizes so it cannot separate. Usually this is done by forcing the milk at a very high pressure through a sieve like contraption.

Back in the 80s I was lucky enough to take my first major European trip for an extended period of time. I spent the first month backpacking and camping through England. The milk there was the best I’ve ever had in my life. Farmers would bottle it (not homogenized) and leave it in coolers outside their doors. You would go, put your quid in a tin can and take your pint of milk. With an honor system you would return the bottle so it could be reused. By far the best milk in the world.

Patience is a virtue

Making really, really slow cooked scrambled eggs is a pain in the arse. But, the end result is so worth the bordom that is the cooking process. It is not difficult to slow cook the creamiest, smallest curd scrambled eggs. They make a show-stopping brunch item, a great “breakfast for dinner” and a swell cure for a hangover. I love to make them this time of year with some cold fresh asparagus and a chiffinade of smoked salmon over a nice piece of buttered white toast.

So, for those of you that actually want to spend half an hour or so at the stove, here’s how I do it. Some people use a double boiler, and if you want to use that method go ahead and look it up on google or something. For me, this is the ultimate way to scramble an egg…

You will need for one serving:

2 double yolk eggs (I get mine at Goffle Poultry Farm in Wyckoff) If you don’t use double yolk eggs, and admittedly most people don’t, then go ahead and use two eggs and one egg yolk.

1/8 cup double cream (when I made them today, I had no heavy cream, but as you’ll see in the pictures, I do have unhomogenized milk, and I simply didn’t shake the cream from the top)

Salt and pepper

1 T butter

The patience of Job, or at least your phone in hand.

Here’s the method

Heat a non-stick sauté pan on the lowest possible heat and drop the butter in
While that melts (it will take a bit, and you’ll start to see what you are in for) combine the eggs, the yolk and the cream with a dibble of salt and pepper. Whisk until nice and combined. You don’t want to see any big globs of egg white (how gross is that?)
That done, go ahead and add the egg mixture to your sauté pan.
With a wooden spoon or spatula slowly (and I mean slowly) start to stir your eggs. Call you college roommate and catch up for a while as you stir and see nothing much happening.
Eventually, little curds will appear as the mixture thickens and starts to look a little like lemon curd.
Keep stirring and call your best friend and gossip away, or call and make a hair appointment, just do something as you keep the eggs moving.

Eventually, they will have a beautiful sheen and be creamy and cooked through. You’ll know the moment, and I tried to take some pictures to show you the moment.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Morel Madness

I'm crazy about morel mushrooms. Admittedly, I have one tattooed on me, hand drawn by some guy years ago. I brought in a perfect specimin and forever it is now on my hip.

That said, every spring I head to my favorite secret spot and forage for the little gems. Patience is key, as is knowing your spot and not picking all of them, so that the next year the spores have a chance to do their thing. Last weekend I picked a shopping bag full of them and served some at Picnic. Pictured are the last of my forage, and I will be making a meal fit for a king with them.

While you may not be able to find a spot and pick your own, I saw some yesterday at the Whole Foods in Paramus for a decent price....just $30 a pound which is quite low.

If you want to try them, I recommend cooking them as follows. While I use them in many applications, to me, this is the most flavorful way.

For any recipes using morels, I suggest giving them a quick rinse right before cooking, then slicing in half to make sure there are no little bugs hanging around, since morels are hollow.

Sauteed morels in cream sauce with sherry

1/4 lb morel mushrooms, cleaned, stem on

1 sm shallot, finely minced

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/8 cup sherry

2T butter (unsalted)

salt and white pepper (tt)

In a heavy bottomed saute pan (not non stick!) melt butter on high heat

Add mushrooms and saute until slightly golden

add shallots and reduce heat to low

sweat shallots and deglaze the pan with the sherry. Add heavy cream

Reduce for about five minutes on low heat until just a little cream coats the morels

Serve on toast points as a nifty first course appetizer