Nha means House

was a big hit.  This is going to be a long post but filled with lots of recipes.

We had  these amazing giant fresh sea scallops that my friend, Vy, brought over.  Keller advises that you do a 10 minute sea salt brine, dry it off and then seared it.  That’s it, that’s the recipe.  It was simple but delicious way to cook excellent scallops. The flavor was sweet, rich and flavorful from the brining.  I highly recommend brining all your seafood in the future, from shrimps, clams, mussels, which which did for a New England Clam Bake, a post will coming up shortly for that.  His ratio is 2 cups of hot water to dissolve the 2 cups of kosher salt and then an additional 8 cups of cold water.

I also made the Summer Vegetable Gratin and that was so good.  I’m going to save the recipe to write up later this summer when I harvest my own vegetables to make this.  If you need the recipe sooner, just let me know, otherwise, please wait until later this summer.

The soffritto was the key to make this vegetable gratin extra special.  Go the extra effort and make the soffritto.  Soffritto is basically a onions and tomato mixture that is cooked low and slow and add so much flavor and oomph to any dish!

Here’s his recipe:

• 3 cups finely diced Spanish onions, about 1 pound
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 1 pound plum tomatoes, about 6, grated, skin and seeds discarded
• 1/2 teasp minced garlic

This recipes does take about 5 – 6 hours to make, so if you are making veal stock, this is a good time to make this and keep in hand all the time.  Basically you are cooking the onions for about 2.5 hours until the onions are a rich and golden color, and the oil is clear. Then you add the tomato puree and cook for another 2.5 hours.  The paste will separate from the oil.  Turn off the heat and then add some salt and garlic.  Keep refrigerated.

I’m so sorry this pic is not so great, but overall this dish was a hit! Caramelized Leek Bread Pudding.

If you were to make any dishes that I have posted, you HAVE to make this dish.  That weekend I made three of them and brought them to three separate parties and it was one of the first dishes to vanish and declared what a delicious dinner it was!

Here’s the recipe, you just have to make.

• 2 cups 1/2 inch thick slices leeks (white and green parts only), clean from dirt and sand
• Kosher Salt
• 4 Tblsp (2 oz) unsalted butter
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 12 cups 1-inch cub crustless Brioche or Pullman Sandwich loaf
• 1 Tblsp finely chopped chives
• 1 teasp thyme leaves
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3 cups heavy cream
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup shredded Comte

Preheat oven to 350F

Put the leeks in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, season with salt and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.  As the leeks begin to soften, lower the heat to medium-low.  The leeks will release liquid. Stir in the butter to emulsify and season with pepper to taste.  Cover the pan with a parchment lid and cook, stirring every 10 min, until  the leeks are very soft, 30 to 35 minutes.  If at any point the butter breaks or looks oily, stir in about a tablespoon of water to re-emulsify the sauce.  Remove and discard the parchment lid.

Meanwhile spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 20 min, until dry and golden brown.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the leeks to the bread and toss well, then add the chives and thyme.

In another bowl, lightly whisk the eggs in another large bowl.  Whisk in the milk, cream, a generous pinch of salt, pepper to taste and a pinch of nutmeg.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.  Spread half the leeks and croutons in the pan and sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese. Scatter the remaining leeks and croutons over the top with another 1/4 cup cheese.  Pour in enough of the custard mixture to cover the bread and press gently on the bread so it soaks in the milk.  Let soak for about 15 minutes.

Add the remaining custard, allowing some of the soaked cubes of bread to protrude.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese on top and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until the pudding feels set and the top is brown and bubbling.

Notes:  I actually thought he had too much custard, or maybe I didn’t have enough crouton to soak all the custard up, so use your judgment on the the custard to crotons ratio.  Definitely use Comte cheese…it lent a buttery and lovely taste to this dish that another cheese would not have offer.  Make this for Thanksgiving, because I know I will.  So good!

We also had the marinated skirt steak.  The marinade was quite different from my usual Asian style marinade because his is a emulsified herb oil of

• 6 thyme spring
• Two 8-inch rosemary sprigs
• 4 small bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on
• 2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Bring this to a simmer over medium heat, then remove from heat and cool to room temperature. 

Add your Six 8 oz trimmed outer skirt steaks and refrigerated for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

Half another before serving, remove your meat from the marinade and let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking; discard the marinade.  Dry the meat with paper towels. Season well with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

• For after the marinade
• Canola oil
• 2 tablespoon (1 oz) unsalted butter
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed, skin left on

All the above ingredients to the pan and then sear each piece and constantly basting the meat the with the flavored oil.  Then transfer the meat to the oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the center register 125F.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minute before slicing/serving.

I made a Port mushroom gravy to go with this meat, you do not need it but it was tasty with it.

Minced up one large shallot, caramelized, then add in your sliced mushrooms, cook it down until all the water is evaporated, then add your port, reduce the sauce by half and then season to taste and take the sauce off the heat and then add bits of butter (about 2 tablespoons) to the sauce and let it just melt away, stir gently.  This will make your sauce silky and rich and just beautiful  That is one of the reason why I love butter!

I also made a Chocolate Caramel Banana Cake and served it with faux banana ice cream, and the ice cream was a huge hit. All you have to do is freeze really ripe bananas and then put it in the blender, add a little bit of liquid (I add a bit of vanilla soy milk that I had on hand) to puree the whole thing and then just serve like ice cream.  The texture and taste was amazing… it tasted exactly like ice cream but without all the calories and dairy!  This would be great for kids who want something sweet and cold this summer.  A really healthy treat to have on hand and easy to whip up with a blender!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 8:07 am and is filed under Food & Drink, Food & Drinks, Thomas Keller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.