Bread for Dinner

What is it about homemade bread that makes a dinner special? The crisp outer crust with a tender, feathery interior - perfect for soaking up all the delicious juices that run over the plate. That seductive, yeasty aroma coming from the kitchen immediately lets everyone know that good things will be happening at the table that night.

In its purest form, bread is really the simplest combination of very humble ingredients - flour, water, salt and yeast. In more elaborate forms, it may be enriched with butter, eggs, milk and countless toppings and fillings to make it something even more special. Bread truly represents culinary magic - combining just a few ingredients to create something utterly unlike anything that goes into the recipe.

It is true, the best artisanal breads made at home do require time and patience. Long, leisurely rising times are the key to well-developed flavor in bread. That is not a reason, however, to forgo making bread for dinner altogether. Take these dinner rolls in the photo, for instance. The dough for dinner rolls can be quickly mixed, allowed to rise in the late afternoon and be shaped and baked right before dinner. They are very delicious with a pat of butter and ensure that your dinner at home will be a special event.

Dinner Rolls

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking, Parker House Rolls

1 c whole milk
2 T unsalted butter, softened
1 T sugar
3/4 t salt
2 T warm water
2 1/4 t yeast
1 egg
3 1/2 c flour

Heat milk in a small saucepan until warm. Stir in the butter, sugar and salt until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Allow the yeast to dissolve for 5 minutes. Stir the lukewarm milk mixture into the bowl with the yeast. Beat in the egg.

Stir in about half of the flour with a spoon and knead in the rest. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky. Adjust the amount of flour slightly to achieve a smooth dough. Place the dough ball into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 60-90 minutes.

When the dough has risen, turn onto a lightly floured surface and shape into two logs. Cut one dozen uniform pieces of dough from each log, and shape into the desired form. For round rolls, shape the dough into a round, pinching the loose edges of dough at the bottom of the roll.

Place rolls on greased cookie sheets, twelve rolls to a sheet. Cover with a damp kitchen towel, and let rise for about 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated 425 F oven until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, and serve the day they are made.

Yield: About 24 rolls

New Holiday Cookie Recipes

This year for Christmas, I was once again attempting to shake things up and try something new. It was a busy month at work, so a lot of the traditional cookies I would normally make (Rum-flavored sugar cookies, Mexican wedding cookies and others) did not happen in 2008. Along with the traditional molasses spice cookies (somehow, these always get made...), I decided to make a type of "holiday" rugelach. Having never before attempted these beautiful Jewish cookies, I turned to Ina Garten, whose recipes, while heavy on the butter, have never failed me.

Ina's recipe for rugelach (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rugelach-recipe/index.html) is very easy-to-follow. I substituted a mixture of chopped pecans, dried cranberries and raisins for her walnut/raisin mixture to make them more "Christmas-like". Be forewarned - these cookies are not for the beginner! The recipe involves chilling dough, rolling out dough and carefully assembling the cookies with their filling. The result is very rewarding - a tender, not-too-sweet cookie that practically melts in your mouth. These cookies received rave reviews from family and friends alike. Definitely a keeper!

Julia Child - Still Relevant and Forever a Culinary Icon

It's hard to imagine a more influential culinary icon than Julia Child. When fine cuisine was still considered something mystical and only enjoyed in exotic places like Paris, Julia Child brought these seemingly impossible dishes into our homes and changed the American food landscape. Yes, she is known for using copious quantities of butter, cream, cognac and other frighteningly rich ingredients, but the techniques and recipes she brought to the world are still quite relevant. While American tastes have changed in favor of a lighter approach to cooking, Julia's books and TV shows will always be around to remind us of the importance of learning and applying solid techniques in the kitchen to produce dishes that are essential to our culinary repertoire.

The dish in this photo is Julia's Gratin Dauphinois. Sounds fancy, doesn't it? This extremely delicious side dish is more commonly known as Scalloped Potatoes "au gratin". Yes, the very same dish that can now be purchased off the shelf with an easy-to-prepare dehydrated potato medley and a packet of powdered cheese. Trust me when I say this - we all deserve better!

Gratin Dauphinois in one of those essential, everyday dishes that can be prepared quickly and easily for a weeknight meal. This recipe will be even simpler if you have a sturdy mandoline capable of slicing potatoes into perfect one eighth inch-thick medallions, but a sharp knife works too. I don't bother to peel the potatoes, but by all means do so if you prefer them peeled. This is the ideal side dish with meat loaf, ham or other "comfort" foods. Here is my slightly modified version of Julia's recipe from "The French Chef" cookbook:

Gratin Dauphinois

4 medium-sized red potatoes
1 cup whole milk
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper
2 T. unsalted butter
2 T. chopped Italian parsley (optional)

Equipment: shallow baking dish (the white Corning-type is perfect)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Slice the potatoes with a mandoline or knife to a 1/8 inch thickness and immerse in a bowl of water. Add milk, garlic, salt, pepper and butter to a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Arrange one layer of potato slices in the baking dish and drizzle with about half of the hot milk mixture. Arrange the remainder of the potatoes in the dish and add the rest of the milk mixture. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes. The milk should be absorbed, and the potatoes should be tender and lightly browned.

Let the potatoes rest for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

Serves 3 to 4

Bon Apetit!

Rediscovering Merlot

Looking back over the years at my relationship with wine, I clearly remember my interest in reds beginning with Merlot. Back in the 90s, Merlot was the wine to drink. Soft tannins, flavors of plum and cocoa - this was the perfect introduction to red wine. That first bottle of Sterling had me hooked. Sadly, as with most fads, overproduction led to the downfall of Merlot. Since the movie "Sideways", Merlot has become almost as maligned a wine as Chardonnay. Trite, thin and often overly sweet - that's what most wine connoisseurs now think of when you say Merlot. What a shame. While the wine market is saturated with many examples of bad Merlot, there are quite a few producers (some in unexpected places!) throughout the world breathing new life into this grape.

Historically, the production of Merlot grapes is based in the Bordeaux region of France. There, Merlot is used primarily as a blending grape, adding a certain suppleness and grace to the powerful tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon. Merlot is, in fact, more widely planted in France than Cabernet. In the United States, Merlot has been used quite commonly as a single varietal wine with a large presence in California and Washington.

California has some of the best and the worst examples of Merlot. While there are some "boutique" wineries producing some very good Merlot, the mass market is largely low quality wine. Duckhorn is probably the most famous Merlot high-quality producer, but expect to pay close to $100 per bottle. A recent Merlot tasting in Wine Spectator magazine revealed a pretty dismal picture of California Merlot with very few high-scoring wines.

We have found that excellent Merlot is being produced in the Monterey/Carmel region of California, where the cool weather seems to suit this grape. Tastings at Chateau Julian and Georis Winery left us impressed with the character and terroir expressed in the wines. Prices in this region are moderate.

Outside of California, Washington is a wonderful source for some delicious and affordable Merlot. Columbia Crest, Covey Run and Snoqualmie and all easy-to-find labels to know when shopping for Washington Merlot.

Don't be afraid to try Merlots produced outside of the United States. Indeed, there are some excellent wines being produces in some very unusual places. The above photo shows the Santa Ema Reserve Merlot 2005 from Chile's Maipo Valley. This is a very impressive Merlot for the price point (about $12/bottle) with flavors of plum and chocolate backed with elegant tannins. This is one to purchase by the case for everyday drinking. Another great country for Merlot is Italy. Falesco is a reliable Italian producer that is easy to find in large wine shops.

Whether you look to Italy, Chile or right here in the U.S., don't forget about Merlot. Like fondue, gelatin and other seemingly hopeless food "trends", Merlot is overdue for a comeback.

Mesclun Straight from the Garden

Sweet. Bitter. Tender. Spicy. Perfect. All of these words can be used to describe the classic French salad greens known as mesclun. "Mesclun" literally means "mixture." Introduced to the U.S. about 20 years ago, this salad consists of a diverse mixture of sweet and spicy young lettuces and greens: arugula, oak leaf lettuces, endive, mache, radicchio, frisee and others. Each of the components of this salad contribute a unique taste and texture to the salad, resulting in a bracing combination of greens that is a perfect way to start a meal.

I have been growing this tasty mixture of greens in my small backyard garden for quite a few years now. If you have a sunny location on your property or even a large pot, mesclun is quite easily grown from seed. The Mesclun Classic Mix from Burpee (http://www.burpee.com/) is a nice, well-balanced mixture that we can plant here in Arizona in the fall and be harvesting greens by early December if the temperate weather holds out.

Tender salad greens such as mesclun prefer cool conditions, so they should be planted in the early spring in most parts of the country. In the Southwest or parts of the deep South, they can be planted in October. The greens should be harvested regularly to ensure steady production (this is not a problem for most of us).

Once you harvest a bowl of mesclun, the best way to dress the salad is really the simplest and lightest. Overloading these tender greens with a heavy ranch or similar dressing would be a mistake. A very simple French vinaigrette works well here.

A basic vinaigrette is about 2 or 3 parts olive oil to one part vinegar (white wine or red wine vinegar work well), or to taste. A small quantity of salt and pepper should first be dissolved in the vinegar before adding the oil in a steady stream while whisking. Adding about one teaspoon of good Dijon mustard to the vinegar before adding the oil adds a nice flavor and acts as an emulsifier, bringing everything together. You can make it fancy by adding some minced shallot or garlic, but this is not necessary.

Mesclun salad is a good example of why simple preparations of very fresh ingredients taste the best. Crisp, young greens right from your garden, dressed quickly with good olive oil and vinegar - it just doesn't get any better than this.

Thanksgiving Traditions

It never fails, every Wednesday before Thanksgiving day, you will find me in the kitchen late at night baking the pumpkin pies. Always two, crust first and filled with the pumpkin pie filling on the back of the can of Libby's pumpkin. These pies look homemade, from the imperfect zigzags of the pastry to the small fissures in the center of the custard. For certain, this is not haute cuisine, but it is the kind of nostalgic cooking on which traditions are based.

Thanksgiving is, perhaps, the most traditional of the food holidays, marked by tables laden with recipes handed down through generations. The menu rarely, if ever, changes.

This year, like nearly every other, the cook in me wanted to tweak some of the recipes - add ginger to the cranberry relish, omit the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes (I admit, I like them...) or try some exciting new dish from Gourmet Magazine. In the end, we succumb to the cries of horror from our families and friends, shocked that we would dare change the sacred feast.

After the flurry of activity during the last 20 minutes before the meal is served, we finally sit down to the table with a glass of wine and a ridiculously overfilled plate. At that moment, I have to admit, I am very glad that everything is as it should be - unchanging, comforting and familiar.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Wines of the Pacific Northwest

Whenever we hear about American wines, it seems as though we only hear about California. While many wines from Napa and Sonoma certainly live up to their reputation for quality, they have becoming increasingly out-of-reach for many of us who enjoy wines on a daily basis but don't care to shell out $50+ per bottle for a quality bottle. The great news is that wonderful wines are being made all over the United States for those willing to seek them out. One area, in particular, that has experienced a giant leap in quality, is the Pacific Northwest.

Washington and Oregon are producing some really excellent wines - many of which can be had for under $20 per bottle. Best of all, they tend to be widely available.

A couple of producers we like include:

Columbia Crest - Yes, we know, Columbia Crest is a market giant, and its wines can be found in any grocery store. However, a few of their labels arguably represent some of the greatest values in American wine today. Columbia Crest's H3 wines come from Washington's Horse Heaven Hills region. CC's H3 Chardonnay 2006 (91 points, Wine Spectator) will change the way you think about Chardonnay (think ripe pears and creme brulee) if all you've ever experienced is the inexpensive plonk from Napa. Their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (90 points, Wine Spectator) is balanced, earthy and complex. If you can't find the H3 label, try one of the Grand Estates wines, which are also very drinkable.

Duck Pond Cellars - Duck Pond Cellars (only around since 1993!) has vineyards in both Washington and Oregon. We like the Pinot Gris 2006 a lot - a grape that seems to be tailor-made for this part of the country. This wine is crisp, with flavors of peach, vanilla and citrus. It is an excellent wine to enjoy with mild cheeses or salad.

In addition to these widely available labels, there are many smaller producers that are making some amazing wines. The Pinot Noir from Oregon, in particular, has been getting rave reviews.

This Thanksgiving, instead of the usual Napa Cabernet, try incorporating a wine from America's Pacific Northwest into your meal.