Sunday Feast № 45 | Sabayon or Zabaione, or an exercise in tenacity

After making potato and onion frittata, I was left with egg yolks. Unusual situation for me, since majority of the time it is egg whites, and I know what to do with those; add to them an egg or two and have eggs your way, sunny side up in my case, for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. I haven't made dessert in a while, and that is where egg yolks are used the most. I looked around and found an egg yolk based one in “The Little Paris Kitchen” by Rachel Khoo - champagne sabayon. I had prosecco though, which makes me wonder if this is now officially zabaione, the Italian version. However, as it turns out, that was the least of my worries.    First time around I took "To test, draw a figure 8 in the mixture with the whisk. If it stays put, then sabayon is ready." too literally, was too heavy handed, and most of all missed the timing when to take the mixture off the heat, and ended up with rather tasty and sweet and smooth but scramble. I overcooked it. Truth be told, I needed to research the required consistency when cooking as I knew that the final product was too thick and lacked the expected volume all that whisking should produce. Time to learn.    This YouTube video at 5:09 showed me what I should be looking for, and I tried again. To say that I was gun-shy next time around is an understatement. I kept on taking the bowl on and off the heat, and kept on whisking furiously. When it seemed to head in the right direction, I took the sabayon mixture off the heat and "threw" it into the fridge, then proceeded to deal with leftover egg whites.    When I came back to it, it decreased in volume and liquefied under a layer of breaking froth. I undercooked it. Yes, I took it off heat too quickly. To save it, off I went whisking over the heat again and persisted and watched till the consistency was definitely right, this is why I am not telling you how long the whisking takes. I have no clue. Also, serve immediately. While whisking, I thought how this is too much. All that changed after having a serving with raspberries and prosecco with raspberry syrup. I will master.

Sunday Feast № 44 | Festival des Pommes, with Honey Glazed Roast Pork with Apples as a Main Attraction

"An impressionistic tour of Normandy, where the apple is king and calvados completes the meal" said the subtitle to a story in Saveur magazine May 2016 issue. That also means apple cider, or as it was in my misreading of a recipe I locked onto - apple cider vinegar. Yes, that is what I used even though looking at the recipe again, it distinctly calls for just apple cider. Did the swap matter? No, it was super tasty just as the run through the ingredients promised.    If the photo here does not grab you, please ignore it, I was in a rush to eat and feed, and proceed with cooking your own. Absolutely worth it. All that butter and honey help, I'm sure. Also, if you happen to have those big size apples, three is enough. Pair it with apple, celeriac, and carrot salad and apple cider to drink. Finish off with after-dinner swigs of calvados. Life is good.

Sunday Feast № 43 | Potato and Onion Frittata

Yes, I am one of those sad souls who assumed this was a Spanish dish. The thing is first time I had it, it was cooked by a Spaniard and I forgot him referring to it as tortilla de patatas. Back then attention span was shaky at times or otherwise preoccupied; I will blame memory now. Hence, this Italian dish has embedded itself in my brain as Spanish. Olé! We all make mistakes. Mi dispiace.    Looking for some color in the autumn cooking, I locked in on this recipe from “Everyday Food: Great Food Fast” by Martha Stewart Living Magazine, more so since it suggested to make a side of red and yellow bell peppers sauté (bell peppers cut lengthwise, sliced red onion, olive oil, salt and pepper, and you are good to go).    As a tip: if you have the misfortune of the onion, potato, and rosemary mixture sticking to your skillet, do not disrepair. Warm up another skillet to a similar temperature, lightly oil it, transfer the onion, potato, and rosemary mixture that did not marry itself to the first skillet, and proceed with pouring the egg mixture. You, or your frittata, will survive and bond very well together. Via your belly.

Sunday Feast № 42 | Wild Rice Cranberry Soup

Not exactly the most photogenic, but sometimes that's what it has to be. You know it. That vegetarian cooked food that you must have to feel nourished, less stuffed, and virtuous. Here is my autumn baby. Adapted from "A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: The best vegetarian recipes" by Paulette Mitchell, I upped and tweaked the portions of the ingredients to match my one-and-only/last/entire supply of vegetable stock: 4 cups.

Sunday Feast № 41 | Latin Braise Coc Co Co Coc, or Coconut Braised Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

The flavor combination read as perfect. Perfect enough to drown the pages with dribbling saliva.    I might be exaggerating, but mussing up of the pages was involved, followed by quick run through the cupboards and the fridge, and a grab for pen and paper to write a shopping list, to make about a half of the original recipe. Then I spaced out on changing the cooking time when recipes are halved, first time around at least, then I learned fast.    Adapting a recipe from from Food & Wine magazine October 2016 issue to a smaller portion, I went ahead and let it braise in the oven for about an hour the original called for. Now being mindful of the fact that the cooking smells, no matter how divine, after lingering overnight are less so, I opened to kitchen backdoor, and thus effectively removed smell as a cue to check in on the chicken. An hour later, I came back to a broken sauce and a rim of burn where it used to be. However, the chicken and potatoes were fine, and there to prove that my initial impetus to make this dish was absolutely justified. Two days later, I remedied the situation. See below. This one is here to stay as an alternative finish-the-chicken-in-the-oven-"go-to" to Pablo's chicken with potatoes and aioli. And that says something.

Sunday Feast № 40 | Apple Tart

Unlike making sweet pastry from scratch, I am not ready (if ever) to do puff pastry from scratch. It's easy, some say - you just need cold but pliable butter and a good rolling pin and get a'rolling. I suppose with the cooling weather, butter is easier to keep chill on the counter, but all that rolling - I don't know, and I am feeling lazy. Prepackaged puff pastry has been used in many cooking shows, so who am I to get THAT busy? As for that cooling weather, it is apple season, although in the Midwest apples seem to be always in season. I suppose other regions have apples galore and some of those, OK - plenty of those end up also here. This recipe from “Everyday Food: Great Food Fast” by Martha Stewart Living Magazine is very easy once you do the prep, which truth be told is mostly around the peeling, coring and slicing of the apples. Truth be told, I changed and ignored some, but you don't have to. The recipe asked for Granny Smith apples but I used Jonathan apples first time around because that is what I had - made for a sweeter tart than with Granny Smith. It asked to roll out the pastry while it is unfolded, but I did not first time around. The texture and most definitely the taste did not suffer much, but I was not lazy next time around, and neither should you be, says Mum, unless ... Serves 4-6, and disappears very quickly.

Sunday Feast № 39 | Spicy Chicken Stir-fry

Keeping it very brief this time. It's been a long while since I made this one, and since I am burrowing through my recipe notes, it was time to make it. The spices give this dish a warmth that has nothing to do with heat but everything with aroma. With this amount of vegetables, you can skip sides like rice or noodles, unless you absolutely must have them for a trio on a plate. Serves 4.

Sunday Feast № 38 | You saucy tart, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Spaghetti alla puttanesca means "spaghetti in the style of a prostitute", and is not a very old dish after all, but considering the taste profile, it has a fitting name. Saucy, briny, with a hint of spicy heat, with a color selection of red and black that imitates just right, say, Carmen's garb (Spanish, I know, but you get the reference), while taking care of you just the way you needed. I was so fixated on getting the visual right that the Kalamata olives I already had just would not do. They were not black enough. The recipe is adapted from "The Food of Italy: A Journey for Food Lovers" - I used fresh cherry tomatoes instead of canned ones, and dried oregano although I could've used 1 tbsp fresh oregano. Let's play.

Sunday Feast № 37 | Goat Cheese Pistachio Prune Savory Cake

As Rachel Khoo notes in her video, often cake is taken as something sweet, but French do savory cake. Music to my ears as I believe that cakes are perfect breakfast food. Think of them as something similar to muffins. This one being savory has the lower guilt factor, if you will, and as such can be paired with egg done you favorite way - sunny side up in my case, till I truly master poached egg. The recipe is from "The Little Paris Kitchen" by Rachel Khoo, adjusted to use goat cheese instead of sausage, the way she does it in the video of her show.    Hopefully, unlike me, you can bake it at a setting specified in the recipe below, or twiddle with it all by baking at 345°F for 45 min then 340°F for 10 min then 350°F for 10 min then keeping it in an off-oven for 5 min for a total of 70 min.    Absolutely not necessary, but I guess I like to twiddle.

Sunday Feast № 36 | Roasted Trout with Thyme

This is a recipe I picked up a long time ago. Really long time ago. It is the easiest way to prepare a meal that can be served on a bed of lettuce or with Turkish bread and salad or with some sautéed potatoes and salad, and paired with a nice sauvignon blanc or similar dry white wine. Till now, I always did it with a whole trout, head and all, but as it turns out fillets work just as well. They have the added advantage of visual assessment for doneness as you can see the flesh turning opaque. Clean, filling, and very satisfying.