1 lb -baby  beets (red, chiogga, golden or a mixture)

6 cups – mixed greens

1 cup – toasted walnuts – chopped

5 ounces – goat cheese

About 6 tablespoons of  citrus vinaigrette

1 tablespoon olive oil

pinch of salt and pepper

¼ cup water

For the roasted beets:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the beets and trim both ends.  Place them in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with the oil, salt and pepper.  Add the water, cover with foil and bake for approximately 1 hour or until the beets are easily pierced with a knife.  Allow to cool slightly then rub the skin off with a paper towel.  Cut into ½” dice.

For the citrus vinaigrette:

3 ea – Valencia oranges

2 ea – lemons

2 ea – limes

6 tablespoons – walnut oil

1 tablespoon shallots – finely chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

pinch of salt & pepper

Juice the oranges, lemons & limes into a non-reactive saucepan and reduce over medium heat until 2 tablespoons remain.  Place into a small bowl along with the shallots and mustard.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper then slowly whisk in the walnut oil.

In a large bowl, toss the greens, beets, nuts and goat cheese with 5 ounces of the citrus vinaigrette and divide among 6 plates.

Serves 6

I prefer to use the larger spears and find them to actually be tenderer than the thin ones. The larger spears are from younger, more vigorous plants.

Asparagus has a bad reputation regarding wine pairing, but I believe that it goes very well with fruity, un-oaked styles of wine such as St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc.  The following recipe combines fresh spring asparagus with the classic Sauvignon Blanc pairing of goat cheese to produce a dish that really makes the wine sing.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

ASPARAGUS & GOAT CHEESE CUSTARD

Serve with St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc

1 lb fresh asparagus, cut into 1/4″ pieces

3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped

1/2 cup leeks – white part only, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc

1 cup cream

10 oz. soft goat cheese

4 eggs, large

Salt & white pepper to taste

Non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Heat the oil over a low flame in a large frying pan and sauté the leeks and garlic until soft.  Add the asparagus then season with salt & pepper to taste.  Add the wine and simmer, covered, until the asparagus is tender.  Add a little water if the pan dries out.  Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree.

Heat the cream to a simmer in a saucepan and add the goat cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted.

Place the cream & goat cheese mixture, asparagus, and the eggs into the blender. Blend until smooth.

Spray 8 – four-ounce ramekins with the nonstick spray and fill about 3/4 full with the asparagus mixture.  Place the ramekins in a large baking dish and fill with enough hot water to come about half way up the ramekins.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the custard is no longer liquid

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8

4       whole chicken legs (legs & thighs)

12 small red or white potatoes – about 2” diameter

1/2 cup dry white wine

15 large cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chicken stock or canned low sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary – finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh sage – finely chopped

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the chicken and potatoes and cook until the chicken is well browned on both sides. Add the wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated.  Add the garlic, chicken stock and herbs.  Lower the heat and partially cover. Continue cooking, turning the chicken and potatoes occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through – approximately 25 minutes.

Serves 4

Invest in a set of high quality knives. With proper care they will last a lifetime.  I suggest these three knives at the minimum – an eight inch chef’s knife - a pairing knife, and a bread knife.

Wash & dry your knives by hand. Dishwashers expose them to harsh detergents and they can bang around and damage the edges.

Store knives in a knife block or magnetic knife bar whenever possible, or at a least store them away from other utensils that can damage their sharp edges.

Always use a wood or polyethylene cutting board. These materials create less resistance to the blade’s edge than boards made from materials like ceramic or plastic.

Do not use a regular “steel”. If you do not have a fine grit ceramic steel  it is best to not use anything. Improper use can actually dull your knives.

NEVER check the sharpness of your knives with your tongue! (Offered tongue-in-cheek – pun intentional)

Have your knives sharpened by Ron regularly – at least twice a year, or more often if you cook a lot. The only purpose of a knife is to cut.  If your knives are dull they are not serving their purpose.

I am now offering knife sharpening by mail at a highly competive price with a turnaround time that is often  faster than using a local company.  Please visit my website for more information : www.razors-edge.net

During my cooking career I often sharpened my own knives. This came about because I really had a difficult time leaving my knives with a sharpening service or waiting (sometimes forever) for the local sharpening guy to come by the restaurant. Often I was disappointed with the results and dismayed at the price.  My investment in the “tools of the trade” is pretty substantial, and to have my chef’s knife come back looking like a boning knife was very disconcerting! (OK, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little.) Many local sharpening services and knife shops use grinders to sharpen knives.  While this method is very fast, unless the operator is very skilled, these grinders remove a great deal of metal and your knives get smaller and smaller!

I’m spending less time in the kitchen these days and more time sharpening knives. I’m enjoying this so much that I have started a mobile knife sharpening and mail order business. All sharpening is accomplished by hand using a method that insures a precise bevel (angle) across the entire blade. This is critical for uniform sharpness and a long lasting edge. Hand sharpening is not nearly as fast as machine work but the results are spectacular.

Knives don’t all of a sudden get struck dull.  It’s a gradual process that we don’t really notice until we have our knives professionally sharpened.  When we do, it’s truly amazing how much easier, more efficient, and safer our kitchen chores are.

I  will continue to post articles on knives, as well as on food, wine, and original recipes.

Please click here for more information about my knife sharpening service:  ChefSharp Knives

Thanks!

Ron

Penne Pasta with Heirloom Tomatoes, Grilled White Corn & Basil

Take advantage of the summer bounty.  Dead ripe tomatoes, juicy white corn and fragrant basil make for the perfect summer dish.  If you grow your own tomatoes, so much the better.  If not, search out a farmers market or a store that carries vine ripened / heirloom tomatoes.  Accept no substitutes!  Serve warm or at room temperature with a glass (or two) of St. Supéry Rosé

Pair with St. Supéry Rosé

4     cups  diced heirloom tomatoes – try to include a mixture of colors

3      ears of white corn – charcoal grilled until slightly charred.  Cut kernels off the cob

3       cloves of garlic – minced

1        cup fresh basil – coarsely chopped

4        tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1         pound Penne pasta

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a large skillet, add the olive oil and the garlic. Warm until the garlic is soft but not brown.  Add the tomatoes, basil and corn kernels. Heat on medium until the tomatoes are just warmed through.  You do not want to cook the tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the Penne.  If the water tastes like the ocean you have salted it correctly.  Cook until al dente – about 10 minutes and drain. Toss the pasta with the tomato mixture and serve.  Or cool to room temperature.  Parmesan cheese optional.

Serves 6

1 1/2 cups cream

1/4 cup honey

1 pound bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons brandy or rum

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup each cocoa powder, shredded unsweetened coconut, chopped hazelnuts (or pistachio nuts)

Place the cream and honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until the chocolate is melted.  Whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time.  Stir in the brandy and vanilla and allow to cool for 45 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.  Use a small scoop and your hands to form 1” diameter balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. They will actually more like real truffles if they are not perfectly round. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, and then roll some of the truffles in the cocoa powder, some in the nuts and some in the shredded coconut.  The truffles will keep for a couple of weeks if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or the freezer.

Yield – approximately 36 truffles.

Sometimes a bottle of wine is opened and not finished.  Either it’s forgotten for a few days or for some other reason it becomes a little to old to drink.  Usually what happens to it is it becomes oxidized – giving it off flavors. These flavors disappear when the wine is simmered for a while.

If this is the case with a white wine, you can still put it to good use.  A splash of white wine in the pan after sautéing chicken or fish will help deglaze the pan and add a nice bit of acidity to a pan sauce – just make sure that the alcohol is evaporated before you drizzle it over the finished product.  If you are not going to be cooking for a while I would recommend putting the left over wine in a plastic container and freezing it until needed.

Small amounts of red wine can be frozen and added to until you have about a bottles worth or more.  At that point I like to prepare a sort of red wine essence which can be used to provide great color and flavor in stews, braises and also to deglaze sautéed pork and beef preparations.

I’m not talking about wine that is flawed from the start by being “corked” or from other obvious maladies.  Wines that fit that description should be discarded.

RED WINE ESSENCE

Place at least a 4 cups  of red wine into a non-reactive pot with 1 large peeled, finely chopped carrot,  1 stalk of finely chopped celery, 1 medium, peeled & chopped onion and a couple sprigs of thyme.  Slowly bring to a boil, turn down the heat &  simmer until it is reduced by half.  Strain off the wine and refrigerate or freeze until needed.

It is important to skim the stock as it cooks in order to produce a clear stock.  Also, do not let the stock boil too vigorously or it will become cloudy.

Once you have tried making your own stock, you will never go back to the canned variety.

3 pounds chicken parts, including backs, necks, wings and carcasses

2 pounds chicken legs and thighs

1 large onion – chopped

2 medium carrots – peeled coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks – coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

8 black peppercorns

5 parsley stems

2 cloves of garlic – peeled

Rinse the chicken bones and pieces in cold water and place in a large pot or stockpot.  .  Fill the pot with enough water to cover the chicken.  Bring to a boil and skim off any foam that forms. Add the remaining ingredients and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Simmer uncovered for 3 hours, skimming as necessary.  Strain the stock through a mesh strainer into a clean container and set it in ice water to cool.  Cover the container and place in the refrigerator overnight.  Remove the congealed layer of fat and store the stock in the refrigerator up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Makes approximately 4 quarts.