TrelayneNYC

I do like her writing style and a couple of her spotlights are on our list.

Still disagree with her on the stars though.

I haven't been posting lately so look for an update later tonight when I bring you all up to speed on what's been happening in the past couple of months. 

A favorite recipe is lesso o allesso

1 1/2 kg beef brisket
carrots
onions
celery
7-10 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Italian parsley
salt
water

The broth in which the beef and vegetables simmer is served as a first course. The beef and vegetables are a second course, served with either salsa verde or salsa rossa.

Leftovers are perfect in sandwiches.

Roast chicken stuffed with garlic and herbs
Fagiolini e patate al pesto

Eggs fried in olive oil, served over heirloom tomato salad and garlic toast.

Israeli salad
Pan con tomate
Spiced lamb fillet braised with onion

Nectarine galette with brown butter and garam masala.

You know it's true love when you and your husband spend Monday morning peeling 2 kg fava beans pods which magically became 260 g peeled beans.

Fava beans with zucchini, tomato and soft-boiled eggs.

Vegetable stew with sausage and chickpeas

30 ml olive oil
115 g diced pancetta
1/2 kg heritage pork sausage
30 g minced oregano
30 g minced Italian parsley
1 onion, peeled and diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
4 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1/2 kg Swiss chard
800 ml crushed tomatoes or passata
175 g cooked chickpeas (canned is fine)
500 ml chickpea broth (or as needed); if you used canned chickpeas, substitute water instead
10 g basil leaves

Asparagus hashbrowns, with egg

Kumiai oyster, crème fraîche, pink peppercorn, rosé gelée.

Very good and a great beginning.

Kampachi (amberjack) sashimi, apricot purée, almond, Valencia orange and radish.

This was served with brioche and unsalted butter.

It won over B and he doesn't really like fruit with savory.

Manila clams, fava beans, fermented celtuce, wild borage.

The broth was a clam dashi (clam juice, kombu, bonito flakes, then strained) and a chive oil drizzled over. Exceptionally clean-tasting and a purity of flavor. This was probably our favorite dish tonight.

Buckwheat crêpe, purple snow peas, lavender mint, burn morels, black summer truffles.

Burn morels are apparently morel mushrooms that grow after a forest fire.

The crêpe was overcooked (B remarked that his was "burnt"), the peas a tad undercooked and someone didn't clean the morels properly (IOW if you can taste grit, it's poor prep work). Looked good though. In terms of flavor, this was "average".

Sorry if that sounds harsh but at the prices that we're paying for a restaurant of this caliber, then I expect perfection. This was not it.

Trout, asparagus, tarragon pistou, baby gold potatoes, trout roe, mustard seeds.

They omitted the pistou for B since he's not a fan of tarragon. Was a nice, relatively average 5-6 bites of food, and that's about it. This being a high-end restaurant, you're supposed to overlook the fact that the amount of food on the plate is disproporionate to the plate size.

Strawberry sorbet, lemon verbena sugar, tarragon ice.

This combination worked but I can see how some folks might find that off putting. B had the sorbet only - thanks must be extended to the kitchen for omitting the ice from his plate.

Pairing herb and vegetable components is a trend in fine dining. For instance, parsnip crisp made an appearance at NYC's Villanelle and corn husk meringue at Enrique Olivera's restaurant Cosme a couple of years ago.

The onions and garlic are first sauteed in olive oil along with salt and five-spice powder, then cooled. Combine this mixture with breadcrumbs, egg, salt, black pepper and pistachios and the ground lamb. Form into meatballs, then bake for 15 minutes at 335 F/170 C. Then braise in the tomato sauce for 30 minutes.

Lamb and pistachio meatballs adapted from "Polpo", page 154.

35 g shelled and roasted pistachios, finely chopped
30 ml olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
pinch of salt
pinch of five-spice powder
1 kg ground lamb
1 egg
100 g breadcrumbs
ground black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
800 ml basic tomato sauce

Basic tomato sauce - the recipe in Polpo (page 149) is neither basic nor preferred so I used my own, which as you can see is rather minimalist by comparison. Polpo's version has eight ingredients not counting salt and pepper.

30 ml olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
800 g crushed tomatoes or 800 ml passata
120 ml water
salt
black pepper

We served this with a bowl of cauliflower stewed in wine.

Photos from last week

Spicy tomato and shrimp stew
Peas with garlic and pancetta
Ricotta cheese with roasted blueberries

These are photos from last week

I haven't been posting as much but will soon rectify that hopefully

Baked bread (fresh out of the oven), chickpea-carrot spread.

Great vegan option.

Orange wine from Greece

(wine made from oranges, apparently)

Curried roasted golden beet, carrot, apple and chicory salad with walnuts.

Terrific balance of sweet, tart and bitter throughout. The kitchen loves mustard and while there was a light touch in the vinaigrette, this ingredient also showed up in the porkchop B ordered.

Cumin scented English pea pancakes with carrot, pistachio, feta, arugula and mint.

Someone in the kitchen knows how to fry. The pancakes were feather light, crisp on the outside with the freshness and sweetness of the peas shining through

Rosemary-nated pork chop with roasted potatoes, artichokes, green beans, mustard seeds and fava salsa verde.

Moist, well-seasoned and just perfect. Would recommend on this plate alone

Fried Mary’s chicken with mashed potatoes & gravy, coleslaw and buttermilk biscuit.

Chicken was moist and juicy; breading a touch oversalted. Coleslaw was average (faint sweetness, not enough acidity) but that's ok because I'm difficult to please in that department. Otherwise, a very good plate of food. Would order again.

Bartlett pear sorbet.

Intense fruit flavor in 3-4 bites. Sometimes that's all you need to end a meal

Chocolate-hazelnut crepes, roasted banana ice cream, salted caramel sauce, candied hazelnuts.

Last night, we had

Fava bean salad with asparagus, jamón serrano and mint
Pesce al forno con le patate ("baked fish with potatoes")
Strawberries macerated with sugar, 25-y/o balsamic vinegar and black pepper

The preserved lemons pictured above were Meyer lemons, salt and enough Meyer lemon juice to cover. I started the batch in February 2019 and those two were the first ones out of the jar.

It's Moroccan night tonight at Casa TrelayneSF

Chicken tagine with green olives and preserved Meyer lemon
Cara Cara orange salad with red onion and olives

The chicken was marinated for 24 hours in a mixture of grated onion, sliced ginger, crushed garlic, saffron, cilantro leaves, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and olive oil. The tagine is straight forward - it's basically braised chicken. Use a Dutch oven or similar pot if you're like me and you don't own a tagine (cooking vessel).

Both are from Tagines and Couscous by Ghillie Basan, pages 57 and 140 respectively.

On 4/17/2019 at 9:40 AM, Sundae in the Park said:

Oooooooh, this looks beautiful and doable! How much flavor would you say comes from the brininess of the scallops? Would a sub for chicken be too bland?

 

It's one of those minimalist pasta sauces. You do need great scallops to pull it off.

I don't think chicken could be subbed, but maybe try it and see.

For tonight, we're having

Shakshuka
Everyday Palestinian salad

Both are from "Zaitoun". You should buy this cookbook.

Spaghetti with scallops, garlic, parsley and hot pepper, from "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan, pages 185-186.

1/2 kg deep sea scallops or bay scallops
olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
30 g chopped parsley
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt
cooked spaghetti
toasted breadcrumbs

This is probably my favorite pasta recipe in that book. It's much better than the tomato-butter-onion sauce in my opinion.

Not much cooking this weekend.

On Saturday (April 13), we had an early dinner party with friends where we all cooked from

this was my contribution:

Haricots mange-tout à l'étuvée from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, page 448 (40th anniversary edition).

1 1/2 kg wax beans
28 g softened butter
225 g diced onions
salt
black pepper
herb bouquet - bay leaf, parsley, thyme
350 g shredded Boston lettuce
112 g butter
350 ml chicken stock
400 ml light cream
minced parsley

I had to drain the liquid in the Dutch oven right before adding the cream. That's probably my only criticism because made as written, the liquid didn't evaporate like it says in the recipe.

This will get made again - and when that happens, I'll be altering the method and ingredients. For one, the amount of chicken stock and cream will be reduced.

There were also these:

endive gratin with ham.

daube de boeuf

I don't remember what these were...

petits chaussons with Roquefort

strawberry tart

mousse au chocolat

this had a touch of Cognac for that extra-special je ne sais quoi

thanks

roasted leeks, fried egg, shaved cheese

the leeks were simmered in salted water before being roasted at 325 F for one hour

And on Sunday, we had:

crostini with ricotta cheese, pistachio, anchovy and olive
roast chicken
roasted vegetables, chicken au jus

The bird was seasoned with salt and black pepper 24 hours in advance, then trussed and roasted at 350 F (176 C) for one hour, twenty minutes.

You can't imagine how glad I am this forum is back on its feet, so thanks to Don for making it happen.

On Saturday (April 7), we had:

poached sable, served with butter sauce
roasted asparagus
strawberry sorbet with 25 yr. old balsamic vinegar

On 4/1/2019 at 12:46 PM, Smita Nordwall said:

Can you share the recipe for the chicken, please? 

1 chicken cut into 12 pieces (either do it yourself or have your butcher do it for you)
75 ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves
a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
a sprig of rosemary
250 ml pinot grigio
salt
freshly ground black pepper
15 ml red wine vinegar
pitted green and black olives