Elton John, Cold Fronts, Oats, and Shirley Brock

I am sitting here listening to Razor Face by Elton John and it got me thinking about oatmeal. I love iTunes. I can sit here in my sweatshirt enjoying the first true cold front of the year, windows open, cool air everywhere, and all sorts of melodies drifting on the frigid drafts. I mean, this is just unheard of this time of year in Texas. I am loving this early (or is it "on time"?) fall weather.

I especially love it because the oatmeal that I like to make year-round tastes especially good when the weather outside is chilly. Did someone say "Chili"? No silly, chilly, as in 'cool'. We'll save Chili for another post later in the winter. So, back to the oatmeal. I should probably be more humble than this but I must say, I make the best oatmeal in the world. I have been told this over and over by countless people of all races, both male and female. What makes it so good? Simplicity. In food, I believe that the best things are the simplest.



I start with steel cut oats. These are whole groats that have been put through a steel mill and chopped more coarsely than the rolled oats many of us grew up with. I cook these in water with some vanilla (bean or extract), Vietnamese cinnamon, raisins, and a dash of salt.

I used to like my oatmeal creamy so I would use a liquid base of cream and water. But at some point I decided to start eating healthier and began looking for other ways to get that same creaminess. Cooking the oats on plain water only brings forth the starches from the oats. So it's not really creamy as much as it is thick and starchy. Skim milk provided much the same texture so that wasn't really working for me, either. Then I stumbled across almond butter. I think it was a vegan friend that suggested this to me. I tried it and have not gone back to cream ever since. The nut butter (just about any nut butter will thicken it, but they all taste a little different so keep the flavor profile in mind) works with the starch from the oats and instantly thickens the oatmeal to a velvety texture. It should be thick but be sure and leave a little moisture in the oats so it doesn't get to thick and gummy. But you can always thin it out with some maple syrup (heh, heh).

Finally, my friend Shirley Brock has been asking me to post this recipe for two reasons. One, she likes to eat it. Two, whatever you have leftover can be made into the most wonderful loaf of bread. Simply take the remaining oatmeal and mix it into the basic white loaf I have in my bread post entitled "The Calling". You will have to make some adjustments for the extra moisture that the oatmeal provides but that just means adding some more flour. When you add the oatmeal to the basic white bread recipe you should end up with three loaves instead of two. On average I usually have about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal left from a full recipe. The bread is slightly sweet from the raisins and cinnamon so it makes really good toast and exquisite French toast. Happy baking, Shirley!


Oatmeal

1 cup Steel Cut Oats
1 cup Raisins
4 cups Water
Dash of Salt
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 tsp. Cinnamnon
4 Tbsp. Nut Butter (Almond, Peanut, Etc.)
Maple Syrup


Bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the oats and dried fruit and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Reduce the heat so that it just simmers. When the oatmeal begins to thicken stir in the vanilla and the cinnamon. Allow to thicken a little more and stir in the nut butter. The oatmeal will begin to thicken quite a bit. When it has reached the consistency you like remove it from the heat and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the maple syrup and serve.

Sweet and Savory

Recently my colleague, Nancy, and I did a class together called 'Sweet and Savory'. Nancy took care of the sweets and I did the savories. We each did three recipes. In the sweet corner was: Cheesecake with Brandy Glazed Strawberries; Lemon Curd Tart with Blueberry Coulis; and Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes. In the Savory corner was: Spinach Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing, Crispy Guanciale, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes; Seared Diver Scallops with Gingered Butternut Squash Purée and Sage Brown Butter; Porcini Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Mission Fig Demi-Glace and Pommes Parisiennes.

Before we started the class Nancy and I were taking care of our respective prep duties. I have this habit of walking through the kitchen and sticking my fingers into cake batters, breaking off chunks of cookie dough, and just checking out the general quality of whatever sweets are being made. Trust me, it's not easy but I truly feel that I am just the right man for the job. When I tasted the batter for the chocolate cakes the first words out of my mouth were, "Damn, Nancy, how much butter did you put in there?" Needless to say, it met my stringent standards. She shooed me back over to my cutting board before I ate the rest of the batter. Of course, when the first batch came out of the oven I had to sample one and make sure that it was fit for human consumption. Again, it passed.

"Robert, would you go away!" O.k. back to my dressing. I am very fond of this salad dressing because it relies on the cheese to make it creamy rather than mayonnaise, buttermilk, egg yolks, or cream. You simply mash the feta cheese with vinegar until it makes a nice paste and then blend in the spices, oil, and a little water so that you have the consistency you desire. The fat from the cheese and oil is just enough to carry the flavors of the herbs and spices without leaving the palate feeling heavy with grease.

Bacon is pretty common on spinach salads so I decided to use guanciale, or pork jowl. Guanciale is similar to bacon or pancetta in flavor but is just a bit milder. The crispy bits of fat made for a nice texture contrast to the creamy dressing and soft leaves of the baby spinach. The sun-dried tomatoes added a nice burst of acidic flavor to help bring everything together. I re-hydrated the tomatoes in water for about an hour so that they were really soft. I could then just put a little mound of them on the top of the salad. But feel free to hydrate them for lesser amounts of time for a chewier texture. This salad is especially nice for the coming fall weather but would be equally nice in warmer weather.

Scallops are always delightful. In the summer I like to pair them with citrus and avocado or artichokes. In the winter I like to pair them with squash, herbs, and butter. For this dish I simply roasted the butternut squash in the oven. The flesh was then puréed with ginger and EVOO. I melted some Plugra butter (European style with more butter fat) until the milk solids began to brown and the butter took on the nice nutty, caramel-like aroma that is so wonderful with browned butter. While the butter was still hot I tossed in some sage chiffonade and seasoned the butter sauce with salt and pepper. The scallops were seared in a hot cast iron pan for about 2 minutes (max.) on each side. The inside of the scallops was just barely undercooked; so tender!

I picked up the idea of crusting beef with porcini mushrooms from my friend, Chef Paul Peterson. Dried porcinis are taken and ground to a fine dust in a spice grinder. Beef fillets are then patted into the dust and seared over high heat in a little oil. The crust of porcini mushrooms adds a deep earthiness to every bite of the beef. That earthiness can be enhanced by serving the beef with a wild mushroom demi-glace. It can also be contrasted, as I chose to do this time, by using dried figs in the demi-glace instead of mushrooms. The dense sweetness of the figs plays very nicely with the earthiness of the porcini crust. Sear the steaks for about 3 minutes on each side (for a 2-inch steak) and you will have a very tender, rare to medium-rare steak. Don't go too much past this temperature or the steak gets tough and dry and you will have wasted $20.

Pommes Parisiennes, or Paris-style potatoes are simply little potato balls cooked in duck fat. They are wonderful. I cannot say anymore as there are no other words to describe them.

All in all this is a very simple meal to make. And the potatoes that were leftover from the plating for the class? Well, our volunteers made short work of them. Whenever you have the opportunity, above all else, fry your potatoes in duck fat.




Spinach Salad

1 # Baby Spinach
½ # Guanciale, cured or fresh, diced small
¼ # Sun-dried Tomatoes

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the tomatoes, and remove from the heat. Allow the tomatoes to hydrate for 30 minutes. When the tomatoes are soft cut them into a small julienne.

In a sauté pan set over medium-high heat render the guanciale until it is crispy. Drain the guanciale on paper towels.

Toss the spinach with the feta dressing and mound it on plates. Sprinkle the salad with the crispy guanciale and top with the julienne tomatoes.


Feta Dressing:

¼ # Feta Cheese
2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp. Fresh Thyme, minced
2 Tbsp. EVOO
5 Tbsp. Water
Salt and Pepper to taste


Mash the feta with the vinegar and herbs with a fork until fairly smooth.

Mix in the olive oil and water, until smooth. Because feta cheese can vary in moisture, add more oil, vinegar, or water, if desired.

Season with pepper and salt, to taste.