Potluck Potato Salad

I recently had an unexpected day by myself at home after returning from the American Cheese Society Conference in Raleigh, NC. What do I do when I I’ve got no plans and a sunny day alone ahead of me?

I cook!

I did a little recipe research and then hustled to the market for ingredients and further inspiration. Back in my kitchen in no time, it was like my own culinary amusement park. It wasn’t too long before a friend of mine dropped by to hang out and help me out, and by dinner time my house had inadvertently become the scene of a spontaneous and sizable dinner party. Hosting a bunch of dear friends after a day in the kitchen is just about the best day I can think of (second only to a similar day that includes my family).

I figure a lot of people are enjoying summer evening dinner parties right now with their friends and family, so today’s recipe is a twist on the potluck classic, potato salad. Rather than sopping with mayonnaise, this one is vinaigrette-based and features the red cabbage peperonata that you may recognize from one of my previous posts. The potato salad went great with an all-beef burger that we served at Bennett’s a few days later along with some other specials inspired by that dinner party.

Late Summer Potato Salad
(Yield about 12 servings)

5 pounds red potatoes cut into 1/2-inch pieces, skin on

1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup  olive oil
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound peperonata
1-1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 2-1/2 ears)
1/2 cup shredded Flagship cheese
3 green onion tops sliced very thinly

Cook the potatoes in salted, boiling water about 10 minutes or until not quite tender. 

Drain the potatoes and set aside.

Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, and pepper together until evenly mixed. In a large bowl, gently combine the cooked potatoes and dressing.  Refrigerate until cool.

Before serving, fold in the peperonata, corn, cheese and green onions until well mixed.

Enjoy! 

Duck Fat-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Today’s recipe was kind of like a Brussels sprouts migration. I had first come across it at Barbacco in San Francisco, where I tried their signature Brussels sprouts fried in duck fat with capers, anchovy, and red wine vinaigrette. Inspired, I threw together a recipe to bring up on a ski trip to Crystal Mountain, to test it out on some of my friends. With a little tweaking, I introduced it to The Cellar at Beecher’s in New York, adding Marco Polo cheese, some breadcrumbs, and a hanger steak. When I brought it to Bennett’s, in honor of the recent release of Beecher’s “World’s Best” Gluten Free Mac & Cheese, I turned it into a gluten free version, replacing the breadcrumbs with slightly crisped wild rice.

Duck Fat-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4 (as a side dish)

1 cup wild rice
2 cups chicken stock or water
pinch of salt

1 lb Brussels sprouts
¼ cup duck fat
1/2 cup Marco Polo cheese
2 tsp lemon juice
pinch of black pepper
pinch of salt

Prepare the rice beforehand, boiling it in two cups of chicken stock (or water) for about 45 minutes to an hour. Once soft, remove the rice and reserve.

Cut the Brussels sprouts into halves while bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch the sprouts in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then remove them and put them in an ice bath for an hour. Remove them from the ice bath and let them dry for about an hour. Make sure they are dry, because if they are still wet when you toss them in the sautée pan, the excess water will cause the fat to splatter and will make them harder to caramelize.

While the sprouts are drying, grate the Marco Polo with the largest setting possibly on your cheese grater. Pieces should be 2 inches by 1/4 inch.

Once dry, heat the duck fat in a large sauce pan until nearly smoking and add the Brussels sprouts, cooking for about 5 to 6 minutes, until caramelized with a little crispiness. About a minute before they’re ready, add all the other ingredients and stir together, including the rice and the cheese. Season to taste, finishing to caramelization of the Brussels sprouts and a slight crispiness in the rice.

At Bennett's, we served it atop a red pepper puree with a big hanger steak.

 What would you serve this with? How would you tweak it to serve it to YOUR friends and family? Let me know by commenting below!

Beecher's Gluten Free Mac & Cheese

I’m excited to announce today’s release of Beecher's "World's Best" Gluten Free Mac & Cheese!

We've had requests about a gluten free version of our mac & cheese for almost as long as we've been selling it.

The hardest part was finding a noodle that was just right. A lot of gluten free products are ok, but they leave you with that feeling of “this is pretty good… for being gluten free.” If we were going to do gluten free mac, we wanted it to stand on its own, to be comparable to our “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese. After a lot of searching and testing, we finally found a rice noodle that was just right, which we’re importing directly from Italy just for the gluten free mac.

For now, you can get it at Beecher's Handmade Cheese in Pike Place or at the Pasta & Co stores in Bellevue and University Village for $13.95 plus tax.

Please let me know what you think about the gluten free mac in the comments below!

Farro Bacon Wild Rice Cake

Tossing onions in the Bennett's kitchen.

Most weeks, I share a recipe adapted from what we served the previous week at Bennett's. I love spending time in their kitchen, but I don't often get a chance to talk about how much I also enjoy working with the kitchen staff at the Pasta & Co.'s.

This recipe was served at Bennett's over the weekend, but the dish was all built around the awesome texture and flavor of this outside-the-box wild rice cake we developed for the deli case at Pasta & Co.

It's important to bake them just right, because the crisped outside and soft inside is a great contrast that makes it really versatile. They make a healthy snack on their own, or you can combine them with greens and protein for a well-rounded meal.



Farro Bacon Wild Rice Cake

Makes 7-8
3-1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 package Blue Bird Farms Potlatch Pilaf (1.18 lb. bag)
1 tsp. kosher salt (if necessary)

6 oz. uncured bacon
1/2 red onion

1 egg
1 Tbsp. Maximus/Minimus seasoning blend (available at Pasta & Co.)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1-1/2 tsp. sherry vinegar

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

4 oz Flagship cheese, very coarsely shredded or crumbled
1/3 cup chopped, fresh, flat leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot (if unsalted add the kosher salt). Stir in the farro mix, lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Most of the liquid should be absorbed and the grains should be al dente. Remove from heat and decant into a bowl. Chill.

While the farro is cooking, using a food processor, process the bacon to a fine dice and then transfer to a medium saucepan. Mince the onion in the food processor.
Over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally to render the fat, about 10 minutes.  The bacon should be brown. Add the red onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Remove from the heat and chill.

Combine the cooled farro and bacon mixture.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, Maximus/Minimus Seasoning Blend, thyme, vinegar, pepper, and salt. Add the farro mixture to the bowl and, with your hand, thoroughly mix the farro and egg mixtures. Gently fold in the cheese and parsley.

Using a ring mold (or your hands), form the mixture into uniform cakes approximately 1-inch tall and 3-inches across. Place on an oiled baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned. Let the cakes sit for a couple of minutes before removing from the pan.

At Bennett's, we served it with grilled King salmon, braised fennel and tomato broth.

Try out the recipe and please comment below on what you served with it!

Let me take a moment to say: I really, REALLY love fennel.
We braised them simply with some salt, lemon juice
and olive oil at 375 for about an hour and they were A-MAZ-ING.

"Mac in Action" in Rwanda

Here we are, folks! Here's the video I promised of the ad hoc process of making Mac & Cheese in Rwanda. It wasn't easy and there were a couple points when I thought it wasn't going to turn out, but everyone seemed pretty happy with the result. It made me really happy to honor the rest of the crew by making a meal for them.

Enjoy!

Beecher's Mac Africa and Cheese

On our last day in Rwanda I got the big treat of making lunch for the 50 man crew working to build the St Ignatious school.  When we were working there we really enjoyed the workers. It was classic mime communication as of course we knew no Kinyarwandan and only a few of them knew even a little English. Despite the language barrier we grew to really appreciate them and the hard work they performed for $1.50 per day.

Beecher's Mac and Cheese and Maximus/Minimus braised pork was the menu.  Rwandans really only eat rice and beans so many of the workers had never tasted pasta.  They were very curious as I showed up and packed my supplies into the fire shed where the lunch cooking is done.  Word spread that the Americans were here to cook.  The two ladies who did the cooking were quite helpful in teaching me, again pretty much just with mime, how to cook on an open fire on a dirt floor in a shed with no chimney. 

In the end it was actually a reasonable facsimile of the real Beecher's Mac. There were certainly many times during the process that the outcome was in doubt, but they all loved the finished product and the plates were clean.

At one point the fellow with the best English asked me how much this meal would cost in America.  A mix of appreciation for our western situation and shame arose in me as I realized that it would be over a week of wages simply for him to buy this meal that I had prepared.

Stay tuned for a video of the Mac & Cheese making process!

Also, if you haven't gotten a chance to the other posts, just click on the rwanda tag below to display all of them.