The weather this Spring has been crazy. For most of the month of March I was in shorts and flip-flops, now it’s the middle of April and I’m back to my winter jacket and scraping ice off of my windshield in the morning. In March I was enjoying cocktails on the deck and grilling out, now I’m longing for soul-warming comfort food.

Chicken Pot Pie is one of those great comfort foods I remember from my childhood. Unfortunately, they often came frozen, from a small blue box, you remember the ones. I can remember my Mom making a number of different “chicken topped with some kind of pastry” casseroles, but I don’t ever remember her making actual Chicken Pot Pie. Too bad for me, because I imagine if she had set her mind to making a chicken pot pie it would have been a pretty good one.

Chicken Pot Pie is not difficult to make, especially if you already have pie dough on hand, or if you do like I did and bought a package of the premade stuff. Sorry to dissappoint some of you, but yes, I do often buy premade pie dough, although not always. I am of the opinion that there are 2 types of people out there, those that can make great pie dough and those that can’t, no matter how often they try. Unfortunately, I fall into that latter category. Sure, I can make a decent pie dough by hand, but it’s not great, certainly not that much better than the store bought stuff so I often cheat. I admit it. I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing. If you have any surefire tips for making great pie dough please let me know.

Chicken Pot Pie
serves 6

2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or boneless skinless chicken thighs)
5 Tbl. butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 each carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbl. fresh sage, minced (if using dried sage use only 1 tsp.)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peas (either frozen or if using fresh, blanched briefly in boiling water)
salt
pepper
pie dough for a double crust pie, rolled out for use in a 10″ pie plate

In a medium sized pot bring the chicken broth to a simmer. Add the chicken breasts and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the breasts are just barely cooked through. Remove the breasts and allow to cool to the point where they can be handles. Reserve the chicken broth. Cut into 1/4-1/2″ chunks and set aside.

Pre heat the oven to 400°F. In a larger pot, over medium high heat melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook until soft and the onion is starting to turn transparent. Add the sage and cook for 1 minute longer. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until all the butter is absorbed. Cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Add the reserved chicken broth and stir to fully incorporate the flour into the broth. Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow the mixture to thicken. It should be quite thick. Add the peas and the diced chicken. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Line a 10″ pie plate with pie dough, allowing the dough to hand over the edges. Fill with the chicken and gravy mixture.

At this point you need to work quickly as the mixture is still warm and can make working the pie dough difficult. Place the second sheet of pie dough over the filling and crimp or twist the edges of the dough together to seal the pie. Cut a couple of steam vents into the top crust and place in the oven.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Cut into sixths.

I can’t believe how beautiful it was today, up here in Wisconsin. The sun was shining, the temperature hovered in the mid 60′s and the neighborhood was inundataed with the aromas of people cooking out and enjoying the day. Not what I usually think of as a normal day in mid March. Not that I’m complaining. It was great! The best part is renewing old friendships that kind of go by the wayside during the winter months was most of us seem to hibernate as much as possible. Friends that we spend almost every weekend with, during summer, become strangers in those long, cold winter months. That is until the big snow storms when we all meet up, as we are digging ourselves out, and discuss how we can’t wait for summertime and resumption of our weekend rituals (which usually consist of endless games of Washers and copious amounts of beer).

With this unexpected good weather the wife suggested we do steaks on the grill. Being me, I never turn down the opportunity to cook up…and eat a steak. But this was the first major grill out of the season and I wanted to make it something special and to me that meant Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

Now, when us Americans think of Italy the last thing that often comes to mind is grilled steak, but let me tell you the Italians know how to do it right. We’re not talking some lame old 10 oz. filet or 12 oz. NY Strip. Heck no! We’re talking Porterhouse, and not just any old Porterhouse but a 2+ inch, 2-3 pound behemoth, grilled until it develops a wonderfully dark, crispy crust yet still rare inside so that you can taste the beef as it was meant to be.

Here in the US it is almost impossible to truly replicate the Italian Bistecca alla Fiorentina. The reason is the breed of cattle used over there is the Chianina steer which hasn’t really seen widespread breeding here. Also, over in Italy, most of the cattle is still allowed to graze and isn’t force fed a lot of growth hormones and drugs. This means that the meat has a more pronounced flavor but also will be more prone to drying out when cooked past medium rare as it doesn’t contain the amount of marbling that our beef does.

As there really aren’t many ingredients to producing Bistecca alla Fiorentina this is really going to more of a “how-to” so I won’t be following my normal, standard recipe format.

First we need to gather up everything we need. Your top priority is finding a butcher you can trust and ordering your Porterhouse. While I often recommend purchasing “Prime” meat if you want the ultimate in flavor for this application “Prime” is really too well marbled. Ask your butcher to cut your Porterhouse from “choice” preferably Angus. Or better yet, if you can get your hands on a cut from a local farmer raising grass fed steer then jump on it! More important that weight is the thickness. You want a cut that is 2-3 inches (or approximately 3 fingers) thick. This will yield a Porterhouse that will weigh somewhere in the range of 2 1/2-4 pounds. You will also need a pepper grinder (please no pre ground pepper), some sea salt (kosher will would also be acceptable but stay away from table salt as it is both too fine and fortified with iodine which leaves an off taste) and a bottle of good, extra virgin olive oil. You will also need a bag of lump, hardwood charcoal, or if you are really feeling ambitious then hot coals from a hardwood fire that you allowed to burn down. Please forgo the charcoal briquettes for this and don’t even think about gas. Yes, I use a gas grill, as well as a charcoal grill, and yes you do get a better flavor from charcoal. You are going to have paid a hansome sum for that Porterhouse you just bought. You…and the steak deserve to do this up right. Don’t skimp on quality on any of these ingredients because that’s all there is. No garlic, no herbs and no way to hide poor quality ingredients.

Six hours before you are ready to cook, remove the steak from the packaging, place on a cooling rack set over a plate or sheet pan and return to the fridge. This will allow the surface of the steak to dry out somewhat, helping the in the development of the nice crust.

Three hours before cooking remove the steak from the fridge and allow to warm to room temperature. This step is very important in ensuring that the meat cooks properly.

15 minutes before you are ready to cook light the lump charcoal, using a chimney starter. Please avoid the use of any form of chemical firestarter as it can contribute off flavors to the steak. Once the coals are ready pour them out into the grill. Spread the coals out so that you will be grilling over a medium high heat. Replace the grate and allow the grate to heat up for 5 minutes. Clean the grate and place the steak on top.

You’ll notice that I did not oil either the grill or the steak nor did I season the steak before cooking. When I first learned this style of preparation I was confused as it went against just about everything I had learned about grilling, but trust me it works. You will grill the Porterhouse for 8 minutes on the first side, adjusting it’s position after about 3 minutes and then every 2 minutes after that. We are not looking for the traditional “grill marks” that mark an expert grillsman, but instead are looking for a nice consistent crust all over. After 8 minutes, flip the steak, season with a sprinkling of salt and fresh ground black pepper and cook for another 8 minutes, again spinning the steak regularly. Flip, and season this side of the steak then, holding the steak on edge, sear all the sides that didn’t get well seared before.

Stand the steak upright, with the bone in contact with the grill and grill for 4 minutes. Finally, give each side another 3-4 minutes on the fire, seasoning after each side comes off of the flame. In all, it will take about 25 minutes minutes for a steak this size to reach rare to medium rare. Cook longer if you want it more done.

Now comes one of the most important steps; allow the steak to rest for, at least, 10 minutes. This gives the muscle fibers time to relax and allows the moisture to redistribute throughout the meat. If you don’t allow this resting time and slice the meat immediately you will lose most of the juices to the cutting board.

Once well rested, remove each lobe of meat from the bone and slice against the grain. Arrange on plates and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. Use a light touch or the oil will overpower the beautiful steak flavor. Offer your guests fresh ground black pepper and the sea salt, but chances are they won’t need it. Enjoy!!

Tis the season for food bloggers to post crazy. It seems that even those bloggers that normally only post a few times a month churn out tons of posts between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And who can blame them. The season is made for cooking…and eating. There are posts on making cookies, making candies, creating holiday themed cocktails or cooking up snacks and appetizers for holiday parties. And while there are also lots of wonderful posts on creating memorial Christmas meals for the whole family there seems to be a lack of posts concerning those who aren’t spending the holidays with extended family but still would like to cook a nice meal.

That is exactly what we are doing this year. It will just be me, my wife and my daughter. While we have family only a short distance away (1 1/2 hours) we decided it would be nice just to spend a holiday with just “us”, something we’ve only done once before with our daughter. I will miss the hustle and bustle of an extended family Christmas, but it will give us a chance to make some of our own traditions and, as Christmas approaches, I find myself relishing the idea of quite, low key Christmas with just the 3 of us.

But that means no huge, roasted Turkey, Crown Roast of Pork, or Rib of Beef. Instead we are thinking smaller. Pork Tenderloin fits that bill perfectly. They normally weigh in about 1 1/2 – 2 pounds, just the right amount for a meal for 2-4 people. And better yet, they don’t take very long to cook-less than 1 hour, start to finish, including prep time. Accompanied by a dried fruit relish or chutney (look for a recipe with a twist on Cranberry relish later this week), creamy brasied cabbage and roasted root vegetables, you have the makings of a simple, yet elegant Christmas dinner that doesn’t have you spending hours in the kitchen (not a bad thing when you are cooking for a crowd, but it can be tedious when cooking for just a few people). Make the meal special by serving a nice bottle of American Pinot Noir or ratchet up the festive level and serve one of my favorite Champagnes, Billecart Salmon Rose. It will run you about $80-90, but it’s well worth it, and besides, it’s Christmas.

While I’m crusting pork in this recipe, the same procedure works just as well with lamb or chicken breasts. In fact, I think the first time I made this it was to crust Rack of Lamb at one of the first high end restaurants I ever worked at. Yes, this recipe is pretty traditional. It surely won’t win any awards for creativity or trendiness, but there is a reason the classics are classics. It’s because they work. Enjoy!!

Mustard Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin
serves 2-4

1 1/2 – 2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 1/2 Tbl. rosemary, fresh, finely chopped
1 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
3-4 Tbl. Dijon mustard
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbl. vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place a skillet over high heat. Meanwhile generously season the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the pan and when hot add the pork tenderloin. While the pork is cooking combine the bread crumbs, rosemary, garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook the tenderloin until it is seared on all sides.

Once seared on all sides remove pork from pan and pat dry to remove excess oil. Liberally coat the entire tenderloin with Dijon mustard, brushing it on with a pastry brush.

Then roll in the bread crumb mixture to crust all sides of the pork.

Place on a pan and roast, in the oven to an internal temperature of 140°F. Once the pork reaches 140°F remove from the oven, loosely tent with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 8-10 minutes. This will leave you with pork that is still a little pink inside. Personally I like it this way and am loathe to return to the days when pork was cooked until grey, dry and lifeless, but if you are squeamish about pink pork then cook it to 150-155°F, but remember this is pork tenderloin and not very fatty. Cook it too far and you will have a dry tough piece of meat on your hands.

After resting, cut the pork into slices about 1/4″ thick and serve.

When my wife and I first started dating the very first meal she made for me was her Chicken Paprikash. Being of Hungarian descent (her Dad’s family escaped Hungary in the 1950′s) this was a dish she was very familiar with and felt confident serving to her chef boyfriend (me). Of course, I loved it (and would have never told her otherwise if I hadn’t) and it has been a staple in our house since then as we both consider this comfort food of the highest order. I mean, what’s not to love; chicken slowly simmered in a sauce of onions and paprika, all finished with a healthy (and when I say healthy I really mean unhealthy!) dose of sour cream and served over egg noodles or better yet thick, chewy homemade dumplings-another item my wife excels at!

Up until earlier this year, Paprikash always meant chicken, for us, but earlier this summer we had some pork that we needed to use up so my wife used that instead of the normal chicken. We fell in love with the dish all over again and now seem to make it more with pork than with chicken.

Like with many family recipes handed down from generation to generation, my wife learned how to cook this one by “eye.” Until today I don’t think she ever measured any of the ingredients that went into the pot. It was kind of eye opening to see how much onion and how much paprika this dish actually uses! Talking of paprika, this dish requires good, “fresh” paprika. If the stuff you have sitting in your cupboard is over 6 months old please trash it and buy new stuff for this recipe as it plays a significant role in not only coloring but flavoring the dish.

Pork Paprikash
serves 8-10

3 1/2 pounds pork shoulder (or other tougher cut of pork)
6 cups onion, peeled and diced (small dice)
3 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 Tbl. salt
5 bay leaves
1/4 cup paprika
2 cups water
2 Tbl. corn starch
8oz sour cream

Dice pork into 1″ cubes. Heat a large pot over high heat and add the oil. Add pork and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Remove from pot and add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes until starting to turn translucent. Return the pork to the pot and add the salt, bay leaves, paprika, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook at a slow simmer for about 3 hours or until the pork is tender and the onions have mostly disintgrated.Dissolve the corn starch in a bit of cold water and add, a bit at a time until thickened to your liking (it should be the consistency of a loose stew). Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Serve over egg noodles or homemade dumplings.

Back in Feburary 2010 I posted a recipe for one of my favorite Mexican dishes, Carnitas. You can find the post here. While I was happy with the recipe I posted, I am always looking for ways to improve my dishes or do them differently. One of the problems with the recipe is that it cooked on the stove top for quite awhile. This meant that since both my wife and I work, the only time I could make these was on the weekend or on a day that I was off. I decided to do the initial cooking in the slow cooker, allowing us to have carnitas any day of the week as most of the cooking was done while we were working.

It’s been awhile since I spoke of my love of the slow cooker, AKA Crock Pot. In my early days as a chef, I used to look down on these gadgets, associating them with bad casseroles and 1970′s cooking. I quickly changed my tune though when I started playing with them and realized what great vessels they were for slowly braising all sorts of meats and dishes. It allows me to start a dish in the morning, before work, making for a quick but tasty dinner soon after I get home.

While you do most of the cooking, for this dish, in the slow cooker, it does need to be finished on the stove top to evaporate the remaining liquid and fry the meat in its rendered fat. Luckily this doesn’t take too long, just about the time it will take you to get the condiments together and heat up the tortillas.

Forget the bottled salsa with these tacos. I prefer the standard accompaniment of finely diced onion, jalapeno and cilanto, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Slow Cooker Carnitas
serves 6-8 people

5 pounds pork roast (I used a shoulder roast, whatever you use it should have plenty of fat in it as you need the fat to finish the dish)
1 can Rotel (original flavor)*
1 Tbl. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
salt
black pepper

Start your preparations in the morning, before work. Pour the Rotel into your slow cooker. Fill the can 3/4′s of way with water and add that also. Place the pork roast in the slow cooker and sprinkle with the chili powder and cumin. Generously season the meat with plenty of salt and pepper. Turn the slow cooker to “low,” cover and allow to cook while you’re at work.

When you get home, 8 hours later, the pork should be fully cooked and quite tender. Break up the pork into large pieces (2-3 bites each) and transfer the meat, along with all the juices and fat to a large nonreactive pot. Place over high heat and cook until all the liquid has evaporated, leaving just the pork and the rendered fat in the pan. Allow the pork to fry in its own fat until it starts to brown around the edges and crisp up slightly. Stir occasionally as it will want to stick at this point. By this time the pork should have broken down into small, bite sized pieces or smaller. If not break it up a bit more.

Serve with corn tortillas that have been briefly grilled to warm then through. Top with a mixture of finely diced onion, jalapeno and cilantro, and finally, with a squeeze of fresh lime.

*Note: For those of you not familiar with Rotel, you can find it in the store with all the other canned tomato products. It’s a mix of diced tomato and green chiles. While I don’t advocate too many canned products, my house is never without at least of cans around at all times.

I don’t know why I don’t make crepes more often. They are relatively simple to make, don’t take a whole lot of time, and my wife loves them. Besides, like so many of the things I like to cook, they are quite versatile and are easily customized to your own tastes by adding any variety of fillings from savory to sweet.

This week I am looking for some different ways to use up the awesomely sweet corn we have been receiving in our CSA box. Don’t get me wrong, in summer there is nothing better than super sweet corn on the cob, slathered in butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper, or prepared the Hispanic way; coated in mayo, grated cheese, and cayenne pepper. But doing that would make for a rather boring blog.

Today’s post contains 3 recipes, 2 of which many people seem to think are beyond the skills of regular home cooks. As you should know by now I don’t think many recipes are beyond the realm of home cooks. First are crepes. For some reason people have come to believe that making crepes is a difficult process, but if you can make pancakes you can make crepes. Trust me, crepes are really easy to make and should be in every cook’s pantheon of recipes. The second one, butter sauce, AKA Beurre Blanc, is a little more difficult to make. It can be a bit more difficult to make but, all it really requires is a close eye while making the sauce, and even then, if you break the sauce it can be redeemed so there is no reason not to learn this technique. Once you learn to make a standard butter sauce you open up a whole world of variations to compliment just about any dish imaginable.

Corn Crepes with Curried Chicken and Kale
serves 4

Corn Crepes
2 cups corn, freshly cut off the cob (frozen will work if you can’t find fresh)
2 cup flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

In a food processor process the corn until somewhat smooth. Add the eggs, milk and butter, pulsing to combine. Add the flour salt and pepper. Again, pulse just to combine. Pour batter into a bowl and allow to rest for at least 1 hour. Heat an 8″ nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add a scant 1/4 cup of crepe batter, tilting and swirling the pan to cover the bottom of the pan uniformly.

Allow to cook for about 1 minute or until the top starts to look dry. Use a fork to gently lift up an edge of the crepe, then using your hand pull the crepe from the pan and flip it over. Cook 30 seconds longer the remove to a rack to cool. Repeat the process, using up all the batter. Makes 14-16 crepes. Once cooled stack, with wax paper in between and wrap in plasic is not using right away. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Ginger Butter Sauce
2/3 cup white wine
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
2 inch fresh ginger, chopped
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, diced and chilled

Combine the wine, shallot and ginger in a nonreactive sauce sauce pan. Place over high heat and reduce until only 2 tablespoons of liquid remain. Reduce heat to low. Grabbing 2-3 tablespoons of butter at a time, add to the saucepan, whisking constantly to keep creamy. Once that first addition of butter is fully incorporated add the next, continuing until all the butter is used up.

Add salt to taste. Keep warm, at the back of the stove. IF the sauce gets too hot or too cold it will break. Also if you add too much butter at any one time the sauce will break. Don’t worry, all is not lost. If that happens, in a clean pan reduce 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/3 cup of heavy cream to 1-2 tablespoons. Slowly drizzle in the broken butter sauce, whisking vigorously to re emulsify the sauce. For a bit of added insurance you can always add 1/3 cup of cream to the original recipe during the first step, before you make your reduction. This makes the process a little more forgiving, although I urge you to try it without the cream first.

Curried Chicken and Kale Filling
1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
2 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 Tbl. fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 bunch kale, stems removed and julienned
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 lemon
1 container (6oz) greek style yogurt
salt
pepper

Heat a saute pan over high heat. Add the oil and the onion, cooking until the onion is slightly browned. Add the ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned. Add the curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the kale and continue to saute for 3 minutes. Add the water and squeeze of lemon juice. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove lid and stir in 2 tablespoons of the yogurt. Add the remaining yogurt and season with salt and pepper.

To Assemble
Place 2 crepes on each of 4 plates. Equally divide the filling between the 8 crepes, placing in a line along the center of each crepe. Loosely roll each crepe around the filling and place side by side. Drizzle with about 1/4 cup of the Ginger Butter Sauce and garnish with fresh herbs; either chives or parsley.

I’m a bachelor this weekend. The wife and daughter decided to head down to Grandma house since I had to work. That means a nice, quite house with just me, the dogs, the cats and the fish. It’s Labor Day weekend so for many it’s the last big BBQ of the season. Seeing as I’m solo there’ll be no big BBQ spread. Besides, I’m a year round griller. I don’t understand those people that pull the grill out on Memorial Day and put it away on Labor Day. Any day is a good day to grill, whether it is 80° outside or 30°. The grill did see some action though. I popped a few burgers on it for my dinner tonight, but that is about the only grilling I will be doing this weekend. That’s the bad news. The good news is this gives me a chance to post a recipe I made not too long ago, but haven’t had the time, energy or desire to post yet. Yes, I’m being a slacker, but I’ve been hooked on Stumbleupon recently and my computer productivity has dropped. I’ll get bored soon and be back to posting more regularly, I’m sure.

This is a great late summer, early fall pasta dish. Slightly caramelizing the cabbage brings a wonderful depth of flavor to the dish, but it still is light enough to not slow you down when it is still warm outside. It’s not the quickest pasta to make, but neither will you have to spend lots of time in the kitchen preparing this.

Pasta with Caramelized Cabbage
serves 4

2 cups coarse rye breadcrumbs (light rye works best)*
4 Tbl. butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 slices bacon, chopped (I prefer thick cut bacon)
1 small head cabbage, coarsely shredded
1 medium onion
8 Tbl. butter

1 pound long skinny pasta (spaghetti, angel hair, linguine, etc.)

In a large saute pan melt the first amount of butter. Add the garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add the breadcrumbs and toss making sure all the crumbs are well coated with butter. Continue to cook, stirring regularly until the breadcrumbs get crispy and have become lightly brown. Remove from saute pan and set aside.

Wipe out the saute pan then add the chopped bacon. Cook over medium high heat until crisp. Remove the bacon, leaving the bacon fat in the pan. Add the onions and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the cabbage and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cook for 4-5 minutes before stirring, then stir a bit to redistribute the cabbage and allow to cook another 3-5 minutes. Continuing to cook until the cabbage is tender. The goal is to allow the cabbage to start to caramelize. Let it start to brown before stirring, but be careful not to let it burn. While the cabbage is cooking bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once the cabbage is 3/4s of the way done go ahead and cook the pasta according the the directions. When the pasta is done strain the pasta reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta liquid. Toss drained pasta in with the cabbage, adding the remaining butter also. Toss to mix, adding the reserved pasta water, a tablespoon at a time, if the pasta seems a little dry. Season with salt and pepper. Divide between 4 plates. Sprinkle the bacon evenly of the plates of pasta then garnish with a very generous portion of the rye bread crumbs.

*Note: To make the rye bread crumbs place fresh rye bread, sliced, into a food processor and pulse until you have pieces just smaller than a pea. You will end up with a mix of fine breadcrumbs and the coarser ones. This is what you are looking for.

Don’t adjust your computer monitor, the sauce on the pizza, in the picture is yellow. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to be that way! In general, I am not a big fan of BBQ pizzas. To me, and I know this is strictly a personal preference, something just doesn’t taste quite right about a pizza crust slathered with BBQ sauce. It’s strange that I feel that way as I am a huge fan of both pizza and BBQ, but together I’m not so keen on it. That is unless it is BBQ Chicken Pizza done my way.

I hate to say it is “my way” as I was introduced to this style of BBQ pizza back when I was working in Atlanta, somewhere around 1994. We served this pizza at City Grill when it was under the direction of Chef Roger Kaplan. The biggest difference between this style of BBQ pizza and the stuff you find at pizza joints across the US nowadays was the sauce. While most places slather the crust with BBQ sauce and then toss plain, cooked chicken on top, we were making a “corn cream” to spread on the crust (thus the yellow sauce) and tossing the chicken with BBQ sauce just to glaze it. The corn cream added a sweet,fresh flavor to the mix, keeping the pizza from becoming too heavy with BBQ sauce.

Corn cream is really easy to make, but requires a juicer to extract the optimum amount of juice from the corn. It also relies on really fresh corn to get the best flavor. Besides being used as a sauce for pizza the corn cream can be thinned out to make an elegant summertime sauce for chicken or pork, or even be used as a base for a wonderful corn chowder or chilled corn soup.

This pizza is a bit on the sweet side but trust me, it is tasty. I know it may look a little strange, but the flavors work really well together turning this into the perfect summertime pizza.

Corn Cream

6 ears corn, as fresh as possible.

Shuck the corn and remove all the silk from the ears. Using a knife cut all the kernels from the cob. Once this is done, turn the knife around and using the back of the blade scrape down the corn cobs, removing any leftover pulp and adding it to the cut corn. Using a juicer extract all the juice from the kernels. I found that I needed to run the pulp through 3 times to get all the juice. Depending on the corn you should get about 16-18oz. give or take. Discard the remaining solids and place the juice in a nonreactive saucepan over medium high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the juice comes to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes, again stirring constantly, scraping the bottom of the pot so that the sauce doesn’t burn. The juice will thicken considerably, almost to the point of thin mayonnaise. Remove from heat and chill until needed.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza
makes 2 14″ pizzas or 4-6 smaller individual pizzas

1 1/2 cups water, lukewarm (100-110°F)
1 package (2tsp.) dry active yeast
1/2 cup flour, all purpose
3 cups flour, all purpose
2 Tbl. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar

4-6 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
1 cup BBQ sauce, either homemade or your favorite brand
1 tsp. chipotle powder (optional)
1/2 onion, sliced paper thin
1 tomato, diced small
2 cups cheddar cheese

In the morning, mix up the pizza dough. Combine the water, yeast and 1/2 cup of flour. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to activate. You should see it starting to bubble slightly. Add the remaining flour, oil, salt and sugar. Mix until a smooth dough forms. Turn out onto a work surface and knead for 10 minutes, adding more flour if dough is too sticky. Dough should remain soft and still just slightly sticky though. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to proof throughout the day.

Dice the chicken into small, bite sized pieces. Place in hot saute pan and saute until browned. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, and chipotle, if using. Add 1 cup of water along with the BBQ sauce and cook until the chicken is glazed. Chill until ready to use.

30 minutes before you are ready to cook divide the pizza dough into equal portions (either 2 large or 4-6 small). Roll into rounds, cover with plastic and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Prepare your grill to ensure a medium hot fire. Stretch or roll out the dough to the appropriate size and thickness. While I am usually not a big fan of really thin crust, I prefer thinner crust when grilling pizzas.

One at a time, place the crust on the grill, close the cover and cook for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust starts to brown and the top starts to blister.

Repeat with each crust until all crusts have been cooked on 1 side (the top side will still be raw but should have firmed up significantly. Flip the crust over so that the top is now on the bottom. Spread the corn cream over the grilled side of the pizza, making sure to cover completely but not using so much that it pools on the crust. Top with the cooked chicken and then a sprinkling of cheese. Finally top with the onions and diced tomato, dividing up the ingredients evenly among the pizza crusts.

Place the pizzas, 1 or 2 at a time back on the grill, cover and cook until the cheese has melted and the crust is done (another 4-7 minutes depending on how hot the grill is and how thick your crust is). Remove from grill, allow to sit for 3 or 4 minutes then cut and serve.

I’ve been rather lax, the last few weeks, letting you all know what kind of goodies we have been getting in our weekly CSA box. It’s not because we aren’t enjoying everything (although I can do without the zucchini and summer squashes). It really has to do with crazy busy work schedules and just not making the time to sit down and write.

As I stated in my last post, tomatoes are in full swing, but we also receive some of my all time favorite vegetable, fennel, this past week. I absolutely love the subtle anise (licorice) flavor and the fresh flavor it can bring to so many dishes. I will often shave it paper thin and make it into a little salad to accompany seafood or slowly cook it, like onions, until well caramelized, which deepens the flavor and brings out its intrinsic sweetness.

This pasta dish pairs fennel with tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, and a bit of garlic to celebrate the flavors of summer. It makes the perfect hot summer evening dinner as it remains light and fresh and doesn’t require a whole lot of cooking (or heating up the house).

Summer Vegetable Pasta
serves 3-4

1/2 pound spaghetti, dried
1 bulb fennel, fresh
1-2 tomatoes, preferably home or locally grown and at their peak of ripeness, diced
8-12 leaves fresh basil, torn into small pieces
1 scallion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbl. butter
salt
fresh ground black pepper

Julienne the fennel by slicing it in half, across the wide side. Remove the core and julienne the individual “petals.” Bring a large pot of water to boil, while heating a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the spaghetti to the water and at the same time add half of the olive oil and all of the fennel to the saute pan. Allow the fennel to slowly sweat while the spaghetti is cooking. Just before the spaghetti is done add the garlic to the saute pan and cook without allowing the garlic to burn. Add 3 Tbl. of the pasta water to the saute pan and drain the spaghetti. Once the spaghetti is drained add it to the saute pan allong with the tomato, basil, scallion and the remaining olive oil. Toss to warm through then remove from heat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Finally add the butter and stir until it has melted. Serve immediately.

I think everyone should keep a package or 2 of puff pastry in their freezer, ready to use at a moments notice. I’m not talking about homemade puff pastry, but the stuff you can find in most grocery store freezers. Sure, the store bought stuff doesn’t compare with the rich, buttery flakiness of homemade, but let’s face it, making puff pastry is a time consuming process. Don’t get me wrong, I think everyone should try their hand at making puff pastry, but let’s face it, going out and buying it is much more convienent.

There seems to be this feeling that puff pastry is some “fancy” food. Sure, beautiful gastronomic delights can be created using puff pastry, but I like because it makes a quick and flaky crust to wrap around all sorts of everyday fillings. Wrap it around a couple pieces of Hershey’s dark chocolate and a teaspoon of raspberry jam for a quick and tasty dessert. Fill it with thick chili for a latin inspired “empanada” or fill it with a mixture of browned ground beef and vegetables for a British inspired “pasty.” The ideas are endless and definitely need not be high cuisine.

I wrote up this recipe to help use up some stuff from our CSA box. We’ve gotten a little behind in using up the stuff as we were gone on vacation for a week and the vegetables started to pile up. We had plenty of kohlrabi to use up and half a head of Napa cabbage that was starting to get a little limp. Because I wasn’t particularly in the veggie mood I decided to cook them up with a bit of ground beef making a great filling for individual “pies.”

While these taste great on their own you could serve these with some sort of dipping sauce. An herbed sour cream, horseradish sauce or even applesauce would make a companion to these little “hot pockets.”

Individual Beef and Vegetable Pies
makes 8 pies ( usually serve 2 per person although paired with a salad 1 would make a nice light lunch)

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 head Napa Cabbage, shredded
1 1/2 cups kohlrabi, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried thyme
salt
pepper
1 box (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed per directions on box

Blanch the kohlrabi in boiling, salted water until tender but not mushy (anywhere from 1-5 minutes depending on how tender it is). Shock in ice water to stop the cooking then drain. In a large skillet brown the ground beef along with the onion and the garlic, seasoning with salt and pepper. Once the beef is cooked drain off all the fat. Return beef mixture to skillet and add the cabbage along with 1 cup of water. Cook until the cabbage is tender and all the water has evaporated. Add the kohlrabi, dried thyme and worcestershire. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Check seasoning and adjust. Place in the fridge to cool completely.

Once the meat mixture is cool, unroll 1 sheet of puff pastry and cut into 4 equal squares (they will not be exact squares but don’t worry). Preheat the oven to 375°F. Working with 1 piece at a time, place 1/2 cup of the meat mixture into the center of the square.

Lightly brush the edges with a bit of water to dampen, then bring up 2 corners to form a triangle. Pinch the sides closed then use a fork to crimp the sides together to ensure that they don’t separate during baking.

Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of pastry then unroll the other sheet and repeat the process until you have 8 pies. Place onto 2 greased baking trays and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the trays and bake 10 minutes longer or until the tops are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cook for 5 minutes before serving.