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Garlic Bread

Perfect Garlic Bread
2 loaf ciabatta bread (we used bread with extra garlic baked into the bread, but any will work)
2 tbsp finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 stick butter
1/4 tsp dried oregano

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter and oil and add garlic. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, taking care not to burn. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Cut the ciabatta bread lengthwise into two large halves, doubling the surface area. Carefully, with a spoon, drizzle the garlic butter and oil all over the bread, spreading the softened garlic as necessary and the entire loaf is evenly coated.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until the top is just golden brown and crunchy. Take care not to burn.

Cut into individual pieces and serve warm with any Italian dish.

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and White Beans

We used to have dinner with our neighbors in Washington at least once a week. Our taste in food was nearly identical and we loved to cook, eat, and drink together. One the best gifts our upstairs friends gave me was a love of the combination of broccoli rabe (rappini) and white beans. I soon adopted the standard sauteed rabe and white beans as a side with chicken, fish, or pork. As I learned more about the green vegetable, I realized that the result of my work was sometimes uneven because of the common bitterness in the greens. Sometimes it's not a problem, but in order to know for sure if your rabe will be bitter, taste a floret. If it's pleasant and sweet, cook it together with the beans and oil directly. If it's bitter or unpleasant at all, blanche the greens for the final 2 minutes of the pasta's cooking time in the water and you'll find the bitterness is left with the water and the pasta is unaffected. I like to add cubed poached chicken breast to the beans and rabe as an extra boost of protein and texture, but this could easily be a vegetarian / vegan dish, as well. If made with a different shape pasta such as rotini or penne, this could easily be a casserole.

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Chicken, and White Beans
Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

• 1 lb thin spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente
• 2 cans white beans (Great Northern, Cannellini), drained and rinsed
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, poached in stock and white wine, cooled and cubed
• simmer equal parts chicken stock and white wine in a sauce pan and cook chicken gently until firm through, about 12 minutes
• 2 bunches broccoli rabe, stems trimmed off and coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated onion
• 2 tbsp butter (optional, for richness)
• Crushed red pepper flakes (optional, for heat, to taste)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Poach the chicken, cube, and set aside. Boil the pasta according to package instructions, minus about 1 minute. Taste the pasta to make sure it's done. If your broccoli rabe is bitter, blanche it with the pasta for the last couple of minutes of cooking. I use a large pot with a pasta insert so it's easy enough to lift everything from the pot together. If you don't have such a contraption, by all means, simply drain in colander.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions until fragrant and add the garlic. Cook for about a minute. Add the drained white beans and toss together until the beans are heated through. Add the chicken and toss again. Season carefully and add the broccoli rabe and pasta. Toss until everything is combined. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil or a dash of butter to taste, if desired.

Insomniac Food Blogging

It's Easter Sunday -- sort of. After a wonderful day at the farmer's market (open Sunday mornings on Guilford Ave. in Baltimore under the Jones Falls Expressway) we did a little bit of shopping and attended a wonderful dinner reception hosted by some friends in Fells Point. The food was delicious -- particularly the salmon caviar and selection of smoked fish. My contribution was a German-style potato salad that resembles my Roasted Potato Salad, but uses steamed potatoes and a mustardy dressing. I omitted the bacon in a nod to Passover, during which I am more conscious of my diet.

After a few glasses of Sangria, it was time to go home and take a nap. That nap lasted a few more hours than it should have, so here I sit, 3:20 in the morning, wide awake.

I'm distracting myself with some food reading. I thought it may interest some readers to know some of the food blogs, websites, and other resources I regularly enjoy...

• I'm a regular viewer and reader of Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen.
• http://www.americastestkitchen.com / http://www.cookscountrytv.com/
• Despite its deeply flawed personality-based celebri-chef culture, I sometimes use the Food Network.
• http://www.foodnetwork.com
• A much better sister network to the Food Network, which still airs classic episodes of Julia Child's shows daily is The Cooking Channel.
• http://www.cookingchanneltv.com
• To catch up with the local food scene in Baltimore, I'm a regular reader of the Baltimore Sun's Dining at Large.
• http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/blog/
• I'd be remiss not to offer a nod to Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa, it's a just OK website, but there are some winners in the recipe section.
• http://www.barefootcontessa.com
• You'll find some excellent recipes and high quality equipment to make them at Williams Sonoma.
• http://www.williams-sonoma.com
• There's always the mother of all food blogs, Serious Eats...
• http://www.seriouseats.com/
• I love Epicurious, including the iPhone app, which has proven itself quite useful.
• http://www.epicurious.com
• Finally, here is a list of the food magazines I read with links to their sites:
• Food and Wine 
• Cooking Light
• Saveur
• Bon Appetit
• Food Network Magazine
• Taste of Home

What sorts of sites / blogs / cookbooks / magazines do you recommend for your humble author and your fellow insomniac food fans?

An update to braised pork shoulder...

Find it here!

Simple Lunch Salad

A few weeks ago, I came home to walk the dogs during lunch and found myself without much to eat in the house. I could have picked up a sandwich from Subway or another quick restaurant on the way back and forth to my office, but I accepted the challenge to have a quick lunch at home with some enthusiasm. Opening the refrigerator, I found a big bag of baby carrots and a tiny sack of whole radishes. Tomatoes are not in season yet, but I tend to keep a carton of cherry tomatoes on the counter year-round. Here's what I came up with...
Fresh Early Spring Salad
Serves 1
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cook Time: None

• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 10 baby carrots, julienned (cut into matchsticks)
• 4 radishes, julienned (cut into matchsticks)
• 1/4 cup excellent quality extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the ingredients as described and toss together. Enjoy on its own or as a prelude to a sandwich of leftovers from your dinner party the night before! 

Grilled Steak and Sides

Grilled steak is nothing original. I have my own go-to recipe here. Experimenting, though, with the grill and the skillet, I have developed an interesting approach to a couple of sides I think you'll love.
First, Broccoli Steaks are unusual, but delicious. Using the heat of your grill -- I have a charcoal grill that cannot justify only cooking a simple steak -- grill large hunks of broccoli until tender and smoky. Cut the stem off a head of broccoli and slice the head into large "steaks" of even thickness. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. The addition of fresh or dried herbs makes for a more complex flavor.
Grill similarly to your technique for steak. I like using direct heat for 4 minutes per side and then finishing with indirect heat for another 10 minutes or so.
The other side, which is hard to make out in the photo, is red wine braised mushrooms and onions.
Coarsely chop a pint of cremini mushrooms and a large onion. Saute in olive oil for 10 minutes until just starting to brown and add a half cup of red wine (I used a shiraz that had been opened a week earlier and had passed its prime). Season with salt and pepper and reduce until the wine is syrupy. Serve as a sauce or side to grilled steak and broccoli and you can hardly go wrong.