Butternut Squash Soup - Pictures

I finally got my hands back on our camera, so here are some pics from making the butternut squash soup from the Restaurant Nicholas cookbook.

Here's a before/after of the giant butternut squash that I used.  The smell that my house had while these were in the oven was absolutely heavenly.

In order, here's a celery root (one of my new favorite ingredients), my aromatic mise en place (carrots, celery root, shallot and onion), my sachet of spices (cracked nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves) and the roasted and mashed squash from the oven.

Finally, one of the finished product - 2 gallons of soup!  This was quite the hit, and when I brought up what a hit it was to Chef Nicholas last Friday, he was pleased!  Woot!

Butternut Squash Soup

My uncle had called me up a few weeks ago to let me know he was planning on Thanksgiving dinner at his house, which was nice to hear from him rather than through my mother.  When I asked what I could bring, I was expecting the normal response of "just pick up a few bottles of wine", which I was totally fine with since I was going to ask what he was cooking in order to attempt some pairings.  Shockingly enough, he replied "well, what do you want to make?"  Never have I brought anything to dinner at my uncle's, so I was rather flattered that he would ask.  I offered to make soup, he said that would be perfect, and that was that.

I had read the butternut squash soup recipe from the Restaurant Nicholas cookbook, and figured that would be a great recipe to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, as well as an easy first recipe as I attempt to cook my way through this cookbook.  I took my time taking shots of my mise and cooking and what not, and of course I left my camera in East Brunswick.  Apologies in advance for the lack of prep photos, but if you want to see some amazing pictures (and another account of the recipe), check out Rob's post at Cooking Through Nicholas.  No, really, go check it out...I'll wait...

OK, so you're back.  I can't even begin to tell you how easy this recipe is.  Roast some butternut squash, with butter.  Saute your aromatic base of onion, carrot & celery root (my new favorite ingredient).  Make a sachet with cinnamon, cloves and whole nutmeg (my new favorite spice).  Deglaze the pot with cranberry juice (!).  Add broth (I cheated this time and used Swanson Certified Organic, a Test Kitchen favorite) and squash and simmer.  Blend (I went with the stick blender, but if you've got a high-powered machine, use a blender).  That's IT.  Easy.

Here's me making the garnish in my uncle's (the funny-looking one on the right).  The garnish is diced butternut squash sauteed in butter, bacon (!) and dried cranberries.

To plate, Steph added a few drops of lemon oil (which are all that is needed - the recipe called for 1/4 tsp, which was way too overpowering), a Microplane of cinnamon, a mound of garnish in the middle, then a large ladle of soup.  I had my mom pick me up some microarugula at Delicious Orchards, but they looked like (and in fact, were) the last that they had.  We tried it for one plate, then quickly abandoned.  Here's the finished product:

 
 How did it come out?  The original texture was a bit too thin for some, but (thanks to a suggestion to my blog buddy Rob), we let it simmer for a bit when we reheated it on Saturday night and the texture was much better.  As for the flavor, not surprisingly, was amazing - it tasted like autumn, with the earthiness and spiciness really coming through.  Fortunately, this recipe makes nearly a gallon of soup, so we were able to enjoy it for a few days afterwords, and my uncle ended up keeping a tubful for himself!

Pumpkin Agnolotti

First off, I need to thank my sous-Steph, because I could not have been successful in making this recipe without her help.  Even though she swears she doesn't do much to help me out in the kitchen, she definitely does.  Thanks, honey ;)

My mother has been making some manner of pumpkin/squash filled pasta for Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember.  In the past, she's used spinach pasta and made square raviolis, both by free-form and by using a ravioli press.  Just thinking about standing at the Atlas pasta machine and cranking for an hour is making my right arm cramp up.  This year, I was armed with two tools that I haven't had in the past - my mom's KitchenAid pasta rollers, and the Restaurant Nicholas cookbook.

Making the filling was simple - roast a butternut squash and a sweet potato, blend, press through a tamis (which is on my holiday wish list), mix with honey and pumpkin puree and season with salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.  (Note:  I've never kept whole nutmeg in the house before, I would just buy the ground stuff.  Never again - grating whole nutmeg as you need it is the only way to go).

The pasta dough was rather fun to make - make a well in the middle of flour, add egg yolks and olive oil to the center, and mix until the dough comes together.  Too bad I miscalculated the size of my well, and my wet ingredients went up and over the sides, literally everywhere all over my work surface.  Fortunately, I have cat-like reflexes and was able to save my egg yolks and get my pasta together.  Insert about 10 minutes of hard kneading here:

After the kneading, I was left with a smooth and elastic dough, which I dusted and wrapped for 40 minutes (longer knead time = longer rest).  At that point it was time to let the KitchenAid do its thing and roll out the dough without causing my arm any undue discomfort or pain.

After my pasta was rolled out to the thinnest possible setting, it was time for filling the agnolotti.  I eschewed the pastry bag for a Zip-Loc with the corner snipped to get my filling piped out.  The whole idea, based on the book, was that the pasta was to resemble little 'pillows'.  After a few mishaps (you can see an oozing agnolotti below) and getting the technique down, I got pretty adept at piping, folding, pinching and cutting the individual agnolotti.

The pasta is finished with a brown butter sauce made from butter and Carrot Stock, which I made a batch of this morning from some frozen chicken stock I found in the back of the freezer.  The stuff essentially is a chicken demi-glace, which is then emulsified with 2 sticks of butter and some brown butter to make the sauce.  After the agnolotti get boiled up, they get dressed with the sauce, some sauteed butternut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds, thinly sliced sage leaves, and some grated truffle cheese.

How did it taste?  Damn delicious!  Everything was in balance, even though I swear I didn't get much of the truffle flavor - I think it just all added together into a cohesive dish.  Also, the book calls for "pumpkin seeds", but the picture in the book shows that they are green.  I've never ever seen unshelled pumpkin seeds sold before, so I went with tried-and-true David brand, and they came out great after a nice toast in a dry skillet.

Even though it was time-intensive, this is a dish I would definitely make again!

Thanksgiving

Unlike most people, Thanksgiving is an entire weekend activity for me, which suits me fine since it involves my favorite activities - cooking and eating!  I'll be taking lots of pictures and cooking lots of food over the next three days, so expect quite a few blog posts as well.  Here's how the weekend is shaking down:

Thursday - Thanksgiving at my uncle's house.  I'll be preparing the butternut squash soup a la Nicholas.
Friday - 'Thanksgiving' at my mother-in-law's.  Not sure what we're going to be eating, but I'm going to make a spinach salad of some sort.
Saturday - Saturday Thanksgiving at my parents' house.  This is shaping up to be the most ridiculous meal of the weekend, because its when my mom and I really flex our culinary muscles.  I'm planning on Pumpkin Agnolotti (again, from Nicholas), maybe an hors d'oevures or two, and a dessert from the Dessert Fourplay.
Sunday - Leftovers, leftovers, leftovers...and a Jets game.  Awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, both old friends and new - I hope everyone gets to eat well and have a great meal!

Nicholas Wine & Cookbook Release Dinner

Steph and I went to Restaurant Nicholas last night for a cookbook release dinner.  I've made my love of Nicholas clear, and Steph and I went into the evening with high expectations.  Needless to say, we were NOT disappointed.

We entered the lower dining room (which has such an intimate ambiance) to a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some passed hors d'oeuvres.  Lobster Salad with Grilled Scallions on Crispy Wontons were rich and buttery and had great texture. Potato Pancakes with Bacon and Quince Puree were pretty much the most perfect little potato latke, with bacon brunoise (these were both mine and Steph's favorite of the hors d'oeuvres).  Shrimp Tempura with Spicy Soy Sauce were prepared perfectly, although I did not get the 'spicy' in the sauce, but they were still delicious.  Skewers of Curry Marinated Lamb with Curry Yogurt was also excellently prepared, especially since they were just bites, and they could have been easily overcooked (props to Steph who tried them even though she doesn't like curry).  There were Asparagus Crostini with Parmesan and Truffle Vinaigrette, which I tried and didn't particularly like, but Steph was more than happy to eat my share.  All these little bites were perfect to warm up our taste buds and get us ready for the coming feast.

At this point, Chef Nicholas came out and was ever-so-gracious when thanking us for sharing the evening with him, and promised us he'd hurry so we could get home in time to watch the World Series (side note:  I'll trust the chef who is a Yankees fan).  Turns out he invited one of his friends from Italy, Gianluca Grasso of the Elio Grasso vineyard, who brought a truckload of wine along with him, so we'd be eating food paired with a bunch of his wines, primarily Barolos, but with others in there.  While the chef retreated to the kitchen, Gianluca discussed his family's history with winemaking.  It was clear how passionate he was for his craft, and it really shone through with the wines we were poured.

The first course was Venison 'Carpaccio', Jicama and Fig Salad, Pine Nuts.  Steph is a tremendous fan of carpaccio, but she was especially excited because she had never had venison before and was eager to try.  The venison was very rich tasting, without any overwhelming gaminess that sometimes can accompany it.  The jicama and pine nuts provided a textural contrast, and the figs brought along some sweetness to balance out the richness of the meat.  It was paired with a 2008 Chardonnay that is named 'Educato' since the grapes that Gianluca grows are mostly Nebiollo and they had to 'educate' the chardonnay grapes to grow in an area traditionally ruled by red grapes.  An excellent wine - very assertive and stood up well to the strong flavors of the dish.

Next up was the dish I was most looking forward to, and one that I knew I could make my dear friends Meghann and Mike jealous that I was eating it:  Crispy Braised Pork Belly, Gingered Pluots, Napa Cabbage and Peanut Salad.  In a word - WOW.  I love all things pork, and I love bacon especially, but there's not much better than eating pork belly, which is essentially the cut of pork where bacon comes from, but then braised until meltingly tender and crisped up under the broiler.  All the garnishes on the plate accentuated and cut through the richness of the pork, especially the pluots (which neither Steph nor I had ever had before).  I texted Meghann to say 'I have pork belly in my belly - be jealous!'.  Not to fear, MegWow, I have the recipe!  This course was paired with 2008 Dolcetto, which had a very fruity and slightly spicy flavor.

The third course had my favorite of all fungi - truffles, in a Hen Egg Ravioli, Black Truffle, Truffle Butter Sauce.  This dish was inspired by a dish the chef and his wife had during their honeymoon to Italy (which made me enjoy the dish that much more since I knew his inspiration for creating it).  Essentially, this was a ravioli filled with a small amount of ricotta, topped with an egg yolk, then covered and sealed in the pasta, boiled and topped with truffle butter and some fresh shaved truffles.  One of the greatest things I've ever eaten, the odor alone made my mouth water, and the flavor...unreal.  Every bite was rich and earthy and creamy all simultaneously.  This was paired with not one but TWO wines, a 2004 Barolo Ginestra and a 2000 Barolo Runcot.  The difference between the two was the soils in the vineyards they were planted in - one was more sandy and one was more clay - with a definite change in the flavor.  I don't remember as much about these wines as I should - I just remember they were very strong in flavor (not shocking since they were Barolos) and that I had to slow down because I was going to get rather tipsy if I didn't.  The hazards of going to a wine dinner!

The last course, unfortunately, both Stephanie and I felt was the weakest.  Even though Sirloin of Veal, Scallion Whipped Potatoes, Royal Trumpet Mushrooms sounds amazing, it fell flat.  Don't get me wrong - I love me some baby cow, and the meat was excellently prepared, but I felt that all the components of the dish didn't come together as well as they should have.  I don't think it helped that I thought the potatoes were too 'scallion-y', or that I didn't enjoy the mushrooms as much as I should - I also don't think it helped that I had overindulged in the wine.  However, the Barolos (two wines again) were also very assertive and strong in flavor.  Stephanie liked the contrast between a Barolo in this course and from the last, which were from the same vineyards but different years.  Too bad the dish wasn't as great as the others in the dinner.

Finally, some coffee, a quartet of Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Creme Brulee, Pumpkin Hot Chocolate with Mini-Marshmallow, and Chocolate Ganache with Caramelized Bananas and Peanut Cookie.  Everything was delicious (minus the banana dessert) and was a great end to a delicious meal.

A note about the cookbook:  AMAZING.  Easy to read, easy to follow, lots of pictures of the end results.  It has recipes for all the dishes I hoped it would:  braised pork with cinnamon jus, parisienne gnocchi with artichokes and peas, scallops with truffle-green apple vinaigrette.  I picked one up for my mother as a birthday gift, and I'm really excited about this, and add it to the 'autographed' shelf, too!

Preview: Nicholas Wine Dinner + Cookbook

Just got home a few minutes ago from Restaurant Nicholas.  Hors d'oeuvres, 4 courses + dessert, a boatload of wines and coffee.  I am satisfied to the nth degree.  I'm definitely planning on writing more tomorrow about this - pretty excellent.

Rob - word of advice:  pace yourself on the wines.  They poured two wines for course 3 & 4 - all Barolos, too.  Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming at some points.  Delicious, though.

Nicholas, 3/27/2009

So Steph and I headed up to Nicholas for her birthday last Friday. Yet again, we were quite satisfied with our amazing meal. After the jump, I'll tell you about what we had, along with my conversation with Nicholas himself!


Unlike last year's anniversary post, I'm way too drained to go into crazy formatting. I'll just talk about what we had, what we liked, what we didn't. Also, I don't quite remember the wines we had, I just remember that they were amazingly paired, per usual. I just wish the wine captain spoke a bit louder, he was a low-talker.

Amuse:
Braised & glazed turnip with minced haricot vert and baby carrot salad
Tasty, and I ate the whole thing, especially surprising since everyone who reads this should know by now I am not usually a fan of vegetables that I don't prepare myself. The turnip was super-sweet, completely unexpected.

Course #1:
Lobster & Blood Orange Salad, Avocado Puree, Grilled Scallion
Right off the bat, they start sauced tableside with a blood orange sauce, which is always a win for me (I am a sucker for table presentation). I am a big fan of blood oranges, and their tartness brought the entire dish together. We didn't order the other choice on the tasting, as it had some things we were a little wary about (octopus, geoduck, jalapenos for Steph).

Course #2:
Seared Day Boat Scallops, Ginger Marshmellow, Pineapple Vinagrette
Parisienne Gnocchi, Sugar Snap Peas, Braised Artichokes
We had the gnocchi previously, and they were just as good now as they were then, if not better. The peas were bright and sweet, the artichokes were amazing, and the gnocchi...well, I need to figure out how to make gnocchi like that, as I only know how to make Italian-style. The star was the scallop, Steph's favorite dish of the night. The ginger and pineapple are a great combo, but there was also a carrot puree that was unreal. I had the scallop with each individual component, and they were all good, but then when I got them all together, it was a winner.

Course #3:
Pine Nut Crusted Halibut, Roasted Garlic Polenta, Balsamic Marscapone
Roasted Monkfish, 24 Karat Gold Nugget Potatoes, Spring Onions, Bacon Butter Sauce
I really enjoyed the halibut, with its Italian flavors. It also was served with a basil foam, which added a nice herb note without being overpowering. The monkfish was prepared excellently, but the potatoes and onions were a little eh, to be honest. Bacon butter sauce? Sign me up.

Course #4:
Braised "Pulled" Suckling Pig, Poached Quince, Cinnamon Jus
Braised Beef Short Ribs, Heirloom Potato Leek Cake, Horseradish Jus
The only course Steph and I really didn't share. She took one bite of my short rib, shrugged her shoulders, then wanted the pig back, which was fine with me. Normally I don't order short ribs out, as I've found that I usually enjoy my own recipe better than what's made out. Not the case here - absolutely amazing. Here's where are story turns fun - when Steph got up to use the lav, who walks over to pick up and refold her napkin but the chef/owner himself, Nicholas Harary. He asked how my meal was going, and I told him my deal with short ribs, but I'd want to eat his dish every night, to which he casually replied "oh, we sous vide them overnight", at which point we lapsed into talking about sous vide at home, how I should buy a FoodSaver rather than use ZipLocs, how they cook their short ribs at 160, and I got a disparaging look about my ZipLoc vacuum seal bags. However, it was fun, if only for an instant, to talk food with such an amazing and talented professional.

Cheese
Brillat-Savarin, Perla Grigia, Muenster, Roquefort
Amazing, amazing, amazing. I loved the perla grigia, with its tasty truffle scent. Steph, didn't eat much (except for the muenster) so I got a double dose. So good, I love cheese.

Palate Cleanser
Yogurt Sorbet with Blood Orange Syrup
3 perfect blood orange segments with a demisphere of sorbet about a quarter-size in diameter. Reminded me of the time my mom made grapefruit sorbet, all kinds of tart and delicious.

Dessert Tasting
A quadruple-tasting of vanilla ice cream on a chocolate tuile, a mini molten chocolate cake, a black currant creme brulee, and a linzertorte. The ice cream and cake were standard the brulee was rather tasty (and excellently prepared) but the star was the linzertorte - I love it and I need to make it more often.

Yet again, the meal started off strong, peaked early, then eased out to a tasty end. I think, next time, Steph and I are going to bring friends along, go to the bar, and make everyone order something different, as recommended by someone previously. Talk about smart thinking.

Nicholas must be employing precogs.

I had broached the topic of where Steph wanted to go for her birthday dinner coming up, and I had floated the idea of hitting up Nicholas again, seeing that we loved the first meal we had there and it's obviously a different season, meaning a different menu. She said she wanted to think it over, and rightfully so, as there are more than enough restaurants we have not dined at and would still like to.

However, Nicholas must have hired precogs or oracles or some way of seeing the future, as today she received a birthday card from the restaurant. Talk about a sign. Needless to say, I'm about to call in 5 minutes and make reservations.

The menu may very well change between now and then, but you should check it out. Well worth the $, if you ask me. Oh, we'll be getting the tasting menu with wine pairings. Can't wait.