Today's Lunch

 Lobster cooked in Chipotle butter served with Penne 

My version of Mario Batali's Penne with Cauliflower Ragu. I left out the breadcrumbs. I cooked the cauliflower in chicken stock. I added the lobster which was cooked in chipotle butter and added some Applewood Smoked Bacon to this dish. To serve, sprinkle  freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and minced parsley.

Arugula Radicchio Salad sprinkled with Almonds

Butter Chicken or Chicken Mahkani

Indian Stir Fried Beans with Zucchini  and yellow Squash with cumin powder

White Christmas Bûche de Noël

Chestnut Cream Filled and frosted Genoise. Mushroom and holly berries were made out of fondant. The holly, rosemary and the redwood ferns were frosted with sugar. Recipe adapted from Francois Payard

White Christmas Buche de Noel

Ingredients

	For the sponge cake:		For the chestnut pastry cream:
5	Eggs	300g	Milk
260g	Sugar	1	Vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
140g	Flour	165g	Sugar
	For the ginger syrup:	70g	Flour
250g	Sugar	2	Eggs
250g	Water	150g	Sweetened chestnut paste
2 tbs	Ginger, chopped	50g	Rum or whisky
		1L	Heavy cream
		10	Whole candied chestnuts
		40g	Cocoa powder

Procedure
For the sponge cake:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl and cook, whisking constantly, over a pot 1/3 full of simmering water until the mixture thickens considerably and is warm to the touch. Transfer the sabayon into the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on medium to high speed until the sabayon increases significantly in volume and is cool to the touch. Gently fold in the flour with a rubber spatula. Pour the cake mixture onto the sheet pan lined with parchment paper and quickly even out the batter using an offset or rubber spatula. Bake in the oven for 6-7 minutes, or until the cake is light golden brown, the edges pull away from the pan, and the cake is springy to the touch. Invert the cake onto a wire rack lined with parchment paper and cool.

For the ginger syrup:

Combine the sugar, water, and ginger in a small pot and bring to a boil. Stir to combine, and remove the pot from the heat. When cool, strain the syrup.

For the chestnut pastry cream:

Place the milk and vanilla bean into a pot and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour. Add the eggs and whisk in the sugar mixture. Whisk until pale yellow. Pour half of the hot milk over the yolk mixture and whisk to combine. Return the entire mixture to the pot and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens considerably and boils for several seconds. Remove the pot from the heat and

whisk in the chestnut paste and rum. Pour the pastry cream onto sheet pan lined with plastic wrap. Spread the cream out over the pan and cover with plastic wrap. (This will allow the pastry cream to cool rapidly without forming a skin.) Refrigerate immediately. When cool, remove the vanilla bean pod, and fold in the whipped cream.

To assemble the cake:

Place the cake, paper side down, on a flat work surface. Brush the cake with the ginger syrup and spread with 2/3 of the chestnut cream. Arrange chestnut pieces in a row on top of the cream, lengthwise down the center of the cake. Roll the cake tightly, unwrapping the paper at the same time. When the entire cake is rolled, rewrap the cake in the paper, twisting the ends tightly to secure. Place in the freezer for 1 hour to set.

Slice a small triangular piece from each end of the log and glue the two pieces together with chestnut cream to form a small branch. Attach the branch to the top of the log, again using the chestnut cream. Spread the entire log with the remaining chestnut cream. Using a fork or pastry comb, brush the log horizontally to make the cream look like tree bark. To decorate the ends of the log, dip your finger in the cocoa and make a fingerprint at each end of the

log. Dip a small round cutter or glass in the cocoa and stamp a cocoa circle around the cocoa fingerprint. This should give the impression of a cross section of a wooden log. Decorate the top of the log with meringue mushrooms and holiday ornaments. Serve slightly chilled.

Lobster Linguine

Barley and Mushroom Soup

Beets Salad

Beets, Radicchio, Orange Salad

Ingredients:
3 beets (red, yellow and white)
1 orange, peeled and cut into cubes
3 or 4 leaves from the radicchio ( tear them into thirds)
1 celery stalk/rib, cut into thin slices
dill for garnish
goat cheese, grated

Dressing:
Mix in a small jar the following.
2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar
6 tablespoons salad oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
This site will walk you through how to cook beets: http://tipnut.com/cook-beets/. Since I am using different colored beets, I cooked them individually so the colors do not seep into each other. (looks good for presentation)
After cooking, allow the beets to come to room temperature and remove their peels. Use a paper towel to remove the peel.  Cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Place a little vinegar, a pinch of salt and sugar and cook the cubed beets until the liquid evaporates. Allow this to cool well before using them in salads.

Place the salad on individual plates and sprinkle them with grated goat cheese and serve.

Crostini served with Tomato Jam and Burrata

Vol-au-vent Filled with Spinach and Mushrooms

A vol-au-vent French for "windblown" to describe its lightness is a small hollow case of puff pastry. A round opening is cut in the top and the pastry cut out for the opening should be replaced as a lid after the case is filled.

Spiral Curry Puffs

Nyonya Chicken cooked in soybean paste, shitake mushroom and potatoes

Chocolate chip cookies

These cookies were chewy and delicious. My only complaint is they did not last very long.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt

8 ozs.  unsalted butter
3/4 cups light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 lbs bittersweet chocolate (disks)
sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven 350 degrees F.

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate for an hours.

 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

Drop a heaping tablespoon onto baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool.

Russian Tea Cookies aka Snowball Cookies

Apricot and Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies

Gingersnap Cookies

Pineapple tarts

Sour cream pastry dough filled walnut and apricots

Holiday FruitCake

Made this fruitcake for some of my friends who requested them for the holidays. I find it easier to bake the fruit cake in a Pullman bread pan and then cut it accordingly. 

Shrimp Biryani

I used the sindhi briyani powder to make this shrimp briyani.

Moroccan Lunch

Preserved Lemon

Charmoula

Chicken Tagine with Homemade Preserved Lemon

Asparagus, Peas and Arugula Salad with Walnut, Yogurt Dressing

Thai Pork Curry

Spicy turkey cutlets

Apple Bread Pudding with Rum Sabayon