A Quick and Easy Cassoulet Recipe – Pork & Beans with Benefits

Of course you can’t make a real cassoulet in an hour, but you can make this very acceptable cheater version, and as long as you manage expectations, you’re in for a great, cold-weather meal.

Real cassoulet is an involved process, with several days of prep just to make the various meats served in this rustic bean casserole. Once everything is prepared, the dish bakes for hours, during which time the ritualistic crust forming and re-forming occurs.

Buttery breadcrumbs are scatted over the top, and when they form a crusty, golden brown layer, they’re pushed down into the bubbling mixture, and new crumbs applied. This is done several times, creating the dish’s signature texture. A creamy, aromatic, not-too-wet-or-too-dry bean mixture into which is suspended the chunks of succulent meat.

Here, we’re taking lots of short cuts. Chicken thighs replace the classic, and time-consuming, duck confit; canned beans replace dried; and bacon serves as a convenient substitute for other, more involved smoked pork options.

While it will be tempting to dig right into this as soon as the final “gratin” is formed, please follow the advice in the video, and let your cassoulet rest in the hot oven for 15 minutes. This will allow the beans and buttery crumbs to absorb the last of the excess liquid, and make for a better texture.

By the way, please adjust your seasoning depending on the sausage used. Mine was plenty garlicky, so I didn’t add any additional cloves. You’ll also have to taste and alter the salt, depending on whether your bacon and sausage shared enough with the rest of the ingredients. I hope you give this hearty, cold-weather classic a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 large portions:

4 oz bacon, sliced

8 oz spicy, garlicky, smoked pork sausage, sliced

12 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed

1 onion, diced

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups chicken broth, or as needed

2 (15-oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme

cayenne to taste

4 tbsp melted butter

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Cherry Clafouti - It's the Pits

It's cherry season! To celebrate I bring you a rerun filmed a couple years ago [insert standard lower-quality apology] for clafouti. Other than straight from the hand, this is my favorite way to enjoy cherries. I hope you give it a try! What follows is the original post from 7/28/08...

Clafouti (klah-foo-tee) is one of the world's great recipes for enjoying fresh cherries. This French favorite is a sort of baked custard, studded with fresh cherries, and scented with vanilla. It's the kind of dish that's impossible to become tired of, by virtue of the cherry's short season. Once a year, cherry clafouti comes into your life, like a friend with benefits, and for a few short weeks gives you great pleasure.

The recipe is remarkably simple, and the first time you make it you'll stare in wonder as it puffs up from the sides of the baking dish. You'll also stare in wonder when you see me add the cherries without removing the pits. Traditionally, cherry clafouti is made using fruit that hasn’t been pitted. Clafouti aficionados claim (and I believe them) that as the cherries bake, the pits give off a sexy, sensual scent that is missing from the pitted version.

So, that is the decision you are faced with - risk catastrophic dental injuries for a little extra flavor, or pit the cherries and play it safe. To me, it's no decision at all, the pits must be baked in. Besides, as I'm sure those of you that make this will agree, after the cherries are cooked, it only takes a little press with the fork to liberate the pit, and cast it aside. For your average serving of cherry clafouti this means maybe 4-5 pits - a small price to pay for authentic taste. This recipe will also work for things like peaches, plums, and berries in case cherry season has passed you by. Enjoy!




1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar, divided
1 1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
pinch of salt
12 oz cherries (a couple handfuls)

A Chicken for Julia

This video recipe for roasted chicken with watercress is dedicated to the late, great Julia Child. Today, Food Wishes is the Julie & Julia (a new film starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child) Blog of the Day, and I decided to feature my favorite Julia Child recipe to celebrate this great honor.

We're all familiar with the question, "If you could invite three famous people (dead or alive) to dinner, who would they be? For me, that's an easy one, it's Leonardo da Vinci, Joseph Campbell, and Julia Child.

Since this is a food blog, I won't expand on the first two choices, although if you're familiar with their work, they're pretty easy to understand. As far as choosing Julia Child goes, that's an absolute no-brainer.

My decision to become a chef was a direct result of my childhood fixation with watching her cook on The French Chef. I'm sure I saw every show she did, and would watch, and re-watch the reruns with undiminished delight.

She was as enigmatic as she was iconic. She was America's most famous French chef, and yet she was neither French, nor a chef. Her cookbooks contained some of the most complicated recipes ever published, yet she adored simple food.

At a time when the country was just becoming health conscience, Julia Child was publicly outraged McDonald's had decided to stop cooking their French fries in beef tallow.

She stubbornly refused to jump on the organics bandwagon, and was heard to ask on numerous occasions, "what's so great about a free-range chicken walking around in its own droppings?"

She certainly wouldn't have been considered what today we call Locavores. She was once asked what vegetable she'd want on the plate for her last meal. She said, "Asparagus…no matter what season it is."

So, while the guest list to my dream dinner party would be relatively easy, the much harder question is what would I serve? Da Vinci was history's greatest mooch, so he'd eat anything. Joseph "follow your bliss" Campbell never struck me as a picky eater, so I guess it would have come down to what to serve Julia.

I believe that if I'd ever had the opportunity to cook for her, I would have served this roasted chicken recipe. The fact it's from one of her cookbooks helps, but more than that, this was the kind of cooking she most loved. Rustic, simple, big flavors, rough around the edges -- a plate of food you don't have to think about to enjoy.

This recipe is from her cookbook, Cooking with Master Chefs, from the chapter with Jeremiah Tower. My wife Michele introduced this recipe to me, and we've been enjoying it, almost exactly as you'll see, for many, many years. I really hope you give it a try. Bon appetit!

Click here for more information about Julie & Julia.



Ingredients:
5 lb whole chicken
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
3 lemons, halved
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
6 cloves garlic, crushed, unpeeled
1 onion, sliced
olive oil as needed
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
2 tbsp walnut or hazelnut oil
2 bunch watercress

Top Photo (c) PBS.org

Peach and Blackberry Flognarde - As Delicious to Eat as it is Fun to Say!

I was looking around for a name for this unusual clafouti-like combination of peaches, blackberries, thyme and black pepper, when I saw an article that said in France, a clafouti that uses fruit other than cherries is called a flognarde.

A flognarde? Yes, a flognarde. I enjoy saying flognarde so much, I think even if this recipe hadn't come out as well as it did, I would have still made it regularly - just to say, flognarde. As I mentioned in the video, I couldn't find a proper French pronunciation, so please enlighten me on how it should really sound. Until then, I'm going with "flog-nard."

This recipe is dedicated to the more adventurous among you. I knew going in that the thought of adding black pepper and thyme to a dessert-ish recipe would freak some of you out. But, that's okay.

The pepper gives this a very subtle hint of heat, and the thyme adds an almost unperceivable herbaceous, slightly lemony aroma. Is this something you will enjoy? There is really only one way to know. Enjoy!



1/2 cup wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
pinch of salt
1 tsp butter
1 pint blackberries, rinsed
1 ripe peach, sliced

Tarragon Walnut Brown Butter Sauce and the Mathematics of Mmm

There are people that will go through their entire life never having experienced the pure joy of fresh fish topped with a perfectly made brown butter sauce. That so many will not allow themselves to enjoy this tarragon walnut brown butter sauce makes me sad.

Now, there are lots of good reasons to not eat butter. If it's against your religion, God bless you - I have no issue with that, or the wet blanket of a deity that controls your thoughts. If you are on a legitimate no-fat diet (for health reasons, not tube top reasons), then I'm not talking to you.

Maybe you just don’t think we have the right to vigorously tug on the teats of other species for our own pleasure. Okay then. But, if you are simply afraid of the calorie count, it's time to do some math.

Consider the brown butter sauce recipe I just posted. A 6-ounce piece of white fish is about 200 calories. If you spoon over a couple tablespoons of this unbelievably delicious sauce (a very generous portion, by the way), you've only added 200 calories, for a grand total of 400!

That's like the best dietary value ever! So, get some nice fresh fish (everything works); poach, sauté, broil, grill, or bake it, and spoon over one of life's greatest simple pleasures. By the way, this sure was nice served next to that asparagus pie we made. Enjoy!




Ingredients for about 4 portions:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
2 tbsps chopped walnuts
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Butter photo (c) Robert S. Donovan

Asparagus Pie - A Savory Green Take on Sweet Cherry Clafouti

It's not often a dessert recipe inspires a savory dish; it's usually the other way around, but this asparagus pie is a direct result of my love for cherry clafouti.

Cherry clafouti is a rustic French dessert that features whole cherries baked in a sweet egg batter. If you'd like, you can check out the clafouti video recipe I did last spring.

I've always thought the same batter, minus most of the sugar, would make a great base for a vegetable dish. Since I had a bunch of beautiful asparagus sitting on my cutting board, I decided to test my idea.

It came together almost exactly as I had imagined. I love it when that happens. The simple batter formed a delicious, creamy, lightly browned crust around the buttery asparagus. The flavor was pure, the texture luxurious. Enjoy!



1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tbsp butter, plus extra for the casserole dish
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
3/4 tsp salt
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp lemon zest

Cassoulet - More than Just the Greatest Baked Beans Recipe Ever

I have several unpublished blog posts about my picks of the world's all-time top-ten recipes. The reason none have gone live yet is I can never settle on just ten, so I put it away and write something easier. While I may not be able to provide a final list yet, one recipe that will always be in my top ten is cassoulet.

This video recipe for cassoulet shows my version of the iconic French classic (it’s so delicious I meant for that to be redundant). Like America's mac and cheese, Spain's paella, and Italy's lasagna, this French baked bean and meat masterpiece has earned its rightful place in the pantheon of one-dish wonders.

There are hundreds of variations, but the basic formula is always the same; tender white beans, aromatic vegetables, flavorful broth, and fatty meats, all baked under a divinely crisp, garlicky, breadcrumb crust. As you'll see, this topping is usually built in two stages - the first a moist liaison between cassoulet and crust, and the second a crisp golden-brown climax to the world's sexiest casserole. Enjoy!

Note: I've linked to this duck confit recipe video I did a while ago, but most high-end markets sell, or can get duck confit already cooked and ready to use. I actually got mine at Costco.

Also, the panko breadcrumbs, which work so well for this, are now found in the Asian section of every major grocery chain. If you can't find them use plain fresh white breadcrumbs.



Ingredients:

For the beans:
1 pound great northern beans, soaked overnight and drained
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 onion
1 whole clove
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
10 cups water

For the rest:
1/2 pound thick-sliced bacon
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp herb de Provence (or other dried herb blend)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 pound pork sausage
1 pound cooked duck confit

For the topping:
1/4 cup butter
4 cloves, crushed garlic
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
1 bunch parsley, chopped fine
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

A Butterless Bearnaise Sauce Recipe - Impossible and Delicious

I had some leftover prime rib sizzling on the grill, and was trying to think of which condiment to serve with it. The "jus" was long gone, and none of the other usual suspects - aioli, ketchup, secret sauce - were moving me. What I really wanted was a nice dollop of béarnaise.

Béarnaise is a classic French sauce made with egg yolks, shallots, tarragon, a vinegar reduction, and lots of melted butter emulsified into it. Made correctly it is heaven in sauce form. The problem is you don't make béarnaise for one, and while I wanted the flavor of béarnaise, I didn't necessarily want a heavy butter-laden lunch.

So, I decided to make it without butter. There is no reason this should have been edible, but I was surprised at how good it turned out. I've used the "sabayon" technique before, which is simply whisking a liquid with egg yolks over heat until hot and frothy.

I skipped the shallots since I was about fives away from sauce-less beef, and got to work. My secret weapon was tangy, acidic tarragon Dijon. One of my favorite ingredients, it work like a charm. Several whisk-filled moments later I was enjoying a passable butterless version of béarnaise.

Disclaimer: There is no substitute for butter (if you said, "What about margarine?" then we really need to talk). If you dip into this expecting to taste classic buttery béarnaise you may be in for a slight letdown. Regardless, it was a delicious, light, and very béarnaise-esqe sauce for my meat. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
2 tsp tarragon mustard
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
1 tsp white wine vinegar

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How to Make Crème Fraîche (check out those gourmet-looking accent marks, oo-la-la)

Not only is making your own sour cream at home easy, but it will be the most amazing sour cream you've ever tasted. Now, for the rest of this post we are going to stop calling it sour cream, because it's actually Crème Fraîche, and yes, it's French.

Crème fraîche is originally from Normandy, France, and simply means "fresh cream," which is funny since it's not fresh cream, it's sour cream. That aside, crème fraîche is such a great ingredient - you can cook with it, use it anyway you use sour cream, and sweetened, makes the best whipped dessert topping ever.

This video recipe shows the simple two-day process for turning plain cream into crème fraîche, but make sure you pay attention to the part of the video that says to use "pasteurized" not "ultra-pasteurized" cream. "Ultra-pasteurized" cream is heated to a higher temperature when processed and will not work as well.

Other than that, make sure all your tools and jars are super-clean, and there's really nothing to go wrong. While you're waiting for your crème fraîche to do its thing, you can think of all the recipes to use it with - salad dressing, smoked salmon, horseradish sauce for roast beef, potato pancakes, baked potatoes, pies, fresh fruit, and… I have to stop. Enjoy!

Click here for ingredients and recipe transcript.


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Nice Rack of Lamb - A Classic Roast Rack of Lamb with Dijon Gratin

I know times are tough, but if you can somehow scrape together enough money for a couple racks of lamb, you'll have yourselves a very merry holiday roast. Rack of lamb isn't cheap, but when compared with other special occasion items like prime rib, tenderloin, duck, goose, etc., it's about the same price, and you have almost no waste.

If you can swing buying local lamb, more power to you, but for most of us, trimmed rack of lamb will be coming from Australia or New Zealand. The good news is the meat is usually excellent quality, and very consistently sized.

This means you can achieve a nice medium-rare doneness relying mainly on time, and not feel. There is something terrifying to the average home cook when forced to poke meat to tell if it's done or not.

The recipe here is a classic fancy hotel presentation; the rack is roasted, topped with Dijon mustard and breadcrumb crust. Since the lamb is "Frenched," which means the fat between the rib bones is trimmed out, this is a very easy to crave roast, as you just cut between the bones and serve. Enjoy!

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Click here for ingredients and recipe transcript.

Budget Beef Bourguignon: Succulent Beef Stewed in Cheap Merlot

When the weather cools, and I see football on television, I think of two things; hey, look at the size of that guy's neck, and, this is a great time of year to make stew. This video recipe for Beef Merlot is one of my favorites, and a take-off on the venerable Beef Bourguignon, beef braised in Burgundy wine.

Whenever I see wine on sale it always seems to be Merlot. It's usually stacked at the end of the aisle, a tall pyramid of bargain booze. Why Merlot? Is it easier to grow? Have sales gone down because of what that guy said in the movie Sideways? Who knows, but it's usually good quality, and makes a great cooking wine for this stew recipe.

The other trick in this video is putting the stew on top of mashed potatoes, instead of cooking them in the sauce. As I say in the clip, I hate to see little chunks of broken potatoes in this stunningly beautiful sauce. Besides, what's better than mashed potatoes and gravy? And, as far as gravies go, it doesn’t get much better than this. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast, cut in 2-inch cubes
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 carrots, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 ribs celery, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1 bay leaf
4 springs fresh thyme
2 cups merlot, or other red wine
2 cups beef broth
mashed potatoes

French Onion Soup - So Good it Will Make a Mime Chatty

What a great time of year for a crock of French onion soup. Who can resist that bubbling raft of Gruyere cheese covering the rich, aromatic broth? It's too bad you get to experience one of life's great culinary treat so rarely. That surge of excitement, and saliva, that comes with seeing it on a menu is both welcomed and infrequent.

So, make it yourself! French onion soup has to be one of the easiest soup recipes ever. To make it the right way you do need a few hours, but it's probably raining out anyway. There are many great ways to spend a rainy fall afternoon, but few are as satisfying as listening to the rain, while smelling onions slowly sweetening in warm butter.

Do yourself a favor and throw out every French onion soup recipe that calls for those expensive "sweet" onions - you know, Walla Walla, Maui, Vidalia, etc. Those varieties are "sweet" because they have lower levels of the sulfuric compounds that give onions their sharp, strong taste when raw. These mild onions are awesome when eaten raw in salads, or on sandwiches, but when cooked, do not taste any better than your basic yellow onion. If you don’t believe me, email Alton Brown, whom I stole this rant from. Enjoy!





Ingredients:
3-4 large yellow onions, cut in large dice
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp kosher salt
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 cup dry sherry wine
3 cups high-quality beef broth
2 cups high-quality chicken broth
1 cup water
toast
shredded Gruyere cheese

Mime photo (c) Leesa0502

Braswell's Tart Cherry Cabernet Sauce - A Recipe this Delicious Should Really Be Much Harder

This cherry sauce recipe tastes like it requires many steps, and a fair amount of time and finesse. As you'll see, this is not the case. This may be the simplest wine sauce recipe there is. A decent red wine, a jar of tart cherry preserves, and in about ten minutes you have a truly delicious sauce. I used it on duck confit, but it would be perfect for turkey, chicken, game hens, pheasant, venison, and ham.

This video recipe was inspired by a sample of Braswell's Select Tart Cherry Preserves I received. I'm not a big jam-on-toast guy, but I LOVE to cook with fruit preserves, especially in sauces. This tart cherry preserves has a bit of sherry wine in it, and a very intense cherry flavor. I liked it so much, I've linked to their website in case you would like to check them out. I also tried their fig preserves, and a very interesting balsamic onion jam. I'm not sure if these new flavors are available on the site yet, but you can contact them for more info. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
3/4 cup tart cherry preserves
3/4 cup cabernet wine
pinch of salt
1 clove garlic
4 springs thyme
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Viewer Submission: French Vanilla Banana Caramel Crepegasm

A viewer named Aga was inspired by the crepe video, and made this very delicious looking crepe dessert. Unfortunately, Aga didn’t tell me exactly what was in it, so my CSI-like food analysis team enhanced the photo, and ran a few tests, like a color spectrometer pixilation frequency scan, as well as a algorithmic variable waveform extraction.

When neither test resulted in a positive ID, they just looked at the photo and guessed it was ice cream, bananas, whipped cream, and caramel sauce. Thanks to Aga for sending in the photo, and if you have pictures to share of your Food Wishes inspired recipes, please send them in!

I'm Moving to France!

I'm not moving to France...yet. Every four years, around election time, some celebrity will inform the nation (even though nobody asked them) that if a certain somebody wins the election they are moving to France. To which I say, "Bon voyage, and say hi to Johnny Depp for me."

If I ever get so fed up with America that I decide to move to France, it won't be for political reasons, it will be for the crepes. This video of an egg, cheese, and ham crepe shows the stunning (and embarrassing) difference between our fast food, and theirs.

Next time you queue up (that's how they say "line up" over there) for one of those limp, warmed over, drive-thru breakfast wraps, ask yourself why can't we have this instead?


photo (c) Flickr user Al Ianni

You Don't Have to Be a Cheese Whiz to Make Your Own Fromage Blanc

Usually making something like fresh cheese at home is done because it's higher quality, and much cheaper. Today's video recipe for making Fromage Blanc, or Farmer's Cheese, flies in the face of that conventional culinary wisdom.

If you consider the fact you need to buy a package of cheesecloth, along with the dairy ingredients, the cost of your cheese is no less expensive than at the store. And, while the results of your homemade cheese adventure will be rich, creamy, and delicious, there are some fantastic brands of fresh cheese available in the better markets, so it's hard to argue that our version will be "better."

So, why bother? Because, for any self-respecting foodie, making a batch of homemade cheese is definitely on the culinary "bucket list." Before you cash in your apron for good, you should experience the magic of watching a pot of milk turned into cheese. And if all this sounds kind of cheesy, so be it. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 quart fresh, local whole milk
1 cup active-culture buttermilk
2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar, more if needed
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste

How to Make Crepes - Even the Messed-Up Ones Will Be Perfect!

With a blog name like Food Wishes, and a closing video credit that asks, "what is your food wish?" - I do get lots of requests for video recipes. Probably the most common request that I hadn't done yet was for a "how to make crepes" video. Well, today is the day.

I've never understood the fear and mystery that surrounds this thin round of ground flour, milk, and egg. It's one of the first things you make in culinary school (that works), and probably the first French recipe one commits to memory. It does take a few practice crepes to get a feel for the pan and heat, but once you have a couple successfully finished, you are set for life.

By the way, forget those scenes in movies, and TV, where the "chef" is flipping them in the air to turn them. This is all for show. Just use a spatula and turn them over - sort of like a toasted cheese sandwich. Also, stop being a perfectionist in the kitchen; you'll have more fun. I know you; if you try these you want them to be perfectly round, perfectly thin, and perfectly colored. Relax, Martha.

Perfect rarely happens in the kitchen - before the food is plated, at least. The most imperfectly shaped crepe once folded up with jam, fried in butter, and eaten with ice cream, is always perfect. As I say in the video, this is just the first step. I will do another demo on what to do with these perfect crepes soon. Stay tuned, and enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt

Beurre Blanc 101 - How to Make Modern French Cuisine's Most Important Sauce

As far as white tablecloth restaurants go, this simple wine and butter sauce is probably made more often than any other sauce recipe. The wine can be red, white, or blush (we used to call it rosé back when no one liked it), and the technique has basically remained unchanged since it burst onto the culinary landscape during the “Nouvelle” cuisine movement of the1970s.

Nouvelle cuisine is French for "new cuisine." This style was a reaction to the classic “Haute” cuisine ("high cooking"). It focused on lighter, and more delicate dishes, without the traditional, heavy, flour-based sauces. One of the darlings of this new style was a butter sauce called “beurre blanc,” a simple reduction of wine and vinegar, finished with whole butter.

This sauce is incredibly versatile, and very simple to make. Below this beurre blanc video recipe is another version that uses red wine, called "beurre rouge." It's a pretty old clip that I posted last year, so it's a little rough around the technical edges. Here's the link in case you want to read the original recipe, and get the ingredient list. Enjoy!

Click here for ingredients and transcript

Seared Ribeye Steak with Beurre Rouge

Coq au Vin - You're Not Getting Older, You're Just Getting More Connective Tissue

This is my video recipe version of the famous French fricassee, Coq au Vin, which means, "rooster in wine." The reason that this delicious braised dish traditionally uses an old rooster is its generous amounts of connective tissue, like collagen, which breaks down to form an extra rich and sticky sauce. This gooey goodness is one thing all great stewed recipes have in common.

Having said that, my neighborhood grocery store suffers from a chronic lack of tough, old roosters. There are lots of old hens, but that's a joke for another post. So, this version uses chicken thighs, which are still very delicious, and make the recipe much easier to prep, and faster to cook.

A couple of things to keep in mind when making this dish - Make sure the mushrooms are quartered, instead of sliced. This really gives them a meatier texture. Why? I don't know, just do it. And for heaven's sake, buy some shallots this time. Every grocery store with a parking lot has them now, so why do you keep leaving them out? They are just as easy to use as onions and garlic, and their flavor is fantastic in this recipe. Enjoy!
Click here for ingredients and transcript

Citronette - A Classic Lemon Dressing Video Recipe as performed by an Over-Emoting Chef

This citronette video recipe was filmed last fall, and was one of the first clips I produced for About.com. It just went live a few days ago, so I'm posting it today with a couple of warnings. When I filmed this, cherry tomatoes were at their peak of sweet deliciousness. They made a fine garnish for my asparagus with lemon dressing. Right now that probably isn't the case.

The other thing I will give you a heads-up about is my presentation. Since this was one of the first video recipes where I had to introduce the topic in front of the camera, I was pretty unsure of myself, and compensated by completely overacting.

It was like Emeril Lagasse had swallowed William Shattner. It's very funny to watch a clip this old, and realize how far I have come in regard to talking in front of a camera. As some of you know, it was a long time before anyone even saw my face. If you remember the old George Clooney bio photo, then you've been visiting this blog for a while. Anyway, the asparagus is piled high this time of year, so make some citronette, and enjoy!Click here for ingredients and transcript