An Ode to Julia!

Happy 100th birthday to Julia Child! I remember watching her when I was a little girl. She would greet me with her unique "helloooooo" and then teach me something I didn't even know existed about cooking. I especially remember one episode, where Julia made a recipe that used raw eggs, but she wasn't planning on cooking those eggs at any point. My mom had always drilled into me that I shouldn't eat anything with raw eggs in it - no licking the bowl of cookie dough for me - and I just freaked out. "Julia's eating raw eggs," I yelled as I ran into the other room to find my mom and "tattle" on her. Little did I know that many things that are totally delicious are made with raw eggs - as long as they are fresh, you're probably good to go! Yea...probably, but usually, it's worth the risk!

Tonight, we visited Harvest, located in Harvard Square, for a delicious set menu honoring Julia Child's 100th birthday. I had purchased a Gilt City voucher a few months back for a great deal on a set three-course menu with wine pairings, and it just so happened that we hit the restaurant when they were offering a special menu. This was a three-course menu, plus an amuse, along with wine pairings and every bite/sip of it was absolutely delicious. First things first - the menu:

An amuse bouche is a small plate, consisting of a few bites, meant to "tickle" the palate before starting a meal. Today, we were offered a take on a Salade Nicoise, with a bite of tune conserve, a hard-boiled quail egg, a bit of anchovy, haricots verts, and some lovely heirloom potatoes. It was a very refreshing beginning to the meal, and I will definitely look for it as a dish on the menu next time I visit.

How pretty is this!?

For the appetizer, we received a delicious Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley, in France, which was paired with a yellow heirloom tomato, stuffed with bread crumbs, and floating atop a beautifully seasoned tomato water with sea beans and fine herbs. I don't think I've ever had sea beans before, but I know I've seen them on cooking shows, as one of those challenging ingredients that chefs don't know how to incorporate into the dish. I have to say, they added a wonderful crunchy texture to an otherwise soft consistency, and the tomato water was seasoned absolutely perfectly. The herbs added wonderful flavor to the dish, and it was really pretty to look at, as well!

I love the flowers that garnish the plate!

For our main course, our fabulous server brought us a beautiful plate, with four slices of duck breast, in a peach glaze. The duck was resting atop a potato gratin terrine with carrots, which was gorgeous to look at, but even more delicious to eat! Roasted root vegetables completed the dish, and every bite was as wonderful as the last! With the main course, we enjoyed a Grenache/Syrah from the Cote-de-Rhone, in France.

More flower petals!

As if I could eat anymore, there was still a dessert course to come, along with my favorite of the three wine pairings, a Semillon from Bordeaux. The richness of the cake was balanced by the fluffy lightness of the mascarpone, and complemented perfectly by the salted Dulce de Leche and the almonds. I love a little salt in my dessert and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect end to this fabulous meal!

That looks like ice cream, but it's really mascarpone! yum!

I've been to Harvest a handful of times aside from this visit. Before my parents moved here, they would come to visit me while I was at Boston University, and this was one of our go-to places. The food is always beautifully presented and delicious, and the service is impeccable! We will definitely be adding this one back into our repertoire after such a delicious meal tonight! Bravo to Harvest!

Harvest can be found at 44 Brattle Street, in Harvard Square. Call 617-868-2255, or go to OpenTable for reservations.

A Tropical Dish for a Summer-y Evening

I went to Whole Foods with a list of ingredients needed for the menu using lamb from the current list. I came home with swordfish and mango salsa. Let me explain. The current menu is chock full of meals for fall! I planned to fill our bellies with warming meals including heavy, stew-like dishes, and hearty meats because it's getting colder outside, but it was 80 degrees today! Originally, I was going to make lamb anyway, because everything to do with that menu sounds delicious, and it's a weekend, which means I can take my time with a meal that will take a few hours to prepare...but lamb shoulders are crazy-expensive right now at Whole Foods, so I scanned the weekly specials for a back-up plan. Swordfish is on sale for $9.99 a pound, for a savings of 50%!? Okay...let's start with that! When I think of swordfish, I think of mango salsa - I don't know why exactly, but I always associate the two, so after getting my fish packaged, I headed to the produce department. Alas, the mangoes were the opposite of ripe, so I then made a beeline for the salsa and chips aisle, where I picked up a jar of shelf-stable mango salsa. I know, I normally don't buy packaged items like this, but...this was an emergency! :)

I also grabbed a bottle of Caribbean mango marinade from the seafood department, and some berries and Mascarpone for a dessert I was contemplating. The rest of the ingredients...well, I had those already. Once I arrived home, I placed the swordfish steaks into a dish and coated each one with marinade, turning it a few times. I covered the dish with plastic wrap and threw it in the refrigerator to marinate for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I pulled out some baby greens with herbs salad mix, some baby arugula and a giant red pepper that I bought at the farmer's market last week. Voila! Side dish - accomplished.

I used another bottled product here, because I love these salad dressings! Cindy's Kitchen makes a line of refrigerated, all-natural dressings with some wonderful varieties, and while I usually only have one bottle at a time in the fridge, they come in very handy for quick salads! My husband found this new variety last time he came with me to the grocery store, and we both love it! The Fresh Avocado Vinaigrette has great flavor, coats the greens in a salad very nicely, and is a really cool green color too! It's delicious, and I highly recommend it...or any of the other flavors offered by Cindy's Kitchen!

When my broiler was preheated, I took the swordfish out of the fridge and placed it on a broiler pan. Into the oven it went, for about 4 minutes. When the timer went off, I took the pan out of the oven, flipped the swordfish steaks, and basted them with a bit more marinade before returning them to the oven for another 4 minutes. At that point, the steaks weren't completely cooked, so I put them in for another minute...and...perfecto! If you cut into the fish, you'll see that it's flaky, and can remain a bit pink in the very center. You don't want to overcook it! I served the fish with mango salsa on the side, although the marinade was very flavorful and it didn't need much in the way of extra sauce!

After we'd both enjoyed our meal, I went back into the kitchen to whip up a quick dessert. I had bought some fresh berries, and some Mascarpone. I added lemon zest and some confectioners' sugar to it, and stirred it all together...that part's done! I poured the berries into a pot with some more confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and a splash of limoncello (because dessert is always better with a little liquor!) After allowing that to cook down and macerate for about 10 minutes, I removed it from the heat and allowed it to cool for a bit before using some of our water glasses to assemble a very pretty sort of trifle. I layered the Mascarpone mixture with the berry mixture, and it made for a delicious, albeit very quick, dessert. I think the berries are at the end of their season though - they were a bit tart. It may be 80 degrees outside, but the effects of Fall can be tasted in most ingredients that are not native to this time of year. It must be time to move on to apples, and other fall-ripened fruits!

Dolci means Dessert!

Happy Sunday everyone! In the midst of my weekend duties of laundry and cleaning, I decided it was high time I made an Italian dessert to complement this menu of delicacies of the same cuisine. I opted for one I didn't actually have to cook - because we all know how baking and I get along...not well. The perfect choice - TIRAMISU. This quick take on very traditional Italian dessert was so easy to make and looks SO delicious! I can't wait to try some after dinner!

First off, I got my mise en place together, and like most baking recipes, it was more measuring than any other prep work so it went fairly quickly. Ladyfingers, coffee, sugar, mascarpone, vanilla beans, sweet sherry, an orange (for the zest and the juice) and some 70% dark chocolate, and I was ready to go!



I got myself an 8-inch square dish and layered my ladyfingers in an orderly fashion. The recipe called for 15 biscuits...and there were 20 in my package, so I just used them all to complete my second layer.



Once I had my ladyfingers in place, I poured my freshly brewed cup of coffee (sweetened with some of the sugar) over them. Immediately, the cookies started to soak up the coffee.



While I left them to get all soggy and delicious, I put my mascarpone in a bowl with the rest of the sugar and whipped it up.



Once that was nicely blended, I split the two vanilla beans by scoring them the long way and used a small coffee spoon to scrape all the seeds out of each pod.



I added the seeds to the bowl of whipped mascarpone and continued to whisk. The vanilla seeds separated into tiny little black specks when I whisked it. Look at all the little vanilla seeds!



I then whisked in the 1/2 cup of sweet sherry and the mascarpone mixture was finished. Once the sherry has been blended, the mixture should have a loose, shiny consistency. If for some reason you should need to loosen the mixture a bit more before you pour it on your ladyfingers, you can use some of the orange juice to do so. Then the squeeze the rest of the orange juice over the ladyfingers and spread the whipped mascarpone mixture evenly on top.



Once you've got that all spread out evenly, sprinkle shaved chocolate over the entire surface, along with some orange zest, and VOILA...TIRAMISU!



Doesn't that look mouth-watering? It's going to be very difficult to keep that in the fridge until after dinner. Wish me luck! :)