Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens (30 page)

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whipped cream, unsweetened

Red chili powder, for garnish

1
In your 1-quart saucepot, place the milk, sugar, and Ancho chilies over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and soften the chili, and bring to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

2
Place the chocolates in a large bowl, and pour the hot milk mixture over the chocolate. Whisk the milk and chocolate together until the chocolate melts.

3
Add the heavy cream to a heavy-bottom stockpot, and place it over medium heat. When it begins to simmer, slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture, and continue whisking until everything is combined and smooth. Turn the heat down to low, and allow the chili to steep for 8 minutes.

4
Place a fine strainer over another large pot, and carefully strain the chocolate soup to remove any chili stem and seeds. Replace over the lowest heat until you are ready to serve. Ladle soup into each serving bowl or coffee cup, top with a dollop of whipped cream, and dust lightly with chili powder. Serve immediately or the cream will melt.

Mike Modano's
Favorite Cookies

Yield 15 to 20 Cookies

This recipe is very CLK friendly because you don't need a mixer to cream the butter and sugar, just a little elbow grease. Thank you Chef Jeffery Hobbs for introducing me to the ultimate chocolate chip cookie that you've served to Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars.

6 ounces unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 whole egg plus one yolk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups plus

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cocoa or substitute semi sweet)

1 cup pecan pieces, toasted

1
Preheat oven to 325°. Melt the butter in the microwave but allow it to cool down a bit to keep from melting the chocolate prematurely. Using your whisk, combine the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

2
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sea salt and baking soda. Add this flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture and fold until just combined. Fold in the chocolate and pecan pieces. Be careful not to overmix.

3
Take a ¼ cup measure, and portion out your cookie dough onto a sheet tray, placing each cookie about 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the sheet tray around once to bake them evenly. Take them out when they are just golden brown around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray and store whatever cookies are left (they'll go fast!) in an airtight container.

Brandy Chocolate Truffles

Yields about 24

Indulge your friends with homemade truffles as a holiday gift. I like to roll mine in a combination of hazelnuts, pecans, and pistachios for a festive multicolored coating.

1 cup heavy cream

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 ounces brandy

1 cup assorted finely ground nuts

1
In your 1-quart saucepot, place the heavy cream over medium heat. While waiting for it to come to a simmer, stir the chocolate and brandy together in a medium bowl.

2
Once the cream begins to bubble up in the pot, carefully pour it into the bowl of chocolate. Whisk together until smooth, and then pour into a one-quart baking dish. Wrap it tightly and refrigerate until completely solid, which should take an hour.

3
Place the nuts into a shallow bowl. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of truffle mix, and form it into a ball. Then roll it in the nuts until well coated. Roll it between your palms to make it as round as possible. Roll it one last time through the nuts. Repeat until all the truffle mix is gone. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. For a romantic single serving presentation, serve the truffles in a small gift box for each guest to be opened at the table. For a platter presentation, stack them neatly in a pyramid.

How to “Fine Grind” Nuts with No Grinder

You don't need a special grinder to create finely ground nuts. Just put the nuts in a freezer bag and place your sauce pot on top. Put pressure on the sauce pot, rocking it back and forth to crush the nuts until you reach a fine consistency. Most grocery stores sell bags of ground nuts in their baking section as well, if you'd prefer to buy a finished product.

Dad's Miraculous Pineapple
Upside-Down Campfire Cake

Serves 10 to 12

Here's the recipe for my dad's amazing pineapple upside-down cake that you can make from the confines of your cozy CLK. No campfire needed!

cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

3 cups fresh pineapple chunks, about

1 pineapple

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch sea salt

6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

4 eggs

1
Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the bottom of a round 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and melted butter, and spread it evenly in the bottom of the pan. Arrange the pineapple chunks on top of the sugar tightly packing them in, but only a single layer.

2
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Then use your whisk to beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The butter must be at room temperature to whip up easily. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition before adding the next.

3
Fold in the flour mixture by gently putting your spatula in the center of the bowl. Pull toward you and scrape the spatula along the bottom. When the spatula breaks the surface of the batter, turn the bowl about an inch, and start again. Each time you pull up and then drop the spatula back into the center, you will be folding in the flour to the batter. Only do this for about 90 seconds, or you will overmix the cake.

4
Carefully spoon the cake batter over the pineapple, and spread it out evenly, while disturbing the pineapple as little as possible.

5
Bake for 15 minutes. Then rotate the cake, reduce the heat to 300°, and continue baking for 1 hour or until the cake is golden brown on top and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

6
Don't allow the cake to cool for more than 5 minutes or it will not easily release from the pan. Run a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Place a cake platter upside down over the cake pan. Using a towel to hold the hot cake pan, turn it upside down onto the platter. It's ready to eat!

Acknowledgments

Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens
was written and created by me, but the inspiration and content of this book was born of many wonderful relationships. Here I would like to acknowledge as many of the spectacular people who have influenced me as possible.

My mom and dad
probably wouldn't call themselves chefs, but the important thing they gave me was that food should be a celebration. The whole family would come together to make giant pans of lasagna, and my father would light up. Every opportunity we have to gather begets a massive outdoor cookout to rival anything seen on cable. Each of my parents makes what they make very well. My mother can do things with tuna and macaroni and cheese that just curls my toes. My dad still makes the best pork ribs I've ever tasted, and that's not just because I love them. It's because they are wonderful.

My sisters
would be interested in cooking even if I wasn't, but I am, so they ARE my band wagon. As a family we travel to cook offs, all wearing Crappy Little Kitchen T-shirts and passing out CLK propaganda. My little sisters and I (yes I'm the oldest) try restaurants together, travel and plan where we'll be eating long before the plane and hotel arrangements are set, and talk about food endlessly. Truly, we don't choose our family, but I would pick my sisters to be my best friends even if they were people I'd met late in my life. The fact that we've known each other literally forever only makes our relationship better.

My grandmothers
each do something amazingly well. Granny Dee can stretch eggs and cheese for days with her signature dish, creamed eggs on toast. My mother was usually the one who made “cup of egg” (soft boiled egg cracked over toast that I got to tear into little pieces in a coffee cup) for me, but Dee taught her. Both dishes bring tears to my eyes. Granny Ila makes the best homemade candy you've ever tried whether you know it or not. Pink divinity and chocolate fudge at Christmas are a must. It's magical to see her go outside and say, “No, it's too humid today. We'll see if we can make candy tomorrow.” Watching her drop the boiled sugar into a bowl of water and roll it around in her fingers to see if it's reached the hard ball stage . . . has affected me and made me need to learn more.

Jay
, ever my friend and partner, our relationship has changed much over the past 12 years I've known him, but our camaraderie in the kitchen stays the same. His signature dish would be his “bachelor chow,” but it changes every time he makes it, so the recipe will be difficult to nail down.

My friends
are amazing. Amy insists that she can't cook, but still makes the best chicken pot pie I've ever tasted (sorry Jeffery you're coming up). She inspires me in so many aspects of my life, whenever I'm trying to look or act like an adult I always look to her and her stellar example of a woman. Laura always has an immaculate kitchen, and she goes on wonderful culinary adventures with me to restaurants and wineries. She makes the BEST chocolate pie in the world! My little Pound Cake, my best friend, Sarah Lee, makes all sorts of tasty things from cucumber kimchi to scallion pancakes, but her friendship is what gives my life flavor. Woolley's the greatest flatmate ever, and not just because of his mother's legendary refried beans.

The chefs
who I've worked with truly make me humble. Jon and Joe were my first bosses when I was a lowly dishwasher. They taught me how to have fun despite the long, hot, grueling hours. I'm very proud of the menus we put out at Savory, and I am so fond of the memories of the prep meetings that would end (if we were lucky, sometimes we had to go back to work) with burgers at The Landing at 2:00 AM. Any restaurant I run will have a menu patterned after Savory.

Gilbert and Jeffery probably influenced this book the most. When I put it down for a while, and then picked it up for the final edit it truly hit me how much these men helped me. Gilbert definitely has the best pallet of any chef I've worked with, he could taste my pesto and tell me what day I made it. Jeffery not only taught me nearly everything I know about demi, salt and pepper, and cookies, he's been an inspiration in life and I'm so glad he's my friend.

Brian and Karin are some of my favorite people in the whole world. I gotta say it, the Grape was the most awful, debilitating work schedule I've ever encountered. Often fourteen-hour days and sometimes seven days a week. Gotta tell you, it was one of my favorite work experiences because of the environment those two created. The crew always got breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We had fun, we loved each other. Chuy, Rosa, Bobby, and Juanita, I love you and I miss you!!

Lenny and Jason came along at a time when I really needed allies in the work place. Lenny is a master at fresh Asian cooking, he is after all a true California boy at heart, but I'll always remember him for the Apple Dapple! Not just any war hero, if I'm worthy, Lenny and I will be friends forever. Jason is the quintessential French man, but we have a lot of fun thinking outside the box. Egg yolk ravioli with bacon pesto or even butter-infused poached eggs are a few of the many recipes we have rolling around in our heads.