The Trouble with Lists - Dione Lucas - A Spécialité: Apple Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Last week we ended delving into the lives and work of the women who appeared on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game Changers in Food. While I am glad the adventure is over, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. During the course of the year, I heard from many of you who were not at all shy about sharing your views of the list and the women who made it. You were equally vocal about the women you thought should have been included but were not. All those who made the list had fans and detractors and those who compiled the list must have known that it would be controversial. I don't fault their judgment, but, in hindsight, I wish they had shared the criteria they used for selection. I'm also going to take the liberty of "adding" one last name to my version of the list before it is retired.

Dione Lucas was the first woman graduate of Le Cordon Bleu and she was instrumental in establishing a branch of the school in London before WWII. While it is a dubious distinction, she is also remembered for the meal she cooked for Adolf Hitler. She emigrated to the United States in 1940 and established her own cooking school. She also opened several restaurants in New York City, among them the Egg Basket, from which her television program, To The Queen's Taste, was broadcast in 1948-1949. She was the first woman to be featured in a cooking show on television and many view her a a predecessor to Julia Child. She wrote several cookbooks on French cuisine, but there are few accounts written by those who knew her or remember her fondly. She apparently was a difficult woman and her son has described her as a "complicated personality." Those of you who are interested can find a more complete, but short, biography of her, here and here.

Few of her recipes are available on line. The one she is most famous for is "Chocolate Roll Leontine." A really wonderful version of that cake has been featured on Smitten Kitchen and it can be seen, here. I, fortunately, have a tattered copy of The Dione Lucas Book of French Cooking and from it have chosen an apple bread that she considered to be a spécialité. It is very easy to make and its spiceless simplicity highlights the pure flavor of fresh apples. She used a meat grinder to prepare the apples, but your food processor will work just as well, as long as you don't get carried away and inadvertently make applesauce. This makes a wonderful, though not too sweet, tea bread. I really think you'll enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

Apple Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Dione Lucas

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons butter or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup ground green cooking apples (put cored apples through a fine meat grinder with some of the skin)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons sour milk (I used buttermilk)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 or 10-inch loaf pan with butter or shortening. Line it with waxed paper, and brush paper with butter or shortening. Dust pan lightly with flour.
2) In a mixer bowl, cream butter or shortening with sugar. Mix in beaten eggs, then ground apples.
3) In a separate bowl, sift flour with baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture and mix well. Add in sour milk, then nuts, orange zest and vanilla. Mix well.
4) Scrape dough into prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Immediately turn it out of pan onto a cooling rack. Peel off paper. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield:1 loaf.

The following bloggers are also doing wrap-ups today.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Susan - The Spice Garden, Heather - girlichef
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Linda - There and Back Again, Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink








One Year Ago Today: Sugar Snap Pea and Barley Salad
















Two Years Ago Today: Asparagus and Mushroom Strata

















Three Years Ago Today: Buttermilk Cluster with Blue Poppy Seeds

50 Women Game Changers in Food - # 50 Julie Powell - Queen of Sheba Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...and so it ends. Today we feature the work of Julie Powell who holds the final position on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game Changers in Food. Strangely enough, the journey of the past year ends with a young woman who owes her career to the first woman who appeared on the list. We have come full circle, and due to the circumstances that connect these two women, will end this series where it started, with the recipes of Julia Child. Julie Powell, an aspiring writer caught in the limbo of a dead end job, challenged herself to complete the 524 recipes that encompassed Julia Child's first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, in 365 days. She created a blog, The Julie/Julia Project, to record her progress and gained an audience as she wrote and worked her way through the challenge. The blog went on to become a book, 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, and her experiences in writing it became half of the plot for the movie Julie and Julia. The world is full of people who talk, but do not do. Julie Powell had a great idea, and while she is not Harper Lee or Julia Child, she carried her idea to fruition and has been rewarded for it. She made her dream come true. Her initial publishing success has been followed by a second book, Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession. It's a good read that will give you some insight into Julie Powell. She is currently working on a novel. Next week a few of us will share some final thoughts about the list of the nifty fifty. I hope you'll join us for one last look at those who were honored and those who were overlooked.

I decided to narrow the choice of recipes from which I'd choose today's feature by limiting myself to those that were prepared in the movie Julie and Julia. I settled on Julia's Reine de Saba, or Queen of Sheba Cake because it is a bit festive and I knew it was delicious. This chocolate and almond cake was very popular when it was first discovered by Julia's army of followers. While I have not made it in recent years, there was a time when it was a regular feature on my table. The recipe has appeared in several of Julia's books, and interestingly enough, it isn't always prepared in the same way. She appears to have done some experimentation with ways of folding egg whites and flour into the cake batter. Fortunately, they all work and produce a delicious cake that I hope you will try. Here's the recipe.

Reine de Saba - Queen of Sheba Cake with Chocolate Glaze...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Julia Child and Julie Powell

Ingredients:
4 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons dark rum or strong coffee
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup blanched almonds pulverized with 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup plain bleached cake flour, in a sifter set on wax paper

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Set rack in the lower middle level. Butter and flour an 8 x 1 x 1-1/2-inch round cake pan.
2) In a double boiler or bowl set over a pan of water, combine chocolate and rum or coffee. Bring water to a simmer, cover, and let chocolate melt, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat.
3) In a 3-quart mixing bowl, use a hand-held electric mixer to cream the butter until soft and fluffy, then add the 1/2 cup sugar. Beat 1 minute, then beat in the yolks, one at a time.
4) In another mixing bowl, beat whites until foaming, beat in cream of tartar and salt, and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue beating until stiff, shining peaks form.
5) Blend warm melted chocolate into the yolk mixture, then blend in almonds and almond extract. Stir a quarter of the egg whites into chocolate to lighten it.  Scoop remainder whites over chocolate and, alternating with sprinkles of the flour, rapidly and delicately fold in whites and flour.
6) Immediately turn batter into the prepared pan, tilting it in all directions to run it up to the rim, and set it in the oven.
7) Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cake has puffed to top of pan and a toothpick plunged into it 2 and 3 inches from the edges comes out clean. (Center of cake should move slightly when pan is gently shaken.
8) Remove pan to a rack and let it cool for 15 minutes, then unmold onto rack. Let it cool completely, at least 2 hours, before storing or icing. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Chocolate Glaze for Cake:
Combine 2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate and 2 tablespoons rum or coffee in a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl sitting on top of a saucepan of barely simmering water) and melt slowly, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and beat in 6 tablespoons butter, one tablespoon at a time. Beat over a bowl of ice water to cool to a spreading consistency, and spread over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired. Serve immediately or chill until needed. Allow to sit out and come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, before serving.


The following bloggers are also featuring recipes associated with Julie Powell. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are all great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks
Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

50 Women Game Changers in Food - # 49 Soraya Darabi and Alexa Andrzejewski - Philippe's French Dip Sandwich

Philippe's Double-Dip French Dipped Sandwich



Foodspotting Logo and 2nd Birthday Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Foodspotting is an iPhone application that allows diners to size-up or review restaurants by using photos of the food they are served. The website, which was launched in 2010, now contains over 600,000 photos of dishes that have been uploaded by diners who are also known as spotters. The comapnay was founded by....

Alexa Andrzejewski, whose vision led to its creation.

Ted Grubb, whose technical expertise made it possible.

Soraya Darabi, a social media expert who made it work.




Now, in its second year, the company employs ten people. Alexa and Soraya made the Gourmet Live List of 50 Women Game Changers in Food. Two out of three isn't bad, but it seems strange to separate these three. I guess biology is destiny.

Using a convoluted path whose details I will spare you, I selected Philippe's restaurant and its famous French Dip sandwich to highlight the work that is done on Foodspotting. "Philippe The Original, is one of the oldest and best known restaurants in Southern California. It was established in 1908 by Philippe Mathieu, who claimed the distinction of having created the "French Dipped Sandwich." One day in 1918, while making a sandwich, Mathieu inadvertently dropped the sliced french roll into the roasting pan filled with juice still hot from the oven. The patron, a policeman, said he would take the sandwich anyway and returned the next day with some friends asking for more dipped sandwiches. And so was born the "French Dipped Sandwich," so called either because of Mathieu's French heritage, the French roll the sandwich is made on or because the officer's name was French. The answer is lost to history." Fortunately, the recipe is not.



French Dip Sandwich...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Philippe's via Foodspotting

Ingredients:
1 (4-pound) beef rib eye, sirloin, or tenderloin roast
1/2 cup coarsely-ground black pepper
Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)
8 French rolls
Butter

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place beef roast onto a rack in a shallow baking pan; firmly press pepper onto roast. Bake, uncovered, 30 to 45 minutes or until thermometer in the thickest part of roast registers 135 degrees F. Remove from oven and transfer onto a cutting board; let stand 15 minute before carving; slice beef thinly.
2) Reserve juice and pour into a medium saucepan. Prepare Dipping Sauce.
3) For each sandwich: Cut French rolls in half. Toast and butter each French roll. Layer about 1/2 pound of sliced beef on bottom slice of each roll; place remaining tops of rolls on top of the beef. Slice sandwiches in half and serve on individual plates with a small bowl (1/4 cup) of hot Dipping Sauce. Makes 8 sandwiches.

Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
Drippings from cooking pan
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, add beef drippings, beef broth, water, salt and pepper; bring just to a boil. turn off heat, cover, and let site 10 minutes before serving.


The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes associated with Soraya Darabi and Alexa Andrzejewski of Foodspotting. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are all great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks
Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Julie Powell. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, May 28th.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - # 48 Cat Cora - California-Style Spinach Paella

Warning! Protect your eyes before continuing.

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I first met/saw Cat Cora back in 1999 when she and Rocco Di Spirito co-hosted the Mediterranean segment of a program called the Melting Pot. They were a young good-looking pair and while they were obviously stellar cooks, they were not yet comfortable with the camera or each other. I wrote them both off and thought their stars would fizzle once the series ended. The black holes I predicted turned, instead, to novas, and, while they took separate paths, their reputations continued to grow. Cat Cora's rise was the least flamboyant of the two, but she steadily gained stature and went on to become the first and only American female Iron Chef. While her heritage is Greek-American, she was born in Mississippi to parents who were restaurateurs and her cooking reflects both those influences . Her training began in the kitchens of her childhood, but over time, her style has morphed into a blend of Southern and Greek cooking with Asian overtones. Following completion of her degree in biology and exercise science, her mentor, Julia Child, suggested she attend the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating from the CIA, she continued her training with apprenticeships in some of the great kitchens of Europe. Since being made an Iron Chef, she has also been named Teacher of the Year and executive chef of Bon Appétit magazine. Chef Cora has written two books, has two restaurants and is in the process of developing a TV show of her own. Outside of the kitchen, she is known for her philanthropy. She is a spokesperson for UNICEF and is president and founder of Chefs for Humanity, an organization that raises funds and resources for emergency, educational and hunger-related causes. Chef Cora has deservedly been named one of the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food. She is still a young woman and it will be interesting to see what she does in the future.

I find most of Cat Cora's published recipes to be grounded and family friendly. I chose this one because I thought its outrageous color would be an attention-getter and cause a smile or two. I hasten to add this paella is delicious, and if the spinach puree is a bit much for you, leave it out. I actually used only half of the puree I made and next time I'll cut the ingredients for it in half. This is a soulful recipe that is packed with balanced flavors that I think your family and close friends will enjoy. I do hope you'll give it a try. Here's how it's made.

California-Style Spinach Paella...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Cat Cora

Ingredients:

Paella

4 cups Rich Chicken Stock or store-bought low-sodium stock
1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
1 pound chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-by-3-inch strips
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 15-ounce link cooked turkey chorizo (or any sausage you like), sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh jalapeño pepper
1 cup drained and chopped canned tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup medium-grain rice, preferably Spanish (or substitute Arborio)

Spinach Puree

1 pound baby spinach leaves, well washed
About 1/2 cup water
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish

Directions:
1) Heat the stock in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, reduce the heat to low, and keep at a simmer.
2) Place the saffron in a small bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup of the warm stock over the saffron and let it steep. 3) Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until it shimmers but is not smoking. Add the sausage and the chicken to the pan. Cook, stirring, until golden brown on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes, and transfer the chicken and sausage to a plate.
4) Add the bell pepper, jalapeño, tomatoes, and garlic to the pan and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook until the peppers begin to caramelize, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika and the cumin.
5) Pour the rice into the pan and stir just until coated. Pour in 2 cups of the warm stock and add the saffron and its steeping liquid. Return the chicken and sausage to the pan along with any juices on the plate, stir to combine, and simmer over medium-low heat, uncovered, until most of the stock has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
6) Meanwhile, make the spinach puree: In a blender, puree half of the spinach with the water. Add more spinach, a little at a time. If the mixture can’t be pureed, add more water, 2 tablespoons at a time; the puree should be very thick. Set aside. (You may not need all the stock.)
7) To finish the paella: Taste the rice and add salt to taste. If the rice is still hard, add another 1/2 cup warm stock and stir. Simmer until the broth is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste the rice again and add another 1/2 cup broth if it is still too hard. Add more salt if necessary. The paella is done when the rice still has a hint of firmness. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid or a large sheet of foil, letting it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir the spinach puree into the paella. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like. Transfer to a large platter, sprinkle with the scallions and cilantro, and serve family-style. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.


The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Cat Cora today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are all great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks
Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Soraya Darabi and Alexa Andrzejewski. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, May 21st.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - # 47 Zarela Martinez - Pebre de Pollo

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Zarela Martinez holds position 47 on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game-Changers in Food. She is a restaurateur and cookbook author who was born in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta. While cooking seems to be an inherited talent, she did not begin her career as a chef until marriage to a widower with financial problems forced her to leave her job as a social worker and begin working in a restaurant kitchen. Her mother, the cookbook author, Aida Gabilondo, taught her to cook as a child and she was able to transfer those skills to a professional kitchen. She met Paul Prudhomme in a cooking class and he became her mentor. He introduced her to Craig Claiborne who featured several of her recipes in the New York Times, calling his feature, "Memorable Dishes from a Mexican Master Chef." That gained attention and her rise through the food circles began. She became the executive chef at Cafe Marimba in 1983, and in 1987 she moved on to open her own successful restaurant, Zarela. Her first cookbook, Food from My Heart was published in 1992. It was followed by The Food and Life of Oaxaca and Zarela's Veracruz. She also had a 13-part series, Zarela! La Cocina Veracruzana, that was featured on PBS. Although her restaurant closed last year, she continues to write and make appearances in keeping with the mission she set for herself many years ago. She has said, "I have a mission, which is to make my culture known and understood." She has helped and inspired a generation of young Hispanic chefs and restaurateurs, including her own son, Aaron Sanchez, to build a vibrant Latino food scene in this country. She has earned the accolades she has received.

I chose a fairly simple braised chicken entree to highlight the type of cooking that Zarela featured in her restaurant and cookbooks. The recipe comes from Zarela's Veracruz and it is an adaptation of a stew that was recommended to her by Doña Angeles Juárez Molina, a restaurateur in Tuxpan. It has decidedly Spanish overtones but lacks the vinegar punch of a true Spanish pebre, so the name is somewhat misleading. The sauce, however, is delicious and those of you who try this recipe will have no regrets. Here is Zarela's recipe for Pebre de Pollo or Chicken in Sweet-Tart Sauce.

Pebre de Pollo - Chicken in Sweet-Tart Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...courtesy of Zarela Martinez

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 – 5 cloves
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium-sized white onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 large ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds total), coarsely chopped
One 4-pound chicken, quartered
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup capers, rinsed, patted dry with paper towels, and spread out to dry completely
2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade.
15 – 20 pimiento-stuffed green olives
1/2 cup dark raisins
2 tart, crisp green apples, cored and cut into eighths
1/4 cup dry sherry (I use fino)
Pickled jalapeño chiles (optional)

Directions:
1) In an electric spice or coffee grinder or a mortar, grind peppercorns and cloves to a coarse powder. Set aside.
2) In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed skillet or wide saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil to rippling over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add tomatoes and pepper-clove mixture. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, for 12-15 minutes, until mixture is lightly thickened. Let cool slightly and process to a puree in a blender. Set aside.
3) Season chicken with salt and a good grinding of black pepper. In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil to rippling over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces and cook, turning once, until lightly golden, allowing about 3 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside. Quite a bit of fat (rendered from the chicken skin) will now be in pan; pour off all but 2 tablespoons. With a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape bottom to loosen flavorful browned scraps.
4) Return pan to medium heat. When fat ripples, add capers and stir-fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, until they puff slightly and become brown and crisp. Scoop them out and set aside. Add reserved tomato puree and cook, covered, for 15 minutes, or until flavor is concentrated and fat is starting to separate. Stir in chicken stock, olives, raisins, apples, and all but about 1 tablespoon of the fried capers. Add reserved chicken pieces with any accumulated cooking juices. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is just done. (Actually, you’ll get best results if you add leg pieces first, wait 5 minutes, and then add breast pieces). Taste for salt and add up to 1 teaspoon if desired. Stir in sherry and cook about 5 minutes longer, until raw alcohol taste is gone. Serve at once, with remaining fried capers scattered over the dish. If you like, garnish with pickled jalapeños. Yield: 4 servings

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Zarela Martinez today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are all great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks
Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Cat Cora. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, May 14th.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - # 46 Gael Greene - Orange Pour Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Gael Greene is a woman of great appetites, only one of which will be covered here today. I've left the more titillating aspects of her biography for others to tell and if you are interested, this is one of many articles that will bring you up to speed on facets of her life that are not included here. I knew very little about her until I began to gather information for this post. Not all the luminaries from the early days of the NYC food scene had reputations that made it past the Hudson River. At that time, Craig Claiborne, Mimi Sheraton and Marian Burros were well-known in the Chicago area, and, being nothing if not loyal, those were the names I carried with me when we made the reverse migration from Chicago to New York. For better or worse, I was a New York Times gal. Gael wrote for the New York Post and New York magazine, so I'm embarrassed to say her columns were never on my radar. Following graduation from the University of Michigan, she began her career as a reporter and freelance writer. She became a restaurant critic only after being  asked to do a column for New York magazine. She took the job because association with the gifted pool of writers on the magazine roster would be interesting, and, better still, those costly meals for which she became famous could be expensed.  Later, it became the vehicle that afforded her time to work on her novels, a list of which can be found here. These days,  she still does freelance writing and  serves as a  judge on the television program, Top Chef.  She is probably best known for  her role as co-founder of Citymeals-on-Wheels, an organization that raises funds to deliver food to the housebound elderly. 

Gael Greene is not a chef and she has no formal culinary training, so I've relied on a recipe that she has made, published and attributed to her ex-sister-in-law. It is straightforward and easy to make. At one time, Greene made this loaf cake as a gift for friends at Christmas time, so you know she thinks highly of it. I'm posting the recipe as it appears on her website, but I have a couple of suggestions to make if you decide to bake the cake. First, alternate the addition of flour and yogurt rather than dumping them in all at once. Second, allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes before you begin to pour the orange sauce over it. I did this in stages because the instructions did not call for  poking the surface of the cake to expedite the process. I kept the cake in the pan until the sauce appeared to be absorbed and then I inverted it onto a rack with a drip pan under it. I suggest you remove the cake as soon as you can to prevent sticking. The cake will seem sticky at first but the tackiness disappears as the cake sits. This is a moist cake that has a very slight crunch due to the orange sugar coating. It is a nice cake that I think you will enjoy. Here's the recipe as it is featured on her blog.

Orange Pour Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Gael Greene

 Ingredients:

Cake

2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour, divided use
1⁄2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2⁄3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1⁄2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
3⁄4 cup sour cream

Topping

1⁄2 cup sugar
1⁄4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange rind

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2) Cream 2 tablespoons of flour into softened butter in a large bowl. Beat eggs in small bowl. Add sugar and combine with flour and butter mixture.
3) Sift remaining flour with baking soda and add slowly into the egg-butter-sugar mix until combined. Add grated orange rind, nuts, and sour cream. Pour or spoon into greased metal loaf pan.
4) Bake 30 minutes.
5) Meanwhile, combine sugar, orange juice, and 1 tablespoon grated orange rind.
6) Remove cake from oven when done. Pour topping on cake while it is still hot. Yield: 1 loaf.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Gael Greene today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks
Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Zarela Martinez. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, May 7th.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - # 45 Diana Kennedy - Camarones en Pipian

Diana Kennedy in her kitchen.


Camarones en Pipian

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Diana Kennedy is often called the Julia Child of Mexico. That can't be argued, nor should it be. She has explored the food of Mexico as thoroughly as Julia did that of France, but there is an added dimension to her work that can't be overlooked. While she is a writer of the highest order, her commitment to saving the native recipes of Mexico also places her in the ranks of food anthropologists. Now 87, she occupies a seven acre jungle retreat in Michoacan, Mexico, that can be found only by those willing to travel rough dirt roads through dense jungle bush. British by birth, she moved to Mexico in 1957 when her husband, a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, was assigned to the region.  For the next decade, she informally studied Mexican cuisine, recording its recipes and the ingredients that made it so unique. She carried that knowledge with her when she returned to New York City following the death of her husband. Like a handful of other women who made the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game Changers in Food, she fell under the protective but prodding wing of Craig Claiborne, who convinced her to teach and write about the unique cuisine she had mastered. She has done an incredible amount of writing since then and information about all seventeen of her books, can be found on the Good Reads or the Eat Your Books  websites.  Since  the 1972 publication of her first  book, The Cuisines of Mexico,  she has been recognized as a leading authority on authentic Mexican food. She has been teaching and writing and traveling ever since. Mexico considers her to be one of its greatest food heroes and has awarded her its highest honor, the order of the Aztec Eagle. Her mission has been like that of Elizabeth David, but she has not received the recognition or laurels that came David's way. True Mexican food has not captured the public imagination and that has left Kennedy like a prophet without honor in her own land. Still, she carries on.  Jason Beaubien did a wonderful interview with her for NPR that you might like to read when you have some extra time. You can find it here. Gourmet Live also has a wonderful feature that fans of Diana Kennedy will enjoy.  It can be found here.

From the thousands of recipes she has collected,  I wanted to feature one that used  ingredients that could be found in any large local supermarket.  I chose her recipe for Camarones en Pipian, which she adapted  from a meal she had at Restaurante Las Diligencias in Tampico. It is fast, easy and delicious, though I personally felt it was a bit heavy on the serrano chiles. The roasted and pulverized pumpkin seeds add wonderful depth of flavor to the sauce and make the dish truly unique. I think those of you who try this will be really pleased. Here's the recipe. 

Camarones en Pipian...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Diana Kennedy

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds shrimp, unshelled
2-1/2 cups cold water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup hulled, raw pumpkin seeds
1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
4 fresh serrano chiles, roughly chopped-with seeds
1/2 small white onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon  unsalted butter
2/3 cup Mexican crema (or creme fraiche)

Directions:
1) Shell and devein shrimp, reserving shells, tails and any heads to make broth. Place shells in salted water and simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Strain out shells and cook shrimp in broth until barely opaque. Drain shrimp, reserving broth.
2) In a heavy, un-greased skillet, toast pumpkin seeds over low heat, stirring often, until they just begin to swell. Do not brown. Allow to cool a bit then grind them in a food processor or blender, until fine. Add broth, cilantro, chiles and onion, and blend until smooth. There will still be texture.
3) Melt butter in a heavy saucepan, over low heat. Add pumpkin seed sauce and stir constantly for about 3 minutes. Stir in crema and heat through. Taste and add extra salt, if desired. Add shrimp and continue heating for about 5 minutes. Serve with warm, crusty bread for dipping, or with hot tortillas.


The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Diana Kennedy today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks
Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Gael Greene. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, April 30th.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #42 Harumi Kurihara - Scallop Sauté with Miso Sauce - Hotate no Sauté Miso Sauce

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...In culinary circles, Harumi Kurihara is known as the Japanese Martha Stewart. She certainly is as prolific and the scope of her operations is large given the size of her country. Her business acumen and culinary skills have earned her a well-deserved slot on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game Changers in Food. She is one of the best known food writers in Japan and over the course of her career she has published 115 cookbooks and is credited with 4,000 original recipes. A complete list of the books she has authored can be found, here. The recipes she develops are meant for the Japanese housewife and her business empire is also designed to provide goods and services that meet their needs. In addition to writing, she appears on television and operates 55 stores and 13 restaurants throughout Japan. This dynamo was born in 1947 and learned to cook by osmosis in her mother's kitchen. Like so many other of the women we've featured these past months, there was not an original intent to cook or write. She married a TV newscaster and often entertained his colleagues who became enchanted with her cooking. Her first job in the TV industry was as an assistant to the host of a cooking show. Six years later she published her first book. She says that that book and the others that followed it, were motivated by her love of family and her wish to make delicious food for them. As her reputation grew, she began to publish a lifestyle magazine that features many of her designs and that venture has also been successful. Her first English cookbook, Harumi's Japanese Cooking, was published several years ago. The recipe I am featuring comes from that book. In Japan, this dish would be served as an appetizer, rather than a main course. It is delicious, but I would recommend you use a white or yellow miso, rather than a red to prepare it. Red miso will overpower the inherent sweetness of the scallops. It is also important that the scallops be dry when they are put into the frying pan. I hope you will give this dish a try. Here's the recipe.

Scallop Saute with Miso Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Harumi Kurihara.

Ingredients:
8 oz. very fresh scallops
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
all-purpose flour — to dust the scallops
1-2 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons white or yellow miso
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1-2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons heavy cream
small bunch watercress
freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:
1) Season scallops with salt, pepper, and garlic and then lightly dust with flour.
2) Heat oil in a small frying pan. Briefly fry both sides of the scallops until seared on the outside, but still rare in the middle.
3) Take pan off heat and remove scallops. Add dry sherry and then miso, mirin, soy sauce, sugar, and water to pan and stir. Return to heat and bring to a boil. Stir and remove pan from heat. Mix in mustard and heavy cream.
4) Tear leaves off watercress and arrange on a large plate. Chop stems finely and set aside as a garnish. Place scallops on bed of watercress leaves, pour hot sauce over, and garnish with finely chopped watercress stems. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve. Yield: 4 servings.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Harumi Kurihara today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of April Bloomfield. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, April 9th.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #41 Elizabeth Andoh - San Shoku Donburi

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Elizabeth Andoh is, arguably, the world's leading English language expert on Japanese cuisine, and, as such, has earned a place on the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game Changers in Food. While she has lived in Japan for the past 40 years, she was born in America to a family of doctors and it was expected that she would pursue a career in Anthropolgy. After completing her undergraduate work, she was urged by a faculty adviser to apply for a postgraduate fellowship in Japan that would allow her to hone her language skills. The fellowship took her to the island of Shikoku where she fell in love with the country and the man who would become her husband. She married into a traditional Japanese family that came, of course, with a mother-in-law, so she had to adapt quickly to the culture, language and culinary traditions of her new home. Her curiosity about Japanese food led her to attended the Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine in Tokyo, and shortly after graduation she began her own culinary arts program, A Taste of Culture, which today operates in Tokyo and Osaka. Over the years, she has devoted herself to teaching the finer points of Japanese cuisine through her school programs and extensive writing. To date, she has five cookbooks and hundreds of magazine articles to her credit. She was also Gourmet Magazine's resident expert on Japanese cuisine. Her cookbooks are unusual in the way they examine and present Japanese food. Her goal is to get people to think differently about how they eat and to teach them how to use ingredients in a less wasteful and more esthetic manner. She speaks of the harmony of food (Washoku) and the ancient principles of balance that should be used in its preparation. She also speaks of Kansha, an appreciation of nature's bounty and the ingenuity that transforms unlikely ingredients into wonderful food. She is currently involved in an effort to make sure that traditional dishes from Japan's slowly recovering disaster zones do not disappear. The spare simplicity of Japanese food is not to everyone's liking but her books are treasures and she has earned the honors and distinctons that have come her way.

I have chosen a very simple recipe to highlight the work she has done. Donburi is a simple rice dish that is made flavorful with the addition of meat that is cooked with a mixture of soy sauce, sake and fresh ginger juice. Ginger juice is commercially available, but I made mine by crushing slices of ginger in my garlic press. The corn and peas give the dish wonderful color and symmetry enhances its eye appeal. The one ingredient that you may find difficult to find is nori. Nori is an edible seaweed, farmed in coastal areas of Japan, that contributes protein, vitamins and minerals to dishes in which it is used. It is not a vital ingredient in these rice bowls, so if you are unable to find it, don't stress. I think you will enjoy this version of donburi. It is mildly flavored and will appeal to many who prefer less spicy food. Here's the recipe.


Gingery Ground Chicken - Tori Soboro

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken (a combination of dark and light meat)
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons saké
2-1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
1-1/2 teaspoons ginger juice

Directions:
1) Place chicken in a cold skillet. Add saké and sugar and stir to separate bits of meat before starting to cook. Place pan over low heat and cook, breaking up meat into crumblike clusters. Ground chicken is stickier than beef, so pay close attention until the chicken is cooked. If your chicken is fattier than mine was, skim off excess fat now.
2) Add soy sauce and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add ginger juice. Turn heat up to reduce excess liquid in the pan — you don’t want meat to become dry, but it should not be soupy. Remove from the heat, let cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat over low heat, adding a few drops of water, if necessary, and stirring to break up clusters.


Three Color Rice Bowl - San Shoku Donburi

Ingredients:
Gingery Ground Chicken
1-1/4 cup fresh or thawed frozen shelled green peas
1-1/4 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
Boiling water
3 cups cooked rice
1 tablespoon shredded red pickled ginger or 4 cherry tomatoes
1/2 sheet toasted nori, cut into fine threads

Directions:
1) If chicken is freshly prepared, keep it hot. If it has been refrigerated or frozen and thawed, place in a skillet over high heat and stir until hot to break up bits of meat.
2) If you are using fresh peas and corn, bring a small saucepan filled with water to a rolling boil, add peas, and cook for about 3 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and set aside. Repeat with fresh corn. If you are using frozen vegetables, place peas and corn into separate cups and pour boiling water over them. Let stand for a few minutes and then drain.
3) To assemble dish: Divide rice among 4 donburi or other deep bowls. Lay a chopstick across rim of one bowl, dividing it in half; this will be your guide. Use a spoon to cover one side of the bowl with one quarter of cooked chicken. Turn chopstick perpendicular, then cover one quarter of rice with peas, and remaining quarter with corn. Arrange a cut cherry tomato (or pickled ginger) in the center and sprinkle with nori threads. Repeat with the remaining bowls. Yield: 4 servings.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Elizabeth Andoh today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Harumi Kurihara. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, April 2nd.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #40 Elena Arzak - Milk-Braised Pork Tenderloin with Baby Spinach and Strawberry Salad

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Some would argue that the grail of nouvelle cuisine can be found in Spain. The country has a surprising number of Michelin-3 star restaurants and it is hard to deny the influence that its greatest chefs have had on the cooking revolution. The food here can be exciting, and while its form and presentation have changed, it remains delicious and often entertains. Many consider Ferran Adria to be head of this revolution. If he is its sorcerer, than Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena must be its alchemists. Elena has joined Gourmet Live list of the 50 Women Game Changers in food. She now heads the kitchen at Arzak, a position that puts her in rarefied company. Worldwide, there are only three women who head kitchens that have been awarded the coveted Michelin third star. She is one of them. Elena was born into a family of restaurateurs and she knew at an early age that she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. As a child, she spent hours in the kitchen watching and absorbing all that went on around her. It was clear to those who observed her, that she was born to cook and had the soul of a chef. Unlike many self-taught chefs, she spent 8 years outside of Spain in formal study that included culinary school, extended internships and language immersion. She even did a stage (apprenticeship) at el Bulli before joining the staff of the family restaurant in 1996. Though she was shown no favoritism, she moved quickly through the ranks and two years later she began to manage the kitchen. She has, so to speak, become her father's right hand man and the two are inseparable. Her greatest strength is her creativity and willingness to experiment with food. Her food has remained true to its Basque roots, but it is now combined with flavors and ingredients from other cuisines and assembled with techniques that are at the forefront of culinary development. Many consider her food to be avant-garde, but she considers Arzak to be a family restaurant. As a matter of fact, she has a young daughter who may one day follow in her footsteps. If you'd like to learn more about Elena Arzak you will enjoy this feature from the on-line arm of Food and Wine.

As you might suspect, there are not a lot of published or purloined recipes for the food Elena Arzak creates. I found the recipe for Milk-Braised Pork Tenderloin with Baby Spinach and Strawberry Salad on the Food and Wine site. It is not the kind of recipe I would normally choose, but because selection was so limited it, by default, became my feature recipe. What a delightful surprise! It is delicious and, though we ate three hours ago, my socks are still going up and down. This is a real treat and one that I will make over and over again. In the grand scheme of things, it is really easy to do and if you can read you can successfully make this wonderful dish. Please do. I promise you won't be sorry. Pork cooked this way is fork tender and the sauce it produces is a perfect foil for the unusual dressing on the salad. You are going to love this. Here's the recipe.

Milk-Braised Pork Tenderloin with Baby Spinach and Strawberry Salad...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Elena Arzak

Ingredients:
Four 6-ounce pieces of trimmed pork tenderloin
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons tarragon mustard or Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups whole milk
4 garlic cloves, halved
1 sage sprig
2 large sage leaves, minced, plus 12 small sage leaves, for garnish
1 tablespoon tawny port or oloroso sherry
2 cups baby spinach leaves
4 large strawberries, cut into matchsticks

Directions:
1) Season the pork with salt and white pepper, then slather it with the mustard. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the pork and cook over moderately high heat, turning twice, until browned, about 9 minutes. Transfer the pork to a plate.
2) Pour off the oil in the skillet. Add the milk, garlic and sage sprig. Simmer over moderately low heat until the garlic is almost tender, about 20 minutes.
3) Add the pork to the skillet along with any accumulated juices and simmer, turning the pieces every 5 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted at the thickest point registers 140°, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pork to a plate. Cover with foil and keep warm. Discard the sage sprig.
4) In a blender, puree the milk with the garlic until smooth. Return the sauce to the skillet, stir in the minced sage and season with salt and white pepper.
5) In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil with the port and season with salt and white pepper. Slice the pork 1 inch thick and arrange on plates. Spoon the garlic-sage milk sauce on top. Garnish with the small sage leaves. Toss the spinach and strawberries in the dressing and serve the salad alongside the pork. Yield: 4 servings.


The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Elena Arzak today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me, Martha - Simple Nourished Living, Jill - Saucy Cooks

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Elizabeth Andoh. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, March 26th.

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #39 Ina Garten - Crostini with Tuna Tapenade

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...There is, of course, the famous smile and the throaty laugh you'd recognize wherever you heard it, but the best identifier of all is the string of rhetorical questions that are threaded through her conversation and writing. This week, Ina Garten is the subject of our ongoing feature that highlights the lives and careers of those who made the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game Changers in food. That really comes as no surprise. After all, what's not to like? She is one of two children born to a mother who was an intellectual and a father who was a successful surgeon. As a child and young woman, she was kept from the kitchen and encouraged, instead, to excel in her studies. She began dating Jeffrey, her future husband, when she was 16 years old. She married him when she was 20 and followed him to Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he completed his military service. Following his discharge, they traveled to France for an extended vacation and it was here that she became seriously interested in food and cooking. On their return, they moved to Washington, D.C. where she completed an M.B.A. and worked as a budget analyst, creating nuclear energy budgets and policy papers for Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. As a sideline, she began to flip and sell real estate and used her free time to entertain and cook for friends. The profits from her real estate ventures made it possible to buy The Barefoot Contessa, a specialty food store in Westhampton Beach, New York. She did much of the cooking herself but she employed local chefs and bakers to supplement her efforts as the business grew. The store was immediately successful and it was twice moved to larger facilities, eventually ending up in the wealthy community of East Hampton, Long Island. She sold the store in 1996 and explored other outlets for her talents. She began to write and in 1999 her first cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook became a sleeper best seller. It was rapidly followed by Barefoot Contessa Parties! and Barefoot Contessa Family Style. She has since written four other books and combined revenue from the sales of all the books is now 6 million dollars. In 1992, she began her own series on the Food Network. It's estimated that her show draws about 1 million viewers per episode. Viewers are drawn to her quiet style and steadiness. She seems to be more approachable than Martha Stewart or Nigella Lawson whose shows target the same audience and her fan base is extremely loyal. In 2009, she was awarded an Emmy as Best Culinary Host in daytime television. She has also created a company that sells specialty foods and that line will be expanded as the market grows. Her career is amazing for a woman with no culinary training, but I suspect Ina would be successful at anything she chose to do. Who knew?

There is no shortage of recipes developed by Ina Garten. I've chosen one that's super simple to prepare. I've been trying to add more appetizers and snacks to my repertoire, so I very selfishly picked a recipe that would help fill in the gaps. I have lots of fussy and time consuming starters, but I wanted something really easy to make. Her recipe for Crostini with Tuna Tapenade was perfect for my purposes. Those of you who makes this will be really pleased, though I want to caution against the use of too much lemon juice. It can be overpowering, even in a dish as strongly flavored as this. I used a single tablespoon of lemon and was quite pleased with the results. If you'd like to see Ina make this tapenade, you can find a short clip, here. Ina's recipe follows. How easy is that?

Crostini with Tuna Tapenade...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Ina Garten

Ingredients:
10 to 12 ounces canned or jarred Italian tuna packed in olive oil
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for brushing bread
1/3 cup Italian mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup pitted and chopped kalamata olives
1 tablespoon drained capers
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
36 slices French bread, cut diagonally

Directions:
1) Drain all but a tablespoon of olive oil from the tuna and then flake the fish into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the anchovy paste, thyme, parsley, lemon zest, and garlic and pulse a few times. Add the lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and the mascarpone and process until almost smooth. Add the olives, capers, salt, and pepper and pulse just to incorporate. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2) Meanwhile, heat a gas or charcoal grill or preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the bread lightly on one side with olive oil. Grill the crostini on both sides until lightly browned or arrange the bread on a sheet pan and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
3) Mound the tapenade on each toast, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. Alternatively, mound tapenadae in center of a serving plate and surround with crostini.



The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Ina Garten today. I hope you'll pay them all a visit. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef, Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita - Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts
Linda A - There and Back Again, Nancy - Picadillo, Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen, Annie - Most Lovely Things, Jeanette - Healthy Living
Claudia - Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce - More Time at the Table
Kathy - Bakeaway with Me

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Elena Arzak. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, March 19th.