Thyme Out

Sweet and spicy toasted walnuts team up with creamy gorgonzola cheese for a picturesque holiday side. Champagne vinegar adds the celebratory note.

Ingredients:

• bowlful of baby spinach or romaine lettuce
• 1 ripe pear, sliced
• 1 roasted beet, diced or if you prefer, 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds adds festive color
• 2 ounces Gorgonzola
• spiced toasted walnuts
• 2 Tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Place greens in bowl and top with sliced pears, walnuts and crumbled Gorgonzola.
2. Sprinkle with beets or pomegranate seeds.
3. Shake up remaining ingredients in glass jar and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Toss greens with dressing and grind pepper over bowl.

This recipe is compliments of Chef Michael Montgomery an instructor at the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder Colorado. I took a Basic Cooking Techniques class from him last spring and really enjoyed it. The crunchy shortbread crust marries well with the soft poached pear and light whipped cream. The original recipe calls for apples and red wine, but I overdosed on apple pie at thanksgiving, so pears it is for Christmas. If white wine doesn’t ring your bell, you can replace it with 2 cups water and 2 cups Grand Marnier or rum and fresh grated ginger.

Crust (makes 2 single pie crusts)

Ingredients

• 14 oz butter (approx 28 Tablespoons)
• 6 oz sugar (scant 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg
• 16 oz all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar together
2. Add vanilla, salt and egg. Mix until just combined
3. Add flour and mix until just combined
4. Press dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 425°F.
6. Roll and press dough into a tart pan (about 1/8″ thick).
7. Prick the crust thoroughly with a fork.
8. Line the crust with foil and add pie weights to the foil.
9. Remove the pie weights and continue baking for 3-5 minutes longer.
10. Cool crust before filling.

Poached Pear Filling (enough for 2 pies)

Ingredients

• 8 firm, not quite ripe pears, pealed
• 4 cups light white wine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 sticks cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 4 black peppercorns
• (1 vanilla bean)
• 1 oranges, quartered
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds for garnish

Directions

1. Combine wine, sugar, spices and orange in saucepan large enough to hold the pears in a single layer. Slice vanilla bean down the center lenghtwise and add to the wine sauce.  Bring to a simmer. Add 4 pears and poach until they are soft throughout, but not mushy (approx 15 minutes). Remove pears from the pan and cool on a rack. Repeat with the remaining 4 pears.
2. Reduce the wine mixture until it is smooth and sauce like.
3. Whip the cream in a cold bowl until almost firm. Add vanilla, powdered sugar, and nutmeg. Whisk until firm.
4. Slice the pears, and place them decoratively in the pre-baked tart shell, drizzle with the wine sauce, and top with a dollop of cream.
5. Garnish with toasted almonds and serve immediately.

An easy, elegant and delicious special occasion entree, adapted from a Paula Deen recipe. Timing is the important factor here. The roast stays in the oven the majority of the day, nicely  infusing your house with an exquisitely fragrant aroma. This particular rub works wonderfully with a beef filet roast as well, but since standing rib roast was on sale at Whole Foods at half the price of fillet, economy prevailed. The wine reduction sauce is optional as the roast stands, no pun intended, on its own, but it’s so easy and quick, why not?

Note: If you are partial to beef fillet roast, also known as beef tenderloin, apparently Costco carries the most reasonably priced, high quality product, according to America’s Test Kitchen and Alton Brown on Food Network.

Ingredients:

• 1 standing rib roast, 5 lbs
• 1-2 Tablespoons (enough to liberally coat meat) Smith & Truslow Tarra·Cardamom Rub
• sprinkling of kosher salt
• 1 Tablespoon grape seed or olive oil
• chunk of butter
• couple glugs of red wine

1. Allow roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375° F.
3. Rub roast with oil, salt and Tarra·Cardamon Rub.
4. Place roast on a rack in roasting pan with rib side down and fatty side up.
5. Roast for one hour, then turn off oven.
6. Leave roast in oven for three hours. Do not open door!
7. About 45 minutes before serving time, turn oven back on to 375°. Towards the last 20 minutes , check occasionally with meat thermometer. This is critical, since ovens vary and you don’t want it overdone. 130 is generally rare, and 140 medium.
8. Remove roast and plate, tenting with tin foil. Place roasting pan on oven burner on medium.
9. Add red wine and butter to roasting pan, scraping tasty bits with spatula and swirling mixture until wine reduces by about half. Pour into small pitcher or gravy boat for serving.

Last spring I took the Basic Cooking Techniques class taught by Chef Michael Montgomery at the Culinary School of the Rockies. This five day class covers every thing from sourcing food ingredients and basic knife skills, to basic cooking skills including blanching, braising, grilling, roasting, and deglazing. Chef Michael, shares his passion for good food and people through entertaining stories of french culinary school and restaurant life. He begins each day slowly with a cup of coffee and a review of the days menu, techniques covered, and timing of the preparation of specific recipes.  The pace builds throughout the day to a hectic frenzy as all the students coordinate the timing of each tasty dish.  The day culminates with a lovely sit down dinner.  Wine is poured, the pace slows and everyone relaxes and tastes, critiques, and enjoys the creations of the day.  The conversation bubbles with enthusiasm, stories emerge and strangers become friends.  I learned alot about cooking in this class, but I think the most important lesson was to slow down, and relax and savor that which you have created.

Potatoes Dauphinois, was one of my favorite side dishes from the course.  It is exceptionally good for entertaining, since it can be made ahead of time and reheated before serving, simplifying the chaos of orchestrating a perfectly timed meal.

If you are concerned about fat consumption, cut the cream with chicken stock.  The resulting recipe isn’t as rich as the original recipe, but still very tasty.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs potatoes, sliced crosswise in 1/8 inch slices
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed with the back of a knife
• 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 2 Tablespoons fine sea salt
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesean cheese
• 3 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• Panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Generously butter a 2 1/2 – 3 quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish.
3. Make a bouquet garni by wrapping thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a square of cheese cloth and securing with string.
4. In a heavy 6 quart saucepan, combine potatoes, bouquet garni, salt, garlic, cloves, and cream. Set over moderate heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes can be pierced with a fork (about 10 minutes).  Using slotted spoon, remove bouquet garni and garlic and discard.
5. Spread potato mixture in buttered dish and sprinkle with cheese and bread crumbs.  Bake until top is brown and potatoes are tender (about 30 to 40 minutes). Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

These spicy/sweet treats are handy to have around for snacking, throwing in a salad, or sprinkling around a warm melted wedge of brie cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw walnuts or pecans
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of fine sea salt to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Toss walnuts with maple syrup and spices until evenly coated.
3. Spread nut mixture on a sheet pan and bake for 7-10 minutes.
4. Let cool to room temperature.