Pasta Charlotte with Long Ziti - more flavors of Spring

And on the 8th day, God (who apparently must be Italian) revealed to man the secret of Pasta Charlotte. I kid of course on deifying the origins of this dish, but if you missed it last year here is this personal classic once again.

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The original recipe is here. Below is what the remnants of the broth preparation look like.

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And here is what that very reduced broth looks like when you've got it just right.

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Pasta Charlotte, an ode to one of my daughters, is perfectly complemented by a Southern Rhone style wine, such as Cline Cashmere.

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Shaved Fennel, Blood Orange and Kumquat Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

An extension on the classic pairing of fennel and orange. The bittersweet kumquat plays well with the fennel here, and the pomegranate background note unifies. This just works, but it's not for the timid palate.

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Cavatelli in Thrice Reduced San Marzano Tomato Sauce with Summer Savory, Garlic, and Black Pepper

This one takes some patience but not a lot of attentiveness; but this is minimalism at its finest. Using one can of San Marzano tomatoes, incorporate 6 cloves of minced garlic, a dash of kosher salt, and 1-2 tablespoons of dried summer savory. Reduce by 1/2, add water back to get back to 3/4 of the original volume, reduce; repeat this three times over 2 hours, hitting the sauce with a good dose of black pepper on the last iteration.

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Grab some really good cavatelli, like this ...

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Cook the pasta in salted water for 10-12 minutes until just tender.

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This one is an instant personal classic. I don't know if all that reduction makes a difference, as the sauce tasted good 15 minutes into the whole process. But this little recipe will be repeated frequently, who knew a little summer savory and some garlic could make your tomato sauce this happy?

Plugra Poached English Peas with Irish Swiss & Red Alae Sea Salt

Geeking out with some seasonal and special ingredients here.

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Plugra supposedly has more butterfat and a creamier mouthfeel, it was noticeably different from regular butter in texture but not flavor. Probably wasted in this application in hindsight, but the results were good so no regrets.

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Don't ask what the inspiration was for swiss + peas, but the salt makes it work as it helps to distinguish and unite the two subtly sweet sensations.

JW Lees Harvest - 2007 Calvados Aged Ale

Supple cooked apple, pear, toffee and bitter apple with woody vanilla in the background. Round and sweet when first on the tongue, giving way quickly to a clean crisp mouthfeel with quieter notes of smoke and bitterness, yielding gradually in a creamy and slightly tart finish.

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There's a fair amount of acid as it made me salivate as I savored the flavor of a single sip for over a minute. It's got depth, finesse, and great structure, but at $10-12 for 9.3oz and apparently very limited availability, you probably need to be an imbibing geek to seek this one out. An exceptional craft specimen here folks - 96 pts.

Spring is Here - Spring Lamb Three Ways

Braised - with tomato, onion and oregano
Roasted - with black mustard dijon, rosemary, and pistachio crust
Sauteed - with picholine olive jus

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The first two are flavor pairings inspired by the Flavor Bible, the third by the Mizuna cookbook.

First one is straightforward, 1 can San Marzano tomatoes and 2 white onions with a small chop, get the braising liquid started, add a tablespoon or so of greek oregano, then add your lamb chops. Braise at 300F for about 45 minutes.

On the second, coat lamb chops with black mustard dijon (hard to find, found this at Marczyk's, totally different from normal dijon), then chop fresh rosemary, and finally roll to completely cover in crushed roasted pistachios (unsalted). Start under the broiler for 5 minutes, then roast at 400F for about 20-25 minutes.

Third one was just pan sauteed in olive oil, and finished with a jus of reduced shallots, picholine olives, and picholine brine; this was plated in a couple spoonfuls of the jus and topped with a pinch of chardonnay barrel smoked smoked sea salt.

All good to great pairings with seasonal lamb, my favorite was #2, my wife's was #3.

Blistered Asparagus Crostini with Warm Toasted Walnut Butter

Magical flavor pairing here, totally scrumptious.

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Asparagus was coated in olive oil, dashed with kosher salt, and rolled in a light layer of fresh ground black pepper, then broiled for 6 minutes. Walnuts were toasted slowly in a saute pan with a touch of olive oil until browned, then blitzed with high quality olive oil and kosher salt to form a nut butter. Crostini were brushed with olive oil, broiled quickly flipping once. About the 4th or 5th time I've played with walnuts and asparagus - all good, but WOW on this one.

Roasted Jalepeno & Garlic Marinated Flank Steak Tacos with Ancho Ricotta, Freeze Dried Corn Salsa Finished with Alderwood Smoked Salt

Every chef is guilty of creating a circus on a plate once in a while, here's my latest. Start by roasting some jalepenos and garlic (broiling, turning frequently).

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Destem the jalepenos, chop everything up, and coat a flank steak with the concoction to marinate for 90 minutes at room temperature.

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Grab some fresh ricotta (might be hard to find), combine with a dose of ancho chile powder and gujillo chile powder in a 3 to 1 ratio. You're going for a sweet heat here wherein the ricotta and ancho are about equally forthcoming in flavor. Reach into your bag of tricks and fetch some freeze dried corn and some alderwood smoked sea salt.

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Dice some red pepper, toss with cilantro, and at the last minute add the freeze dried corn. The corn will be very sweet and you want to avoid adding this too early to retain the dry crunchy texture this adds.

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Grill the flank steak to medium, finish with the alderwood smoked salt, then cut into strips. Combine everything in steamed white corn tortillas and devour.

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A lot going on here, but I think it works, hitting multiple textural and flavor notes - that smoked salt is killer with the jalepenos and beef.

Bonanno's Bones

Bones is this Chef-Extraordinaire's nickname, the name of his newest Denver restaurant featuring eclectic noodle dishes and food geek starters, and in my mind Bones is the metaphor for what Frank Bonanno is all about - substance and flavors that leave memories.

Do you remember what you had for lunch last Wednesday? I don't, but there's no forgetting the flavor of that broth in the Poached Lobster Ramen with Red Miso, or the meek and glorious perfection of that bone marrow starter. Bones is not done justice with descriptions like Asian Fusion, no this is like a jungle gym where all the foodie kids can come to play without getting gussied up, down to the bar rags they use for napkins. The first thing I did after getting home from eating at Bones Restaurant was to make reservations for next week. One tip, the secret is out on this place, if you're in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and want to pop in, do it between 5-5:30. Oh yah, and the team is top notch, friendly, professional, courteous, and attentive.

Chianti Revisited

My buddy felt like a meal worth the money last week, and since we were in the Tech Center, Chianticame to mind. The Duck Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce is just one the best things that can be had down South, classic (this alone is a 5 star dish, delicious). We started with the carpaccio tartufo, split the duck ravioli, and finished with the rack of veal with a tomato black pepper and pan ju reduction. This place never disappoints, and Alex is my favorite waiter in the state, you always leave full and happy. It's not James Beard territory here, but it is hardcore authentic regional Tuscan Cuisine.

Green Chili #21 with Za'tar Roasted Tortillas

Green Chili is something I've made at least 20 different ways, so from now on I'm just going to number these. After I got the hang of it thanks to my dad's recipe, it's been something that has a basic process but really is just a canvas to play with the dimensions of savory, sweet, and heat. I can tolerate pretty scorching chili (read Habaneros have found there way into many a pot), this version is a 7 on my scale of 1 to 10 (11 being much more torture than sustenance). The flavor profile has some smoke on the mid-palate and a caramel sweetness at the front, followed by substantial but reasonable heat.

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Chile Ingredients
3lbs whole pork loin roast (untrimmed, 1" cubes)
1lb double hickory smoked bacon (whole foods, made in the store)
3.5lbs frozen hot hatch green chiles (forgive me, from walmart because no one else has these)
3 large yellow onions (coarse chop)
1 teaspoon baking soda
16oz canned fire roasted tomatoes (muir glen)
2 quarts water
salt to taste
4 cloves garlic minced

Begin by rendering lardons of the bacon (1/4" square strips) for 3 minutes on medium heat. Separately toss cubes of the pork butt in flour with a little salt and pepper; brown these over medium heat with a little grapeseed oil, reserve. Add the onions and sweat to translucency. Add the baking soda and stir frequently until the onions become golden to medium brown and the bacon is cooked through though maybe not crisp; you're going for an onion confit here, this is where the caramel notes are created while the smoke comes from the bacon. Add 1 quart of water and raise to high heat. When the mixture begins to boil, add the frozen green chiles; return to just short of a boil, then add the tomatoes. Return to near a boil, add the pork and the second quart of water. Incorporate the garlic and simmer for 1 hour. Adjust salt to taste. The tortillas were lightly buttered and delicately dusted with the pungent Lebanese version of Za'tar (which contains sumac berries).

The results were great and closer to a traditional green chile than most I make as I almost always add tomatoes (in greater quantity than here) for a little sweetness, and I rarely use hatch chiles (just hard to come by most of the year, and fresh roasted are better). The family had it for dinner and then lunch the next day, it was even better the 2nd day. The Za'tar roasted tortillas worked really well as a flavor pairing with this green chili, elevating the savoriness. On their own the za'tar spice was a little intense, but smoky caramel flavors really played well with it.

Butter Ecstasy - The Fresh Flavor of Homemade Butter

I think this says it all ...

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Eyes rolling back butter goodness - This is what happens when you find some really fresh cream that has not been ultra-pasteurized, want to entertain the little ones, and are a family of food geeks; plus it's pretty cheap entertainment when you can kill an hour making toast with butter.

The cream came of a trip to Costco - we just blitzed a quart of it in the food processor with the dough blade and watched the transformation from liquid phase, to whipped cream, to butter and buttermilk. Technically, what's happening I believe is the agitation of the cream causes the water molecules wrapping the fat molecules to break their bonds, and in turn have the fat molecules wrap some of the water molecules, leaving behind some of the liquid which is nearly fat free. We added some good sea salt at the whipped cream phase and used a cheesecloth to squeeze out the moisture. This butter was like butter++, so sweet, distinctly better than anything you find at the store because of the freshness. The cream was great quality resulting in great butter, but it's worth mentioning that the butter at Tony's that's imported from Parma, Italy is crazy good too.

Ommegang Three Philosophers 2008 Quadruple

I'm a novice and too poor to become an expert on Belgium beers anytime soon, but my first conscious exposure to a quadruple got me excited enough to share. I've gone through advanced certification training as a sommelier, but the coursework focused almost entirely on wine, with only a small nod to spirits and no real mention of beer other than the historical significance of mead. The food rags have talked about beer pairings with food for years, but to be honest, back then I never really considered beer to be in the same league of flavor complexity that you can find in age-worthy wines. My studies and certification got me a hefty discount though, so it became affordable to sample some of the more exotic imports and more arcane craft beers. Since then, I occasionally decide to seek out something new, and in this case I was incredibly rewarded by the perfection of the 2008 Ommegang Three Philosophers Quadruple.

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The composition is 98% ale, 2% cherry ale (Belgian Kriek). I've previously sampled the Ommegang Abbey Ale and thought that was pretty amazing, a 92 pt wine, er um beer in my opinion. Three Philosophers has caused Brewery Ommegang to really grab my attention though - It was huge, balanced, flawless, hitting the high notes early, on the mid-palate, and extremely long on the finish - delicious, and in my opinion worthy of 100 pts. This isn't the beer I want to drink with chips and salsa, but this is the first beer I've had that stands as tall as something like a '97 Ridge Monte Bello, '82 Bordeaux, you get the idea. The idea that this is a vintage beer which will get better with age is just palate boggling.

The pedigree of this craft beer is as interesting as the beer itself - it was brewed by Ommegang to reward the winning essay in a contest to describe your dream beer - yah ... well they nailed that. I encourage you to try this, no wait, don't ... me and the guy building a beer cellar will hoard it for ourselves, forget I said anything.