Rhubarb Tart / Pudding

I suppose that you could use just about any fruit for this, but rhubarb works so well. I've used fresh and frozen rhubarb, both with success...

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix together the following in a bowl:
3 cups rhubarb, diced or sliced
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 ts. ground cinnamon
1/4 ts. ground nutmeg
Set aside.

In another bowl, make the topping:
1 Tb. unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (ultrafine or superfine is awesome, but regular granular will work)
1 whole egg, beaten
1/2 cup A/P flour
1/4 ts. salt
Mix together, making sure the butter is evenly distributed throughout the mix.

In an oven proof dish, spread the rhubarb filling evenly over the bottom.
Crumble the topping evenly over the rhubarb.
Place in the 350F oven for 40 minutes.
If you're using frozen rhubarb, turn off the oven after 40 minutes and let the tart continue to bake as the oven cools. This allows the topping that was in contact with the frozen fruit to completely bake.

Enjoy!

Review ~ Phusion, Woods Hole, MA

I'm a big fan of Phusion, but I know when to call a duck a duck.

(Yes, I know the place used to be called the black duck, what about it?)

The other night, I went to Phusion with a big party of people. What better way to try everything on their small and select menu. Before I sat down, I met with the owner, (who doesn't know I write this) who updated me on all of the changes in the menu, staff, town, etc. There's a lot happening in Woods Hole cuisine these days!

It's good to know that despite the boats rocking, the quality of the food coming across the pass hasn't been affected- it's all still top-notch.

Several orders of the tenderloin special (a gorgeous 4 oz. tenderloin with bacon and fontina on top of a potato and cheese wedge topped with a plum wine hoisin sauce redux), and pan seared diver scallops with flavored basmati rice and veg were served to us. The vietnamese pot stickers chock full of flavor and caramelization sided with sashimi tuna, which was rolled with sesame seeds and seared for a moment, were almost jumping into my mouth. Also arriving at our table was a slight disappointment (here's the duck of the night)- the calamari. I can't remember even having bad calamari at Phusion. In fact, it used to be the bar that I would hold all others to. Not tonight; rubbery, overcooked, and really disappointing. These were served on top of a somewhat flat sauce of crushed tomatos, garlic, and capers.

How to resurrect the dinged experience? Dessert!
While I can't say I tasted everything that came out. I can tell you that everyone, including the hard cynics at the table, melted with glee at the Passionfruit glace, the Ginger Creme Brulee, and the Chocolate Cheesecake.

Overall, Phusion seems to have pulled out of the debacle of a last-minute-staff-change-'cause-my-chef-left-during-prep-on-a-friday-night. The new chef seems to have found her place here. I just can't wait to see what happens with the menu in the near future.

With the ownership of Fishmonger changing like the seasons, and the vapid menu of the Landfall steadily supplying the tourists of the Vineyard, Phusion is poised as the anchor of Woods Hole, steadily holding on to new and consistent cuisine.
It's still my favorite duck...

Staples.

Two things no kitchen should be without-

Recipe ~ Sneaky Sangria

This isn't a complicated or difficult recipe. The hardest part about it waiting at least 3-4 hours before drinking it. Trust me though, it's totally worth it. Even our resident beer-only drinker was downing it, asking why there wasn't more.

2 washed oranges - 1 thinly sliced; 1 juiced
1 washed lemon, thinly sliced
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c Triple Sec
1 - 750ml bottle of juicy red wine - the cheaper the better


Muddle the sliced orange and lemon together with the sugar, until the sugar is dissolved (it doesn't take more than a minute)
Add the orange juice, triple sec, and wine.
Store for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
I waited 4 hours and it was so much better than when I tasted it at 2 hours.

For muddling, I put the sliced fruit and sugar in a bowl and gently mushed it with the bottle of a worcestershire sauce bottle. Whatever works...

Enjoy with friends and comrades!

Recipe ~ Simple Frittata (for a small kitchen)

Part 2.
This is my desperate attempt to recreate Carmen the Valencian's Spanish Frittata.

Honestly, this didn't turn out so well in my hands, but I know why. The first excuse... er, reason was the "stove". It's unpredictable at best. The second reason is I was impatient, and very hungry.

It's not bad, just not what you might call... photogenic? This recipe does produce a lot of food. So I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow (and then next day, and this weekend...)

Lots (~9 Tb) of olive oil (the tastier the better) - No reason to use EVOO, since it's just for frying.
2# potatoes, thinly sliced
1 lg onion, thinly sliced
6 eggs, beaten
S/P to taste

Heat about half of the oil, and cook the potatoes until golden, and no longer opaque. (~30 minutes on my pos stove)
Transfer to a bowl, or in my case, a cutting board.
During the last 10 minutes of the potatoes cooking, heat a small skillet with half of the remaining oil.
Saute the onions until they are golden.
Add them to the bowl (or cutting board) with the potatoes.
Heat the remaining oil in the largest skillet you can find.
Add the potato/onion mixture, and then add the beaten eggs.
Cook on low heat until the bottom sets and is golden (~15 minutes)
Remove the skillet from the heat
Grab a plate and carefully hold it over the top of the skillet and flip the frittata onto it.
Slide it off the plate and back into the skillet. Basically you're using the plate as a giant, totally cumbersome spatula. Trust me, it works a lot better if you don't hesitate and just go for it.
Cook for another couple of minutes until the bottom is golden as well.
Slide it out and cut it up.
S/P to taste.

Recipe ~ diet for a small kitchen (with apologies to F.M. Lappe) ~ Quick Tomato Sauce

Part 1.
So my stint in an efficiency has started. As best I'm able, I'll be posting recipes that I use in my ridiculously small galley kitchen.
Quick Tomato Sauce (yields ~3 cups)

1 -28oz. can of whole tomatoes, drained and smashed and torn with hands (or chopped coarsely with knife- I went for my hands and catharsis)
1 garlic clove, peeled and coarsely smashed with the back of a spoon
1/4 c. finely chopped onion- but not to well
3 Tb. olive oil (not extra virgin)
s/p to taste

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a non-stick skillet. Simmer, until almost all the excess juice is gone- It took me ~20 minutes.
Grind some black pepper over the sauce, and salt to taste.

add about 1/3 to a single serving of pasta, cooked in salted water, and sprinkle some fresh grated parmesan and extra virgin olive oil over the top.

enjoy!

Recipe ~ What did you have for breakfast? (Simple Caramel Sauce)

What did you have for breakfast this morning?
Homemade gingerbread, vanilla ice cream, and homemade caramel sauce.
~~~
200g superfine sugar
2Tb corn syrup
1/2 c water
Heat this, in a nonstick pan, stirring constantly until boiling.
Once boiling, stop stirring and cook until temperature is ~ 360F. (Get a good accurate thermometer- I like my digital meat thermometer) The color is going to be dark golden. You'll know if you've gone too far. If you have, start over. If not...
Heat 2/3 c heavy cream in microwave until hot, but not boiling.
Once syrup has reached 360F, carefully (oh so carefully) move the pot to the clean, empty sink.
At arm's length, carefully, and slowly add the hot heavy cream to the sugar syrup. It's gonna look like vesuvius in a pot, but if you're careful and lucky, it'll subside without incident.
Once all the cream is in, move the pan back to the stove, and simmer 3 - 5 minutes over low heat, stirring to dissolve any lumps that just formed.
Transfer the carmel to a small heat proof bowl and add 1 Tb Honey. Mix it in well, and let it cool for a bit (~15 minutes - 1 hour is plenty). You can put it in the fridge o/n, but be aware that you might get crystals forming if the sauce isn't cool enough.
~~~
Awesome breakfast. I figure it's Friday, why not start it off right...

Recipe ~ French Onion Soup

The tried, and not so true.
This weekend, we decided to make french onion soup. As a last minute change, we also decided to try a vegetarian version.
Here's how it went:
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds red onions, sliced
1 Tb unsalted organic butter (Tillamook)
1/4 tesaspoon salt
(vegetarian)
3 3/4 cups organic vegetable broth
1 oz. red wine (cab/merlot)
(more trad.)
3 cups organic chicken broth
3/4 cup organic beef broth
~Bouquet garni
(Fresh organic flat leaf parsley, dried organic bay leaf, fresh organic thyme)
1/2 Tb Balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to tase
(vegetarian)
1 1/2 Tb soy sauce
Topping:
Swiss and Asiago or just Gruyere
Baguette sliced on bias
+~+~+~+~+~+
The only difference between the veg and trad versions was that the veg had veg broth and soy sauce and the trad didn't
I found that this worked best in a cast iron dutch oven, but YMMV.

Heat the butter over medium-high heat until foam subsides, being careful not to brown it.
Add the onions and salt.
Carmelize the onions, stirring regularly. This will take about 20 minutes or more.
The steel soup pot was a challenge for this, the dutch oven, a dream.
Add the broth, wine and bouquet garni. Taste - pretty watery and kind of bland?
Simmer 20 minutes, gently loosening the fond that formed on the bottom of the pot during the carmelization.
Taste again - better? More body and fuller flavor.
Remove from heat, Carefully remove bouquet garni and discard.
Add balsamic, and if veg, soy sauce.
S/P to taste.
+~+~+~+~+~+
We had a dickens of a time finding a broiler proof crock for the soup.
Instead, we just put it into a bowl, placed the swiss and grated asiago on top, and nuked it 30 seconds.
I'm sure there's a good vegetarian french onion soup recipe. This just isn't it. I only put it here in case you were thinking it might be a good idea. It's not- there's a bit of work that need to be done with it.
On the other hand, the traditional beef broth soup was delicious. I hope you enjoy!
~e.t.~

Vaccaro's ~ Baltimore

The place for pastries, not gelato.

If you're jonesin' for some sweet baked goods, this is the place to go. Six types of Napolean's, Amarettini, Sfogliatelli... you name it, it's there.

I'd steer clear of the gelato though. It's a bit grainy and not quite right.