Prime Cuts

When I mention Cold Brewed coffee many people think I’m speaking of iced coffee but when I further explain that cold brewed coffee is something far greater than merely iced coffee their eyebrows peak with intrigue and their taste buds tingle with anticipation. If you’ve never experienced cold brewed coffee and the joy it can bring then you are clearly missing wonderful things. Let me explain what cold brew coffee is before I continue to blather on about its euphoria.

Cold brewed coffee is made with the same ingredients and roughly the same procedures as hot brewed coffee. Instead of using hot water to extract the beautiful, delicious taste of coffee you use cold water and let the coffee steep for twelve to twenty-four hours. The steeping process is very similar to making hot tea but only longer and with cold water. The principles of good cold brew coffee are the same with hot brewed; filtered water and great beans.

While explaining to many people about cold brewed coffee they often ask what are the benefits over hot brewed as the time needed is obviously much longer. With cold brewed coffee you’ll experience a mildly different taste to the same coffee using a hot brewing method. Now this isn’t due to some magic but very basic science, there is a chemical reaction when you steep coffee and when you hot brewed coffee. This is not to say that you’ll experience two wildly different flavors, aromas, bodies, and acidity (brightness). It is more subtle.

With hot brew you might experience a more earthy, smoky flavor but with cold brew you might experience those earthy, smoky flavors but now with floral hints. With cold brew you’ll also encounter a more sweet flavor, often those who put sugar in their hot coffee decide to forego it with cold brew as it is more naturally sweet. (My personal tests have found that sweetness is affected by the amount of time steeped, although I found it subtle.) One noticeable difference you’ll find with cold brewed coffee is what is described as “thin coffee,” some people mistake this for weak coffee as well. This difference is from the absence of oils that are extracted during a hot brewing method; there is nothing wrong with the coffee. Now for those who love drinking coffee but experience acid problems or stomach issues, cold brewed coffee has been hailed as the answer to drinking and enjoying coffee without the aforementioned problems. I’ve heard numbers like 65%-70% less acid problems with cold brewed coffee. Although I have not confirmed those exact numbers I have many friends who drink cold brew coffee and have reported less to no problems with acid or their stomachs.

After you cold brewed your coffee you will essentially have a coffee extract, you can simply put it into the refrigerator and enjoy straight, mixed, or even hot. I’ve found that making the right cold brew like any other method you use is a process and should be repeated until perfected for your taste. One problem that I’ve discovered with cold brew coffee is that many people have a hard time straining their coffee once the steeping process is complete. Unless you have a cold brew canister/product it can be difficult.  We have found the easiest way is to use a french press poured into a filtered drip cone. This method provides a double filtration for you, not only removing grinds but any additional silt that may slip through the french press filter. However, there are many devices you can purchase to make this process much easier but it’s all about preference. If you’re like me, you have an auto drip machine, espresso machine, grinder, french press, vacuum pot, drip cone, an array of coffee bean containers, and coffee making accessories. So for me it was just easier to use what we have than to pick up another type of machine/product.

At the end of the day cold brewed coffee is so versatile that it is most definitely worth the time spent to make it. It is the perfect choice for busy mornings and once brewed takes no time to make new mixed drinks. Cold brewing is close to my heart and I hope it will find a place in yours. Hot or cold brewed, enjoy your coffee and enjoy life!

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With out a doubt autumn is my favorite time of year. The shifting of the seasons brings with it my favorite things — beautiful scenery (especially if you’re lucky enough to be in New England), sweaters, and of course, the food. Autumn means comfort food and I LOVE it.

Since I live so far away from my family, I’ve been spending the last few years trying to recreate some of the recipes that remind me of home. Stuffed butternut squash, pumpkin pie, grilled cheese and tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, and my absolute favorite — delicata squash. The KING of all comfort food. Ohhhh holy awesome, reminds me so much of everything great this time of year. And I almost nearly fainted from excitement when I saw it at my local grocer this week.

My mom introduced me to the glorious vegetable several years ago when I was revamping my eating habits to be much healthier. What’s great about delicata squash is as healthy as it is, it’s completely satisfying and filling.

So here’s what you’ll need (keep in mind I almost never measure so I’m fudging on some of these estimates) to have the best dish of the season (and it’s totally simple):

Delicata Squash Recipe

This should be about 4 servings.

Ingredients

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• One delicata squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2″ inch slices
• One butternut and/or acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2″ inch slices
• One yellow onion, chopped
• One red bell pepper, chopped
• One green bell pepper, chopped
• One garlic clove, chopped
• 12 oz of precooked and frozen shrimp (or whatever you’d like for (4 servings), thaw
• 1 1/2 cup of quinoa, cooked to package instructions
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Peel all the delicata squash with a vegetable peeler, then cut it lengthwise in half, and scrape out the seeds. Cut each piece in half again lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. The other squash should be peeled, seeded, cut into 1x 1/2 inch pieces. Place squash onto a sheet pan (giving a little of space between the squash pieces), gently coat with EVOO and sprinkle salt and pepper over the squash. Place in the oven to bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a beautiful golden brown.

While the squash is cooking, heat up a medium pan on medium/medium high heat with a light coat of EVOO. Add in onion and cook until it starts to soften and become clear. Add in garlic and your peppers. Saute until warm. Add in shrimp and cooked quinoa. Saute together until warm all the way through. Put into serving bowls and top with a healthy serving of baked squash.

So incredibly delicious, you’ll be asking for seconds — and don’t worry, this is a comfort dish that you can absolutely feel good about.

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While I am a self-professed beach lover and sun worshipper, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I LOVE Fall. And I don’t just mean I like it a little. I LOVE it. LOVE.

“Have you hit your head?” you might ask. NO! There’s just something about that first nip in the air … wearing jeans … and cozy sweaters and the season’s first crackle in the fireplace. There’s something wonderfully comforting about warming up with a hot bowl of soup, wonderful roasted stews and veggies. And apples! What would Fall be without APPLES?

Oh! I love them. I eat apples all year ‘round, but Fall is especially tempting for me, because every crispy, sweet, juicy variety is here and just waiting for me to crunch into them.

Just their names make me happy. Granny Smith. Pink Lady. Fuji. Mutsu. Honeycrisp (OH! The Honeycrisp — maybe the greatest apple in the history of apples.) Jonathan. It’s all enough to make your mouth water with sweet, Autumnal delight.

There are so many to choose from, you might be at a loss to decide WHICH apples are right for your needs. Since, at this time of year, so many people want to bake them in pies, crisps and the like, let’s focus on the best varieties for that. The best baking apples have a good sweet-tart balance and their flesh won’t break down as they cook. If you want to prepare a dish that’s got complex textures and flavors, try combining two or more apple varieties.

While there are LOTS of apples that are fine for baking, some stand up better than others. Some to look for are: Cortland, Empire, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Jonathan, Macoun, Mutsu (aka Crispin), Stayman & Winesap.

Now that you’ve got your apples and are ready to tackle some serious baking, here’s one of my favorite recipes of all-time. It’s for the apple pie that my mom made when I was a kid, and that I adopted (and tweaked) when she went back to work. It’s different from any other pie you’ve ever eaten, I assure you, and once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back to “just pie”. Enjoy!

French Apple Cream Pie

Ingredients

• (2) 9″ pie crusts (you can make your own OR use the chilled kind that you unroll — that’s almost as good as from-scratch).
• Filling: 4 pounds apples (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Crispin, Stayman — your choice), peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Topping: 3 oz. softened** cream cheese1/4 cup sour cream1 egg1/3 cup sugar1 tablespoon lemon juice1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Lightly beaten egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water
• Cinnamon-Sugar for dusting on top of crust

**MAKE  SURE THAT YOUR CREAM CHEESE IS SOFTENED, OR YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE IT SMOOTH, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY.**

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Unroll 1 pie crust (if using refrigerated), place into a deep dish pie plate.
• In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Toss to coat the apples with the other ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. Pour into prepared pie shell.
• Mix together ingredients for topping until smooth. Pour over apple mixture.
• Place remaining pie crust on top and crimp to seal the edges. Brush the top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool completely before serving.

Sweet, creamy, rich and satisfying, this apple pie represents everything that I adore about Fall. It’s everything that I want Fall to be. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Melissa DelGaudio is a self-professed food lover & apple junkie. When she’s not slicing up goodness here at Prime Cuts, she’s the Big Apple over at Honeybee Consulting, where she bakes up sweet marketing strategies for her clients. Visit her there, or check her out over on Twitter, where she’s often flakier than her pie crust.

Today Sue Murphy pops in to share an awesome cabbage rolls recipe with us.  By day, Sue is a partner Jester Creative, a new media production company. She also blogs at Suzemuse. By night, she experiments with both cooking and eating food (especially eating) and enjoys the occasional culinary success in the kitchen.

Suze’s World Famous Cabbage Rolls

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Makes about 15 rolls
(recipe can easily be doubled, and they will freeze well)

Ingredients

1 medium head of green cabbage
1 lb medium ground beef
1/2 cup long grain white rice (uncooked)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans of condensed tomato soup
1 can tomato sauce

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cut around the core of the cabbage with a sharp knife to loosen leaves. Place whole cabbage in a pot of boiling water.

While cabbage is cooking (in about 10 minutes you can peel off the first leaves), mix ground beef, rice, water, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Peel off the first couple of leaves of cabbage using tongs, and drain excess water. Place a cabbage leaf on a clean surface. Trim off about 1/2 an inch of the hard stem at the bottom of the leaf. Place about 2 tablespoons of the ground beef in the bottom part of the leaf. Do not overstuff. Fold the sides of the leaf in and roll the leaf around the beef, making a nice tight roll. Place the roll in a medium-deep baking pan. Repeat until all the beef is used up, layering the dish with about 15 rolls.

Pour the tomato soup and tomato sauce over the rolls to coat thoroughly. Tightly cover the pan with foil and place in oven. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Let rest out of oven for 10 minutes and serve with boiled buttered potatoes or pierogies.

Ta daaaa!  Enjoy!

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Photo by: Danakochan

One of my mom’s favorite stories about me is this: one Saturday morning, when I was about three years old, she awoke to strange sounds at about 7 o’clock. She tiptoed downstairs, only to find me sitting, still in my nightgown (hair freakishly tousled), in front of the television, watching Julia Child and eating bleu cheese straight out of its packaging.

This explains a great deal about me, actually.

Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you that I don’t often do things the way you’re “supposed” to do them. I like to be different. The way I cook and eat is no exception. I love a little adventure. It’s something that’s brought a lot of fun and enjoyment to my life, so, when I had kids, I wanted to expose them to the same types of experiences.

So often I hear people say things like, “You can’t give that to a kid!” My general response is, “Why on Earth not?” Give a kid nothing but bland, cookie-cutter foods, and that’s all he’s ever going to want. If you give a kid nothing but one flavor, don’t be surprised when he complains if you ever try to serve something new for dinner. Is there anything wrong with having plain cheese pizza or chicken nuggets? No. But don’t let that be all they know. To my mind, the more interesting things to which our kids are exposed, the better off they (and you) will be.

One of my favorite ways to get new tastes and flavors in my kids’ diets is by taking a mainstay kid dish and putting a new twist on it. You’d be surprised at how receptive they are to the “new” version. So, instead of mac n’ cheese (not that there’s anything wrong with that), why not make … Cheesy Orzo? Mmmm.

Cheesy, Creamy Orzo

Ingredients

1 pound Orzo
2 tablespoons olive oil (you don’t need extra-virgin for this)
1 shallot, minced
1 clove chopped garlic
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes (well-drained)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt & freshly-ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

In a large saucepan filled with boiling, salted water, cook the Orzo according to the package directions (usually 8 minutes or so). Drain.

While the Orzo is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Add the chopped shallots and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Briefly remove the skillet from the heat, add the tomatoes (tomatoes can REALLY spatter when you add them to a hot, hot pan) and saute for about 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes are nice and tender. Stir in the cream, peas and cooked Orzo. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, until each bit is cheesy, creamy goodness. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

This is a delicious, easy, nutritious meal that’ll expose your kids (and you) to new flavors and textures. Another bonus is that it’s QUICK, which makes it the ideal choice for a school night.

Whip up a batch tonight. I promise your kids will be begging for more (I know mine always do).

When she’s not chatting about creamy goodness on Prime Cuts, Melissa DelGaudio is the principal over at Honeybee Consulting. Visit her there, or catch her over on Twitter, where she’s often very, very cheesy.

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I’d be hard pressed to come up with anything that I love more than spending time in my grandparents kitchen. Everything about it I love. I love the bickering over the “right” way to make the sauce, watching the flare, learning each dish’s unique flavor profile, and well, of course eating gorging.  The entire day at the Randazza household is centered around food — you wake up and eat breakfast, start on lunch and clear the table and then start on dinner. Eat, eat, eat, mange, mange, mange.

While I didn’t grow up close to my grandparents, I’ve been fortunate enough to log a number of hours in their house observing the production, and as I’ve gotten older it’s become increasingly more important to me to learn each recipe’s process so that I can share them with the friends and family I care about. Their dishes are less about learning to cook, and more about learning how to show love. To me (and my family), food is love.

This week I made the trip from Seattle to their kitchen in Gloucester, Mass with one mission, learn how to make the Randazza sauce.  To an untrained eye it might look like any ordinary marinara sauce, but the nose and mouth tell an entirely different story: UN-freaking-BELIEVABLE.

I have to preface this recipe by saying that it’s different every time. There is no measuring involved. Just a large pot that my nonna (grandmother) adds a little of this, and then my nonno (grandfather) complains about the flavor and throws in more a lot more of that. And admittedly after the four hours of it simmering and my grandparents back and forth, I lost track of quantity.

With that said, use this recipe as guidelines to create your own incredible family sauce and pass along to friends and share your love.

The Randazza Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh garlic cloves (sixish?), chopped
Medium Yellow Onion, chopped
A potato, peeled and chopped into cubes

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky, so I’m fudging some of the recommended amounts:
1 – 2 cans of tomato paste (really depends on how thick you want the sauce)
LARGE can of tomato puree (depending on the volume you might want to throw in two)
Sugar
Fresh basil
water

Preparation

Start by coating a medium pan with olive oil (I strongly suggest splurging on a quality EVOO — worth it!). Saute several garlic cloves,  with a medium yellow onion.  Add potatoes (they cut the tartness of the sauce) and continue to saute until potatoes are ever-so-slightly softened.

In a large pot over a medium heat pour in tomato paste and puree, as well as your saute mixture. Add as much water as you’d like to make the sauce as thick or thin as you desire.

When the sauce begins to bubble, add in sugar to sweeten (this is totally a preference thing). Typically I like my sauce sweeter, so I dump in about 3/4 of a cup-ish.  Turn down to a low simmer and add in several pieces of basil (basil holds its flavor best when you wait to add it in at the end).

Cook the sauce for as long as you want, the flavor profile will change the longer it’s on the stove. Totally up to you, so experiment and ENJOY!

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Photo by: fritish

Nicolás Catena is the man responsible for Argentinean wine as we know it today.  I was recently invited to attend a ceremony honoring Nicolás Catena, for being named Decanter Magazine’s man of the year in wine.  This honor is especially significant for Nicolás, as he is the first Argentinean to receive this award.  For those who do not know, Catena is more or less responsible for putting Argentina on the wine map, and furthermore proving that Argentine wines can stand up alongside some of the great French, and in particular Bordeaux wines in terms of overall quality.  For Nicolás Catena this achievement came from many years toiling with the specifics of wine production in Argentina’s Uco Valley, and with a the right combination of patience, timing, and a little help from family and friends, many years of trial and error eventually became, trial and success.

Catena wines have had a lengthy relationship with the Boston area, and the state of Massachusetts (there is a scene in The Departed when Leonardo DiCaprio is sitting on a case of Catena Malbec).  Catena’s daughter, Laura attended Harvard University, and played then, as she still does now a very active role in both winemaking and distribution for Catena vineyards.  For this reason Nicolás and Laura Catena were honored additionally, in Massachusetts after the European Decanter Ceremony.  This event was coordinated by M.S. Walker, the Massachusetts wine distributing company that is responsible for retailing Catena’s fine wines, and with whom Catena has long standing ties.  Attendees to this event were selected based on the amount of Catena wines sold over the last five years, as well as their respective relevance to the winemaker.

So, when I was asked to attend as the representative of Caminito, my small Argentinean Steakhouse, I considered it quite a personal milestone, as well as extremely fortunate that the ceremony was held not only within driving distance, but on my day off!  I have featured Catena’s fine wines as well as his table wines on my restaurant wine list since the day I opened, and although I may not have sold as many cases as some of the large retail companies that were in attendance, the fact that I do so in an Argentine themed Steakhouse made my presence all the more relevant.  As my wine list has matured over the years so has my palate, and I can honestly say that I have had the opportunity to notice the changes from vintage to vintage and taste firsthand how Catena’s fine wines have come to be recognized as some of the best in not only Argentina, but the world!

At the Boston event not only did the wine flow freely, but the really, really, good wine flowed freely!  It was amazing being able to try wines that are at the top end of some of Argentina’s best restaurants’ wine lists, as well as some that rarely make it onto U.S. soil.  There were speeches by Catena, and his daughter Laura, as well as the President of M.S. Walker, and some of Catena’s colleagues.  Most of the subject matter pertained to the fact that Nicolás Catena has long been unofficially credited with perfecting Malbec (Argentina’s now famous red grape). The majority of the speeches concluded with how proud everyone is that Catena is now officially credited for Argentinean Malbec’s rise to fame.

It was Catena’s attention to detail that led him to find that in order to produce world class Malbec, soil composition was far less important than he originally thought.  It was the mountain side territory, and in particular latitude, that translated to the most important growing factors of temperature and sunlight intensity. These are the key ingredients if you will, which are necessary to produce Malbec that has the greatest complexity and elegance.   Precise blending of specific vineyards, and the selection of old aged vines are secondary factors that Catena has been perfecting in his life’s work of putting Malbec on the world wine map.

So for me it was a proud moment when, with a glass of Catena’s rarely exported Malbec Argentino in my hand, I was able to introduce myself to the godfather of Argentine wine, and say “Thank you, I have been proudly pouring your wines at Caminito Argentinean  Steakhouse since opening day, and I will continue to do so for as long as they are made”.  Catena spoke with the quiet confidence that only comes from years of experience and success, when he simply replied “you are very welcome, happy to do it”.

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