Roasted Eggplant Spread

We’re on a countdown to the Super Bowl. The one time you can be a couch potato with impunity. Also, it’s the one event where Americans can eat their favorite foods without guilt. Men take the lead at this party, and their tastes have set the tone for the snacks as well as the entertainment. Would you believe this is the second biggest snack day of the year? Second only to… you guessed it… New Years. There are going to be lots of parties in lots of homes so whether you are having one, going to someone else’s, or just watching the game at home with your family this a big day for food- all kinds. And for your buddies who aren’t into football, the Super Bowl is a great excuse to get together with friends at the end of the very boring month of January. Sometimes it’s fun just watching the half-time show and mega-bucks commercials.

This is definitely a portable food event. A buffet is the only option; nobody wants to be sitting down at a table to eat when they'd rather be screaming at a television set or two. I wanted to catch you before you hit the grocery store and give you a new recipe to try - not one of the heartier snacks like Buffalo wings, pizza or chili - but a dip. Not only is this a really good dip, but (dare I say it?) a healthy one, too. Don’t get me wrong, I like the old standbys: clam dip, spinach dip, crab dip and 7 layer dip. And while I know eating smart and healthy just isn’t in the cards for Super Bowl parties, it might be fun to offer a refreshing new dip that is not only flavorful but healthy too.

Listing those old dips just now brought to mind a funny old TV episode. Do you remember that 1993 Seinfeld show in which George Costanza is confronted at a funeral reception after dipping the same chip twice? We laughed, but honestly, didn’t it make you hesitate just a little the next time you saw a dip at a party? I even put a small spoon in my nut dishes now.

Luckily, my recipe is more a spread than a dip- so if you stick a small cocktail knife in the dish, everyone will spread it on- no double dipping. I like to serve it with some toasted pita triangles. Make it on Saturday- then the flavors will have had time to meld. The men in my family especially like this because it’s spicy and the women like it because it’s basically a veggie, it’s unusual and a snap to make. All you need is a food processor; the only thing that takes a little time is the peeling and cubing- which really takes no time at all. Roasting gives the vegetables tons of flavor and then you just dump it all in the processor. You really need to try this- I kid you not.

Roasted Eggplant Spread

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients:2 medium eggplants, peeled
1 red bell pepper, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
3 tablespoons chopped parsley (save a few sprigs for garnish)
Method:Preheat oven to 400°.
Cut the eggplant, red bell pepper and onion into 1 inch cubes. Mix the garlic, olive oil, cayenne, salt and pepper and toss with the vegetables. Spread on a non-stick or silpat-lined large baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes. Toss several times while roasting so the vegetables are evenly browned and tender. Cool slightly.

Pour all the vegetables into a food processor, add the lemon juice and tahini and pulse until blended. Add the chopped parsley and blend briefly. Put the eggplant mixture into a pretty bowl, garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve with toasted pita triangles.

Gingerbread Trifle: Café Maxx

No, no- this is not a post reviewing restaurants, but simply about one particular restaurant. Our favorite. We have been eating here since they opened in the 80’s; Café Maxx has just about the best food in South Florida (and could easily hold its own in New York City); as well, their wine list is extraordinary. In the beginning, we couldn't even get a reservation and actually gave up trying for a while.

The innovative chef/co-owner here is Oliver Saucy and years ago I took a cooking class or two from him when he and his partner Darrel had opened East City Grill directly across from the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. My mother always loved cooking classes and enjoyed lunching afterwards so this was a treat for her; we also loved being entertained by the antics of the beach crowd – let’s face it- this is Elbow Room country. So we went often, with or without cooking classes; such fun. We even made the drive down for dinner off and on. It was a sad day for us when it closed- the hotel where they were located went condo.

Chef Oliver and Darrel Broek also own Café Maxx; I think the official name is Darrel and Oliver’s Café Maxx. It’s located in a strip mall on East Atlantic Blvd. in Pompano Beach. You’d drive right by it if you didn’t have a GPS. (Check out details at http://www.cafemaxx.com/.) They’re open 364 days a year. It’s closed on some off-the-wall day like Labor Day. That also means it’s open Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day (along with the eves). Very busy here all the time but it gets really crowded on those particular days. It makes one wonder if holiday cooking is going out of style but then I remember this is Florida: perpetual vacationland.

Anyway….my daughter and I celebrated New Year’s Eve there this year. Per usual we had a lovely wine, delicious dinner (I’ve got to stop her from ordering rack of lamb every single time.) and, although we couldn't possibly fit in another mouthful, we had a peek at the dessert menu. And there sat Gingerbread Trifle. I couldn’t resist. I knew it wouldn’t be what we expected-they put such an ingenious touch on everything here, so we absolutely HAD to share one.

And I was right: it wasn’t what we expected. Oh, it was trifle all right, but the gingerbread had an unusual flavor and was toasted, there was some sort of spicy black cherry sauce layered in with the pastry cream and some sugared pistachios were sprinkled on top. Absolute ambrosia. Be fun to find out if everyone loved it as much as we did.

For the first time ever I twisted Darrel’s arm and persuaded him to get me the recipe. (I wonder who their pastry chef is? Big talent there because they also have this dense chocolate thing both my sons adore and an almond apple tart tatin to die for.) So- with the ( 3 page!) recipe in hand, I made the trifle at home this week and it was just as good as I remembered- better maybe. I’m going to share this little piece of heaven with you; save the recipe for the holidays next year- I guarantee a smash hit. All ages.

It’s an odd sort of gingerbread batter, so don't be surprised, but it works. I was lucky to get fresh black cherries this week, but if you can’t, you could try the canned- just drain them. While cooking, I was thinking of ways to make this in advance for a busy holiday meal. The cake you could bake and freeze, ditto the black cherry mixture. You could do the pastry cream the day before along with the pistachios. Then toast the gingerbread cubes and put it together before serving. Ready? Here it is:

Gingerbread Trifle

From Café Maxx, Pompano Beach, Florida

Components:Cubed gingerbread- toast before servingVanilla Pastry CreamSpiced Cherry SauceWhipped CreamCandied Pistachios

The Gingerbread:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

6 eggs, room temperature

3.6 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 tablespoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

2 teaspoons cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

14 ounces melted butter

1 1/2 cups half and half cream, room temperature

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter two loaf pans and sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs.

Combine the melted butter and half and half. Beat the sugar and eggs until very thick. Add the dry ingredients. Add the butter mixture to the flour. Mix. (It will be a very runny batter.) Bake for about 45 minutes.

The Vanilla Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

3 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 ounces butter, cold, diced

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 eggs, room temperature

2 yolks (save one of the whites for the pistachios)

1/4 cup cornstarch

Method:

In a saucepan, heat the milk and sugar.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and cornstarch well. Temper the milk into the eggs and return to the heat. Whisk briskly until the mixture has thickened. Quickly, remove from heat and pour into a mixer bowl, using the paddle attachment. Add the diced butter and vanilla and beat until somewhat cool. Put into a container and cover with plastic wrap, making certain the plastic wrap touches the custard top. Refrigerate until ready to use.

The Spiced Cherry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 bag of fresh black cherries

2 cinnamon sticks

5 whole cloves

1 star anise

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon water

Method:

Pit the cherries and put all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.

Cook about 20 minutes. Cool, put into a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.

The Candied Pistachios

Ingredients:

1 egg white

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 to 2 cups pistachios

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Whisk the first three ingredients together, add the nuts and toss. Lay out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake until you can smell the nuts.

To Assemble the Trifle:
Cut the gingerbread into 1 inch cubes and toast. Layer the pastry cream, spiced cherry sauce and gingerbread in a glass dish. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with pistachios.

Short Ribs

Brrrrrr. It’s cold. And as a result, I’ve been thinking about making short ribs for dinner tomorrow night. That should warm things up. Rarely have I felt the urge to make a stew-type dish since I moved to Florida, but this is the perfect time to do it. We’re supposed to have really cold weather (well, for us) for several days.

My mother used to make short ribs all the time but never wrote the recipe down, nor did I ask her for it- odd, because I love all her other recipes and still make them often. So I called my sister to see if she had ever written it down; she said no- besides, it turns out she has her own recipe- sweet and sour- which does not tempt me at all.

So I searched my cookbooks, talked to friends, went online and narrowed it down to a few recipes. Have you noticed short ribs are on menus everywhere? Maybe that's where I got the idea. I found them in the glossy food magazines and they’re in just about every cookbook I looked at- even my newest ones. Now that I think about it, my son ordered them a couple weeks ago when we were out for dinner. They seem to have transcended the seasons- they're not just for cold weather any more.

At the end of the day yesterday I was mulling over my pile of short rib recipes, watching the Barefoot Contessa with half an eye when she announced she was making short ribs for 2 friends. Do you believe it? One of my favorite chefs making a dish I was just about to try myself. They looked really good, too. So I printed out the recipe and this morning I went out and bought all the ingredients.

Ina Garten (who is the Barefoot Contessa) baked the short ribs in a hot oven to caramelize them but all the other recipes I found browned them in a pan. I am going to try her way which looks to be easier and much less messy. Another recipe in my pile suggested making them one day, refrigerating them overnight, removing the fat that has solidified on top and reheating them, saying they are better the next day anyway. Which I can easily believe, because most stews are like that. ( I plan to freeze any leftovers tonight.) To avert the too-much-grease problem, Ina suggested trimming the fat off the short ribs before caramelizing them in the oven, then she skimmed the excess fat from the top of the dish at one point.

When they came out of her oven, I could almost smell them they looked so good. I think they would be super with mashed potatoes but Ina, clever girl, served them with a cheesy corn bread that I would have made if company were coming. But this experiment is just for me (and you) and I sure don’t need cornbread! I’d end up eating it all myself. If you want to try it, go online and download her cornbread recipe- it’s called Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread; however for this particular short rib dinner, she left out the jalapeno and the scallion. One thing the cornbread would do is add some color to your plate. I would be a little fussier about my presentation if I had company coming, so forgive me.

P.S. Did I forget to mention how they turned out? Fragrant, tender and full of flavor.

Short Ribs

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients:

6 beef short ribs, trimmed of fat

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

4 cups celery, large dice

2 carrots, peeled and large-diced

1 small fennel, trimmed, core removed, large-diced

1 leek, cleaned well and large-diced, white part only

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 (750 ml) bottle burgundy (which I used) or other dry red wine

Fresh rosemary sprigs

Fresh thyme sprigs

6 cups beef stock

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400°.

Place the short ribs in a pan lined with foil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes. Remove and reset oven to 300°.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven proof pot and add the onion, celery, carrots, fennel and leek and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring once in a while. Add the minced garlic and cook for another couple minutes. Pour the wine over the vegetables and bringing to a boil, cook them until the liquid is reduced by half- about 10 minutes, although it was a little less when I did it. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Tie the rosemary and thyme together and put it in the pot.

Take the roasted short ribs, place them on top of the vegetables. add the beef stock and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Cover and bake in the oven for 2-3 hours or until the meat is very tender. (It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes.)

Remove the ribs (be careful, they will easily fall apart) and put them on a plate. Remove the herbs and skim any excess fat from the top. Cook over medium heat about 20 more minutes to reduce the liquid. Put the ribs back in and reheat.

Serve with cornbread or the old fashioned way, with potatoes.

Serves 3.