Greetings and Happy New Year!

New Englanders have a love hate relationship with the seasons. We love to say that New England is the best region in the country because we have four very distinct and uniquely special seasons.  This being said we all know that winter can sometimes be one of the most difficult to endure especially at the rate we are going.

La Cuisine has the perfect cure for those Winter Blues; a cooking class here in our state of the art kitchen.  The first class “Pasta” was a smashing success, each and every student left with an ear to ear grin and a full belly.  Executive Chef Uli Weil has a special place in his heart for homemade pasta and it was his mission last Wendesday night to impart that love onto our students.

Students starting by donning aprons and kitchen towels and then got right to work mixing eggs, flour and a pinch of salt to get their pasta dough started.  Kneading was the next order of business, followed by multiple runs through the pasta machine.  The first pasta that students made was the Herbed Fettucine.

Next was Butternut Squash Agliotti, basically more intricately folded ravioli, that are made by rolling out large sheets of dough and filling each one with a dollop of filling.  The filled sheet is then pinched together by hand, cut with a pasta wheel, and then folded into the desired shape.

Students rotated through the various stations in the kitchen taking turns making dough, needed, and perfecting the art of using the hand cranked pasta machine. Students who started the class only watching were soon covered in flour and were rolling pasta dough like experts.

The open forum gave students the opportunity to ask questions about consistency of the dough, amount of kneading required, what happens if the dough breaks, how much pasta do I need for my family, what are the cooking times for fresh pasta.  Uli fielded each and every question and the intimate format allowed everyone to really get involved.

After about an hour and half, students washed up and headed to the communal table in the Cafe and Market to eat the fruits of their labor. It was truly amazing to see people who just a few hours before had been pasta novices emerge comfortable and confident in their pasta making skills.  Uli preprepared three sauces to accompany the pastas. A Ragu Bianco (mushrooms, chicken livers, garlic, with a touch of cream, very rich), a Sage Brown Butter with Balsamic Vinegar (browned butter, walnuts, sage, and balsamic vin.), and finally a traditional Marinara Sauce.  Once cooked, the pastas were left undressed so that each student could try a small helping of sauce with their freshly made pasta.

Students finished the night by discussing their efforts, the taste of their pastas, and the techniques involved.  Uli sat down with students as they ate to answer any lingering questions and talk more about his philosophy on food and cooking in general.

Next up, Braising!, this class will focus on using under utelized cuts of meat that are often less expensive to make extra ordinary stews and warm winter dishes.  Space is limited but still available, please call us at 203-488-777 and/or check the Cooking Classes section on www.lacuisine.net. for more information.

Keep those Winter Blues at bay, Happy Cooking from La Cuisine.

Tags: Add new tag, agliotti, braising, brown butter, butternut squash, Cafe, Classes, cooking, cooking classes, fettucine, LaCuisine, marinara, Market, New England, pasta, ragu, sauces, success, Uli Weil, winter

Today’s New York Times had a significant number of letters commenting on Marcella Hazan’s Op Ed piece from November 29th.  Seems like she hit quite a nerve in the controversy between calling one a chef versus a cook, and the ramnifications of the decision.

Although I’ve been cooking most of my adult life, and produced most of La Cuisine’s food for the first 8 – 10 years of our existence, I have never thought of myself as a chef.  I am a fairly non-hierarchical guy, I call my doctors by their first names along with anyone else I happen to run into.  I don’t think it’s disrespectful, just a way to diminish barriers and promote conversation.  Here in the kitchen, we have an Executive Chef, but no one refers to him as such, his name is Uli.  Our Pastry Chef is Kevin, our Sous Chef Louis, etc.  The titles are descriptive of their roles in the organization, not what we call them.

My son Alex is completing his externship from the Culinary Institute at Restaurant Daniel, a fairly traditional French kitchen, where titles are used more often than not as a sign of respect.  Most of the instructors at Hyde Park are referred to as Chef as well.  It is simply a different orientation.  Neither is right or wrong for every one in every situation.  Does it “cheapen” the title as some in today’s paper thought, when applied to today’s celebrity “chefs”?  Probably a bit – can you equate four or five years of experience to 20 or thirty?  Does the definition need to be expanded a bit to embrace the radical shift in training, experience and exposure that today’s chefs receive?

The most interesting point Marcella made back on the 29th is the need to remember that “the food prepared and shared at home…has provided a solid center to our lives.  Which is why, as we come together over the holidays, we should take a moment to think about how we can become cooks again.   Cooking delivers its truest and most enduring gifts when it is savored in intimacy, prepared by a cook with love.”

I think back to my grandmothers’ kitchens in Brooklyn, the aunts, uncles, cousins and more gathered around large tables laden with food, cooked with joy, eaten with delight.  In many respects, it is why I do what I do.  Cook or chef, chef or cook, I’m not sure it really matters.  What seems most important to me is the simplicity of great ingredients, well seasoned.  Gather those you care about most, then cook, eat, drink, enjoy.

Ben

Tags: chef, cook, Culinary Institute of America, ingredients, marcella hazan, New York Times, Op ed, Restaurant Daniel, seasoned

Since our opening last July we have been committed to using all natural chicken and beef.  Many of our new customers often ask me why we have made this choice. We here at La Cuisine truly believe that all natural chicken and beef simply taste better and are better for the environment than their conventional counterparts.  Read on for more details!

Does all natural protein taste better than conventional?

We believe this is a big yes and probably our number one reason for using these proteins.   We have found that all natural chicken has a deeper, earthier flavor, tasting in fact more like chicken. The breasts remain tender when cooked and do not have a tendency to dry out even when reheated.  All natural beef exhibits many of the same properties, the beef has better marbling (fat dispersed throughout a particular cut) and the flavor is deeper and richer than conventional products.

All natural chicken and beef are fed using feed that is exactly what the name implies “All Natural”.  That means no animal byproducts are feed to the animals, they eat corn, whole grains, grass, and minimally processed feed.  This also means that there are no antibiotics in the animals feed.  They fight diseases naturally and are not pumped full of hormones to mask real flavor.  This ultimately allows the animal to live a more normal life, as nature intended.  As the end consumer of a long natural cycle, we benefit from all that the animal has ingested.

Most conventional chickens and cows are kept in massive holding areas as they grow and are prepared for harvest.  Their feed is filled with antibiotics and hormones to protect them from being in such close quarters with each other and to artificially inflate their growth rates so they can reach weight faster.  As a result, meat does not develop the deep complex flavor of all natural proteins.  Often times we find conventional meat to be bland and flavorless.  Sauces and rubs easily mask the flavors of the product instead of working in harmony with it as with all natural chicken and beef.

Is all natural chicken and beef better for the environment?

We believe the answer is yes.  Animals are not kept in massive holding lots like their conventional counterparts.  Therefore, animal waste can be processed at normal levels instead of the massive amounts of animal by product that occurs from conventional husbandry.  Many farms actually use their own animal manure to fertilize crops on their land thereby keeping the growth cycle within the farm itself.  Animals eat natural feeds that their own manure originally helped to fertilize.  Sounds slightly graphic but the truth comes out when you taste the products.

All natural feed helps to support organic and all natural farming, minimizing the use of pesticides on the land.  Crops and feed grown organically and all naturally use natural pesticides and herbicides to protect against insects.  As a result farm run off is not toxic and does not contribute to the pollution of our creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, and ultimately the ocean.

All natural beef and chicken tastes fantastic, is better for the environment, and as a result is ultimately better for you the consumer. Stop by today and try our delicious all-natural chicken and beef dishes.  See for yourself what all natural is all about!

Please check out the following web sites for more information on all-natural proteins:

Our meat supplier: www.cambridgepacking.com

All-natural chicken farm: www.springermountainfarms.com

All-natural beef: www.brandtbeef.com

Tags: all-natural, animals, antibiotics, beef, chicken, conventional, environment, flavor, hormones, La Cuisine, pesticides, proteins, taste

A warm lentil salad made a great addition to a mustard coated rack of lamb the other night. The lamb was salt and peppered, simply coated with Pommerey whole grain mustard, dusted with bread crumbs, and then thrown in a 400 degree oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, depending on the size of the rack and how you like your lamb.

After a quick browse through Alice Waters The Art of Simple Cooking, I cooked a cup of lentils for about 30 minutes until done, drained them, and tossed in some salt and fresh ground pepper, and about 2T of Banyuls red wine vinegar then tossed while still warm. I fine diced about 1/2 cup each of eggplant and onion, quickly sautéed in olive oil, and finished with another 2T of vinegar. Added that to the lentils. Picked about 1/4 cup total of mint, basil and parsley, chopped fine, added to the lentils, with the tips of a bunch of blanched asparagus. Just before serving, I added 1/2 piece of Chévre aux épices, a wonderful French goat cheese we just started carrying. As you can see, it is crusted with fine herbs. It is fresh, soft, mild, and a perfect compliment to the lentils. Added a green salad and bingo – another 30 minute miracle!

Tags: Alice Waters, Chevre, fine herbs, goat cheese, lamb, lentils, pepper, Pommerey, salt, summer dinning, The Art of Simple Cooking

Julia Child would be 96 today. The recent revelations about her career as a spy (New York Times, 08/14/08) have only added to the incredible stature of one of the first true stars de cuisine in America. Her first tome, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published shortly before I started law school in Boston. Written with Louisette Berthole and Simca Beck, the volume was both scary for it’s incredible detail and exciting for the door it opened to French cuisine. Watching the taping of her shows at WGBH, buying heretofore unheard of ingredients at Cardullo’s in Harvard Square or the stalls of Haymarket downtown became one of the few affordable activities on a student budget that occasionally produced some good food as a by product. She defined technique, the illustrations were typically helpful, sometimes not so, but the recipes did work if you followed them with precision.

Her style evolved as our palette’s did, focusing on ingredients as well as process, pulling back from the grand cuisine of her early works to embrace a more fluid, relaxed approach, much easier for the novice to try. Even in her 90’s, her persona lit up the TV screen in the specials she did with a variety of chefs, including our local celeb, Jacques Pépin. The chemistry between them was delightful.

One of my all time favorite Julia recipes, done in conjunction with Jacques, is for Leg of Lamb. It’s perfect for this time of year with some grilled eggplant, steamed just dug potatoes, and the last of the haricot vert in the garden. See below.

I, like many, can still hear that distinctive voice in the pages of her books, and remember her signature sign off: Bon Appetit!

Leg of Lamb a la Julia Child

2 1/4 pound leg of lamb, butterflied

Marinade

2 large cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS dijon mustard
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp thyme
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil

Puree garlic into a small bowl and mash to a paste with the salt. Whisk in the mustard, soy, herbs (one may also use rosemary or oregano, or a mixture of all three), lemon juice. Add the oil slowly, still whisking, to make a mayonnaise-like cream.

In a dish large enough to accommodate the leg of lamb, coat with the marinade. Let sit at least 8 hours, overnight if possible. Note – I use a large ziplock that I can rotate and turn every hour or so.

Preheat oven to 325. Roast lamb in a roasting pan until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees (approximately 45 minutes — as determined from Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, it should be about 24 minutes per pound). Let rest under foil tent for 15-20 minutes and serve.

Tags: America, Bon Appetit, Boston, Cardullo's, chefs, chemistry, eggplant, French cuisine, Garden, grand cuisine, grilled, haricot vert, Harvard Square, Haymarket, Jacques Pépin, Julia Child, Julia recipes, Leg of Lamb, Louisette Berthole, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, persona, potatoes, Simca Beck, WGBH