Mike's Table

Indian Spiced Pear & Butternut Squash Soup

mike — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:00:37 +0000

Every time of year brings memories of a few dishes with it that we all quietly pine for. Autumn and butternut squash is that mystical combo for my wife and I. In general, butternut squash soup is a pretty simple and straightforward thing, but to keep this from becoming something we grow tired of, I like to change it up every time I make it. In this case, I wanted a light starter as a prelude to a bigger dinner, but still something big and bold on flavor.

This soup was a delicious way to start a meal. It looks deceptively simple (like any other butternut squash soup), but has a surprisingly complex flavor. The pear added an almost unnameable but distinct tangy sweetness while the peppers and assortment of spices lent an incredibly full flavored back drop to the whole experience. I didn’t want to stick with the usual assortment of “pumpkin pie spices” that seem so beaten to death at this

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Lemon and Ricotta Pound Cake

mike — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:00:39 +0000

Pound cake is a rare treat for me, and given how easy it is to make, I’m not sure why I don’t have it more often. Its delicious, rich, crumbly, and buttery on its own but is also easily tweaked to highlight other flavors.

In this case, I chose to go with a more Italian inspired flavor profile: creamy and tangy ricotta with the bright flavor of lemon. The cake was delicious, and I topped it off with a simple, sweet, lemony glaze to further the lemon flavor. The final result was delicious with a sweet, crispy crust around the edges and a tender, crumbly, delicious cake inside. My only regret was using too small of a loaf pan (so I also had some free-form pound cakelet blobs to enjoy on the side, lol).

Cake
- 1.5 cups flour
- 2.5 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup/6 oz unsalted butter
- 1.5 cups fresh whole milk ricotta
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- Optional: dash

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Roast Pork Belly with Garlicky Thyme Gravy

mike — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:00:52 +0000

Have you ever had pork belly before? If you’re not sure, perhaps a simpler question will answer it: have you ever had bacon before? Bacon is a cured, (often) smoked, and then thinly sliced pork belly…so that should give you a vague sense of what this cut of meat is about. It can be a tough cut so it requires a bit of time to cook properly (low and slow is the way to go…I could keep rhyming), but when done right, it is incredibly rich and flavorful–oh and the roughly 50% fat striated throughout the meat also doesn’t hurt. This is the cut of meat for pork lovers who aren’t afraid of a succulent meal (if you’re strictly a chicken breast and/or pork tenderloin type, this might be a stretch).

For this particular preparation, rather than braising the belly (commonly done in an Asian style), I chose to roast mine. I started with a strong spice rub and an ~8 hour

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Butternut Squash and Sausage Lasagna

mike — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:00:35 +0000

I’m not sure what it is about baked pasta dishes, but I can’t think of one that isn’t comfort food. Rich, creamy dishes like macaroni & cheese and pastitsio readily pop into my head. Another common craving: lasagna. I didn’t feel like putting in the time to make a good bolognese sauce to make that lasagna happen, so instead I opted for a lasagna with a bit of an autumny twist. The usual pasta, Bechamel, and cheese remain, but in place of a meaty, tomatoey sauce, I cooked up a butternut squash-centric sauce with a bit of Italian sausage.

The sauce reminded me a bit of a hearty squash soup I had made last season. It had sweet, smoky, spicy notes that warm you from the inside in the way that you just crave during the autumn months with touches of thyme and anisey flavors. The lasagna treatment for this sauce worked wonderfully and didn’t let me down in the comfort food department. The gooey,

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Guanciale

mike — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:00:32 +0000

It wasn’t very long ago when I had no idea what guanciale was. It sounded exotic, and while I know I’d heard the term here and there, I truly had no idea what it was, where to get it, or why I’d care. Being the curious food person I now am though, I learned a bit more about it, and now, with access to fantastic, locally raised pork, sought to make my own. So if you’re in the same boat I was and are wondering what guanciale is, the answer is simple: awesome.

If “awesome” didn’t do it for you, in more descriptive terms, guanciale is lightly seasoned, air-dried, cured pork jowl. Many people try to compare the end product to prosciutto or bacon. While those are both wonderful things, they really are nothing alike and if you have any inkling that they are adequate substitutes, dash that thought. The only comparison worth considering between guanciale and prosciutto is one I

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Pickled Chili Peppers

mike — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:00:29 +0000

While I tend to go all out with dinner, my weekday lunches tend to be fairly simple. I usually roast either a turkey or a chicken on the weekend, shred the meat, and portion it out appropriately for sandwiches. To keep this from being boring, I make small changes to each, whether it be the cheeses, sauces, or toppings–anything to trick myself into thinking I’m not eating the same thing everyday. There’s one thing that is constant though on every such variation of this sandwich though: pickled peppers. I used to think the jarred stuff from the grocery store was fine, but after seeing how simple home-made pickled peppers appeared, I couldn’t help but try it. Now, I can’t have enough of them. These are simply amazing.

Before summer is over and you can’t find good, fresh peppers, you seriously need to try these. Note, this is a fridge pickle and not a leave-it-in-your-pantry-for-months pickle–the salt & vinegar content is not

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Peach and Pecan Tart

mike — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:00:01 +0000

Before peach season entirely draws to a close, I felt I needed to have at least one peach pie in some shape or form. As we start to enter autumn and pecan season, this pie seemed like a natural bridge for my cravings (and entirely in line with other favorite pies of mine).

There are three major elements to this pie: the crust, the peach filling, and the pecan topping. I fell in love with each and the trio was a great mix. The crust was a pâte sablée (sweet pie dough) made with ground almonds for an assertive, sweet, but nutty flavor and a crisp, crumbly bite. The filling has the sweetness of peaches, accentuated by the tartness and added creaminess of quark (if you’ve never heard of it, it is a kind of cheese. I would compare it to a mix of cream cheese and sour cream as far as texture/flavor), the total combination of which is almost custardy

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Grilled Beer Bratwurst with Tangy Apple Slaw

mike — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:00:42 +0000

While I try to have a lot of variety in my cooking, there’s still a ton I haven’t tried. For some reason, German food has been stuck in this category for a long time and I’ve been meaning to remedy this for…just as long a time. Finally though, after hearing mention of beer brats at work, I couldn’t take it any more and decided to try to dress up this comfort food to be more than what most view it as: a glorified hot dog (so don’t go putting bratwurst in hotdog buns! Its better than that!).

This is a simple meal to prepare, and its really big on flavor. The brats are parboiled in a mixture of beer, shallots, and spices (think the sweet but savory, clean flavors of juniper and caraway) before they get crisped up with the smoky flavor of the grill, leaving the beer mixture to reduce to a thick sauce. These are served alongside some tender,

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Penne with Ragù of Roasted Tomato and Sausage

mike — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:00:01 +0000

There’s something homey and comforting about a good pasta dish. I’m not sure what it is, but its the kind of meal that just always does it for me. While I had visions of bolognese sauce dancing in my head, I knew I didn’t have the time to make it this week, so instead, I opted for something with a similar feel that was a bit more summery fare. Plus, after seeing Jeff’s roasted tomato & sausage penne, my mind was pretty much set that I had to do something similar.

With tomato season coming to a slow end, I can’t find myself getting enough of them. In sandwiches, salads, or sauces, I just need more. I’ve never had tomatoes like I get here in North Carolina. So with my usual, weekly bounty of approximately waymorethanIshouldhavebought, I thought a sauce was in order. I decided to roast a few in the oven, rather than the usual slow, stovetop simmer.

With the sweet, smoky

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Grilled Pork Chops with Chipotle Mustard and Swiss Cheese Sauce…and a giveaway!

mike — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:00:53 +0000

A while back, I was contacted by the folks behind Saucy Mama, a purveyor of sauces, marinades, and the like. They very generously sent a sizable package of goodies my way, and while I am always happy to have free food sent my way, I tend to approach it with a bit of skepticism. I curiously popped open the jar of chipotle mustard since that caught my eye and quickly had visions of pork chops dancing in my head (ever since trying the chops and more offered by my new favorite pig farmer, it seems that many things prompt me to think about pork chops, lol). After a quick trip to the farmer’s market, I had everything I needed for an amazingly delicious and fast meal.

The pork chops were massaged with a simple spice rub and kissed with that distinctly smoky flavor you can only get from the grill. While those cooked, I prepared the cream sauce in the style of

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