Mustard Roasted Red Potatoes

I haven't blogged in so long that I am on the verge of being kicked off my own blog by my feisty younger sister. Earlier this week, Cara proposed that since Braude's Bites uses the family name we should co-author this blog. Since Cara has just moved out of my parents' house into her own grown up apartment, she has been cooking up a storm for her boyfriend, Jon, who rates her meals on a 10 pt scale every night. I am still debating the merits of having her invade my blog.
On the pro side, she is very creative and funny. On the con side, THIS IS MY BLOG & I am not in Montreal to test her creations. Thoughts??

I have entertained twice this week, so my lack of blogging is not due to my lack of cooking and baking. Last Saturday, we had guests over for a steakhouse themed dinner. We had tuna tartare avocado to start, medium rare spicy filets with a cool yogurt mint sauce, mustard roasted potatoes and roasted asparagus for the main course and a key lime pie, fruit salad and raspberry lime tart from Citarella for dessert. The red wine was flowing, the company was great and Gioia brought her heavenly and buttery biscotti that have called my name EVERY SINGLE NIGHT since last week.

I learned when I first started entertaining that you DO NOT try a recipe for the first time when you entertain. There is nothing like the fear of the unknown and the stress that accompanies it when your guests arrive. With that being said, I gave the mustard roasted potatoes in Ina's new cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa at Home", a try a few nights before and they passed the test! This was the first recipe I tried from her new cookbook and as usual, her recipes are consistently outstanding.

Tonight, we hosted an impromptu and casual traditional Friday night dinner. We started with a mesclun salad with candied almonds, avocado and apple dressed in Nai's easiest and best dressing (1/3 balsamic, 1/3 dijon mustard, 1/3 olive oil and some minced garlic). We moved on to Moroccan chicken, fattoush and Sara Moulton's lemon roasted red potatoes. For dessert, we almost finished last week's biscotti and Nai brought a luscious chocolate cake from Balducci's.

Mustard Roasted Potatoes
Barefoot Contessa @ Home
Serves 6

2 1/2 lbs small red potatoes
2 yellow onions
3 Tbsp good olive oil
2 Tbsp whole grain mustard
kosher salt and a teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf (or Italian) parsley
(I added garlic too)

Cut the potatoes in halfs or quarters depending on their size and place on a sheet pan. Slice the onions into half rounds and mix with the potatoes. Add oil, mustard and s&p. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour until potatoes are soft inside and crispy outside. Toss the potatoes while they are in the oven a few times. When they come out, toss with parsley and a sprinkle of more kosher salt. Note: If you double the recipe, it will take a lot longer....close to an hour and a half.

To serve, warm in the oven for 10 minutes and you won't be able to tell they were made ahead of time. They remind me of a classy hash brown.

After of all of this entertaining, I wonder why I am not tired...it's 2 am and I'm awake....Food TV? Perhaps Bobby Flay is having a throwdown?

Thai Tom Yum Soup

Since I first made this soup, I had tom yum soup at my favorite Thai restaurant in the West Village, Galanga, and I went to the Institute of Culinary Education's "Essentials of Thai cuisine" to learn how to make tom yum soup. This version was much better tasting and better for you. This recipe is from Self magazine and was concocted by the chef from Tao in Las Vegas.

Disclaimer: this soup is not an easy meal, it takes a while to make. It's perfect for a Sunday dinner- bring the rest to work on Monday.
The reward is a zesty soup packed with lean protein that tastes different than every other night's dinner.

Thai Seafood Hot Pot
Self Magazine, November 2006

4 oz dried rice noodles

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 can (14 oz) diced tomato, with juice

1 cup light coconut milk

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp fish sauce

Zest of 2 limes (1 Tbsp)

1-2 Thai red chiles, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp sugar

1 stalk lemongrass, minced (if you don't mince, you will taste hard pieces)

6 sprigs cilantro

2 sprigs basil

1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 large sea scallop, cut in half

1 cup frozen calamari rings, thawed

juice of 1 lime

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Stir in noodles; remove from heat. Let stand until noodles soften, 7 to 10 minutes; drain. Heat oil in a large pot over medium hear. Cook shallots, garlic and onion until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add stock, juice from tomatoes, coconut milk, vinegar, fish sauce, lime zest, chiles, sugar and lemongrass. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add cilantro and basil; reduce heat to medium low; simmer 10 minutes. Remove garlic, cilantro and basil from pot; add tomatoes and mushrooms. Return to a simmer. Add shrimp and scallops; cook for 2 minutes. Add calamari and lime juice. Season with s&p. Divide noodles among 4 bowls; top with broth and seafood. Garnish with basil and cilantro, if you'd like.

An Unusual Pasta Pie

I have certainly been a poor correspondent; a lapsed blogger, if you will. And to all those who’ve been checking in regularly and who’ve sent emails or comments asking after me, thank you and my apologies for going MIA since—how long has it been?—October??

It was a busy last quarter of the year—ironic, since I quit my job in October. The last few months have been filled with exciting new opportunities and naturally, lots of cooking and baking as it happens with the festive season. Between the rushing around and numerous dinners to cook and attend, not to mention the cake orders that came pouring in (just one of the aforementioned new opportunities), there was nary a free moment to document, photograph, or simply sit for a minute to reflect.

Hence, this post, with “action shots” taken just as the pie emerged from the oven, minutes before it hit the dinner table where 12 hungry cousins awaited. It is a late post, to be sure, but hey, better late than never, no?



This Unusual Tortellini Pie from Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s whopper of a book, The Splendid Table , was the reason I insisted Christmas dinner this year be held at my house. Just the thought of constructing this lavish centrepiece alone was challenging enough—especially with a project that took up a good nine hours a day away from home—but I was hooked on the idea, and there was just no stopping me.

A sweet, crumbly crust, bound by lashings of white wine, within which a layering of tortellini, ragu, and tiny meatballs lay. Just before the top crust is put in place, a voluptuous cinnamon-scented custard is ladled over it all, providing an gorgeous accent—both taste and texture-wise—to the pie’s meaty flavours.

As the author suggested, I made each component, one a day (or more like night, when the office and page upon page of magazine were left behind for the day): The meatballs on Monday evening, the ragu on Tuesday, the custard on Wednesday… Alas, by the time Thursday rolled around, I was simply too exhausted and overwhelmed to make the tortellini from scratch, so I went with some leftover dried penne instead. Purists may balk, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Some of the other items on the menu that night included a roasted pork loin with macadamia nut and apricot stuffing, a warm scallop and rocket salad, vichyssoise, grilled wagyu steak (a dish that’s turning into a new Christmas tradition among the Cousins Tan), vanilla bean pannacotta with raspberry compote, and three flavours of home-made ice cream: peanut butter and chocolate, rocky road and vanilla honey. Yes, we certainly ate well.

But back to the pie. In the 1500s, records of Italian court life tell of numerous elaborate and savoury pies. Sugar, being a status symbol, was used with abandon during feasts, so sweet crusts that held savoury or sweet fillings were the fashion of the day. Apparently, “many were designed to be showstoppers: when their lids were lifted, flocks of live birds flew out. Some contained three pounds each of butter and salt pork, four roast pigeons, juice of sour grapes, saffron, nutmeg, cloves, and handfuls of cinnamon and pepper.”

The sweet pastry of this pie is a nice contrast to its intensely savoury insides. On its own, the meatballs were too rich with Parmesan cheese, the Baroque ragu (dominated by chicken and encompassing beef chuck, Italian sausage and chicken giblets) and meat tortellini on top would have just been overkill. But the slightly sweet cushion of custard and the sugary pastry cut through it all nicely, so it was a fine balance of sweet and savoury.

Would I do it again? No doubt about it. But next time, I’m taking the entire week off.

Happy New Year!