Crime Rib (Food Lovers' Village)

by Leslie Budewitz

  Arrange orange slices on the outer edge of a platter. Slice the steak diagonally across the grain into very thin slices and arrange in the center of the platter; garnish with mint. Serves 6.

  Erin’s Two Bean and Pesto Salad

  1 pound fresh green beans (the thin or French style, also called haricots vert, works best)

  1 14-ounce can white beans

  1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

  1 small white onion, chopped fine (sweet, red, or green onions also work well, but a yellow onion will be too strong)

  2 cups basil leaves

  1 or 2 cloves garlic, to taste

  ½ cup olive oil, more or less

  ½ cup Parmesan, grated

  ¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts (optional)

  Steam the beans until tender-crunchy (start checking after about 3 minutes). Rinse, drain, and cool, then cut into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch long. Rinse and drain the white beans. Mix the vegetables and beans in a large bowl and toss with pesto. Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature or chilled, by itself or on a bed of greens.

  Pesto: In a small (2-cup) food processor, loosely chop fresh basil leaves. Toss in 1 or 2 cloves of garlic—the pesto will blend more easily if you slice or chop the cloves first. Drizzle in olive oil and pulse. Add the oil and pulse until you get a good consistency for mixing with other ingredients. Add grated Parmesan and, if you’d like, pine nuts or walnuts, and pulse to mix well.

  The World’s Best Grilled Chicken Breasts

  The flavorful marinade makes this chicken incredibly moist. And since you’ve got the grill hot, serve with grilled naan. Brush olive oil on both sides of the naan and grill 3 to 4 minutes on each side. The grilling brings out the natural sweetness of the bread and is a great complement to the salad and chicken.

  4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, well trimmed

  1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  1⁄3 cup white wine vinegar

  1 tablespoon minced garlic

  1 tablespoon honey

  2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme

  ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

  ½ teaspoon coarse salt

  1½ tablespoons olive oil

  thyme sprigs for garnish

  Cover the chicken breasts with plastic wrap and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand or the flat of a chef’s knife, to promote even grilling. Place in a shallow glass dish.

  Make the marinade: Put the mustard, vinegar, garlic, and honey in a small bowl. Crumble in the thyme and pepper flakes and add the salt; stir to combine. Whisk in the olive oil. Pour the marinade over the chicken, cover, and marinate; 2 hours is optimal, but even 20 minutes will make for a moist chicken. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, to kill off any germs from the raw chicken.

  Grill: Erin uses a gas grill, preheated to medium. For a charcoal grill, heat until the coals are gray. Lightly coat your grill rack with a cooking spray, if needed. Place the chicken on the grill, basting frequently with the cooked marinade, about 6 minutes on each side. And don’t flip the darned things back and forth—leave them put! Check for doneness, then transfer to a serving plate and garnish with thyme sprigs. Serves 4.

  Huckleberry-Morel Tenderloin—It Woulda Been a Contender!

  For a large group, cook a whole tenderloin and slice to serve.

  SAUCE

  1 medium shallot, diced

  2 tablespoons butter

  1⁄3 cup morel mushrooms, cleaned and chopped (if morels aren’t available, use the stems from your portobello mushrooms)

  1 cup huckleberries or blueberries

  2 tablespoons A.1. Steak Sauce

  2 tablespoons soy sauce

  1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  ¼ cup red wine

  OTHER INGREDIENTS

  4 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed

  olive oil

  4 (6-ounce) filets or tenderloins

  fresh thyme sprigs for garnish

  Make the sauce: Sauté diced shallot in the butter until soft. Add the chopped mushrooms and sauté briefly. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until thickened and reduced by roughly half, about 10 minutes. (The sauce can sit while you steam the mushrooms and grill the filets.)

  Prepare the mushrooms and steaks: Grill your steaks to your desired temperature. Meanwhile, brush or spray both sides of the portobello caps with olive oil. Grill until tender, about 5 minutes a side.

  Plating: Place a mushroom cap on the plate, gills up, and top with steak. Spoon the berry sauce over the steak and mushroom, and garnish with a sprig of thyme. Serve with the rest of the red wine and enjoy! Serves 4.

  Chocolate Mousse Cups

  Don’t let the idea of mousse scare you—this one is super-easy. (Moose, now, are another story.)

  3½–4½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

  3 eggs, at room temperature, separated

  pinch of salt

  1½ teaspoons sugar

  chocolate tasting cups

  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or a saucepan large enough to hold the rest of the ingredients. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time.

  With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until they begin to form peaks. Continue beating and gradually add the sugar. Beat until the whites are shiny and hold medium-firm peaks.

  Spoon about a quarter of the whites into the chocolate mixture and stir until nearly smooth. (Stirring a bit of the whites first makes it easier to fold in the rest.) Fold in the remaining whites until mixed, being careful not to overmix and beat out the bubbles. (A few streaks actually look quite nice.)

  If you are using chocolate cordial cups, use a teaspoon and a small spatula to fill them. This recipe will easily fill 3 dozen cups, perfect for a reception or holiday party. The mousse can also be spooned into curved chocolate puffed rice wafers.

  For an after-dinner dessert, spoon the mousse into individual serving bowls or a larger serving bowl. If you’re ready to eat, go ahead; if not, chill before serving. This recipe serves 4 but can easily be doubled.

  (Erin discovered Dobla brand Dark Chocolate Cordial & Tasting Cups and Belgian Chocolate Thins puffed rice wafers at World Market, in her city days. Lacking a stash, she melts dark chocolate and paints it on the inside of small paper or foil muffin cups; she lets them harden, then fills them. Other fillings, including mascarpone, are also yummy.)

  • • • • •

  DINE CHEZ MAX

  Max’s Blue Cheese, Apple, and Walnut Salad

  A 3–4-ounce chunk of blue cheese

  ½ cup walnut halves, toasted

  mixed salad greens

  one Granny Smith apple

  olive oil and balsamic vinegar or a balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)

  Toss the blue cheese (well-wrapped in plastic) in your freezer for about half an hour. Toast chopped walnut halves at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes.

  Place mixed greens in your serving bowl. Slice a Granny Smith apple thinly and layer on top. Add the walnuts. Use a cheese slicer or potato peeler to curl slices of blue cheese on top. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or vinaigrette.

  Max serves the salad on individual plates with the walnuts and apple slices on the side.

  BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

  1 cup walnut oil

  1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

  1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

  Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

  Whisk ingredients together in a small bowl, or combine in a jar with a tightly fitting lid and shake to combine or emulsify the dressing. (Walnut oil is thinner than olive oil, so make sure the jar lid is tight and shake with care, to avoid a leaky mess.)

  Max’s House Salad

  mixed s
alad greens

  ½ cup hazelnuts, toasted (at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes)

  ¼ cup raisins

  olive oil and orange Champagne vinegar

  3–4 ounces crumbly goat cheese

  Toss mixed greens with toasted hazelnuts and juicy raisins. (If your raisins are dry, plump them for a few minutes in warm water, then drain well. Best to do this an hour before serving, if you think of it, to let them drain and cool.) Dress with a fruity olive oil and orange Champagne vinegar, and top with crumbled goat cheese.

  (Max gets his vinegar from a domaine near his hometown in Provence, but Erin found a great substitute, Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar, at Trader Joe’s.)

  Halibut in Brown Butter

  Max serves this with Parmesan-saffron risotto and seasonal vegetables, tender-crisp or roasted.

  ½ cup (one stick) butter

  fresh lemon juice

  2 tablespoons olive oil

  4 halibut filets, 4–6 ounces each

  salt and pepper

  Melt the butter in a saucepan and cook until lightly browned; it will foam, then foam a second time and brown. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to stop the browning. Set aside.

  Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides and place in the hot pan. Fry 4 minutes, then flip the fish, cover, and fry 4–6 minutes. Plate and sauce with the browned butter. Serves 4.

  • • • • •

  A TOAST TO NATIONAL S’MORES DAY!

  Officially August 10, it’s a holiday you can celebrate anytime! And oh, the options! Once you’ve eaten Wendy’s homemade graham crackers, you may never buy a box again. And Candy’s homemade marshmallows are, well, divine. The sandwich cookies Wendy and Erin created take a little time, but they’re worth it.

  Alternatives abound: Try tossing a handful of baby marshmallows into your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. (Erin’s fav: the classic recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chip bag.) Rather not bake? Toast your marshmallow and sandwich it between two Pepperidge Farm Geneva Cookies—the brown sugar cookies coated with chocolate and chopped walnuts.

  Homemade Graham Crackers

  2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

  ½ cup whole wheat flour

  1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  ¾ teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

  7 tablespoons butter, cold, cut in pieces

  1⁄3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover

  5 tablespoons milk

  2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

  TOPPING (OPTIONAL)

  1½ tablespoons granulated sugar

  ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

  Make the dough: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor or an electric mixer. (Use a paddle attachment for your mixer if you have one.) Pulse or mix on low to mix. Add the butter and pulse, or mix on low, until the dough reaches a coarse consistency.

  In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Dust a large piece of plastic wrap lightly with flour, then turn the dough onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

  Make the topping: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

  Roll out the crackers: Divide the dough in half; keep the dough you’re not working with in the refrigerator. Flour your work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. If you want a traditional cracker, trim the rectangle to 4 inches and cut every 4½ inches. For squares, cut the rectangle in half and cut every 2 inches. For rounds, use a cookie cutter or a glass dipped in flour.

  Place crackers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon sheet; sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar if you’d like. Chill until firm, about 30–45 minutes, or freeze 15–20 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the dough and any scraps.

  Bake: Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For traditional crackers, use a toothpick or a fork to mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, careful not to cut through the dough.

  Bake 15–18 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Don’t overbake—these will crisp up as they cool.

  MAKES 10 (4-BY-4.5-INCH) GRAHAM CRACKERS.

  Handcrafted Marshmallows

  Yummy and not supersweet. They toast to a lovely golden brown.

  ¼ cup powdered sugar

  ¼ cup cornstarch

  vegetable oil, for pan

  2 envelopes (¼ ounce each) unflavored gelatin

  1½ cups white sugar

  2⁄3 cup light corn syrup

  Use a wire mesh sieve to sift together the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside.

  Brush the bottom and sides of an 8-inch-square baking pan with vegetable oil. Line the pan with parchment paper, and brush with the oil. Using the sieve, coat the parchment and pan with half of the powdered sugar mixture. Set aside.

  Pour ½ cup of cool water into a large mixer bowl and sprinkle with gelatin; set aside.

  In a medium saucepan pot fitted with a candy thermometer, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and ½ cup water; bring to a boil over high heat (about 5 minutes). Mixture will foam at this stage. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

  Using your electric mixer, beat the gelatin mixture on low about 30 seconds, until it becomes creamy. Pour the sugar–corn syrup mixture into the gelatin mixture, in a slow, steady stream down the side of bowl. (This cools it slightly.) Increase mixer speed to high and beat until very thick and ribbony, about 12 minutes.

  Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Oil a scrap of parchment paper and use it to smooth and flatten the top. Use the sieve to sprinkle the remaining powdered sugar mixture over top. Let rest, uncovered, in a cool, dry place, about 4 hours or up to overnight.

  To cut, invert the pan onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment, and dust the excess sugar off the marshmallow onto the paper, using your fingers or a clean, dry brush. Then move the marshmallow onto your cutting surface. Dust a chef’s knife in the leftover sugar and cut the marshmallow into squares. Dip the cut edges in the excess sugar; it’s helpful to dust your fingers at this stage, to prevent sticking. You may need to rinse the knife and dust it again while cutting, to cut clean edges.

  MAKES 12–24 MARSHMALLOWS, DEPENDING ON SIZE.

  S’more Sandwich Cookies

  Make the graham cracker recipe above, but instead of cutting the dough into rectangles, use a floured glass or a cookie cutter to cut circles. Dust lightly with cinnamon sugar and bake on parchment paper or a silicone sheet at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Cool.

  Meanwhile, make your filling and get your chocolate ready to melt. Erin loves buttercream, but for a more traditional s’more flavor combo, marshmallow cream is just as easy.

  VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

  3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

  1¼ cups powdered sugar

  pinch of salt

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  1½ tablespoons milk or more

  With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir in enough milk, starting with 1½ tablespoons, to make the mixture smooth but thick. You’ll want it to spread easily, but set up as the cookies sit.

  MARSHMALLOW CREAM

  1 cup water, room temperature (divided)

  2 envelopes (¼ ounce each) unflavored gelatin


  1½ cups white sugar

  2⁄3 cup light corn syrup

  Pour ½ cup water into a large mixer bowl and sprinkle with gelatin; set aside.

  In a medium saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and remaining ½ cup water; bring to a boil over high heat (about 5 minutes). The mixture will foam at this stage. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees, about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

  Using your electric mixer, beat the gelatin mixture on low about 30 seconds, until it becomes creamy. Pour the sugar–corn syrup mixture in, in a slow, steady stream down the side of bowl. (This cools it slightly.) Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until very thick and ribbony, about 12 minutes.

  Make the cookies: Spread the filling on the bottom side of one cookie and sandwich with a second cookie. Let the cookies sit a few minutes for the filling to set up, so it doesn’t squish out when you hold them.

  Melt a 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks about 40 seconds in the microwave, or in a double boiler. Dip each cookie in the chocolate, or spoon the chocolate onto one third of the cookie, on both sides. Lay the cookies on parchment paper until the chocolate hardens, about 30 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen, depending on how many you eat before they’re done.

  In a pinch—or a craving—Erin may make an open-faced version, spreading her filling on one round cookie or a half graham cracker and topping it with a partially melted chocolate kiss or a treat-size bar leftover from Halloween.

  (A note from Erin: My author created this cookie based on one she devoured discovered at Madeleine’s Cafe & Patisserie in Spokane, Washington.)