Dinnertime

Your minds can not fathom the realms of deliciousness that await you.

Saturdays are a magical time here in the house of Curtis. I can get up late, leisurely sip my coffee and cook til my heart's content. Or not. That's the lovely thing. Anything goes.

Grilled Ham Steak
Potato/Caramelized Onion Gratin (with slight adaptations)
Blackberry Grunt

I made the blackberry grunt waaaaaaay back here, so click the link if you want the recipe. You will not be sorry.

Here's the gratin, courtesy of Mr. Brown.

Ingredients

5 or 6 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
2 or 3 Portobello mushroom caps, sliced thin (I'm not really a mushroom person, so I caramelized a few onions to toss in instead)
1 cup grated hard cheese such as Parmesan or Asiago (if you get a good quality cheese and grate it yourself, it'll be so much better, I promise! Avoid the green can!)
3/4 cup half and half
Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees and butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and set aside.

Using a mandolin, V-slicer or the slicing attachment on a food processor, (or you could just slice them yourself like I did) slice the potatoes approximately 1/8-inch thick. (If you don't want to slice all the potatoes at once, slice them one at a time and build the gratin as you go.) Create the first layer by laying the slices in overlapping rows. Once the first layer is down, season lightly with salt and pepper, then scatter with mushroom (or onion) slices and a couple tablespoons of the cheese. (Don't over-do it on these layers, if you create a barrier between the adjoining potato layers, the gratin won't set.)


Continue building layers until you're out of potatoes or out of room to build, but be sure to save 1/2 cup of the cheese for the top. Pour 2/3 cup of the half and half over the gratin then spread both hands over the surface and push down to work the air out from the layers. Add remaining liquid only if half and half does not come to the surface when you push down.

Sprinkle the gratin with cheese, cover loosely with foil and place in middle of oven for 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting the point of a paring knife straight into the gratin. If it goes through smoothly, remove the foil, return to oven, and turn on the broiler just long enough to turn the top golden-brown. Remove, and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Eat. Enjoy. Rest. Repeat.

Grunt, grunt, grunt.

A Cure for Homesickness?

Ok, so there's no cure other than actually going home.

But this is a good way to forget for a minute or two.

My mom has a thing for black - berries. I took my parents to the Farmer's Market when they were visiting and we came home with a bunch. When they took off, they left them behind. Heh heh.

Without further ado, here is Mr. Brown's recipe for a traditional Blackberry Grunt:


(6-8 servings. Or one, if you're me)

1 c water
1 c sugar
4 c black - berries
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, frozen
1 c buttermilk, chilled

Preheat oven to 400.

Place water, sugar, black - berries and ginger in a Dutch oven and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Put dry ingredients in food processor and pulse a few times. Add butter and pulse until crumbly. Make a well in the mixture and add the buttermilk. Stir a few times to combine.

Drop batter by tablespoon - fuls on berry mixture.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Brush top with butter and return to oven. Broil two minutes or until top is golden brown and delicious.

Restrain yourself from diving in until ten minutes passes and the grunt can rest. I mean, come on, it has had quite a day. :)