I can’t believe it’s been so long since I wrote a review! This summer is turning out to be extremely busy, mostly in a good way, but the times I find myself in the kitchen recently have been few and far between. Despite that, I have had some wonderful new cookbooks lying around, waiting for me to pause long enough to give them a good read. On the top of the pile is Le Pain Quotidien, the new book from the originally Belgian, now global restaurant chain of the same name.

I have never been to a Le Pain Quotidien, although there are a handful of locations scattered along the East Coast and in California. If the recipes included in this cookbook are any indication, I think I would love the restaurant. It’s the kind of food I’d like to serve at a cafe of my own someday – interesting, produce-forward soups and sandwiches, and baked goods with a punch of flavor from salty cheeses, olives, and cured meats. For the most part, it’s rustic, country-style food, without fancy plating or instructions, but the combinations – such as carrots with olives, soba noodles with blood orange, and coffee with capers – are novel and bright. Similar to Vegetarian Everyday, you’ll find healthy choices for every type of eater. Raw, paleo, gluten-free, and vegan palettes will all find something to interest them here. Then again, if you’re like me, you’ll also appreciate the occasional meaty, bready, cheese-smothered dish that’s included.

Given the overall amount of cooking I’ve been doing, you could actually say that I have been cooking a fair bit from this book. This delicious curried leek and zucchini soup was adapted from it, and I also tried my hand at a homemade five grain fruit bread, which was tasty but a little bit tricky and didn’t come out quite right, as is often the case with homemade bread. This weekend, I made the hearty Liegeoise Salad you see here, as well as a spicy, summery tartine that I’ll share on Monday. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on the bread baking, but I’m also intrigued by the recipes for Sausage with Lentils, Cabbage, and Chestnuts; Onion Broth with Thyme and Feta, and Speculoos Tiramisu. I’m guessing that one or more of those dishes will show up on my dinner table before too long.

I really enjoyed the Liegeoise salad I made for today’s post – it was somehow everything I needed in a meal after a hectic week. It was simple, but still flavorful, and fresh, but still filling. I cleaned my bowl the minute I put the camera down. It’s also a little nifty because you make the vinaigrette right in the pan in which you fry the bacon – no messy olive oil and vinegar jar shaking! That’s my kind of salad. As an aside, I loved that I could get almost everything I needed for this at the farmer’s market – tiny new potatoes, long skinny green beans, still crisp lettuce, even the eggs and the bacon could have been purchased at the market (although those two I already had at home). Only the endives (and the onion, I suppose) were nowhere to be found, and those are really hard to grow anyway. But knowing that almost everything had just been picked made the meal feel truly seasonal.

The bottom line: Le Pain Quotidien is a book full of simple but lovely food. The soups, salads, breads, and desserts included are rustic but feature intriguing flavor combinations. For the most part, the recipes are very healthful and full of fresh produce, with many choices for gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and even raw diets. Recommended to anyone looking for a few fresh, healthy ideas for lunchtime fare.

Liegeoise Salad

Recipe adapted slightly from Le Pain Quotidien. Serves 4.

• 1 lb small new potatoes, halved (or quartered, if large)
• 1 lb. green beans
• 6 slices smoked bacon
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 TBS vinegar
•  black pepper
• salt
• 2 heads of Belgian endive
• 2 c. mache (lamb’s lettuce) or butter lettuce pieces
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes, and cook until just tender, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, drain briefly, and transfer to a bowl. Add the green beans to the water and blanch for 2 minutes, then drain and add the green beans to the bowl with the potatoes.
2. Cook the bacon over medium-low heat, flipping once, until crispy on both sides. Remove the bacon and place on a paper-towel lined plate. Let cool, then roughly chop.
3. Turn down the heat on the bacon pan to low, and let the grease cool for 2 minutes. Then, carefully add the diced onion and return the heat to medium-low. Cook the onion, stirring frequently, until translucent and softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the vinegar to the pan and deglaze, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes and green beans to the pan and stir to coat the veggies with the vinegar mixture. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Trim the ends off the Belgian endive and discard the ends. Discard the outer leaves. Separate the inner leaves and place, cup-side up, on a platter. Spread lettuce pieces on top of the endive. Top with the potato and green bean mixture, then crumble the egg and the chopped bacon on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The post Book Club: Le Pain Quotidien // Liegeoise Salad appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

As you might imagine, I cook a lot. Like, a lot. Some weekends, I spend 4 or 5 hours each day in the kitchen, mixing batters, chopping veggies, frosting cupcakes, and styling photos. The output of my weekend cooking sprees becomes a hodgepodge of things – meals for the week, posts for the blog, and leftovers destined for the freezer. But this means that dinner is usually just that – a hodgepodge. I’ll defrost a container of soup and slice up some bread, or throw pasta on to boil to use up a batch of ratatouille, or I toss all the leftover cooked veggies and grains into a bowl, drizzle it with whatever sauce is currently in the fridge, and call it a night. And for the purpose of full disclosure, I have to admit that at least once a week, to the horror of my nurse roommate, dinner is a glass of red wine in front of the TV because even defrosting something seems like too much effort. It’s pretty rare that I actually sit down to a composed meal of the kind that I ate growing up – one with 3 or 4 different parts, a salad, a protein, a few sides, and dessert. On the one hand, I don’t really need to eat that way – I’m not trying to feed a family, and it’s usually just me eating, or Trevor will join me and we’ll cobble together our leftovers. On the other hand, it’s kind of nice to sit down to a real meal, one with parts that go together and that feels like dinner, not just eating. So I’m going to give Sunday dinners a try. Not every week. But once in a while.

Last Sunday, we broke out the grill. Grilling is one of those things that I really want to learn how to do, but I’m kind of afraid of doing it wrong and burning myself or ruining a pair of $20 steaks or, worst-case-scenario, exploding the grill by doing the gas wrong. I put learning how to grill on my summer bucket list last year, but definitely failed at achieving it. Last week, I made a little progress – I cleaned out the ashes and lit the coals, all under Trevor’s careful supervision. Then he took over. But I’m committed to it this year – I even have two grilling books sitting on my window bench, waiting to be reviewed.

What we put on the grill last week was a little bit indulgent for us – two beautiful grass-fed strip steaks, rubbed with a coffee-chile-brown sugar mixture and Belgian endives, dressed simply with olive oil and salt and grilled until charred and smoky. To go with it we had chimichurri sauce, crispy oven-roasted potatoes, and the most delicious, decadent ice cream I’ve ever had – sour cream ice cream with a strawberry-brown sugar swirl. It tastes like cheesecake with strawberry sauce but even smoother and creamier. It’s insane. And over-the-top rich, but I’ll absolutely be making it over and over again. We threw in a few beers and a cranberry margarita and it definitely felt like a real meal – a really nice start to the week. Given that we had several different dishes on our plate, it was surprisingly easy to put it all together. The steak, potatoes, and endives were all very simple and quick, the chimichurri only took a bit of chopping and stirring, and the ice cream was already made. Plus, everything was good. Really good. Sometimes simple is the best! Most of you probably already have plans for grilling tomorrow, but if you don’t, I definitely recommend all of these recipes.

The Menu

Coffee-and-Chile-Rubbed Strip Steaks – see below (from Food and Wine)
Chimichurri Sauce – see below (adapted from Food and Wine)
Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives – see below (adapted from Food and Wine)
Oven-Roasted Potatoes – see below
Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream – see below (adapted from The NY Times)

Coffee-and-Chile-Rubbed Strip Steaks

Recipe from Food and Wine. Serves 4.

• 2 TBS finely ground dark roast coffee
• 2 TBS chile powder
• 2 TBS dark brown sugar
• 1 TBS smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 TBS kosher salt
• Four 10-oz strip steaks

1. In a small bowl, stir together the coffee, chile powder, brown sugar, paprika, cumin, and salt until evenly mixed. Rub the mixture on all sides of the steaks. Let steaks sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Grill the steaks over moderate heat, turning once, until they are charred outside and medium-rare within, about 11-13 minutes. Transfer to a clean plate and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with chimichurri sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce

Adapted from Food and Wine. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. white balsamic vinegar
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 small shallot, peeled and finely minced
• 1/2 c. finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 c. finely chopped cilantro
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Whisk the vinegars, olive oil, and sugar together in a medium bowl. Stir in the shallot, parsley, cilantro, scallions, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let chimichurri rest at least 20 minutes before serving. Keep chilled. 

Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives

Recipe from Food and Wine. Serves 4.

• 4 Belgian endives, sliced in half lengthwise
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper

1. Brush the endive halves with olive oil on both sides, then season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderate heat on a charcoal fire, turning occasionally, until charred and tender, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer endives to a platter and tent with foil. Let steam for 5 minutes, serve warm.

Oven-Roasted Potatoes

Serves 4.

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. small red new potatoes
• 8 cloves garlic, peeled
• olive oil
• sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Wash potatoes and cut into quarters, or halves if they are very small. Toss potatoes and garlic with olive oil and salt in a large roasting pan. Spread potatoes on the bottom of the pan – they should have enough room so that they are not touching one another. Roast for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown with crunchy edges, flipping with a spatula halfway through.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

Adapted from The NY Times. Makes about 5 cups.

• 1 c. sugar
• 9 egg yolks
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 1/2 c. sour cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch salt
• 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 3 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS brandy

1. In a large heat-proof bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/2 c. of sugar until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized saucepan, whisk together remaining 1/2 c. sugar, the heavy cream, and the milk. Heat over medium low heat, whisking all the while, until the mixture just reaches a simmer. Remove from the heat.
3. Slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot cream into the eggs in a thin stream, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so to keep them from scrambling. Pour yolk mixture back into saucepan with rest of cream, still whisking. Heat the custard over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take 7-10 minutes. After it begins to thicken, it will continue to thicken fairly quickly, so remove from heat about 30 seconds to 1 minute after it starts to thicken.
4. Strain custard through a sieve into a large, clean bowl, pushing through sieve with a spatula. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then whisk in sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt, whisking until smooth. Cover custard tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
5. About 1 hour prior to churning the ice cream, prepare the strawberries: Place the chopped strawberries and the brown sugar in a large frying pan and stir. Let sit for 15 minutes to allow the strawberry juices to release. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring, and cook for 10-15 minutes, until berries are soft, and juices have evaporated enough to become syrupy. Remove from heat and stir in brandy. Transfer berries and syrup to a bowl and freeze for 20-30 minutes, until chilled but not frozen.
6. Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to directions. When the ice cream has reached a soft serve consistency, turn off the machine and fold in the chilled strawberry mixture so that there are streaks of berries. Freeze to further solidify.

The post Sunday Dinner // Coffee-Chile Strip Steaks, Grilled Endives, Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

So it’s Thanksgiving.  And the food blogosphere has been inundated with sweet potatoes, cranberries, pie crusts, and 4-day turkey brining processes.  Which is all great and mouthwatering and exciting, except that I’m not in charge of Thanksgiving.  And I’m the kind of person who actually loves Stove Top stuffing and plain old mashed potatoes once a year.  So I’m not contributing any fancy new dishes to our table or experimenting with pie fillings or scouring cookbooks for stuffing recipes.

Instead, I’m going to do whatever my mother tells me I can do to help.  And the first of these things was to help her with the shopping.  Which I did.  But then amongst the acorn squash and fresh cranberries and bags of shallots, I found endives.  For a price that was significantly less than the ridiculous $4 a piece they cost in the Durham Wholefoods.  And since I’ve been meaning to share this endive recipe pretty much since the creation of this blog, I decided to buy them.

And that, my friends, is how it came to pass that I’m sharing a light, summery appetizer with you on the day before Thanksgiving, completely bucking national food blogging trends.  Although they would make a good cocktail party appetizer.  And it is kind of the start of cocktail party season.  And candied pecans are actually pretty seasonal too.  So maybe I’m not as far off the mark as I thought.  Either way, I really enjoy these.  They’re simple, and elegant, and well-balanced, and infinitely variable too.

A few notes about candying nuts: I fell in love with candied nuts in Prague, where you can buy them on every street corner as soon as the weather turns cold.  I’d frequently run down to the square between classes for a little paper packet of sugared almonds and a cup of hot wine (man, talk about living the life, right?)  As a result of this, I ended up craving them all the time, and so I’ve experimented with several ways of getting the perfect, warm, crispy, sugared nut.  You can either do them on the stove top or in the oven: they’ll be done more quickly on the stove top, and you only need water and sugar, but your technique is more important – if you don’t stir constantly you’ll end up with a caramel mess and soggy nuts.  They take longer in the oven, your results will be consistently good.  I think I prefer the end result of the oven roasted nuts better, so if you have the time, do them in the oven!

Elegant Endives

Recipe from epicurious.  Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.

• 2 belgian endives
• 4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
• 3/4 c. candied pecan pieces, see recipe below
• honey

Slice off the bases of the endives.  Remove small and damaged outer leaves.  Carefully separate leaves from the base so that they remain intact.  Fill the white part of the endive with crumbled cheese and pecan pieces.  Arrange on platter and drizzle with a small amount of honey.

Candied Pecans

Technique adapted from AllRecipes.

• 2 c. pecan halves and pieces
• 1 egg white
• 1 TBS water
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 TBS butter

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.  Use butter to grease a baking pan.
2. Beat egg white with water and vanilla until frothy.  In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Mix pecans with egg white mixture until they are all moistened.  Then transfer to the sugar mixture and stir until pecans are fully coated.  Spread pecans on greased pan in a single layer and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

The post Elegant Endives appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.