The Staple of Life

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”  - James Beard

"I am proud to be an American. Because an American can eat anything on the face of this earth as long as he has two pieces of bread." - Bill Cosby

Bread, oh sweet bread. The staple of life. One of the most common There are many great options to buy delicious, artisan breads around the Cleveland area. My personal favorites are Blackbird Baking Company in Lakewood and On the Rise in Cleveland Heights. If you haven't experienced a flaky, buttery croissant or one of the delicious focaccia from either of these places, I highly recommend you try them ASAP.

Unfortunately, these shops are 20-40 minutes from where I live and they close at 6 so I don't make it nearly as often as I'd like to. Fortunately there are plenty of other places to buy bread. Heinen's recently changed their house bread from La Brea to an all natural artisan bread. They have lots of different varieties and while they don't compare to Blackbird Baking Co., they are quite good. You can read Cleveland Foodie's review on Heinen's new bread here.

Another option I recently tried is Orlando Baking Company. You have likely heard of Orlando before. Orlando's products can be found all over Ohio and even a few other states. According to some of the marketing materials they included in the box, Orlando was actually founded in Castel di Sangro, Italy in 1872. To this day it continues to be owned and operated by the Orlando family. They emigrated to the US in 1904 and settled on Cleveland's Eastside. They have since grown to become a major supplier of wholesale breads and rolls, offering over 250 different products. I am typically try to avoid large food operations like this, but after reading over their marketing materials it does sound like it would be cool to visit their 175,000 square foot operation.

 My box of Orlando goodies

Orlando contacted me and asked me to review some of their products. As you can above, they were very generous. They sent hamburger buns, knotted egg rolls, and a few different kinds of ciabatta. There were actually two layers to the box so this picture doesn't show everything. It was a lot of bread! The bread was frozen when it arrived so I decided to put it all in the freezer. I've been sampling it over the last few weeks and have been pleasantly surprised. The bread is tasty. It's nice to have it in the freezer and just grab a ciabatta bun for a sandwich or a couple egg rolls to go with dinner. I simply let them defrost for 20 minutes or so then toss them in the oven for a few minutes to heat them up. My only complaint is Orlando does use some hydrogenated oil in their bread. As you can see in the picture above, their packaging states there are no trans fats in the bread, so it must be a very small amount. If you don't avoid hydrogenated oil (and there are plenty of reasons you should), I recommend giving Orlando a try.

Full Disclosure: Orlando gave me a free box full of their goodies to review for this post.

Ohio Authority Food & Drink / At Home with Michael Symon

In case you haven't seen it yet, this blog was featured in an article in Ohio Authority. You can read it here: At Home with Symon: Blogger Dave Whittaker lives to cook - at home.


I was shocked when Ohio Authority, Ohio's Premier Online Magazine, contacted me for an interview and I am really happy how the article came out. I have been humbled by the positive response and following this blog has received since I started it almost 2 months ago. Thank you for reading!

As you've probably noticed, I've decided to expand the blog beyond just recipes from Live to Cook. I definitely still plan to complete the entire book, but I will continue to post about other good dishes I cook, interesting restaurants I visit, reviews of food & kitchen products, good food deals I find, and who knows what else. So please keep coming back to see what's new. Add my blog to your RSS reader, subscribe to updates via email (on the right side of this page), or follow me on Twitter if you really want to stalk me :)

Happy eating.

UPDATE: Some friends brought us a slab tonight and they were some of the best ribs I've ever had. Great flavor and tender but not so tender that they fall completely off the bone when you take a bite. I like to have to gnaw a little bit :) Also wanted to mention that I told my brother in-law, who lives in Akron, about Old Carolina on Tuesday and he went 4 times between Wednesday & Friday; I think that means he likes it too.

Old Carolina BBQ - Free Pulled Pork Jan. 27

This news was too good not to share with everyone out in the blogosphere.

If you've read through all my posts, you probably know I love the pig, every cut of it. That's why I have half of a pig, including the head, in my freezer right now. Pork shoulder, pork chops, and pork belly battle for my favorite cuts of meat, but since my favorite cooking method is probably smoking, the shoulder might win out. Nothing is better than making my own rub, tending the fire, and smoking a pork butt low & slow for 12 hours or more over apple & hickory wood in my Weber Kettle grill. Slow smoking meat takes a lot of dedication, patience, and commitment. It's not like a braise or roast you throw in the oven and it's done after a few hours. Pulled pork is one dish that I am confident I've mastered and I like my pulled pork as much as any I've ever eaten anywhere.

That being said, smoking during the Ohio Winter can be difficult. The cold weather makes it very difficult to maintain temperature on the grill so why not let someone else do it for you?  Old Carolina BBQ, regarded as one of the best BBQ joints in Ohio, is celebrating the grand opening of their new Akron location by giving away 2,000 pulled pork sandwiches. Additionally, all Old Carolna locations will offer $3 Pulled Pork Sandwiches and $10 Full Slabs of Ribs through Sunday, January 31st. So whether you are close by or just craving a pulled pork sandwich, head down to Akron and take advantage of this great offer. Let me know what you think if you do!

Monday Supper

I recently received a subscription to Food & Wine magazine. I was browsing through the February issue recently and one dish really jumped out at me.

Braised Pork Shoulder Steak with Fried Egg, Scallions, Pickled Ramps & Hot Peppers, and Bacon Scallion Horseradish Mustard

This picture really doesn't do it justice. The chef describes the dish as a combination of two of his favorite Japanese dishes,  donburi (meat and an egg with rice) and kakuni (slow-braised pork served with hot mustard).

I followed the recipe for the most part, tweaking slightly with what I had on hand. Bluebird Meadows pork shoulder steak slowly braised in onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, & mirin topped with a fried egg from Plum Creek Farm, leeks from Chef's Garden, homemade bacon scallion horseradish mustard, and home pickled ramps (that I foraged last Spring) and hot peppers, all served over rice with some of the braising liquid. Wow, this was one of the best things I've ever made and it was so easy.

Here's a link to the full recipe in Food & Wine: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/braised-pork-with-ginger-pickled-shishito-peppers

Seared Wild Mushrooms (p. 158)

This is the final installment of my Christmas series. We ate very well at Christmas this year. I've blogged about the Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup, Roasted Leg of Lamb, and Tzatziki Sauce. I also wanted to recommend two other things I made for Christmas: Bacon Scallion Horseradish Mustard I served with the Bluebird Meadows ham and this gratin, both were excellent!

The final dish I made for Christmas from Michael Symon's Live to Cook was the seared wild mushrooms (p. 158). After a not eating mushrooms for the first 28 years of my life, I've fallen in love with them over the last year. I've eaten Symon's rendition at two of his restaurants, Lolita & Bar Symon and I think they are one of the best side dishes he makes.

Mushrooms come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. White button mushrooms are the ones most people think of when they think of mushrooms, but there are many other varieties that are much better in my opinion. My favorite mushrooms come from Killbuck Valley Mushrooms. Located near Wooster, OH, Killbuck sells a wide variety of organic and foraged mushrooms at the Crocker Park & Shaker farmers markets. Their mushrooms are also often found on restaurant menus around the Cleveland area and they even have plated landscape dinners at their farm hosted by Spice of Life. They grow 5 different types of oyster mushrooms, plus shiitake, Lions mane, Trumpet Royale, and Maitake. They also forage for mushrooms and have hidden gems of the forest like morels when they are in season. Unfortunately, due to the hectic Christmas season, I was not able to pick up any Killbuck Valley mushrooms so I had to settle for some from the Westside Market. Fortunately, I found a vendor that had some nice looking ones.

That's a big pile of 'shrooms

Symon combines different types of wild mushrooms with garlic, shallots, and thyme. I doubled the recipe since we had a large crowd for Christmas.

 

Sliced oyster & cremini mushrooms

Symon recommends cooking different types of mushrooms in separate batches because cook at different rates.

 

First batch of oyster mushrooms

According to Symon, there are two mistakes people make when cooking mushrooms. The first mistake is not getting the pan & oil hot enough. This prevents the mushrooms from getting a proper sear, and therefore the flavor does not develop enough. The other mistake people make is overcrowding the pan. This causes the mushrooms to steam rather than sear.

 

First batch of cremini

I worked my way through 2lbs of mushrooms in small batches (in my pan that is too small - that will be remedied soon.

Shallots & garlic

Once all the mushrooms were cooked, I added the shallots & garlic to the same pan and cooked them until they were soft.

 

Mushrooms added to the shallots and garlic

Finally, I added both types of seared mushrooms, mixed everything together, and seasoned to taste.

 

Final plating

Mushrooms are typically a love it or leave it side dish. I think that everyone that tried these mushrooms really enjoyed them, although I know at least a few people didn't even try them. Their loss was my gain the next day when I enjoyed the leftovers!

Check back soon, I'll be blogging about the Flash & Burn Grouper and Fennel, Orange, Lemon, Dill & Watercress salad soon.

Cost
I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used.

It cost about $9.00 to make Michael Symon's Seared Wild Mushrooms. 

Oyster & Cremini Mushrooms - $8 (Westside Market)
Miscellaneous (Olive oil, salt, thyme, shallots, garlic, & butter) - $1


Nutritional information
I am not a nutrition expert but I will provide some information about the key ingredient of each dish.

Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90 percent water, and are very low in calories. They have very little sodium and fat, and 8 to 10 percent of the dry weight is fiber. Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. They are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals. Male health professionals who consumed twice the recommended daily intake of selenium cut their risk of prostate cancer by 65 percent.

Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity.

Mushrooms have also been shown to boost heart health, lower the risk of cancer, promote immune function, ward off viruses, bacteria, and fungi, reduce inflammation, combat allergies, help balance blood sugar levels, and support the body's detoxification mechanisms.

Twitter & a Chance to Win $1,400 in Restaurant Gift Cards

First of all, I just signed up for Twitter, follow me! My name is "live2cookathome". Follow me here: http://twitter.com/live2cookathome

I also wanted to mention an amazing giveaway & fundraiser organized by Cleveland Foodie.  Veggie U is a national program headquartered here in NE Ohio that promotes the well-being of children through a healthy lifestyle with a focus on making wise food choices, combating adolescent and juvenile disease, and attaining an understanding of sustainable agriculture. The program is embraced and loved by teachers and students alike.

Locally, 150 schools in the Cleveland Metro School District have been using the 4th grade Veggie U science program. Unfortunately, they don’t have any funding to continue as $200 per classroom is needed to fund the kits. For every $5 you donate to Veggie U, you will automatically be entered to win more than $1,400 worth of gift cards to all your favorite eateries and shops. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You have until February 13 to donate and be entered. It’s easy – just call 419.499.7500 ext 119; you must reference Cleveland Foodie.

I know money is tight right now, but I urge you to make a donation today, no matter how big or small. Of course there's also something in it for you too. One incredibly lucky diner will spend the year eating and drinking their way throughout Cleveland:

Western Reserve Wine / $50 gift card
Tartine / $50 gift card
Momocho / $50 gift card (Eric Williams also generously donated an additional $200 to fund one classroom)
Lola / $50 gift card
The Greenhouse Tavern / $50 gift card
Heinen’s / $100 gift card
Blue Canyon / $50 gift card
The Flying Fig / $100 gift card
Fire / $50 gift card
Erie Island Coffee / $50 gift card
Fahrenheit / $50 gift card
Miles Farmers Market / $50 gift card
Jekyll’s Kitchen / $50 gift card
Moxie / $200 gift card!!
Touch Supper Club / $50 gift card
Parallax / $50 gift card
L’Albatros / $50 gift card
Chinato / $50 gift card (opening very soon!)
Crop Bistro / $50 gift card
North End / $50 gift card
Hyde Park / $50 gift card
AMP 150 / $100 gift card

And to top it all off, the winner will receive one ticket to their choice of upcoming dinners at The Culinary Vegetable Institute (you’re in for a real treat here) and The Chefs Garden will send you one of their e-commerce family boxes.

Remember, the more you donate, the better your chance of winning. Read all the details about it here.

Tzatziki Sauce (p. 141)

Tzatziki sauce, occasionally referred to as cucumber sauce, is a classic Greek yogurt sauce that you probably know as one of the key ingredients of gyros. Tzatziki is a combination of strained yogurt, strained cucumbers, garlic, lemon, and herbs such as parsley, mint, or dill. The acidity in Tzatziki pairs very well with the high fat content in lamb, which is why Symon suggests making it along with the roasted leg of lamb in Live to Cook.

On a side note, whether you are a gyro fan or you don't know what a gyro is, I highly suggest making a trip to the Westside Market for one of the best (and largest) around at Steve's Gyro's. According to their website, they were voted the best gyro in the country by Maxim in 2007.

Tzatziki Ingredients

 

Fage Total Yogurt

The recipe calls for the yogurt to be placed in a cheesecloth lined strainer for 24 hours but the Fage yogurt I bought was already strained so I skipped that step.

 

Straining the liquid out of cucumber

I peeled and diced the cucumber, salted it, and put it in a strainer over a bowl and left it on the counter. 

 

What do you think cucumbers are made of?

After a couple hours at room temperature, there was a lot of liquid in the bowl. 

 

Mint Waiting to be Chopped

Next up was chopping the mint. I learned a great trick for chopping mint and other leafy herbs from a video of Jonathon Sawyer, chef / owner of The Greenhouse Tavern. Stack all the leaves of what ever you need to chop together, roll them up, and chop from end to end. This is much faster and easier than trying to chop individual leaves and leaves you with a consistent cut. The toothpick is not necessary, I just put it there so I could take the picture.

 

Chopped Mint

Jonathon also said it is important to only chop fresh herbs one time, don't make multiple passes with the knife. Each cut releases more of the herbs oil, thereby reducing the flavor that winds up in your dish.

 

Tzatziki Waiting to be Mixed

I didn't bother taking pictures of the minced garlic or shallots, but they're in there, along with the juice of a couple lemons. 

 

Tada! Tzatziki Sauce

I mixed everything together, tasted it and seasoned it with salt & pepper. Yum! Great balance of acid & creaminess. It was a big hit with the Roasted Leg of Lamb I made on Christmas day and was even better with the gyros I made with the leftover lamb. This sauce would also be good as a dip for fresh vegetables or served as a dipping sauce for lamb meatballs. When I make it again, the only thing I will change is to reduce the amount of cucumber I use. I used the entire English cucumber this time and it was too much. I also suggest making this in a day or more in advance because the flavor gets better after it sits.

A side note...As I was reading about tzatziki and Greek yogurt on the internet I found a tip I thought I'd pass along. Greek yogurt is pretty expensive compared to regular yogurt (for yogurt). One site I looked at suggested straining regular yogurt instead. Just turn a container upside down over some cheesecloth and place it over a bowl to catch the liquid. After a few hours, most of the liquid drains out, and what's left is very much like a Greek yogurt for a whole lot cheaper. Let me know if you give this option a try.

Cost

I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used. 

It cost about $6.98 to make 4 cups of Michael Symon's Tzatziki Sauce.

Fage Greek Yogurt - $3.98 (Nature's Bin)
Cucumber - $1 (Westside Market)
Lemons - $1 (Westside Market)
Misc (Salt, mint, garlic, shallot, fresh ground black pepper) - $1

All miscellaneous ingredients came from Heinen's.

Nutritional information

I am not a nutrition expert but I will provide some information about the key ingredient of each dish.

Greek style yogurt is thicker and creamier with a higher fat content than typical yogurts found in the U.S. Typical fat content of the Greek cow's milk yogurt is 9% as opposed the U.S. yogurts are less than 4% fat. Fage Total, which I used, is 100% natural and vegetarian friendly. It contains no added sweeteners, thickeners or preservatives and all the farmers pledge not to use rBGH. It is made of just raw milk, raw cream and live active cultures. Finally, yogurt promotes intestinal and vaginal health, improves lactose intolerance, builds stronger bones, enhances immunity, lowers blood pressure, and may even have anticancer and weight-loss effects.

OT: Leave the Meat Behind!!!

 

 One of many beautiful sunsets from our balcony in St. Martin

Bonjour! After 12 peaceful days in St. Martin I am finally back home to foggy Ohio. We had a wonderful trip, ate a lot of great food, and soaked up a lot of rays. While St. Martin was not our favorite destination, we had a lot of fun. St. Martin is known as the gastronomical capital of the Caribbean and it definitely did not disappoint in that regard. There were too many fabulous restaurants, bakeries, and markets to try even if you were there for a month. We definitely gave it our best shot while we were there though.

My favorite part of the trip was definitely the amazing bakeries, charcuterie, and cheeses that were so reasonably priced. We sampled croissants from no less than 6 different bakeries and tried lots of new breads and pastries we'd never seen before. Many days for lunch we'd buy a new loaf of some sort of French bread and stuff it full of different kinds of French charcuterie and cheese. So simple, yet so delicious! This was out first experience with French culture and my wife and I both agreed that we enjoyed the way they eat!

Now to the funny part. I really wanted to bring home some of our favorite foods so I headed to the US Import grocery store (my favorite) the day before we left. It was ironic it was called US Import because it carried very little from the US but lots of European imports. The other big grocery store on the island was called Le Grande Supermarché but it felt like a Giant Eagle or Super Wal Mart when I walked in (and quickly walked back out). I purchased 3-4 kilos of our favorite charcuteries and a little bit of cheese. I packed it all in one of our checked bags and thought nothing of it.

As we went through customs, I mentioned that I brought food back with me. We were then pulled to the side and forced to go through a special line where they did a thorough search of our bags. It turns out you are only aloud to bring in pork from another country if it is of the canned variety. I almost cried as she took kilos worth of delicious charcuterie and threw it in the garbage. It's very odd to me that I could bring in what I told them was home made fish stock (more on that in another post) that I'd frozen in a plastic water bottle but I couldn't bring in delicious meats that were clearly labeled from the grocery store. I guess the moral of the story is if you really want to bring something back with you, just don't tell customs what you have. We wouldn't have been checked at all if I'd kept my mouth shut. At least I decided not to buy any of the 200 $Eur a kilo iberico jambon!

If you are considering a trip to St. Martin, please feel free to send me and email. I'd be happy to share our favorite restaurants, bakeries, shops, beaches, and more with you.
 
Below are a few more food related pictures from our trip.

One of our favorite bakeries in Marigot

The dining area, this place was always crowded

Another of our favorite bakeries (we had 3). This place was barely visible from the road and was basically a walk out basement but they had delicious, buttery croissants.

 

A selection of some delicious French charcuterie, cheeses, and butter from the local marché

 

There was an outdoor market everyday in Marigot. Every Wed & Sat there were stands selling local, line caught fish, goat, chicken, and other meats.

I purchased fresh grouper from this stand to make Michael Symon's Slash & Burn Grouper, delicious!

 

 Lobsters were plentiful on the island

 

 There were lots of different fish available to choose from

 

Along with the fish stand there were stands with people selling local fruits and veggies, homemade hot sauce, local vanilla, and lots of other great products

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Tzatziki Sauce (p. 231)

Merry Christmas! Ok, I know, I'm a little late but it's never too late to celebrate the birth of Christ! This post is about the main course of my families Christmas Day dinner, roasted leg of lamb. You'll have to wait for my next post to read about the Tzatziki Sauce.

My wife & I are by far the most adventurous eaters in my family. I grew up in a mostly meat & potatoes family and did not stray far from beef. While growing up, I remember eating a lot of hamburgers, meatloaf, Swedish style meatballs with mashed potatoes & brown gravy, frozen fish, macaroni & cheese, ham, sloppy joes, hamburger casserole in many different forms, spaghetti, lasagna, corn, carrots (only raw, never cooked!), & green beans. My Mom did all the cooking and did most of it from scratch. Like many kids, I was a picky eater. I hated chicken, sausage, beans, most vegetables, and many other things. Some where along the way that drastically changed and now there isn't much I won't eat. I can’t even imagine what the 15 year old version of me would say if he knew what I liked to eat now.


A couple years ago when preparing to host Christmas I asked my Mom if she thought the family members that were coming over would eat lamb or duck. She gave a resounding no and suggested I should stick to the basics (we ate ham or turkey at nearly every holiday I remember). I still wanted to do something a little different so I cooked a whole beef tenderloin & it was very well received. It was my turn to host again this year and I decided I would make something safe - the best ham I've ever tasted from the pig we bought from Bluebird Meadows Farm this fall - and something that would push my family's comfort zone - leg of lamb. 

Prior to making this dish I had only eaten lamb (excluding gyros) a handful of times, including one of my best meals ever - the lamb breast at Lola. I had also never cooked lamb before so it was going to be a new challenge for me in the kitchen.

Lamb is easy enough to find in the Cleveland area. One of the best local sources is The Great American Lamb Company, , a small farm that raises humane, all natural lamb and sells it out of Shaker Square Farmers Market, at the farm, and even deliver. Michael Symon recommends Jamison Farm out of PA; their website claims the world's best chefs use their lamb and their meat can be shipped directly to your door where ever you are. You can also easily find lamb at Heinen's, Blue Ribbon, or the Westside Market, which is where I made my purchase. There were a couple stands selling lamb and I decided on Turczyk's. Turczyk's has been a family owned and operated business since John opened it in 1954. John's son Michael Turczyk now operates the stand and he buys locally raised lamb & goat from a handful of farmers an hour or so south of Cleveland, brings them into the market whole, and cuts them to order on site. Michael told me the lamb I purchased had been grazing the field just 2 days earlier. Yes, they are even pasture raised lambs, not from a factory farm. The recipe called for a 6 pound, bone in leg of lamb but I had to choose between a whole leg (9+ pounds) or half a leg, I decided on the latter.

All the ingredients required, did I mention I was a leg man?

Like many of the other recipes in Michael Symon's book, this is dish is easy to make but time intensive. The recipe calls for the lamb to be covered in a rub and set in the fridge to marinate for 24 hours before the roasting begins.

 

The rub mixture

So while I was making the Spicy Tomato & Blue Cheese Soup for Christmas Eve dinner, I also started working on the lamb for Christmas day. First, I minced all the rub ingredients and mixed them in a bowl.

 

The rub all mixed up

 

Leg rubbed down

Once the rub was well mixed, I covered the entire leg with the mixture.

 

The other side of the bone in leg

 

Shameless Glad plug a la Top Chef 

After the leg was well covered with the rub, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for the next 24 hours. With all the cooking I was doing at Christmas time, sometimes it felt like I was a Top Chef contest so I thought I should give Glad ClingWrap a free ad (no, unfortunately they are not sponsoring this blog - seriously though Glad, call me and we'll talk business).

 

Rinsed leg

Late Christmas afternoon I took the leg of lamb out of the fridge and rinsed the rub off and dried it with paper towels. I set the lamb in the roasting and let it sit at room temperature for the next hour until I was ready to put it in the oven.

 

Browning

About two hours before we were ready to eat I put my roasting pan over the center burner on my stove and once it was hot I browned the leg on all sides. I should have left each side on a little bit longer to get more char so be patient and let the pan do it's job.

 

Beautifully roasted leg of lamb

After about an hour and a half the lamb was at 140 degrees so I removed it from the oven, covered it with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 20+ minutes while I worked on the rest of dinner.

 

The fat cap, nice & charred

 

Sliced & ready to eat

Once everything else was ready to go for our dinner, I sliced into the lamb and found it to be perfectly cooked to medium rare. The meat was tender, juicy, & succulent. Even the most picky eaters at the table enjoyed the lamb. Lamb definitely has a stronger taste than beef, but the tzatziki sauce paired perfectly with it. My Aunt commented that she really enjoyed how the citrus and yogurt in the sauce masked the earthiness of the lamb. Unfortunately, since everyone enjoyed it so much, that means I didn't have as many leftovers as I was hoping for :) Nonetheless, I was very happy that everyone enjoyed it as much as they did. I also learned that everyone would be open to trying other "strange" meats in the future, e.g. duck. So hopefully come Easter, I'll be able to cook something else on the creative side and continue to expand my family's palate.

PS I was only kidding about the leftovers. This roast, along with an amazing ham from our pig from Bluebird Meadows Farm, easily fed the 10 of us and left my wife and I with plenty of left overs. I had some Pita in the freezer from Aladdin's Baking Company and made some delicious gyro's!

Cost
I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used.

It cost approximately $30.40 to make the Roasted Leg of Lamb for 10 people + leftovers. The cost broke down as follows:

Leg of Lamb, approx 5 lbs - $26.90 (Turczyk's, Westside Market)
Shallots - $1.50 (Heinen's)
Rosemary - $1 (The Basketeria, Westside Market)
Misc (garlic, sugar, coriander (Spicehound), crushed red pepper, salt) - $1

Nutritional information:
I am not a nutrition expert but I will provide some information about the key ingredient of each dish.

Lamb is a good source of protein, niacin, iron and zinc. Lamb is also rich in most of the B Vitamins. The fat content of lamb depends upon the cut. The leanest part is the leg, the most fatty lamb comes from the shoulder and rack. Also, for anyone reading that is on the Atkins diet, lamb contains no carbohydrates.

Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup (p. 56)

Wow, the last month has been a whirlwind! I spent 9 days in Nashville for work & to visit with my wife's family, had a wonderful Christmas with my family, attended a friends wedding on New Year's Eve, went to a couple of Browns victories, threw a party for the Buckeyes big Rose Bowl victory, and caught up with lots of friends that were in town for the holiday's.

Phew, I need a vacation to get caught up on everything! Seriously. I am writing this post from a hotel room in Newark, NJ before we head to Saint Martin in the morning. My wife Beth, daughter Isabel and I are spending the next 12 nights relaxing on the the beach, scuba diving, and enjoying the fine French cuisine of Saint Martin. YES!!! I hope to have a good internet connection down there as well because, lucky for you, I also spent a lot of time cooking over the past few weeks. I made 4 dishes from Live to Cook for my family on Christmas & Christmas Eve, actually 5 but I didn't photograph the mac & cheese I made at my inlaws house so I guess I'll have to make it again.

Every year that we spend Christmas in Cleveland we celebrate Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family and spend Christmas Day with my Mom's. My Dad & his wife Michelle hosted us in their lovely home this year and made a delicious standing rib roast with creamy scalloped potatoes. I was asked to bring a side dish or vegetable so I decided to do a little of both and bring Michael Symon's Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup from p. 56 of Live to Cook to kick off our meal along with some delicious bread from Blackbird Baking Company in Lakewood.

I love to make soup. I make a pot every week or two once the weather turns cool. I find them so easy to make, delicious, and nutritious when you use homemade stock and fresh ingredients. This soup is very quick and easy to make. It has been a staple on Michael Symon's restaurant menus going back to his time at Players twenty years ago. Over the past couple of years I've seen it on the menu at Symon's restaurants Bar Symon, Lola, Lolita, & B Spot. I've seen the recipe posted numerous places on the web and many blogs written about it. I've probably made this soup at least 5 times before receiving the book, although I made it a little differently than the recipe in the book. So, what are you waiting for? If you haven't tried this soup, pick up the ingredients at your local grocery store or stop by one of Symon's restaurants & give it a try. Below is my most recent attempt at making it.

All the ingredients

Symon writes that the key to this soup is using San Marzano tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes, often regarded as the best sauce tomatoes on the planet, are plum tomatoes grown in the volcanic soil of San Marzano, Italy. Their high quality and the fact that they are readily available in the canned section of your grocery store means this soup can be made year round.

The book calls for Roth Kase buttermilk blue cheese. My Heinen's did not have it when I was shopping so I decided to try the Roth Kase Moody Blue, a rich, creamy blue delicately smoked over fruit wood to create subtle smoky undertones with hints of roasted nuts and coffee. I thought the combination of spicy from the Sriracha and smokey from the cheese would play well together - I was right!

The chicken stock in the picture is homemade. If you don't have time to make homemade (it's really easy to do, try it!), I would recommend buying a good quality stock from a place like The Souper Market or even using water as suggested by Michael Ruhlman and many other chefs before using the stuff in a can at the grocery store.

 

Red onion & garlic sweating

I started by sweating some red onion & garlic in one of my soup pots.

 

Starting to look like soup

After the onion & garlic were soft & translucent, probably 5 minutes or so, I added the chicken stock, tomatoes, and their juice and brought it to a simmer. 

 

Getting creamy

Next I added the cream, sriracha, & oregano and allowed the mixture to simmer for 45 minutes or so.

 

Velvety smooth after a spin in the Vita Mix

Right before we were ready to leave for our Christmas Eve church service, I carefully poured the soup into my Vita Mix, added the cheese, and pureed it until it was smooth as velvet. The book says to run the soup through a fine mesh strainer. I did not do that and would not recommend it if you have a Vita Mix or other top of the line blender. I think the goal is to make sure any seeds or anything else that did not get pureed are removed from the soup. Prior to getting my Vita Mix I would use a stick blender and still did not strain it. The soup was not nearly as smooth as when I used my Vita Mix, but it still tasted just as good.

 

The final plating with a little extra blue cheese & Blackbird Baking Company French Epi

When we arrived at my Dad's house I poured the soup back into a pot and slowly warmed it on the stove. It traveled very well. I didn't read the number of servings the soup made until right before we left our house. The recipe said it served 4-6 people. We had 12 people for our dinner. Uh, oh. Fortunately a couple of the kids said they didn't want any and I was able to stretch it out so 10 adults / teens all got a two ladle bowl of soup and I even got to take home enough to have a bowl a couple days later. Almost everyone, even my 85 year old Grandma and a couple of the kids, loved the soup.

This soup is SOOOO good and extremely easy to make. If you are thinking about making one of Michael Symon's dishes, this is definitely a good one to start with.

One more piece of advice. Because the soup was for a large audience, including some kids, I cut back the amount of sriracha to about a tablespoon & a half from the recommended 2 tablespoons. I love heat, but even after reducing the sriracha it was still nice & spicy. If you are not a big fan of heat, I would suggest reducing the sriracha even more.

Cost
I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used.

It cost approximately $13.28 to make Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup. The cost broke down as follows:
Red Onion - $1
San Marzano Tomatoes - $4.69
Chicken Stock - $1 (homemade)
Roth Case Moody Blue Cheese - $5.59
Misc (olive oil, salt, garlic, siracha, fresh oregano) - $1

Unless otherwise noted, all ingredients for this dish came from Heinen's 

Nutritional information:
I am not a nutrition expert but I will provide some information about the key ingredient of each dish.

There are many health benefits to eating tomatoes. Tomatoes contain compounds that have been proven to help prevent cancer, heart disease cataracts and many others. Lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes, has been extensively studied for its antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties. The antioxidant function of lycopene-its ability to help protect cells and other structures in the body from oxygen damage-has been linked in human research to the protection of DNA (our genetic material) inside of white blood cells. Prevention of heart disease has been shown to be another antioxidant role played by lycopene. Lycopene has been found to help prevent cancers such as colorectal, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic cancers.

Tomatoes are also a good source of vitamin A & C.