Celery Root and Potato Soup

It has certainly been chilly around here lately - back to the Rochester we are more familiar with. Which means it's the perfect time for a good bowl of soup! Check out the celery root and potato soup we've got for you in this midweek feature and it will surely take care of that comfort spot. Take a shot at it and we're sure you'll be loved by all who taste it.

 

Celery Root and Potato Soup
1 large bulb Celery Root, peeled and large dice
3 Russet Potatoes, peeled and large dice
1 medium White Onion, large dice
1 quart Chicken Stock
1 tsp fresh Thyme
1 tsp Truffle Oil
1 c Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper, to taste
chopped fresh Chives (garnish)

Prep your celery root, potatoes, and onion. Heat oil in a stock pot and once heated, add the onion dices and sauté until translucent. Add the celery root and potatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook until the root and potatoes are tender. Add thyme when the stock begins to boil.

When the root and potatoes are tender, using a ladle, scoop them into a blender and carefully pour in the chicken stock. Add the rest of the ingredients except the chives and pureé.

Pour into bowls, top with chives and enjoy!

Feature Friday: Mediterranean Style Pan Seared Halibut

Thanks for returning for our fourth week! We really loved doing this dish - it's simple but has such great flavors everyone will think you slaved for awhile in the kitchen cooking this dish up! The flavors blend so well and who doesn't love pasta?! This dish is also completely Lent-friendly so if you're in need of some ideas for the last few Friday's of Lent, we'll help you out with at least one!

This is a seriously easy dish to make that has some great profound flavors. Of course we recommend giving all our dishes a try but this is a MUST!

Mediterranean Style Pan Seared Halibut
Serves 2

1 Halibut Fillet (about 1/2 lb.)
1 small cooking Onion, small dice
2 cloves Garlic
1 Beefsteak Tomato, small dice
1 Tbsp Capers
1/4 c Kalamata Olives
1/2 c. Chicken Broth or Vegetable Stock
1/4 c. White Wine
Handful Baby Spinach
1 Tbsp fresh Basil, chiffonade
S&P, to taste

Capellini pasta - we'll let you decide how much pasta you want!

You will want to put water on to boil for the pasta before you start.

Prep the onion, garlic, and tomato into small dices and heat oil in a sauté pan. Add the onion and garlic to the heat once the oil is heated and cook until onions are translucent. At this point, add the wine and chicken broth. Let those cook down by about a third. Once reduced, combine the tomatoes and let that cook down and it will essentially create a sauce. Let that all simmer for about five minutes.

About this time your water should be boiling or at least close to it. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Being capellini, it should only take a maximum of four minutes.

Season your halibut fillet with salt and pepper - really that's all it needs!! Heat oil in a pan and place the halibut in the oil once it is heated. 

Just before serving add the Kalamata olives, capers, and spinach to the sauce from earlier and also mix in the pasta. Fold everything together until the spinach is slightly wilted. 

Serve the halibut on a bed of pasta and be sure to get some of that great sauce on there. Enjoy with a glass of crisp white wine such as a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Pinot Grigio and you've got a great Friday evening meal!

 We always are interested in what you have to think!

email: jeerhunt@gmail.com
twitter: @AAppetite
facebook: www.facebook.com/AestheticAppetite

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Banana Bread

Happy Hump Day, everyone! Thanks for checking out our midweek feature! Before we get down to business I want you all to know how much we are really enjoying this. Josh is enjoying his culinary freedom and I'm enjoying taking different approaches to the artistic side of things. It really is a win win win situation (the third win because we get to share it all with awesome people!). Today is a great day to be putting everything together too - the sun is still rising and it looks like the perfect spring day out of the bay window to my right, and the Lana Del Rey station playing on Pandora is right on key this morning. Enough of this. What do you say we move onto the food?!

This week we're putting a little spin on mom's classic banana bread recipe with some Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Beer - a brew with flavors of ripe banana and spicy clove.

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Banana Bread

2 c. Sugar

2 1/2 c. Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 c. oil

3 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/3 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 c. Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Beer

4 lg. Bananas

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, and salt. Mixing by hand, add oil, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and beer. It is best if you dissolve the baking soda in the beer. Mash the bananas separately and add to the batter. We separated the batter between two medium sized loaf pans (whichever you use, be sure to coat with butter or any nonstick pan spray!). Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour.

With this recipe, the loaves may appear darker before they are actually done so be sure to test with a toothpick and when it comes out clean you will know your bread is ready! 

Let the bread cool for a little before removing from the pans. Once you have removed the bread from the pans, slice and enjoy!

This is a great recipe that you can play with a little too - add some nuts or chocolate chips, and this bread tastes great warmed with butter or even cream cheese. Remember, food is an art and you can create so much more than you know!

As always, let us know what you think! You can contact us by whatever means is most convenient for you: 

email: jeerhunt@gmail.com

twitter: @AAppetite

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AestheticAppetite

Pan Basted Lamb Rack with Rosemary Dijon Potato Puree and Sautéed Veg

Hey everyone, thanks for coming back for week three! Hopefully this is a recipe you'll enjoy as Easter is right around the corner and quite frankly, who doesn't enjoy some well prepared lamb at this time of year?! Take a look and we hope you can put this recipe to use in the near future.

Pan Basted Lamb Rack with Rosemary Dijon Potato Puree and Sautéed Veg

1 Lamb Rack
1/2 c Olive Oil
3 sprigs Rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp Parsley, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced

Mix together the parsley, rosemary, garlic and olive oil in a ziplock bag or container large enough to for the lamb rack into. Salt and pepper the lamb and add to marinade coating the lamb well. Let the lamb marinate for at least an hour. Heat a medium sized pan on medium high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add the lamb to the pan cut side up so that the bones are on top. While the one side is cooking, tilt the pan slightly and spoon the hot oil on to the lamb rack basting the lamb. When the lamb has browned nicely on the one side flip the lamb over and finish cooking to medium rare, about 140-145 degrees. Allow the lamb to rest before slicing bout 5 minutes.

2 Russet Potatoes
1 sprig Rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Butter
1/2 c Heavy Cream

Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks and add to a pan with cold water. Boil and cook the potatoes until a knife or fork is easily inserted. Add potato into a blender with the remaining ingredients and  blend. If the mixture is to thick, add water or more cream to thin out the mixture.

For the veg, feel free to make something you enjoy. We chose baby carrots and green beans, cut on the bias, sauteed in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and finished with a knob of butter.

Of course for everything, add salt and pepper to taste.

email: jeerhunt@gmail.com
twitter: @AAppetite
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AestheticAppetite

Pan Seared Duck Breast with Sweet Potato Purée, Swiss Chard, and Balsamic Blueberry Sauce

Thanks for coming back for Feature Friday, Week Two!
Our apologies again for this post being late. However, we really anticipate you'll enjoy this weeks feature.
Holy deliciousness, Batman! It surely is a flavorful dish and covers a number of flavors from sweet to bitter, and all of it is extremely well balanced. Follow along below and you should be very satisfied with the result!

Pan Seared Duck Breast with Sweet Potato Purée, Swiss Chard, and Balsamic Blueberry Sauce
Serves 4

4 Duck Breast

2 Sweet Potatoes
1 Vanilla Bean
2 Tbsp Honey, divided
1/2 c. Heavy Cream
1/2 c. Water

1/4 c. Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 c. Red Wine
1/3 c. Fresh Blueberries

1 bunch Swiss Chard
2 cloves Garlic

Salt and Pepper, to taste (everything)

Each section is divided into what ingredients you will need with what.

Add oil to the bottom of a pan on medium heat. While the oil is heating up,  season the duck breasts with salt  and pepper.

Now, prepare the sweet potatoes and swiss chard. Peel and dice the potatoes into about 1-inch cubes and place those in a pot with water to boil. When they are tender, set them to the side and strain. Chop the swiss chard, leaving out the base of the stalks - wash thoroughly as there is often sand and dirt on the fresh bunches of swiss chard.

By now the oil is surely hot enough. Place the duck breasts in the oil, skin-side down and pan sear until GBD (Golden Brown and Delicious), as shown below. 

Sear on the other side as well for a couple minutes then place in the oven at 350 until the internal temperature of the duck breast reads 130 degrees - this is the internal temp for a medium rare breast. 

 For the Balsamic Blueberry sauce, add the balsamic vinegar, red wine, and 1 Tbsp in a pan over medium heat and let it simmer until it reduces by half. Once reduced, add blueberries to soften them. 

Now, remember the sweet potatoes we set aside? Locate those and locate a blender! Put the potatoes in the blender and add heavy cream. Add some of the water, pulse on mix a few times to blend and add more water to help with the blending. 

Add the remaining Tbsp of honey to the puréed sweet potatoes as well as the insides of the vanilla bean. Blend this well and let it rest while you complete the last part of this meal. 

Saute the swiss chard. Add some oil to a saute pan over medium heat and add the garlic, salt and pepper, stirring until the swiss chard is wilted and soft. 

Serve with a base of sweet potato purée, stopped with swiss chard and a duck breast (sliced), and drizzled the blueberry sauce over the meat annnnnd voila! 

Enjoy! As always, feel free to send comments/questions/suggestions! Thanks for checking us out!

email: jeerhunt@gmail.com

twitter: @AAppetite

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AestheticAppetite

Some unfortunate happenings

Hey all!

Unfortunately we've run into some scheduling conflicts that have made it difficult to get everything done in the time frame we wanted to for this week. We will still have a weekly post, however, it will likely not be up until later tonight or tomorrow morning. Of course we will make sure you're aware when the post goes up by whatever social means you follow us on!

Some good news to this: Aesthetic Appetite is now on Facebook! Overwhelmingly, Facebook has generated a huge number of our viewers and we want to cater to that by providing some information on our page and posting links to the weekly feature. The internet however has its flaws, also. Facebook has been acting up and not letting us procede through the security checks they now have when you want to make a post. Hopefully that flaw will be worked out soon. You can still like it though by following this link!
http://www.facebook.com/AestheticAppetite

Looking forward to week two despite technology's and scheduling's setbacks!

FIRST! Feature Friday: Beef Shank Osso Buco with Cheesy Polenta & Garlic Bread

It's here! Aesthetic Appetite's first Feature Friday! We're pretty excited and hope you enjoy what we have to show you. Make it, give it a try, and let us know what you think!

FYI: Osso Buco is the Italian term for "bone with a hole." The reference being made to the hole in the marrow found in a cross-cut veal shank. Historically, osso buco was most likely prepared as a farmhouse dish originating in Milano.

For our osso buco, we decided to use beef shanks instead of the traditional veal shanks (also red wine instead of white because of the change in meat). Here's the recipe to follow if you want the same results:

Beef Shank Osso Buco (serves 4)
4 Beef Shanks
2 stalks Celery, diced
2 Carrots, diced
1 medium White Onion, diced
4 cloves (or 1 Tbsp) Garlic, minced
1 c. Chicken Stock
1 c. Red Wine
1 lg can (28oz) Crushed Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Parsley
1 1/2 tsp Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)

First, get your produce prepped and ready to go! Also, preheat your oven to 300F.

Get the beef shanks ready by covering each side with pan searing flour (some grocery stores will actually sell pan searing flour but it is just flour with salt & pepper added. It will be cheaper to just make your own - we usually do).

Add the oil to the pan you are using - make sure your pan is a decent size as the sauce will be made in the same pan. Add the beef shanks to the oil once it's heated.

Flip the beef shanks once the bottom side is a golden brown color. Once both sides are this color, set them to the side - it's sauce time!

Begin by adding the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic to the pan and sauté until tender and onions are translucent.

Once the veggies are done (about 5 minutes), add the red wine and simmer until the wine is reduced by half. After reduced, add the crushed tomates and chicken stock. Mix that together then add the parsley, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer and soak up some of the flavor for about 10-15 minutes.

After allowing the sauce to simmer for a bit, place the beef shanks back in the pan and cover them with sauce.

Cover the pan with an oven safe lid or aluminum foil and place in the oven for three hours.

Cheesy Polenta (takes about 10 minutes to make)
1/4 c. Heavy Cream
4 Tbsp Butter, room temperature
2 c. Chicken Stock
1 c. Yellow Corn Meal
1 Tbsp Mascarpone Cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp. Chives
Salt, to taste


To start, make a beurre (the French word for "butter"). Begin by reducing the cream by half over medium heat. Once this happens, reduce the heat and whisk in the butter in small pats - be sure to not let this reach a boil or it will break.

You should be able to see that it is thickening and it should have a shiny appearance (as in the picture above). Mix in the chicken stock and once it is completely mixed, gradually add the yellow corn meal, whisking it so that there are no lumps. Once the corn meal is added, combine the mascarpone and parmesan cheeses until they are mixed completely without lumps. Finally, add the chives and salt once the cheeses are added.

 The polenta should look about like this.

Beef shanks are braised! And Little Chef says it looks like a job well done!.. almost.

We love homemade garlic bread, though (a completely optional process). We bought a loaf of Batard bread and sliced it in half the long way, made a garlic cheese butter (mix together a blend of butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, and some parsley flakes - the taste of this is totally by preference so experiment a little!). Slice the bread, spread the butter compound, and top with a shredded cheese blend (we used asiago, provolone, romano, and fontina)! Place that in the oven for a couple minutes before you're ready to eat to melt the cheese and get the crust a little crispy.

mmmm.

To serve, place one beef shank on a bed of polenta, some extra sauce (garnish with extra chives), a slice of bread, and dig in!

email: jeerhunt@gmail.com
twitter: @AAppetite

Sneak Peak to our 1st Feature Friday!

Looking forward to the first Feature Friday?? We are! What can you expect for tomorrow? A traditional Italian farmhouse meal full of rich flavors. Now we can't give too much away before tomorrow, but we can tell you this much - we didn't walk away from the dinner table asking for anything more! A heart happy soul meal, no doubt.

See you snazzy people tomorrow!

email: jeerhunt@gmail.com
twitter: @AAppetite