“But behind the chalet, my holiday’s complete

And I feel like William Tell, Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet

Pulling mussels from the shell

Pulling mussels from the shell”

There was no getting the Squeeze song “Pulling Mussels” out of my head while testing the recipe of “Nina’s Mussels” for the first season of Buddy Valastro’s, Kitchen Boss for TLC. Easily one of my favorites from that job, made even more so by delightful phone conversations with Buddy’s eager-to-share Aunt Nina- necessary to best develop and transcribe from verbal (“A pinch, maybe more – you know – until it tastes good!”), a written and beloved family culinary pearl.

Unlike oysters and many clams, mussels are most familiarly appreciated as cooked- generally prepared steamed in a savory seasoned broth enhanced by the mussel’s released juices, or tossed on a grill, whole, until the shell pops open, meat beckoning for a hot dunk in melted herb butter. Nina’s Mussels required a raw shuck before settling meat-side down on a bed of garlicky breadcrumbs, which presented a  fresh challenge – yet another reason why I never tire of cooking as there is always something new and wonderful to learn and bring to the table, even if the new and wonderful to me is already something old and treasured to another.

With a decent shucking knife, I can open an oyster alright and with minimal blood loss. Once the recalcitrant muscle hinge is popped, the reward to slurping your briny mouthful comes on short order. The trick to opening raw mussels required Nina’s “snap” technique – a sliding, or snapping of the top and bottom slightly ajar, quickly slipping in the sharp blade of the knife, and down, to release the adductor’s tenacious grip. Practice made perfect – ensuring that my non-dominant hand was well-protected from the blade – and after testing several batches of roughly 3 dozen each, there were no visits to the E.R. and I think Aunt Nina would approve of my “snap”.

After shucking, well-seasoned and oiled homemade breadcrumbs are put down in your pan, topped by the raw mussels, meat-side down. The heat is turned up until the sizzling begins, soon followed by appetizing wafts of garlic, herbs and toasty bread. Magic happens a few minutes later. Carefully turned out onto a platter, crumb-side up, each mussel emerges with it’s own crisply burnished cap, tender cooked mussel beneath – each a perfect bite of contrasts in texture and flavor.

This recipe prep time is undoubtedly a bit time consuming, yes, but the actually cooking takes just minutes. With a result so impressively delicious, rustic in character and just perfect to serve as antipasti with a fizzy prosecco, I encourage you to prepare Nina’s Mussels. And then you will again and again.

The recipe calls for the use of a non-stick pan, but I continually use my grandmother’s seasoned cast iron skillet with great success.

Click to Recipe for Nina’s Mussels

Above photographs shot by Ricky Rhodes at the studios of Kalman & Pabst

The stylist shoots the photographer.

What do you get when you combine a rhubarb fool with an Eton mess? You get a Rhubarb Foolish Mess, that's what! How perfect for an April Fool's day shoot.

Another delightful Sunday of test shoots at Kalman & Pabst Photo Group. I’ve been looking forward to working with Clarissa and her elegant touch with lighting for a long time. Spring sprung in the studio, and it tasted every bit as vibrant as it looks. #allnatural #realfood

Please click open the images for maximum viewing pleasure.

Fresh artichoke and Calabrian chile pie. Holy yum.

Salad of peas, pea leaves, pea shoots and carrots.

Assorted meringue ready to be crumbled and folded into soft cream and tangy rhubarb compote for the Foolish Mess.

I spent the better part of a recent weekend styling test shoots with Cleveland photographer Ricky Rhodes. We worked in the urban comfort of  Kalman & Pabst Photo Group. The shoot was natural ingredient and whole-foods focused, and we kicked the session off by by getting up close and personal with affable bunches of varicolored carrots from The Chef’s Garden.

The cooked presentation (did you know that carrots are more nutritious cooked than raw, and that cooking with oil increases the beta-carotene content?), is a simple roasted riff on Moroccan carrots. Whole spices, sea salt and oil are tumbled with the lengthwise-sliced carrots on a sheet pan  and set to roast. The warm flavors of exotic spices enhance and compliment the inherent sweetness of perhaps the most joyful of roots.

Filling in as baker at the adorable new Lemon Falls while the hunt for someone full-time continues. Hello, bakers…greater Cleveland area. Interested? Call and ask for Chef Karen.

Assisting Cleveland photo-stylist Melissa McClelland on Smucker’s shoots at the fantastic commercial photography studio of Kalman & Pabst.

*Eagerly awaiting the inaugural issue of edible Cleveland, which should hit the new stands this week. I penned a feature piece and am excited to finally see it in print. Feeling proud to be a part of the edible community.

It’s curiously summery weather in Cleveland, and I am not complaining!

*Received word that my sweet (wink, wink) piece has been cut from the spring issue of edible Cleveland, but will be a lead story for the summer issue. Proof positive that Cleveland is long overdue for their own edible publication – an over-abundance of wonderful content!

By this time, I believe everyone is familiar with the McDonald’s “pink slime” Chicken McNugget video. What appears to be a heaving mound of Pepto-Bismol pink soft serve ice cream, barely contained in a cardboard box, we discover, is the fast food giants’ processed chicken matter waiting to be fried into McNuggets.

The visual of the writhing pink puree, (actually a quantity of chicken mousse being extruded like so much Play-Doh), is not what bothers me most, nor that the contents contain every scrap part of the bird. What’s most offensive, is the quality and cruel treatment of those tragic antibiotic-dosed, factory farmed chickens. Furthermore, all of those errant parts are so filthy they receive a soak in an ammoniated bath to prevent us from getting sick from contamination. Disgusting, and thanks, McD’s.

I’ve read that McDonald’s will be discontinuing the use of the resulting, ammoniated “pink slime” (also fabricated similarly with beef to stretch the burgers), but come on. The food is still low-quality dreck which has a long road to remedy.

As with most of today’s food supply, if you want to know what’s in it, shop intelligently and prepare it yourself. That goes for the crunchy little barnyard bird bite – but let’s call it what it really is – a chicken croquette. Done properly with a short list of clean ingredients, it’s a hot, shattery-crusted, juicy morsel of savory poultry. Delicate, in fact. Perfect served as a hot hors d’oeuvre, or as your kid’s happiest meal. Healthier than the alternative.

Get over the fact that at one time this photo would have looked like piped chicken mousse and now you can’t help but think, “pink slime”. Trust me – this will become good eating.

Chicken croquettes are easy to make ahead and freeze – one batch yields over one hundred pieces – plenty enough to bag and store for multiple future uses.

A fresh, local pastured chicken from Tea Hills Farm is pureed in the food processor with some egg whites for binding.  Local, organic heavy cream (Snowville Creamery, here), is added for enrichment. Salt, pepper and a subtle hint of nutmeg provide light seasoning. If inspired, some duxelles, or other minced, sweated and cooled vegetables make a fine addition.

The sheet pan of piped out chicken mousse then goes into the freezer. Next, cut the frozen ropes into “nugget” sized pieces.

At this time you have two choices: bag the pieces and store as-is to finish at a later time, or dip them into an egg wash, crumb-coat and store, ready to fry out of the bag.

These croquettes were prepped, bagged and stored before I went on Mexican Holiday. Prep for a dinner I catered three days after re-entry was that much easier with one appetizer finished to the point of on-site frying..

Chicken Croquettes

Recipe Adapted from *Chef John Stropki via Heidi Robb

Yield: 100 + pieces

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb. skinned and boned fresh, best-quality chicken meat (white or dark or a combination), cut into small pieces.

3 large pastured egg whites

1 cup organic heavy cream

Kosher or sea salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste (taste by cooking a small amount in a hot pan.)

Whole beaten pastured egg (how many depends on the quantity of croquettes you are cooking)

Panko or homemade breadcrumbs

Fat for deep frying (I used lard)

Process:

Have all ingredients ready at the same cold temperature. Place the chicken and egg whites into the bowl of a processor. Pulse to break down, then puree until smooth. Pulse in the cream and seasonings, puree until thoroughly combined. Cook a bit of chicken mixture to check seasoning. Correct if needed.

Line a half baking sheet with a silpat or parchment. Fit a large pastry bag with a plain 1A tip. Pipe rows of chicken mousse until all is used – one half sheet should accommodate all of the mixture. Leave space between rows.

Freeze mixture until solid. Remove rows and cut into “nugget”-sized pieces. Bag and freeze or pieces now or proceed.

Have a sheet pan covered with a silpat or parchment ready. Set up dredging station with beaten whole egg and panko or other crumbs. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg to coat then coat with crumbs and place on the prepared sheet pan. You may now either freeze the coated pieces or proceed to deep fry. If deep frying:

Heat fat in a deep pot or deep fryer to 365. Gently lower pieces of coated chicken into the hot oil and cook, turning occasionally, until bronzed in color and cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon or Chinese strainer to a draining rack. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and a shower of herbs, or your choice of dipping sauces.

*Cleveland Chef, John Stropki, is one of those thunderbolts of talent who flies under the radar as a corporate chef, (for, umm, A Major Corporation). Karen Pelyhes Gorman, (dearest friend and colleague for nearly – gulp – two decades), and I have been fortunate to be able to call on and employ John for those occasions when we catered high-volume events and needed *that guy* to help get our food out hot, fast and looking great. And he has one of these – hawt.

Back in late October, I plugged into the Google search window, “Iyengar workshop February”.  What turned up was great fortune in terms of discovering a phenomenal Iyengar yoga instructor in NYC’s dynamic Lara Brunn, a truly special lodging in Mar de Jade, (tucked into the base of that lush volcanic jungle yonder), and the tiny West Coast Mexican fishing village of Chacala, Nayarit.

Meals at Mar de Jade are fresh, creative and abundant offerings. Much of the produce served comes from their own organic farm, and I’m sorrily missing my wee-hours morning snack of sweet n’tart guayabas eaten out of hand, and the housemade mango marmalade slathered stickily on toast.

The non-adventuresome and easily contented traveler could do no wrong in staying put for the duration, but that doesn’t suit my local cuisine-curious nature. A short stroll down the beach brings the scent of woodsmoke and the promise of fire-licked fish, fresh from the morning’s haul. Sit down, toes-in-sand with a friend, a liter of Pacifico, a pile of limes and salt to kick off a leisurely afternoon of grazing through Chacala’s finest oceanic offerings.

As a starter, I cannot resist a ceviche de pulpo. Served with a side of crunchy tostadas and limes. Limes with every dish at every meal. It’s a trend I can get on board with.

Bbq’d huachinango (red snapper), prepared as the local specialty, “pescado sarandeado” at Acela’s. Each palapa-covered restaurant has their own proprietary blend of sarandeado basting lubricant, many including a foundation of the local bottled hot sauce, Salsa Huichol. Whether you opt for the sarandeado or “al natural” preparations, the fish emerges moist and flaky with the lashing of smoke from local hardwoods.

This year’s travelmate, Binnie, and I devoured our first kilo of huachinango sarandeado at Acela’s. Served with warm corn tortillas, and a picante just-made salsa. Yes, soft fish tacos brightened with juicy squirts of lime, por favor.

Peering at Chacala through lush jungle foliage during a hike up a dormant volcano. So prehistoric in feel that a  swooping-in from a pterodactyl would not be at all surprising.

Peeling buckets of sparkling-fresh camarones. Soon to become ceviche, a topping for a tostada, or grilled with garlic and butter, “al mojo de ajo”.

Bottles of Jarrito’s Mandarina soda and huachinango sarandeado for two.

In the name of comparative research, we eat another kilo’s worth of huachinango sarandeado. Done to a flip of the grill cage at Chico’s.

Chacalans must love their beans. The fish came with a side of refried beans, and a grilled tortilla filled with more of those same frijoles.

Grilled local spiny lobster, “al natural”.  Maine lobsters, these aren’t, but when in Chacala…

The oysters looked beautiful. I love oysters, yet, I feared the Mexican oyster (shame on me). Next trip – I promise. They were served plump, glistening and simply on the half shell with a pile of limes, and I gazed enviously as locals devoured their platters with gusto.

There are at least fourteen varieties of bananas growing in the tropical climate of  Nayarit. The plaintains (platanos), are robust and fleshy, and delicious cooked on a slow grill and topped with jam and sweetened condensed milk. I worked on a similar recipe for Steven Raichlen’s Planet Barbecue, topped with guava paste and salty cheese. Do try this at least once with someone to share.

If grilled platanos aren’t your sweet thing, the ice cream man cometh. And so does the cart of fresh fruits sprinkled with chili salt and – you’re getting good at this – lime juice.

Chacala is home to some of the most intense and hotly-hued sunsets I’ve ever witnessed. Each night provided the only visual entertainment one could possibly desire, accompanied by the soothing sounds of the surf. Lights out.

This post is dedicated to Salsa Huichol, table mascot of Nayarit.

When I was a little girl, hominy (reconstituted dried corn), was something that came in cans, waiting for my mother to heat up in a pot on an occasional Saturday morning. She served the engorged soft kernels warm, in bowls with butter, salt and pepper – simple, on its own as one would eat a bowl of hot farina or oatmeal. There were both white and yellow hominy and I innocently believed the latter came already buttered in the container. Although I held no particular aversion towards the dish, I can’t recall ever going out of my way to purchase whole hominy once I was out of the house, and only was reminded of it’s existence on occasion via an order of posole, likely enjoyed somewhere in Mexico. Hominy struck me as a muted and understated  filler starch, and not as the shining ingredient, until the humble corn grit forced me to sit up and take notice several year’s ago during a meal at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in Miami.

A paper-lined bowl filled with hot and crispy fried hominy was sent out to a weary over-recipe-tested crew of us as a pre-dinner snack with cocktails. Tossed in a mixture that was sweet, salty and aromatically spiced, perked up and made puckery with a squeeze of lime, our greedy fingers made short order of those bronzed nuggets and I was hooked.

In Cleveland, at The Greenhouse Tavern, Chef Jonathan Sawyer puts his own spin on a fried hominy appetizer with the addition of those sticky-crunchy bits of similarly-fried pigskin. Salted, and woven through with tangles of pickled red onion, leaves of cilantro, slivers of scallion, surprise pockets of roasted jalapeno, and that welcome acidic splash of lime juice, make this one plate which is always difficult to keep my fork out of.

The combination of flavors and textures of The Greenhouse dish are reminiscent of  addictive Indian chaats, or something Southeast Asian snackish – tumbles of assertive bites which happen to pair perfectly with lager and ales. Inspired by Chef Sawyer’s dish, I’ve fashioned a version by playing up the Southeast Asian angle to great effect. Decidedly un-timid and most definitely addictive, as my son, Julian, stated, “This REALLY wakes you up!”

I reconstituted hominy from a bag of Rancho Gordo dried corn (one cup dried yields approximately 2 1/2 cups cooked). This requires an overnight soak in water, then a simmer for an hour – hour and a half. Chef Sawyer uses hominy drained from a can. Either way is suitable and delicious, just make sure the hominy is very well dried prior to deep frying to avoid splattering.

Thai Flavors Fried Hominy

Serves: 4-6 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked hominy (if canned, rinsed), drained and very well dried

*1 shallot, thinly sliced lengthwise (2-3 tablespoons), macerated in 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

**2 large scallions, thin bias cut

1 loose cup picked Thai basil leaves

1 or more fresh Thai chile, thinly sliced (use your own discretion – these little guys mean business)

Scant tablespoon kosher or sea salt

Heaping  tablespoon palm or unrefined cane sugar

Zest of one large lime, microplane-fine

Pastured lard for deep frying (if you are looking for vegetarian/vegan friendly, substitute coconut oil or ::insert your deep fry fat of preference:::, I’ve stated mine)

Lime wedges for serving (optional)

Cooking Instruction:

Heat oven to warm setting.

Set up a deep pot for  frying and begin to heat the lard to 375-400. Have a bowl ready for the hominy as it finishes frying.

Drain the sliced shallot and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the salt, palm sugar and lime zest. Rub the zest into the mixture with your fingers to infuse with the citrus oils.

When the lard reaches temperature, fry the hominy in batches until crispy – 3-4 minutes. Remove fried hominy to the waiting bowl with a Chinese wire strainer (my preferred utensil), or slotted metal spoon. Place in oven to keep warm while frying remaining hominy. Repeat until all hominy is fried. Season hominy with the salt/sugar/lime zest mixture  to taste – half may be all you need. Toss well to coat.

Add the drained shallot, scallion, Thai basil and chile(s). Toss to combine. Pour contents into serving bowl and enjoy hominy while warm.

*The Greenhouse Tavern is now producing their own house vinegars. I’ve been fortunate to sample the beer, red wine, white wine, rose´, garlic and apricot-sake results. I’m even luckier to have several of those in my cupboard, and used the white wine vinegar as part of the shallot maceration.

**In a dish like this, the cut of ingredients truly enhances the eating experience. It’s a great opportunity to practice knife skills. Slender bites of onion and chile are much more pleasant than less delicate pieces.

Food writer, Aleksandra Crapanzano, was inspired to write about the charms of Baked Hot Chocolate in The Wall Street Journal. Flattered and proud, I am, to have created a dessert which stands the test of time.

Article with recipe HERE.

A meal at Eleven Madison Park is captivating – an exquisite parade of culinary jewels to be savored mouthful by grinning mouthful, and the delight doesn’t stop when the last trace of dessert is cleaned from the plate. Guests are sent home with a jar of Chef Humm’s signature granola – intended, I presume, for the next day’s breakfast, although I definitely made a dent in mine on the cab ride home after an unforgettable dinner celebrating a friend’s birthday. Well, there was a fair lot of wine..and that wicked frozen slushy bourbon and concord grape spoonable libation…

A composition of sweet, tart and salty flavors delivered through crisp and chewy bites make this granola irresistible. Thank you, Chef Daniel Humm, for creating what might be the perfect formula for granola. I made a few customizations – not enough to reinvent the wheel, or to barely even loosen a bolt. Just minor tweaks to fashion the addictive mixture using what I keep on hand, and to edge up the nutrient content, since I can’t seem to keep my hands out of the granola jar.

The recipe is written with Chef Humm’s original list of ingredients; my slight changes and ingredient preferences are indicated.

Eleven Madison Park’s Granola (via Serious Eats)

Adapted by Heidi Robb

2 3/4  cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if that is your preference)

*1 cup shelled pistachios

1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1 cup coconut unsweetened shaved coconut flakes (not shredded)

**1 tablespoon salt

***1/2 cup brown sugar

****1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup maple syrup, grade B is preferable

3/4 cup dried tart cherries

Preheat oven to 300. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes and salt.

In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, olive oil and maple syrup. Over medium heat, cook, whisking until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the oat mixture and stir to coat.

Spread the oat mixture over the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes, or until lightly golden, stirring the mixture after 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Stir in the cherries. Cool completely before storing.

* I have been absolutely spoiled by the flavor and texture of Sicilian pistachios for use in cooking and baking – no other I’ve tasted compares. However, priced in the realm of 60.00 per lb., and the at the rate I can plow through this granola, Sicilian pistachios fall into the category of a luxury item.  I’m rarely without a stash of Freddy Guys Hazelnuts (Oregon filberts) – truly the king of hazelnuts. Meaty and sweet, the hazelnuts pair ideally with the gorgeous tart cherries, also sourced from Oregon. $12.00 per lb. makes this nutty choice palatable in every way. I’m sure almonds, walnuts or pecans would be tasty alternatives.

** For salt, I use unrefined sea salt.

*** I was thrilled to receive a bag of Rancho Gordo’s granulated piloncillo (the more familiar piloncillo cones are a bit of a pain to grate or grind), as a holiday gift. The smoky caramel and molasses flavor of this Mexican sweetener works beautifully here, and being an unrefined product, benficial trace minerals remain, making piloncillo a healthier sweetening option.

**** My go-to olive oil comes from Chaffin Family Orchards in California. I buy it by the gallon. Flavorful, yet soft enough to use as my “neutral” oil. That Chaffin oils are unrefined and grown and produced in a non-toxic, sustainable environment gives me extra reason to be happy with my purchases.

Shooting with the new Foodie pack for Hipstamatic.

Wiping down the last straggling crumbs from a six-week long Kitchen Boss season two, recipe test. I’ve been stuffed to the gills with tasty eats since the end of October – oof. Take a gander at that beautiful pie – look Ma, no wood burning or high-end oven at Pizzeria Heidi. One doesn’t need  pricey equipment to get the job done – solid technique and ingredients combined with practice, practice, practice with the equipment you have will assure kitchen successes.

Off to New York to wrap the job – ready and enthusiastic to connect with the colleagues I’ve been working with from remote.

Happy, peaceful and healthy holidays to you and yours.

- Heidi

Special thanks to Jessica Jerome for her invaluable kitchen assisting.