What’s Naughty:  The cream, the butter, the cheese, more cheese, sky high Alexander McQ’s, contemplating fusion.

What’s Nice:  The cream, the butter, the cheese, more cheese, sky high Alexander McQ’s,  the string beans, the eggplant, the chives, contemplating fusion. Fusion.

What’s Coming:  A very hot date!

Credits: Dipalo’s is an institution in Little Italy. It has the best Parmigiano-Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma I have ever had. You can even get cream in a bottle! They are also so kind and friendly.  The whisk from MOMA solves the storage problem big time!  Nails from my favorite:  Soho Nails. Utterly gorgeous stilettos by Alexander McQueen.

Wickedly Wanton Chitalian Pasta

This recipe is basically Fettucini Alfredo with some twists and delectable embellishments.

• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ stick unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• ¼  cup grated  Pecorino Romano
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• ¼ – ½ lb fresh linguini or fettucini
• 1 cup or so string beans torn into 1” pieces
• 1 cup or so Asian eggplant cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp or more of Asian chives if you can find them* or regular chives
• I palmful pinoli nuts
• Olive oil
• Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano (lots)
• 4-6 slices prosciutto di Parma torn or sliced (2-3 per person)

Heat a few turns of olive oil in sauté pan.  Add eggplant and cook for a few minutes. Then add string beans. You may have to add a bit more oil as the eggplant absorbs oil.  Cook until beans and eggplant start turning brown.  Add pignoli and chives and cook another minute or so until pignoli also turn brown.  Drain vegetable on paper towel.

To prepare alfredo sauce, heat heavy cream over low-medium heat in a deep sauté pan. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in cheese and stir to incorporate. Season with freshly cracked black pepper. In a large stockpot, cook fresh pasta in plenty of boiling salted for about 2 minutes. Quickly drain the pasta and add it to the sauté pan, gently toss the noodles to coat in the alfredo. Transfer pasta to bowls. Top each with plenty of shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and prosciutto. Spoon vegetable mixture over. Serve immediately.

*These chives are a bit stronger than the ones we usually get so cooking them softens the taste.

What’s naughty: The butter, the cream, the butter and cream laden mashed potatoes, the 5″ Jason Wu’s, using the dish to get caught.

What’s nice: The butter, the cream, the butter and cream laden mashed potatoes, the 5″ Jason Wu’s, using the dish to get caught, saving the net for another catch.

Of course cod, tomatoes and chives are oh so nice as well!

Credits:  Sky high stilettos from Jason Wu.

Cod in a Light Soy Chive Sauce

• 1 shallot
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup fish stock
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• Flour, as needed
• Frying oil. as needed
• 3 scallions
• Olive oil
• 2-3 servings potatoes, whipped (recipe below)
• ½ red heirloom tomato
• ½ yellow heirloom tomato (or any combination you want)
• 1 palmful chopped chives
• 2 pieces cod, approximately 6 ounces each
• lemon wedges

Make the sauce: Sauté shallots in 2 tbsp butter. Add white wine. Cook total reduction. Add fish stock, and reduce to 1/2. Add heavy cream. Blend with 2 ounces of butter. Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Cut the scallion and saute with olive oil. Mix with the whipped potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Dice tomatoes. Cut chives.

Progression: Coat the cod with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with panko bread crumbs, drizzle with more olive oil.  Place in 350 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes or until fish is just cooked through.  Broil until bread crumbs are lightly browned.

Add tomatoes and chives to the sauce. Warm through.

To serve, place some whipped potatoes on the center of the plate. Place fish on the potatoes. Drizzle sauce around.  Serve with lemon wedge if desired.

Whipped potatoes

• 2 large Yukon gold potatoes
• 2 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ¼ or more as needed cups milk
• salt
• pepper

To salted boiling water, add potatoes.  Cook until fork goes through easily.  Drain.  Return to pot over low heat for about 30 seconds to remove moisture.  Add butter, cream, ¼ cup of the milk, salt and pepper.  Whip with wand until smooth.  Add milk as needed.

I wasn’t sure what it would be so I began throwing it out there. Inspiration can come from anywhere.  I was having my nails done with some new nail polish I had found at Ricky’s by Butter. Two shades of gorgeous greens – very hard to find really good greens in nail polish. I am currently into 2 or more shades of polish at the same time as you may have noticed.  I digress. My lovely Korean manicurist at Soho Nails suggested doing a roll with rice paper, or that’s what I think she suggested.  And after some difficulty in translation, she also suggested radish sprouts!  Perfect!  Beautiful, tangy with a great texture. And they match both colors of green nail polish – I’m not shallow just color coordinated. One choice solved.

After some thought I decided I wanted to do the roll with fish. Scallops in the center, cooked, with either raw salmon or raw tuna on the outside. Initialy I imagined the butteriness of the raw salmon working better but my imagination didn’t taste that one exactly right. The cleanliness of the tuna complimented the creaminess of the butter and the guacamole. Not sure where I came up with the idea for guacamole but it tasted right in my mind and luckily worked. The apple idea came from sushi I had eaten at the most fabulous steak restaurant, The River Palm in Edgewater.  After a second or third test, ‘he’ suggested putting wasabi powder in the guacamole. OMG! Brilliant!  The whole flavor palate came together in a beautiful fusion of cuisines: japanese, mexican, french.

Now to the story. In one of my mind drifts I came up with idea of using yards of rice paper colored fabric in which I would wrap The Well Heeled Cook. Then tie her with a bow. Then why not unwrap her. After all, that is the point. The fabulous surprise came when the wrapped fabric looked like an actual dress.  Love those surprises.  And as you can see, I did the whole video in a deconstructed mode which I thought would be sexier.

I personally love this dish. It’s flavors, textures and colors are a taste for the senses.  Definitely serves my memory well.  If any of you try it please do give me a “piece of your mind”.

To view video see A Gift of Pleasure.

This might well be my signature dish.  A beautiful fusion of flavors and cuisine that borrow from Japan, Mexico and France to create a sensual delight.

Credits:  Nail lacquer from Butter. Wasabi Dipping Sauce from Agata Valentina.  Shoes: Choos.

Sushi wrap

(Makes about 2 -3 rolls)

• 1/3 – ½ lb sushi grade tuna sliced paper thin
• 1/3 – ½ lb bay scallops
• 2-3 tbsp butter (I use salted for this)
• 1-2  thinly cut green apple slices cut into matchsticks
• 4 – 6 rice papers
• guacamole (recipe follows)
• wasabi dipping sauce (can buy or recipe follows)
• radish sprouts

Melt butter over medium heat in sauté pan until it turns slightly brown.  Add scallops and sauté, stirring, for about 30 – 60 seconds or until they just start to break.  Remove scallops with slotted spoon and set aside.  Reserve brown butter in pan.  If not brown enough, you may want to cook it a bit longer until it is a light nutty brown.

Place rice paper in water and soak until soft, about 1-2 minutes.

Place 2 softened rice papers on top of one another.  Arrange a generous amount of the scallops in a line just off center of the paper.  Drizzle with a little of the brown butter. Add some apple matchsticks.  Roll up the rice paper around ingredients.

Drape tuna over roll.  Place a line of guacamole over tuna.  Garnish with radish sprouts.  Drizzle with wasabi dipping sauce.

Cut into bite size pieces.

Guacamole

• 1 very ripe avacado
• ½ tbsp. finely chopped red onion
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• ½ tbsp. (or to taste) chopped pickled jalapenos
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 heaping tsp (or to taste) wasabi powder
• 1tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in bowl and mash together.

Wasabi dipping sauce: combine 2 parts soy sauce, 2 parts mayonnaise and 1 part wasabi powder or to taste.

One of the best classes I ever took was an illustration class with Milton Glaser. For one of the assignments he had each of us write down everything we ate for a week. We brought in the lists and he randomly distributed them to the students and then asked us to illustrate the person behind the list. The most remarkable thing happened. Even without knowing the person whose list we had, most of the illustrations captured the essence of the person and in some cases even a physical resemblance.  Most even depicted the right sex. I was going through a difficult period at that time and the illustration of me showed that.  It even looked a bit like me!

It was at that point that I took note of the connection of food to our entire being.  And I began to think, if the food we prepare and eat is a direct reflection of how we feel and who we are, can the opposite be true?  Can we affect our emotional state by changing the way we eat and look at food?

Here I am, years after that class, looking at food from a sensual point of view, making myself feel good and hopefully making others feel good even if only watching the videos. I have never done a scientific study, I only operate from my gut: if one approaches food from a sensual point of view, I can’t help but feel it brings something into one’s life.  As one reviewer, William Belle of Oye Times wrote, The Well Heeled Cook sees food as “a sensual part of sex.  [Her videos] serve as an overview of this woman’s creativity at the dinner table and while this may or may not have an effect on your bedroom; it may certainly change what’s happening at your stove.”

Milton Glazer’s class was one of the most difficult I ever took as it required so much introspection, but I will always be grateful for that lesson on food. No sour grapes here!

Didn’t get their recipe which in the end worked out for the best. I set out to create one with some ‘Well Heeledness” to it.  After several so-so attempts, I decided to try Tyler Florence’s version (generally love his flavor profiles) – although I did make a few changes, some for taste reasons and some for taste and filmic reasons.  His salsa is complex and sophisticated (that’s the Well Heeled part).  Spicy with sweet undertones.  His recipe calls for dried peppers only. I added fresh ones including one sweet which I think enhances the ‘sweet beneath’. His calls for red beans, I use black – love black beans. Made a few other changes including the addition of a dollop of Greek yogurt.  The result is a combination of flavors and textures that really work well together.

Next challenge – create the ‘story’.  Decided I would expound on the original inspiration:  the dish he can’t resist. The goal?  To make TWHC feel empowered in her effort to get him to stay. After all, it is an audacious dish. How to do that?  Make it sexy and funny. I found the humor in the verbal counterpoint to the sexy visuals. After all, he’d have to be dead not to want to stay even without food!  That, along with the introduction of the man meter added the wit I was looking for. And when the dog accidentally walked into frame, well that was the wonderful, unexpected humorous touch I always look for. One of the things I love about filmmaking is the accidents that happen that you don’t anticipate.

Don’t remember which movie I saw, but the tastes of that day were definitely the feature attraction.  Not to mention it was very well appreciated.

To view video go to The Man Stopper.

Thought about it a while and decided to do the equivalent of what cable shows like Girls and others do when they tell you to stay tuned after the show for an inside look with the show’s creator, Lena Dunham or whomever.  The inspirations for my videos vary, ‘albe-them’ ultimately about the food, and I thought I would share what sparks my imagination.

A major thing to consider is that one of the appeals of  The Well Heeled Cook is its mystery, hence, I will have to measure what and how I share.  Perhaps I can take a page from Grace Coddington’s book where she tells enough to be interesting without being a total giveaway. Still maintains her privacy and that of others.

This will also give me the opportunity to share other things that inspire my work that may not necessarily have to do with a specific video.

So I am going to give it a go. Stay tuned…

To find out what led to the creation of this video go to “Behind the Man Stopper”.

Credits:  Heels are an old favorite from Gianvito Rossi.  Nails by Soho Nails on West Broadway, NY.

Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients

• 4 medium corn tortillas
• Peanut oil
• Salsa, recipe follows
• Chorizo Black Beans, recipe follows
• 4 large eggs, fried sunny side up

Garnish

• Fresh cilantro chopped
• Fried chorizo (reserved from Refried Beans recipe)
• Lime wedges
• Manchego cheese grated (as desired)
• Greek yogurt or sour cream

Salsa

• 1 dried ancho or mulato chile, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried red chile, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2 fresh Holland peppers, stemmed, seeded, cut in half
• 1 red grilling pepper (if available) cut in half (or ½ red bell pepper)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds or ground
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds or ground
• 1 cup hot water
• 4 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into large pieces
• 1 medium Spanish onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 – 6 sprigs cilantro
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 1 lime, juiced

Preheat the broiler. Put the cut tomatoes, sliced onion, halved fresh peppers and whole garlic cloves onto a roasting tray, spreading out evenly. Drizzle with plenty of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper and sprinkle with cilantro sprigs. Broil until everything is nicely charred, about 10 minutes (you want lots of deep rich color so don’t be afraid if some of the edges get pretty black).

Tear all the chiles into large pieces and toast them in a large dry skillet over medium heat until they change color a bit, about 2 minutes. Add the spices and continue to toast for 2 to 3 minutes until everything is fragrant. Remove from heat and carefully add about 1 cup of hot water to just cover the chiles. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add the chile mixture to a blender and puree. Remove the tomato/onion/pepper/garlic mixture from the roasting pan and carefully add it to the blender, (it will be hot). Blend until smooth (you may need to work in 2 batches). Once everything is pureed, pour the mixture back into the pot over low heat adding a little water if the salsa is too thick. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in lime juice and agave. Set aside until ready to use.

Chorizo Black Beans

• 4 links smoked Mexican chorizo
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 white onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed
• 1 to 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

Finely chop the chorizo into small dice. In a heavy-bottomed pot add olive oil and chorizo. Put the pot over low heat and slowly bring the heat up to medium. Fry the chorizo for a few minutes to infuse the olive oil. Using a slotted spoon remove chorizo, for garnish, and set aside. To the chorizo infused oil in pan add onion and garlic and fry until both are cooked, about 2 minutes. Add the beans and stock and simmer to allow the flavors to come together and cook down liquid -about 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Set aside until ready to use.

The beans and salsa can be prepared the day before and reheated when ready to use.

Final steps:

Heat a few turns of peanut oil in pan. Fry the tortillas, turning over, until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain. Fry eggs.

On the plate place tortilla, beans, chorizo and eggs. Drizzle with salsa and garnish with grated manchego , chopped cilantro, lime wedges and Greek yogurt.

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” arose from a basic truth: food equals love. I happen to prefer the German version of the adage, which translates to “love is through the stomach” as it’s not gender specific.

This is my spin on the most basic of comfort foods, meatloaf.  Based on a recipe from Wolfgang Puck It takes the traditional meatloaf with peas and mashed potatoes to the well heeled level including chanterelles and truffle butter in the list of ingredients. And it never hurts to add beautiful lingerie or 5” heels to the recipe.

Just pick your target and aim.

Do you have any comfort food seduction recipes? We’d love to know!

meatloaf

• 2 pounds combined ground beef, ground veal, ground pork

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 large onion, peeled and diced

• 1/3 pound chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped (can substitute creminis or shitakis)

• 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 egg

• 8-10 slices prosciutto

• 2-3 tbsp demi-glace

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook over medium-high heat until they just begin to color, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the cream, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 400. Add to the bowl the beef, pork, and veal. Add the egg and ‘mush’ just until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Form loaf in a pan larger than the size of the loaf.  Drape prosciutto over the loaf completely covering it.  Tuck edges under loaf.

To prepare the water bath, place a roasting pan inside the oven on the middle shelf. Bring a kettle of water to boil. Using an oven glove, slide out part way from the oven the shelf with the roasting pan. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the side of the dish with the meatloaf.  Place meatloaf pan in roasting pan. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil.

Carefully slide the shelf back into the oven and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue to bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat loaf registers 165 Fahrenheit, about 30 minutes more.

Remove the pan of meat loaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes leaving roasting pan in over to cool.

Remove meatloaf to carving dish and pour the jus into a sauce pan.  Add one or two tablespoons of demi-glace.  Reheat.

Mashed potatoes

•2-3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes cut into uniform 2-inchchunks

•1 tbsp sweet butter

•1 tbsp truffle butter

•1/3 to 2/3 cup milk, half &  half, or cream

•salt

•pepper

In large saucepan, Add cut-up potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and just enough cold water until potatoes are covered; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium; cover and let simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

When the potatoes are cooked, remove from heat and immediately drain potatoes thoroughly in a colander. Return to saucepan; heat over medium-low heat approximately 1 to 2 minutes to dry potatoes, stirring occasionally.

Add butter, 1/3 cup of milk (heated milk works better).  Either mash by hand or puree with electric wand as I have done.  Add milk as necessary.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Snap Peas with Shallots

•1-2 shallots halved and thinly sliced

•1-1 ½ cups snap peas

• a few turns of olive oil

Cut tough end (the part that connects to the stem) off the peas.

Heat olive oil in sauté pan until just golden brown.  Add peas and continue cooking for another few minutes until just cooked through.

To serve, place potatoes, peas and meatloaf on the dish in the most imaginative, well designed way you can.

Credits:  Video inspired by the trilogy by E. L. James.  Nail lacquer, Alfredo, from the Shop Cook MAC collection.  All tools, including the Cuisinart ice cream maker from Sur la Table.  Wicked stilettos from Lanvin.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This recipe is based on the one form Cuisinart.

• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ¾ cup granulated sugar, divided ( if you like it sweeter use 1 cup sugar)
• pinch salt
• 2 whole vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat, stir together cream, milk, half of the sugar, salt and the scraped vanilla bean (including the pod).  Bring mixture just to a boil.

While the milk/cream mixture is heating, combine the yolks and remaining sugar in medium bowl.  Using a hand mixer on low speed or whisk, beat until mixture is pale and thick.

Once the milk/cream mixture has come to a slight boil, whisk about 1/ of the hot mixture into the yolk/sugar mixture.  Add another 1/3 of the mixture, then return the combined mixture to the saucepan.  Using a wooded spoon, stir the mixture constantly over low heat until it thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon.  4:09 PMhis mixture must NOT boil or the yolks will overcook.* – the process should only take a few minutes.

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer (discard vanilla pod) and bring to room temperature.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Cover and refrigerate 1 – 2 hours, or overnight.

If you have an electric ice cream maker, Turn on.  If a manual one, follow directions for that machine.  Pour the chilled mixture into the frozen freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 20 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture.  If a firmer texture is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.  Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Pear Tatin

• All purpose flour for rolling
• One large sheet frozen puff pastry or three smaller sheets(some puff pastry comes that way) kept chilled until used.
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsps. cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Calvados
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 ripe Anjou or Bartlett pears

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel pears. Cut into quarters. Core.  Cut one pear into eighths.

In a medium cast-iron or oven proof skillet, combine sugar, vinegar, water and Calvados.  Cook over medium heat without stirring until carmalized, about 12 -15 minutes.  Stir in butter.  Arrange pear wedges in pan.  Quarters in the middle radiating from center.  Place eighths around the edge in a cicle. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until pears are somewhat tender, 10-15 minutes.  Remove skillet from heat.

Drape pastry over pears, tuck in corners. (you can cut a round shape of the pastry but it is free form and I find this works as well.  Prick pastry a little.  Bake in oven until pastry rises and is golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm with your homemade vanilla ice cream.