Weir Cooking in the City; 113; Moveable Feast

I'm a chef and I've always wondered if people invite me on tickets because they know I'll bring a little bit more than deli sandwiches and potato chips. I'm sure when we're if we're cooking in the city I don't really care why they invite me. I'm just so thrilled to be here on the water. But when I think about picnic couth I think about two things I want to that's easy to transport and also food that can be made ahead. And the other thing that I think about if I want food. Jeff looks and tastes is good when you unpack it as when you pack it. So stay with me as I prepare a movable production funding for this series he has made possible by Thai kitchen helping you bring that Thai experience home turning leaping you're just proud to support join Weir's cooking in the city. Joines passion for turning fresh ingredients into coloring delights. He shared by the turning Lee vineyards wine makers who are passionate about bringing the bounty of every harvest into each bottle

he used to prep his mom. Here's two eyes that face for you to share in the issues here coming home. Celebrate every day events liberate makers of glassware and buy silat supplier of equipment to cooks and professional chefs since 1972 with over twelve thousand five hundred items in stock at Sears stores nationwide. Sailing is one of my favorite things in the world to do and I think a

great picnic is in order. So I'm going to make a tart that I think will be really really wonderful. This is a raspberry and nectarine tart and I start first of all you probably wondered what was I doing in the freezer. I've got ice cold butter and ice cold flour and I place those in the food processor. I'm just using all purpose flour and I cut the butter up before I put it in the freezer. I cut the butter into small pieces like this. It makes it a whole lot easier. So I've put those in the freezer for about an hour. I'm making something called a rust puff. A rough puff pastry. I also want to add just a pinch of salt. And I'll process that until it looks crumbly. You can. What kind of food on this desert. I don't think it has to be raspberry said nectarines. Let me check and see how this looks. This is great. This is what I'm looking for kind of these small little pieces of butter in with that ice cold flour.

The reason I start with it being ice cold is because the flour stays separate from the butter. Now I'm ready to add a little bit of water this is also of course ice cold. I'm going to put a little bit of lemon juice right in with that ice cold water that will give a nice flavor to the pastry so I add a little bit at a time. OK this is holding together now. Put a little bit of flour on your work surface and it's very important that the pastry still feels ice cold. So I always. If you work it too much you're not going to have a nice cold pastry. But this feels just right. It's a really really cold. If you feel slightly damp what you can do is just sprinkle it with a little bit of flour. Take a rolling pin and you can just dust that with a little bit of flour as well. And I'll roll that out and I'm going to do what's called turns in a traditional puff pastry it's

tons of work. And what you have to do is you roll it out you do a turn you let it sit in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to do another turn. Put it in the refrigerator. Forty five minutes. So it's not that it's work it really just kind of takes all day to make it. But. This pastry so fun because it's ice cold and I can do all the turns at once. I also need a pastry scraper so I'm going to grab a pastry scraper and I know this looks really rough. At this point but I just take the pastry and I'm going to fold this into four like this so I folded the two ends in and then fold it once again. Now I make sure that there's flour on the work surface. And I turn it one quarter of a turn. It's really easy so once again I'm going to roll it to touch with so I'm going to just add a little bit more flour to the rolling pin. So good. It's going to be

wonderful for the picnic. Once again I'm folding it into quarters and once again I'm doing another turn. So that's the second one. And roll it once again. Now this time instead of folding it in for what I'm going to do is fold it in third. Just like you would a business letter. And then finally I'm ready to wrap this in plastic and would place this in the refrigerator this time. I've chilled that for 45 minutes and that gives it time to confirm if it makes it a whole lot easier to roll. So once again just with a little bit of flour and we're ready to roll that out. All right this looks right. So what I'm going to do next is just trim the edges of your pastry to make it as best you

can into a nice round circle and then taking the rolling pin once again I place that on the edge and I just roll it right around the rolling pin and then I place this on a big king sheet. What I want to do next is I've got some beautiful fruit for this. I've got some. Look at these nectarines they're so beautiful. As And I've also got some raspberries they come into season at the same time so I thought they would be perfect on the top of this tart. You want to use fruit that isn't too soft and if it's if they're sweet than not too much sugar if they're not sweet enough just a little bit more sugar that'd be great. OK we're ready to crimp the edges so I just bring the edges in just like this I'm just kind of rolling. I go all the way around the outside. I put a piece of parchment on the baking sheet. You can do that if you want to but you don't necessarily

have to. Right. So that looks Karaite nice round shape. And then I come back it with my fingers what I do is just to form a little edge just like this and I make it. As round as I possibly can. I take the nectarines and I place those right on the tart. These are so beautiful and so thin you don't want to be too thick because then. They're not quite as easy to place on the top of your charts. I just go around the edges. You do want to make sure though that you do cover the whole bottom of your tar and any of those little spaces the raspberries will fill in so you don't have to really worry about it and don't worry if they're not placed perfectly. I just let them fall where they may. Now tell me are those colors beautiful or what. A little bit of butter on top that will keep it nice and moist. If you want you can just a little sprinkling of some sugar.

Right on the top and we'll pop that in the oven now that was easy wasn't it. And it's also so easy to transport so have a great dessert. I'm going to bake this in the oven 375 for about 35 to 40 minutes. Beautiful and golden around the edges. I've already made one look. At how good this looks but then there's just one final thing that I need to do and that's to brush the top with a little bit of jam and then I'll just let this sit and it'll be ready for a picnic. Now I need to make the farro salad. That is the next thing and this is another one that's so wonderful. I start with basal But you see out there there's cinnamon Bayes old there's lemon basal. There's all kinds. So that's really up to you what I'm doing is just to place this in

the processor and I'm adding some pine nuts. That's what we have right here. These pine nuts have already been toasted. I don't know how many of you I've done it myself have forgotten your pine nuts in the oven. I think the best thing dry saute pan 30 to 60 seconds. It's just great to just toss some. I just shake the pan. Now the pine nuts to the basal. I'm also adding some grated Parmigiano Reggiano right into the processor Bowl and I'm going to add some garlic. Of course you need a little bit of garlic in with your pesto. Don't worry about chopping it instead just slice it like I'm doing. Add it right into the processor and then of course a little bit of fruity extra virgin olive oil. And I always use an excellent quality extra virgin olive oil. Process this. You know what else. A little salt and I add just a little bit of salt to

this. I know that the pesto is going to need a little salt and a little bit of pepper. And. Process this until it's nice and smooth. So that is easy. OK. Now I've got something that you might not have heard of before and that is called. Farro. That's what this is that's the finished product. But where we start is right here. This is far oh it's an ancient grain that actually comes from Rome and it's grown in and also Tuscany. It's a fantastic green it's kind of nutty and has a really chewy consistency. I happen to love it. You can find it in really good Italian stores are in really well stock markets. And what I do with the Pharo is I just cover it with cold water. You can see right here I've covered it with cold water. And they soak that for about two hours. Then I drain it put it in a pan cover it with new

water fresh water and I just cook it. And I want this to still be a little bit crunchy So let's see. It's perfect it's wonderful. It's got a little bit more crunch than say Rice. So it's really going to be good. I'm going to add. Let me get a rubber spatula. I'm adding the pesto to the Pharo. And I'm also going to add just a little bit more extra virgin olive oil so that it doesn't stick together. I'm also adding some diced tomatoes and then I'll toss this together. Of course you need a little bit of salt to That'll balance really well with that far Oh and with the tomatoes it'll taste so good. And if you can not find far one of the things that you could use in place is you could use some barley that would also work. Or you could use some hard wheat berries. But you do need to soak those a little bit longer. Look how

good that looks all that pesto. Really really nice summer dish. Boy they're going to love this on the boat aren't they also put a little bit of baseball right on the top of this purple bezel and I think it's just beautiful right on the top. One more dish that I'm going to make. I'm going make these fabulous tuna skewers with a tomato aioli you're going to love them. So what about some tuna skewers. And you can see this beautiful piece of I hae to know that I have. I just cut this. Into long pieces like this and then cut it across into small chunks. I've got some all ready cut up right here. And I also have some skewers that have been soaking. These are soaking in water and also lemon juice. I like to do that because the lemon juice imparts a little bit of lemon flavor to the inside of the ahi tuna. Place a few pieces of the AHI right on the skewer and

also I'll take a lemon wedge that gives a nice lemon flavor too of course just right through the skewer. And. Another piece of tuna. Now I take a little bit of olive oil. I'm just going to brush a little bit of olive oil right onto those skewers. I already have some olive oil that's right on the that's already brushed on the other ones and I just want a little bit on these. Now those are all done and I'm ready to chop some herbs. These are some beautiful herbs that I have. I've got a little bit of time. Remember that time a little bit of time goes a long way. Also some parsley. This is a talian parsley. This parsley has so much better flavor it's just more pungent I really like it. I'm going to use a little bit of oregano. I'm also taking some chives. So just mince those chives

and add to the pile. So if you put them in a big pile this is really quick I can really smell those herbs It smells so good. This will be a nice taste of summer when we're out there on the water. What is it about the water you get so hungry out there on the water. It's already spread these out on the work surface and those oiled skewers. I just press those right into the herbs and then I place them on a hot grill. So I'm going to just press them very quickly. And. You soak the skewers in water so that they don't burn you can also do these on your outdoor grill if you want to but I'm using an indoor Ridge grill. I love these grills. They're fantastic but the one thing is you need to heat them for at least 10 minutes before you use them. It's a cast iron Ridge grill and I love them because you can use very little oil for grilling and you get those nice grill marks and really good flavor.

Well let's cook and then in the meantime I'm going to make a garlic Manet's flavored with a little bit of tomato paste. I start first of all by placing an egg yolk in a bowl. When you're making an aioli it's always the same it's one egg yolk one cup of oil. But in the meantime I want to check these tuna skewers those cooks so quickly. You can see how wonderful this crew is it makes those nice little marks you can see this one looks so good. These will only take a poll of minutes to cook this one's beautiful. Look at this and they'll be done so quickly. All right I've got some mustard I'm going to add next. I like the mustard there it's there for flavor. I'm adding about a teaspoon of mustard but I also like to add mustard because it's got a little starch in it it really helps to make you or I only imagine it. And then I've also got some oil. I knew a thing about one. Quarter. Extra

virgin olive oil and three quarters unflavored oil like flour oil sunflower oil canola oil. Any one of those will work. So a little bit more oil these cups are so great that you can just see holding them up you don't have to look at the side they're really nice. So I've got a combination of oils and I also have a whisk. I start first of all by adding about a tablespoon of oil to the bowl and I whisk this together so I just whisk whisk whisk until it's homogenous. Now I'm. Ready to add a little bit more oil. So drop by drop. I'm going to add a little bit of oil so you can see. You don't add more oil until you see that it's homogenous. I want to show you this is homogenous it's all mixed together you don't see the egg yolks floating in the oil. If it does you've made a mistake and you better start over again. Let me check that tonight again.

These are almost done. All right we're back to that manatees. Now if it starts to slide a little bit on your work surface you can put a towel underneath or you can take a towel and roll it will show you that if it starts to roll around a little bit. So a few drops of oil. And you can see I'm just adding it little by little. Don't pour it into quickly if you do you're going to break the emulsion so I never add more oil. Until it's completely homogenous. When you get a little further along in the process you can add your oil a little bit faster. Boy I'll tell you when I used to work at Chez Panisse I used to make 16 cups of Manny's using 16 egg yolks imagine whisking all of that oil and I'll tell you you get a good workout. The oil is added and now we're ready to flavor this. So look up

beautiful that looks. I think that these are very very close. I've got a couple. That are done when they're finished you just take them off like this one. I can see is done. It feels firm to the touch slightly firm. I want it to be just slightly rare inside. That's how I like the two skewer. Let's see. Take these out. That lemon it would be so good to have it grilled like that. All right. In the mean time I'm going to flavor this. And we're already out of the mustard but I'll add a little bit of tomato paste that will give a nice red color but the flavor will also be wonderful. So a few tablespoons and then some garlic you can make a garlic nanny's or an Iowa Lee without garlic so I like to use a mortar and pestle You can also mince it or you see me all the time mashing it with the back of my knife. But if you use a mortar and pestle you will make a nice paste which will distribute

very very evenly in the. Mayonnaise. I'm also adding a pinch of salt. The salt what it does is it absorbs a little bit of that moisture and it makes it a whole lot easier. To manage. We're starting to get a pasting now. But as I said a nice smooth paste and. It will be really evenly distributed throughout that Mandy's. Now it looks like I have nothing in the bowl but there is a lot of garlic flavor there so don't worry. Just grab a spoon. And. Clean this off and then scrape around the sides and you've got that wonderful. Garlic and that's going to add so much flavor. And then of course we need some lemon.

I'm just squeezing it through my hand so I catch the seeds. And of course a little bit of salt. And some pepper. You can even add some cayenne to this. That would be very nice with these skewers. These skewers. That reminds me. Sure they're done. OK let's take these off. And finish up on our Manet's. So many things to think about in the kitchen. And. Also what I do is if I find that there isn't quite enough liquid if it seems a little thick I add a little bit of warm water so I'm going to show you just a touch of warm water and that'll give a great. Consistency to your finished Manet's. Look at this. It's so much creamy here it will be no much much better. There. Now you know what I want to do. Of course I've added everything

I want to taste. Make sure that tastes good. So you're going to love it. Oh is that good with those skewers. It's going be out of this world. OK. I have a plastic container and I'm going to put some you get rubber spatula. Oh good. It's funny you know sometimes you taste things and you think they're good but then it's just the flavor just keeps going and going. You know I want to make sure that I put this in the cooler and keep it nice and cold until we get there. And then cover on the top. We've got our skewers all set. What this is going to be some picnic. That's great. I've already got the Pharo Sela Do you remember that. I'm going to put the skewers right into the cooler. I've got my hat. I'm definitely going to be set with the hat.

I've got the manatees that's going to be so good in the tart will be fabulous. I've got two wines. I chose a Sonia blank and also a very not Chia from singe minyanim which would be so good that wonderful little hell town in Tuscany. It's going to be fabulous. I absolutely can't wait now. I'm going to meet you down in the slip. I'm going to run now with the cooler. I've got to go meet my friends in a few minutes. You know when I was a kid I spent every single weekend of every summer on the water with my family and the thrill has never been gone. I feel like Kate again. Hey you guys how are you. I know what day to day. Why would you want to take that Michael. Wow this boat is great. Thank you I love it what a beautiful day.

How are you guys. Alright I see you. Good to see you too. Hi Kristen. Nice to see you. I might go. Thank you for coming out already. Fun. So we're going to do Michel what I'm thinking is we sail up along City front. We should see a sailboat race. The usual sea lions will go to submarine and then we can go out under the Golden Gate Bridge. All that sounds great we'll be able to see the city from out on the water that'll be beautiful. How does that sound. Joanne it's always good to see you. But what's on the menu. Yeah. I know that's all you. Want is the food isn't it. Well not entirely We always like to welcome a new sailor aboard you know with our traditional champagne. Oh yeah sounds good to me. I'll tell you. Felix great skins. Yeah I'm not going to tell them what I made but of course you know and being out there on the water it makes us all that much hungrier. Sorry you can't be with us. But I'll see you next time.

For we're cooking in the city cheers you die here. Visit our website at KQED dot org to slash. We are cooking in the city to experience Joanne's cooking through interactive step by step presentations. You can also download printer friendly recipes from her companion book or to make all the recipes in this series in your own home. Call 1 8 6 6 7 2 2 9 2 3 2 do water we're cooking in the city for $35 plus shipping with more than one hundred twenty five easy to follow recipes and more than 50 BOTA graphs this hardcover volume includes Joanne's inspirational ideas on entertaining for any occasion tips to help you get organized and a chapter on food and wine. Production funding for this series is made possible by.

Syria a tough supplier of equipment to cooks and professional chefs since 1972 with over twelve thousand five hundred items in stock at Sears stores nationwide. Here's to breakfast. Mom. Here's two eyes that say it for you. Touche. Sharing the issues. Here. And coming home. Celebrate everyday events. Liberate. Makers of glassware. Turning leaping you're just proud to support join Weir's cooking in the city. Joines passion for turning fresh ingredients into coloring delights. He shared by the turning Lee vineyards wine makers who are passionate about bringing the bounty of every harvest in to each bottle. Kitchen helping you bring that Thai experience home.