06.10.09
The Making of a Recipe
A lot of the recipes I have for this cookbook are ones that I have made over the years, and I’m practically using the cookbook as an excuse to write them down for the first time. However, there are others that actually seem to come to me from the ether. Recipes that just appear in my head for one reason or another which need to be worked on and tested, because I think that they may actually show promise.
One such recipe came to me while I was taking a brief nap one afternoon. I was lying on the couch, and suddenly the flavors of olives and hot peppers on spaghetti started to come to me, and so I awoke with a recipe idea that I needed to write down right away. I actually ran it by some friends of mine as well, asking for some input as to what the “green” element of the pasta should be. I’m playing with the name “Pasta alla Swan” for this recipe as it develops right now, since that’s the nickname of my friend who came up with the winning idea.
 Who am I to question where inspiration comes from?… |
A different recipe came to me when I saw a beautiful head of cauliflower at the farmer’s market the other day. Sure, it was obviously out of season, but hey, inspiration happens where it happens. I wanted to make a dish that used brown butter and cauliflower on a pasta dish. I started working with other flavors that go great with cauliflower. Flavors like hot pepper, garlic, Parmesan, almonds, walnuts, parsley and scallions were all tested in my trial runs for the dish. The result was a sauce where blanched cauliflower was browned in butter with almonds, then garlic, a little bit of red cherry peppers and scallions were added and heated through. When the pasta was cooked, it was coated with a tablespoon of butter and some breadcrumbs. Then the cauliflower mixture was stirred in, and the plates were topped with Parmesan and parsley.
The result was good…but not great. The real problem is that the flavor was one that slowly built in complexity and depth as you ate the dish, which is true of so many dishes that feature cauliflower. Everyone who has tried this recipe so far was uninterested at first, but by the end was begging for seconds. I need a better way to make the dish really jump out at people and have more kick from the start. If only there was some way to push that desire for more with every bite people take – not just the last few.
 If you’re doing cauliflower, it better have garlic. But that’s just me… |
After kicking a few other flavor ideas around in my head, I decided to turn the whole problem on its head. Instead of a pasta, why not make it a risotto instead? A rich, creamy, garlicky risotto into which I stir the brown butter, cauliflower and peppers at the end, and then top it with scallion greens, Parmesan and parsley. The flavor profile would be very similar, but maybe with this more strongly flavored base, I could perhaps have a recipe that was top-notch from the first bite to the last.
But as it stands, I have no idea. That is the next test I have to try. It’s a rough business making a cookbook from scratch - especially with no publisher helping me to foot the bills at this point. But all the same, it’s not so bad eating the test results as I go!
Now I just need to go out and buy another head of cauliflower…
Stumble it!
John said,
June 12, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Matt,
I like where the cauliflower recipe is going. I understand looking for that big taste right out of the gate. Could be tough considering cauliflower. What about orzo? Maybe even a cold orzo salad that could let all ingredients work together overnight. Bring it up to just below room temperature the next day to release all the smells and tastes, then serve. Just a thought.
How is the book coming. My wife suggests possibly using an agent, to find the best match in a publisher. Hope this somehow helps.
Chef Matt said,
June 18, 2009 at 6:45 pm
John - thanks so much, glad you like it. I like the Orzo idea, but I am afraid the size of the pieces of other items - like cauliflower - are too big for the orzo. I like pieces to be a little more similar in size. At the end of the day as well, it’s still just another cut of pasta. But your idea about serving at room temp is a good one. There is possibility here for flavor melding and so forth given more time.
And indeed, I think I will need an agent at some point. God knows there are some things I can do myself, and others I will need help with! Thanks for the help!
John said,
June 23, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Matt,
If the agent thing doesn’t pan out, you may want to consider self-publishing on Lulu.com. Just a thought. Looking forward to the final product.