Annette Joseph: Rue Magazine {recipe recap}

This month I am featured in one of my favorite new magazines Rue Magazine.(page 119)
No kidding! I think that the editors of this magazine are visionary and are taking the magazine business to a fresh new place... they are taking it into the future. Truly using the network of social media and the blogasphere to produce and distribute their message and their magazine content. I am honored to call them not only clients but friends.

Rue wanted to document one of my winter dinner parties here at the house. Easy enough I assembled my fabulous styling team (Natalie, Ginny and Brent) and we styled the heck out of this casual fireside supper for a couple of our cool friends. The party was super fun and Anne Sage our art director/editor made it easy for everyone to mingle and mix. They did not even notice they were having their pictures taken.

Stand Up Salad~ serves 4

4 cups Mixed Organic Greens

½ cup Goat Cheese, crumbled

½ cup Pickled Red Onions

2 Heirloom Tomatoes, cut into cubes

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

3 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

2 tablespoons Fresh Thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl

1 medium red onion cut into thin round slices

1 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a medium size saucepan, switch off heat and let steep for 1 hour. Transfer into a glass jar and refrigerate until ready to serve

*Here’s my secret for a perfectly dressed salad

First rule don’t over dress a salad, nothing worse that soggy lettuce.

Second rule place all the ingredients but the lettuce in the bowl, dress it and then toss in the lettuce, toss and serve.

Roast Organic Chicken with Mock Preserved Lemon wet rub~ serves 4

Preserved Lemons are from the Middle East, you can buy them jarred in a gourmet store however, I have found a way to mimic the flavors and created a chicken rub that is easy and flavorful.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

4.5 lb organic Chicken

2 tablespoons course salt

½ cup fresh rosemary

4 cloves of fresh garlic

Pulse whole lemon, salt, rosemary, oil, and garlic, in a food processor, until milky paste forms.

Put the chicken in a roasting pan on a rack and rub with the wet rub inside and out. Place 1 Meyer lemon cut in 2 in the cavity of the chicken.

Roast on 400 F for 15 minutes then turn the heat to 375 F roast for 45 minutes or until bird’s internal temp is 160 F. *note you may need to tent the bird with aluminum foil so it does not burn on top.

Easy and Quick Baked Polenta with Caramelized Mushrooms~ * for a crowd I like to bake polenta, it saves time at the stove, and makes cooking for a crowd a breeze.

4 + ( 2 cups in reserve to add as needed) cups chicken stock

2 pints brown mushrooms washed and sliced

2 cloves garlic fine dice or shaved on a micro planner

¼ cup olive oil + ¼ cup for finishing the polenta

To Caramelize Mushrooms

Cut Mushrooms into slices

{*Grate cloves of garlic on a micro planner* this is a great way to work with garlic in general I first saw it done by my dear friend Julia Turshen, she's a chef and food writer (also featured in Rue this month) it forever changed how I work with garlic, easy and clever and it evenly distributes the garlic in the dish.}

In a large sauté pan, place oil and garlic, bring up the heat, and add the sliced mushrooms add salt.Cook down the mushrooms until they are brown and caramelized then set aside.

In a large clay-roasting pan, place polenta and stock add mushrooms, salt and drizzle the ¼ cup olive on top. Place in to oven for 45 minutes@ 350.

Persimmon Apple Chutney~

4 apples, sliced into 2” cubes

½ red onion finely sliced

¼ cup champagne vinegar

¼ cup persimmon paste( * or you can cook down 2 ripe fresh persimmons with 3 tables spoons sugar and ½ cup water.)

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for ½ hour or until apples are tender, place in a glass jar and cool.

now for dessert by the fire...

Fire and Ice S’mores

Vanilla Marshmallows from Cacao Atlanta

Love Bar, deep rich dark chocolate from Cocoa ~ from Cacao Atlanta

Healthy Graham Crackers, available at specialty markets, like Whole Foods.

Vanilla Ice cream

Sea Salt

High quality Olive Oil

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream~

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 vanilla beans, split lengthwise

2 large eggs

Combine cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a knife into cream mixture, then drop in pods. Heat cream mixture just to a boil. Whisk eggs in a large bowl, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour mixture into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and registers 170°F on thermometer (do not let boil). Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean metal bowl, then cool, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours. Freeze custard in an ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer. Cooks' notes: ·To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled. ·Custard can be chilled up to 24 hours.

To prepare servings:

Have guests assemble their S’mores outside by the fire.You in the meantime prepare individual bowls or glasses with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with a teaspoon on Olive Oil and sprinkled with sea salt, have guests grab a bowl and dip their S’more into the ice cream…YUMMY Mc Yumster!

Happy winter!