2,000,000 people visit Door County per year, yet this peninsula, with Green Bay on the west and Lake Michigan to the east and north, remains gentle, peaceful, somewhat rural and very nature-focused.

20,000 or more acres of Door County are devoted to protected park and recreational areas, providing plentiful opportunity for outdoor fun.

300 miles of shoreline makes the cup runneth over with water sports and water-based activities.

70 miles-long, the Peninsula is easy to navigate by car.

30 plus beaches delight visitors and locals alike; a few even welcome the canine crowd.

11 villages line the waterfront and each has its own personality as reflected in shops, galleries, restaurants, accommodation choices and fun venues to enjoy evening entertainments.

4 seasons bring many reasons to visit: spring for the cherry blossoms; summer for mild temperatures and every kind of outdoor fun; fall to see gorgeous foliage; and winter for peace, quiet, ice fishing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

And last but not-at-all least,

2 vacation necessities —bed and breakfast— shine  in Door County.

BED

LODGINGS AT PIONEER LANE

Location in the heart of Ephraim village, itself in the heart of Door County, accounts for some of the Lodgings at Pioneer Lane’s draw. Ephraim makes a great base for exploring the Peninsula, and the charming white clapboard houses that hold the inn’s seven rooms are a short walk from Ephraim’s restaurants, shops and the shoreline (the most accessible shoreline in all of Door County).

But location isn’t all. Owners Hugh and Alicia Mulliken structured their inn to be heavy on both style and user-friendly substance. Although each room is unique, most are luxuriously spacious and all are filled with comforts such as whirlpool tubs (big enough for two), air conditioning (but you probably won’t need it as night air is so fresh and cooling), large closets, good beds with luxury linens (comfy to the max), TVs and free WiFi. Some rooms come with a fireplace (especially cozy in winter), while others sport a balcony or front porch area for summer lounging. Each room is individually decorated.

I stayed in the sleek and contemporary Sea Chest Room, which felt more like a small apartment than a hotel space, having a large living room and a kitchenette. Décor leaned to contemporary, with clean-cut lines and special design features that included lighting fixtures that are both form and function savvy and artist made wood furniture. Yacht-glossy wood floors, a blue and white color scheme and boat-related decorations supported the room’s nautical theme.

Simple, sophisticated, spacious, comfortable, convenient, the Lodgings has it all. Well, maybe not all. The Mullikens don’t serve breakfast—a plus in my book as I love  restaurant breakfasts and Door County had some winners to experience. Read on:

BREAKFAST

THE WHITE GULL INN RESTAURANT

Encouraged by Good Morning America’s claims that the White Gull Inn Restaurant in Fish Creek serves one of the best breakfasts in all of America, I tried a bit of everything on the menu: omelettes, corned beef hash, buttermilk pancakes, Swedish limpa bread toast and cherry-studded coffee cake included.  Yes, I know I’m taking a chance on hell for the gluttony sin, but who cares in the quest to find the best-breakfast-title claimer, which turned out to be a divine Door County Cherry Stuffed French Toast.

This awesomely rich, but totally worth-the-calories French toast is loaded with cream cheese and local Montmorency cherries. Andy Coulson, White Gull Inn’s innkeeper, gave me the following recipe. I didn’t retest it for you (was afraid I might eat all six servings), but if the recipe replicates what was served, and I am sure it will, you are in for a bit of cherry heaven.

DOOR COUNTY CHERRY-STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Yield: 6 servings

1 loaf unsliced egg bread

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups frozen tart Montmorency cherries, thawed and divided (see note)

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Oil for grilling

Cinnamon

Powdered sugar

Butter

Maple syrup

Trim ends from loaf and cut bread into six 1.5-inch thick slices. Make a cut three-quarters down the middle of each slice. (Bread will appear to have two separate slices, but will be joined together at bottom.) Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and one cup of the cherries. Spread approximately 1/6 of the mixture into the pocket of each slice of bread.  Gently press slices together, evenly distributing filling.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and milk together. Dip stuffed slices into egg mixture and coat all sides. Immediately place on a lightly oiled griddle (or in a frying pan) and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook over medium heat until golden brown, turning to cook second side.

Remove cooked slices from griddle and place on a cutting board. Gently halve each piece diagonally, forming two triangles. Arrange two triangles on individual plates. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and remaining cherries.

Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Note: The White Gull Inn uses frozen Montmorency cherries, which they buy from Seaquist Orchards, the largest growers and processors of cherries in Wisconsin. Seaquist’s owner Kristin Seaquist said if frozen cherries are not available, to use fresh or canned.  (Canned Montmorency cherries are available by mail order: click here).

Making fresh pasta is child’s play, especially if you have a pasta machine to do the rolling. The instructions for making the dough and using the machine may sound complicated at first, but after a little practice, nothing could be easier. So why are you waiting?  Set up the machine and let the good times roll.

HOW TO MAKE BASIC PASTA DOUGH

The following recipe will make about two servings of pasta. The recipe may be doubled or tripled.

1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

1 extra large egg

1 teaspoon olive oil

Pinch of salt

Mound flour on a wooden pasta board or other flat surface. Make hollow in flour so it looks like a volcano.Break egg into the hollow. Top with oil. Sprinkle with salt.

(Now comes the hard part: you need to keep the egg inside the flour mound when you mix the dough and not let the egg escape through the sides of the flour and run over the flat surface. The way you hold the fork isimportant.) Pick up a fork and hold it with the tines parallel with the flat surface, not pointing down. Keeping the fork flat (parallel to the surface), begin making circles inside the mound and gently whip the eggs and oil until white and yolk are blended. (You could support the side of the flour mound with your free hand to help keep the egg in the mound.) With the same flat circular motion, very slowly start bringing flour from the side of the mound into the egg mixture. Continue slowly and carefully incorporating flour from sides and bottom of mound into the eggs until you have a sticky dough. Then put the fork down and gently knead the dough with your hand, incorporating enough flour to make a soft, but not sticky dough. Gather dough into a ball. You will probably not have used all of the flour in the mound. Pass remaining flour through a strainer to remove all lumps (throw lumps away). Use strained flour for rolling dough.

TO ROLL PASTA DOUGH ON A MACHINE

(Cut dough in half. If the dough has been made with more than one egg, cut it into as many portions as eggs used. Roll each portion of dough separately.)

A little wheel at the side of the machine adjusts the roller size. Put rollers on the most open setting. Turning handle of machine, pass lump of dough through rollers.

Fold rolled dough into thirds (like a letter). Press gently to flatten the dough rectangle. Lightly sprinkle dough rectangle with flour. Put one of the narrow ends of the folded rectangle into the machine and repeat the rolling, folding and flouring.  Repeat about eight more times, or until dough is very smooth.

Move the roller wheel notch one  number, putting the rollers a little closer together. Roll dough without folding. Sprinkle rolled dough with a little flour.

Repeat rolling the dough, moving the rollers one number closer after each rolling, and not folding, until the dough is as thin as you want it. (The sheet of dough will get longer and longer as you roll and you may need some help handling it. I don’t know if a purist would ever do this, but beginners can cut the long sheet in sections to make handling a little easier. It is important to remember to never squeeze a long sheet of dough in your fist, but let it hang over your open hand or on the back of your hand to move it.) After the last rolling, gently pull the pasta to its full length and set on lightly floured dishtowels to “dry” for about 10 minutes before cutting.

TO CUT FRESH PASTA

Pass the dough through the pasta machine’s cutting “teeth” to cut into shapes offered by the machine, or cut with a sharp knife into shapes not available on the machine. Put the cut pasta on floured dishtowels and set aside for about 10 minutes before cooking.

TO COOK FRESH PASTA

Put a lot of water into a large pot. Set the pot over high heat. Bring the water to a full boil. Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook until tender, 15 to 30 seconds for very thin fresh pasta and up to a minute for thicker. Drain pasta in a colander. The pasta is ready to add sauce and eat.

TOASTING FOR THE

FOURTH OF JULY

FRENCH CANADIAN KISS

From the bar in Panache restaurant at the Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City, Canada

Combine in a cocktail shaker:

1-1/2 ounce pineapple juice

1 ounce vanilla Smirnoff vodka

1/2 ounce Ricaneux Framboise or raspberry liqueur

Add ice. Shake. Pour into a martini glass.

Garnish with fresh raspberries and cherries.

SOURSOP MARTINI

From Rosewood Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Combine in a cocktail shaker:

1-1/2 ounces Kettle One Vodka

2 ounces soursop juice (see note)

Ice

Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Note: Soursop (also know as guanabana) is a fruit native to the Caribbean and parts of South America. Wikipedia says, “Its flavor is described as a combination of strawberry and pineapple with sour citrus flavor notes contrasting with an underlying creamy flavor reminiscent of coconut or banana.” Soursop juice may be available in canned form from a specialized supermarket.

SIAM@SIAM COCKTAIL

From Siam @ Siam Design Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Combine in a tall glass:

1-1/2  ounces Bacardi rum

1 ounce Blue Curacao liqueur

1-1/2 ounces fresh coconut juice

1-1/2 ounces pineapple juice

1/2 ounce sweet and sour mix

Add ice and stir.

Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Fueled by passion, I became a stalker, or perhaps it’s nicer to say I went on a pie pilgrimage. In a secret effort to curb my promiscuous tendencies to adore each and every wedge that passes my plate, I headed to Key lime pie Mecca, the Florida Keys, to see if I could find an ultimate, peak-pie experience.

Everyone knows that this luscious substance, simply made with lime juice and sweetened condensed milk, was born in the Keys, but no one knows exactly when or where. Guesses are that Key limes, natives of Southeast Asia, came to the islands with the Spanish in the 1500s. It wasn’t until 1856, when Gail Borden created canned sweetened condensed milk, that a marriage of the ingredients was even possible.

I like the story that sailors were the matchmakers. Sailors cruising through the Keys carried supplies that didn’t spoil, such as hardtack and canned milk. They also picked up limes and eggs, which were readily available on shore. Can’t you just envision some galley cook trying to soften hardtack to an edible stage by crushing the rock-like crackers and soaking the crumbs in liquids at hand (lime juice, canned milk, an egg or two). Imagine the surprise when the acid in the lime “cooked” the proteins in the egg and milk, forming custard without the need for heat. What could be better than a delicious concoction, easily made from available ingredients, requiring no heat to cook.

Necessity may have been he mother of Key lime pie, but taste was the father and their progeny flourished. Sailors took the recipe to shore and locals took it to heart, so the pie was an established favorite even before the first written recipe appeared in the 1930s.

As with all marriages, age brought change. Graham crackers replaced hardtack and traditional pie crustsometimes replaced the graham crumbs. The original pies probably went topless, but at some point a thrifty cook wanting to use egg whites left over from the yolks in the custard, added a layer of meringue. Whipped cream joined the topping choices when fresh milk came to the Keys with the railroad in 1912. The greatest change however, and a shocking travesty to purists, occurred when folks began making Key lime pie, without Key limes.

The real Key lime is a small thing, about the size of a ping-pong ball, with yellowish-green skin. Tart and juicy with distinctive aroma and flavor, Key limes grow on trees with thorny branches. When a hurricane devastated the Key’s lime crop in 1926, most growers replaced their plantations with Persian limes, which are easier to pick and transport. The larger, deep green Persian limes are found in most supermarkets today.

The salmonella scare brought recent change. Cooks, worried about raw eggs, began to heat the pies instead of letting limes do the work.

Surprisingly for a dish made with so few ingredients, no two pies are the same— and I should know, having sampled and savored pies from one end of the Keys to the other.

What did I discover?

As long as the base pie is made of lime juice and sweetened condensed milk, anything goes. Well, practically anything. Floridians insist that the pie be made of Key limes (although it is difficult for most cooks to find this baby) and everyone agrees it is forbidden to use food color to tint the custard green.

As to my preferences, as much as I would like to report that I developed a sense of discrimination, finding a sole, soul-mate pie, I have to confess that after trying the tall, short, thin, plump, creative, traditional, unadorned and accessorized-to-the max pies—I love them all.

On the other hand, faced with leaving the Keys and separating from my pie promiscuity, I did pick up the recipe for Little Palm Island’s cashew crusted, egg-yolk-rich, whipped-cream-drenched specialty. I’m going to take it home to meet the folks, as this is a happily-ever-after pie if there ever was one.

Little Palm Island's Key Lime Pie

LITTLE PALM ISLAND’S

KEY LIME PIE

2 cups very finely chopped or ground cashews

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

3/4 cup melted butter

Shortening to grease pan

3 cups sweetened condensed milk

9 egg yolks

1–1/2 cups Key lime juice

2 cups heavy cream

Finely grated peel of one orange

Make crust: Combine cashews, crumbs and 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl. Add butter and stir until well blended. Lightly grease a 9- or 10-inch springform pan and pat crumb mixture evenly and firmly over bottom. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.

Make custard filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat milk and egg yolks until well blended. Slowly beat in lime juice. Pour mixture over prebaked crust. Bake in a preheated 300-degree oven until custard is set in center, 20 to 25 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely.

Make topping: Put cream, orange peel and 2 tablespoons sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until stiff. Spread whipped cream over top of pie. Refrigerate until fully set, at least 1 hour. Cut around edge with a sharp knife and remove ring before serving.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Check www.fla-keys.com for more about the Forida Keys.

Sea Island has a habit of winning the hospitality industry’s top awards, racking up five stars for luxurious accommodations, world-famous golf and wonderful Southern-accented food.

Although the resort’s dining venues include the fancy formal, casual clubby and beachside basic, all of the restaurants serve bacon-packed cornbread muffins on request.

“We don’t dare stop making these muffins,” said one chef,  “generations of guests returning to Sea Island year after year wouldn’t stand for it.”

The chef also said that the muffins are best if the batter is made in advance and refrigerated about 24 hours before baking. This advance prep works to the advantage of busy home cooks who can, with almost no effort, serve home-made hot muffins in a variety of situations including breakfast for houseguests, informal family dinners and dinner-party extravaganzas.

BACON CORNBREAD MUFFINS Photo by Katherine Bish

SEA ISLAND RESORT’S

BACON CORNBREAD MUFFINS

Yield: 24 muffins

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup (2 to 3 strips) cooked crumbled bacon

1 (14-3/4 ounces) can creamed corn

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1-1/4 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons milk

Shortening to grease muffin cups

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Refrigerate batter in a covered container for at least 24 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400°F.  Generously grease 24 (2-1/2 inch) muffin cups. Spoon batter into cups and bake until muffins are set and golden brown, about 18 minutes. Serve muffins while they are warm.

FAMILY CELEBRATION DINNER

Lets run the numbers:

94 glasses

89 plates and platters

32 guests

9 bottles of wine

7 roasted chickens

6 patchwork quilts (to cover the folding tables set end to end making one long table)

Sweet Leisure Cake

4 fragrant flowers in centerpieces

3 times the recipe for FAMILY-FAVORITE PARTY SALAD

2 great desserts (Sweet Leisure Cake and

decorated cookies

1 happy family

DRESSING

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

cheese

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

SALAD

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup unseasoned fine dry bread crumbs

1 pound romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces and chilled

1/2 head cauliflower, trimmed

Combine dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bread crumbs and sauté, stirring constantly, until crumbs are lightly browned. Set crumbs aside to cool.

Put lettuce in a large salad bowl. Pour dressing over lettuce and toss gently until dressing evenly coats the lettuce pieces.

Pour crumbs over top of lettuce: don’t toss. Coarsely grate cauliflower and sprinkle over bread crumbs; don’t toss.  Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve salad without tossing.

Makes 6 servings.

Enchantment is a good name for the resort, as much about the property enchants, especially the Sedona location in the midst of the awesome red rocks of Boynton Canyon and the sophisticated Southwest-style accommodations. But perhaps the most enchanting aspect of Enchantment is the resort’s spa, Miiamo, (pronounced: me ah’ mo).

The word “mii amo” comes from the Yuman (an Arizona Native American tribe) word for “journey,’ and the spa helps guests journey into well-being. Treatments focus on the Native American and Ayurvedic; classes cover everything from Qi Gong to photography; and a slew of activities include hiking and mountain biking in the glorious Arizona surroundings.

Enchantment guests can use Mii amo as a day spa, but Mii amo is also an inclusive destination spa, complete with its own accommodations, shop and café.  It’s the café that grabs my heart.

It would be a transgression to use the word deprivation in connection with Mii amo Café’s food. The dishes are intelligently low calorie, low cholesterol, and organic whenever possible, but dishes are also so packed with flavor and beautifully presented, that one feels not only satisfied eating them, but also privileged.

Lucky for home cooks who want to sample some of Mii amo’s food magic, Enchantment chefs have recently released A JOURNEY OF TASTE (Chronicle books, 144 pages, $35), a cookbook containing about 50 of the spa’s most requested recipes.

A Journey of Taste's book jacket

Mii amo doesn’t serve traditional restrictive spa food, and likewise, the book is not your ordinary cookbook.

The book’s introduction tells more about the history of the spa and a typical day at the spa than about preparing spa food. And snippets of introductory information are meant to inspire the cook, rather than educate. Consider:

“When each bite is a delight, less is more.”

Steve Sicinski and Steve Bernstein, chefs whose recipes fill A Journey of Taste

“High-quality ingredients can be used in smaller measures because their taste carries culinary weight.”

“Delicious food feeds not just the body, but the soul.”

Recipes form the core of the book and these are divided into four chapters: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Dessert. Appetizers, sauces, side dishes and beverages are incorporated into each “meal” chapter.

The book offers one recipe per page. Some recipes such as the Dried Fruit Compote have only two ingredients and two instruction sentences leaving much empty white space on the 9-3/4 by 10-inch page. Other recipes are longer. The Vegetarian Chili instructions run five paragraphs and the ingredient list has 27 items–one of them a vegetable stock with its own complete sub recipe on a different page; the vegetable stock calls for 13 ingredients. But even the more complicated recipes have easy to follow instructions, although some dishes such as the Filet Mignon with Truffled Peruvian Potatoes and Wild Mushroom Demi-glace take a little time- juggling, easier for a restaurant cook than a home cook trying to get a meal on the table. All recipes come with a nutritional analysis and a note on serving size. Serving suggestions and presentation tips are incorporated into most recipes.

Not all recipes have photos, which is a shame, as photos add a reference for the cook. Beside Mii amo believes that “Food should look beautiful as well as taste fantastic,” and visuals are an essential part of Mii amo food’s appeal.

Another small objection to this book is the section offering menu suggestions: For example the book suggests serving Apple Cottage Griddle Cakes with a Mayan Breeze Smoothie and a Blueberry Muffin. The griddle cakes are so good they don’t need a muffin—and besides, it seems odd to pair dishes based on apples and blueberries—fruits with different peak periods.

A JOURNEY OF TASTE may not be the ultimate reference cookbook, but the recipes are worth having and should please anybody trying to eat well and stay well.

The book is available from Mii amo’s shop and a sneak preview is available here:

APPLE COTTAGE GRIDDLE CAKES

Serves 5

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 large egg

1 large egg white

1 large tart green apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and coarsely grated

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 cup low-fat or nonfat cottage cheese

I teaspoon canola or vegetable oil

Shreds of tart apple add moisture as well as flavor to these popular griddle cakes. Serve them warm, drizzled lightly with honey or brown rice syrup, or topped with fresh seasonal fruit.

Preheat an electric or stovetop griddle to about 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk gently to blend.

In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and egg white until blended Stir in the apple and lemon zest. Add dry ingredients, folding until nearly blended. Fold in the cottage cheese.

Spray the hot griddle with the oil. Working in batches, spoon or ladle 1/4-cup portions of the batter onto the griddle, leaving about 2 inches between each griddle cake. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until bubbly and set around the edges. Turn over and cook 2 minutes longer, until cooked through and lightly golden. Keep the cooked griddle cakes warm while you cook the remaining batter. To serve, top as desired and serve warm.

251 cal. 4 g fat, 13 g prot, 45 g carb

Not to worry. I found it. Actually can’t miss it. Even with a try. It is in every home, in every food outlet, on

Cuts of Argentine beef decorate a dish towel

everyone’s lips and in everybody’s heart (both literally and figuratively), throughout Argentina.

Beef is not just a food in Argentina; it is a cultural treasure, a way of life, a beloved heritage well marbled in all strata of society.

Argentines boldly boast that their beef is the best in the world. The Buenos Aires taxi driver, in route from airport to hotel, says it’s because the cows walk every day to eat and they eat only grass. The gaucho (cowboy) you meet at a street fair credits the breeds of cattle. The nutritionist trying on coats at a leather shop claims the beef has health promoting properties, absent in beef from other countries. And the cook who invites you to an asado (barbecue) insists it’s impeccable grilling techniques that release the beef’s magnificent flavor.

I say it is all of the above. Praise be the total package.

That said, don’t cry for me Argentina. We North Americans have our own beef standards and may not agree with the Argentine  “best of the best” claim—that is until we become accustomed to the differences.

A Buenos Aires butcher proudly displays beef products

North Americans love long-aged, well marbled beef, served seared on the outside and bloody red inside. Argentines consider aged beef old and most order meat cooked medium well to well done. The marbling isn’t there either, as grass fed beef is much leaner than US feedlot counterparts. On the other hand, although we from the United States salivate at the thought of big, thick steaks, we find it virtually impossible to understand the gargantuan portions Argentines pack away in single sitting. Argentines eat a whopping 132 pounds of beef per person, per year, setting the world record.

Consider a typical meal in a Buenos Aires parrilla (steakhouse). Likely the meal will start with a sampling of Argentina’s favorite appetizers: beef empanadas; molleja (sweetbreads); chinchulines (intestines); rinones (kidneys); and assorted sausages, some finger thin coiled to cover the surface of a dinner plate and others as thick and succulent as any sausages on this planet. Next comes the entrée platter, which usually includes several different cuts of beef, the two most popular being bife de chorizo, a cut like a t-bone without the bone, and tira de asado, long,

Beef straight from the grill at a busy parrilla

narrow strips of bone-in short ribs. Of course, salads, potatoes and a variety of other vegetables can be ordered as side dishes. What never accompanies the beef is any sort of steak sauce, barbecue sauce or ketchup. Only salt flavors the meat. And the meat, unseasoned, not marinated, unsauced is simply irresistible.

So what really makes Argentine beef special?

Exercise, diet and living condition of the cattle play the major roles. Although Argentina does produce feedlot beef, the majority of cattle still wander freely over extensive plains, dining on rich grasses that thrive in the mild climate. A grass diet produces beef that contains less saturated fat, fewer calories, more omega 3 fatty acids and more vitamin E than other feeds. Grass-grazing, free-roaming cattle live in natural conditions and are generally free from hormone implants, stress and antibiotics.

Grass-fed beef is packed with flavor, but it can also be tough if not properly cooked and Argentines consider grilling an art form, associated with as many dos and don’ts as a religious ceremony.

Just in case you are lucky enough to get your hands on true Argentina beef and want to cook it as would an Argentine, here’s what you do:

Steak Argentine style

Barbecued Beef Argentine Style

or

RULES OF THE ASADO

1. Use a grill that is scrupulously clean.
2. Build a fire (coal or wood, with wood the preference as the embers last longer and perfume the meat). Let the fire burn to embers then push the embers aside, making sure you have enough embers to finish the cooking.
3. Spread a portion of embers on the floor of the grill.
4. When grill floor is hot, rub cooking grid with a piece of fat.
5. Salt the meat before cooking—or not (salting before will draw out juices; salting after doesn’t flavor as much). Add nothing but salt to the meat.
6. Place meat on grill and quickly sear the outside by lowering grill top or increasing amount of embers, then adjust grill or embers to cook the meat. Keep meat between six and four inches above the embers.
7. Do not move meat around on the grill; move embers.
8. Turn meat only once, with tongs; do not puncture with a fork or cut with a knife to check for doneness or you will lose juice and flavor.
9. Serve the moment the meat is cooked.
10. Enjoy.

Michaël Dessimiroff gave me the recipe many years ago, when he was chef on the Horizon II, a hotel barge floating the canals of France. Trained as a pastry chef before joining the barge staff, Michaël baked particularly marvelous quiches, one for every day of the trip.  He said that the secret to a great crust is to not overwork the dough and to refrigerate the dough after each handling. He also said that cooks can make a variety of different quiches by using one basic recipe and altering a few flavoring ingredients.

Although it can be done, I can’t imagine altering Michaël’s Pear and Roquefort Quiche as to me it was the pièce de résistance of his entire quiche repertoire, offering a flawless balance of delicate flavors and a perfect ratio of rich buttery crust to soft custard filling. Also I can’t imagine any real man refusing this quiche—although, mon dieu, I do keep trying to find one.

PEAR AND ROQUEFORT QUICHE

2-1/2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) Roquefort cheese (or good quality blue cheese)

1/2 cup whipping cream

3 eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1-1/2 cups whole milk 

Pinch each: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon fine, dry bread crumbs

1 partly baked 10-inch pastry shell (recipe follows)

1 small pear, peeled, cored and thickly sliced

1 to 2 teaspoons honey

On a plate, using a fork, mash cheese with some of the cream to form a smooth paste; transfer to a medium bowl. Gently beat in remaining cream. Add eggs and beat until mixture is blended, but not foamy. Whisk in sour cream, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt and pepper; set aside.

Sprinkle bread crumbs in center of pastry shell. Arrange pear slices in a circular pattern over crumbs and drizzle with honey. Set pan on a baking sheet. Stir egg mixture and pour into shell. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until quiche has puffed slightly and top has lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes.

Cool slightly on a rack. Release side and bottom of pan and slide quiche onto a serving platter. Serve quiche warm or at room temperature.

Yield: About 8 servings.

PASTRY SHELL

2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional flour for rolling dough

12 tablespoons chilled salted butter, cut into pieces

1 egg, beaten

Pinch salt

Sift 2 cups flour into a mixing bowl. Add butter. With fingertips, rapidly rub butter and flour together until mixture is in small crumbs. Make a well in center; add egg and salt. Stir gently with a fork to incorporate egg, then gather ingredients into a rough ball and knead gently and quickly to form a dough. Put dough on a flat surface and, with the heel of your hand, smear about three tablespoons of the dough into a thin streak; repeat until all dough has been smeared once. Gather dough into a smooth ball, flatten ball, wrap with plastic or foil, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to an 11- to 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 10-inch, false-bottomed quiche pan and gently maneuver dough to line pan. Turn excess overhang into pan and press to make double-thick sides to the pastry case. Trim off excess dough. Prick at 1/4-inch intervals with the tines of a fork. Place a sheet of foil, shiny side down, in pan and smooth over dough. (The foil should be large enough to come about 2 inches above rim of pan on all sides.) Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Fill foil lining with pastry weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake in preheated 425°F oven until bottom of shell is set and sides are beginning to brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Remove foil and weights. Return shell to oven and bake 2 minutes. Remove pan from oven and put on a rack to cool.

Yield: One 10-inch pastry shell, partly baked.

The school’s recipes were authentic, but slightly adapted to please American palates, and gentle Thai cooking teachers explain how each recipe could be further adjusted to suit individual tastes.

For example, teachers said that when making Pad Thai, cooks could:

1. substitute rice vinegar for the tamarind juice—although the tamarind adds a distinctive “fruity” taste;

2. use roasted red pepper instead of paprika for color;

and/or

3. substitute cubed raw chicken for the shrimp.

Then again, cooks could follow the original recipe with perfectly pleasing results.

Epicurean Kitchen Cooking School’s

PAD THAI

Yield: 1 large serving

About 2 ounces Thai Kitchen Stir-Fry Rice Noodles (or rice sticks, also called banh pho)

2 tablespoons dried shrimp, optional

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1-1/2 tablespoons water

1-1/2 tablespoons premium fish sauce

2 teaspoons tamarind juice (or rice vinegar)

Pinch paprika for color

About 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large shallot, peeled and finely sliced

2 tablespoons preserved sweet radish

1 tablespoon cubed extra firm tofu

About  7 medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 small egg

1 cup bean sprouts

2 scallions, trimmed and slivered

For Garnish

Chiles

Lime, cut into wedges

Crushed roasted peanuts

Put rice noodles in room-temperature water to cover and let soak until pliable, but firm—not soft or mushy; soaking can take from 20 minutes to 1 hour (see note below). Drain noodles well and set aside. Cover dried shrimp with water and let soak until tender, about 20 minutes; drain well.

Combine sugar, water, fish sauce, tamarind juice and paprika; set aside.

Heat wok or large frying pan over medium high heat; add vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add shallots and stir-fry until golden brown. Turn heat to high. Add radish, dried shrimp and tofu to wok; stir-fry 1 minute. Add softened noodles. Pour sugar mixture over top. Stir-fry ingredients until noodles are tender (taste, they should be al dente). Push noodle mixture to the side of the pan. Add raw shrimp and stir fry until cooked. Push shrimp to the side with noodles. Add egg and stir-fry until scrambled. Mix all ingredients together (if necessary, continue stir-frying another minute or so until mixture is “dry” and sauce incorporated). Toss in bean sprouts and scallions and stir-fry until mixed.  Serve immediately garnished with chiles, lime wedges and/or peanuts.

NOTE: If you are in a hurry, you can “fast soak” the noodles, but they won’t be as good. To fast soak: bring a pot of water to the boil, turn off heat, add the noodles and let sit until pliable—3 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water.)