Sunday, September 21, 2003

By Suzanne Martinson, Post-Gazette Food Editor

It was one classy class. A fascinating tour of a 1932 stone Tudor house from bedroom to basement in Mt. Lebanon. Fabulous food. No homework. There was also what educators used to call "carryover learning" -- all that the 30 women who paid $60 for the class have to do is re-create Rania's recipes at home.

	The high-energy Rania Harris takes a break in her Mt. Lebanon back yard, which is a work in progress. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image. Rania's menu Three Mushroom Tart Cold Sliced Tenderloin with Herb Sauce White Bean Salad Orzo Salad With Feta and Black Olives Shrimp and Vegetable Spring Rolls with Hoisin Chili Sauce Raspberry Tart

Rania Harris, cooking teacher, creative caterer and TV personality who "feeds The Bus" on KDKA's "The Jerome Bettis Show," had a little show-and-tell all her own twice in the past two weeks. Haven't you always wanted to see what a great cook's kitchen looks like?

In one word: beautiful.

The Raymond En-keboll hand-carved architectural molding around the cherry cupboards bespeaks quality. A custom-made hutch by Phil Long of Precision Installations showcases colorful pottery that Rania has collected on her travels. The kitchen makeover, designed with the help of Lisa McMenamin of LaScala Interiors, put Rania's sink under the window and the Thermador range against the wall with the family room. She has a Sub-Zero refrigerator and a 14-foot granite island. One joke among home builders is that the people with the greatest kitchens have takeout on speed dial. Not this kitchen.

The redesign was prompted by a heartfelt loss, and Rania isn't kidding when she says she owes it all to her dog, Sam, which she took everywhere. She recalls sneaking into a hotel elevator in Charlotte, N.C., with Sam wrapped in a Pittsburgh blanket.

"Let me see your baby," implored a woman on the elevator.

"He's asleep," Rania said.

Eventually the woman wheedled her way under the blanket. What a shock! But she didn't rat on Rania. Another dog lover, no doubt.

Sam, her companion of 16 years, died in 2000.

"I was so sad, and Stephen [her husband of 33 years] asked what he could do to make me feel better," she recalled.

"A new kitchen!" she said.

While she was at it, she redid the family room and replaced the patio with a porch -- "more in keeping with the style of the Lucien Caste house," she says. "Two weeks, they said. It was four months."

Today, the Harris household is down to three, husband, wife and Rania's 86-year-old mother, who has lived with them for 20 years. The youngest, Stephen, 21 this month, is in his third year at Tufts University.

An update on the three others, though Rania includes daughter-in-law Julie and her son Nicholas' girlfriend, Phoebe duPont, as family:

* Nicholas, 26, a graduate of Denison University, is interning at Radius Restaurant in Boston and plans to attend the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y.

* Daughter Porter, 29, a Williams College graduate, is a marketing analyst for Wellington Management Co., Boston.

* John, 32, is a cardiologist in Louisville, Ky., and his wife, Dr. Julie Harris, is an oral maxillofacial surgeon. They expect a baby in November.

So that will make Rania a grandmother.

Meanwhile, she is mothering her "evolving" back yard. In this project, she had 14 maple trees removed, emotionally wrenching but necessary if she was ever going to have flowers. "Impatiens would not grow here," she says on the tour of the garden, which is beautifully lighted and bubbles with fountains.

The rambling English garden has lady's mantle, helleborus "all over the place," Japanese anemones, coreopsis, oakleaf hydrangea, heptacodium, Kent rosebushes and more, plus a shady, inviting pond with seven Japanese koi.

Someone asks if Rania planted the bird's nest on the arch with New Dawn roses. "A bird's nest is good luck."

Lorelei Stein, right, and other members of Rania Harris' class help themselves to a sumptuous buffet at Harris' home. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image.

It came on its own, Rania says.

We inquire about the metal frog and turtle sculptures, and she says she bought them at Waterloo Gardens outside Philadelphia. "I get in there with hip boots to clean the pond out," she says, and I don't doubt her for a minute. "This gives me something to do."

Despite the proverbial full plate, she means this, too. This woman is high-energy. I tell her it comes from her Mediterranean diet, quality food well-prepared from scratch. Rania is Greek, and her beautiful food reflects her culture and many others she has mastered in her catering and takeout shop on Central Square in uptown Mt. Lebanon -- Rania's to Go. She dubbed the dining room Rania's to Stay -- it's where classes sample (it's a full meal) the dishes she demonstrates.

There were no demos this night, just appreciation for the fine food prepared by Rania, Susan Carr and Katherine Cominos. Classmates dined by candlelight on the porch or in the garden.

Meanwhile, husband Stephen is in one corner of the kitchen, eating what he described as "burned toast dipped in olive oil."

"Rania wouldn't let me eat that food," he jokes, nodding toward the impressive spread, "because I didn't pay."

The conversation is punctuated with vows to try this recipe or that at home. Rania's presentations are impressive, too. "I get platters and bowls on sale at T.J. Maxx and Marshalls," she says.

Speaking of dishes, she is embarrassed to admit owning 20 sets. She loves dishes.

An offshoot of her food career was appearing for seven years on WTAE-TV. Her five-minute segment drew so much mail that it kept an intern busy sending out recipes. When a new news manager came aboard at the station, that was it. Despite her many fans, Rania's food was no longer "news."

"People still come up and say they always watch me on 'TAE," Rania says. "I haven't been on since 1999. I just nod and say thank-you."

Today she is a mainstay on KDKA-TV and Radio, appearing with Jerome Bettis on Saturday and on Bob Pompeani's pregame show Sunday morning. She goes vocal on Larry Richert's Thursday morning show. She takes to the screen the same ebullient personality she displays at her cooking classes. She loves what she's doing and it shows.

As one of the women said, "I live in the North Hills, but I cross bridges to attend Rania's classes -- she's so much fun."

Probably the most interesting angle of the home visit was realizing how much outside work Rania does. I go home and crash; she does not. She does needlepoint, she does her own weeding and, yes, she cooks for her family. "It relaxes me," she says.

Last spring she set all activities aside to volunteer her time to test recipes from the Steelers and their wives for "The Heinz Field Cookbook," which came out this month. It is a benefit for A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, which supports breast cancer research. "I was honored that Heinz asked me to be a part of it," she says.

There was one tiny fly in the ointment.

"I gained weight," she says. "That worried me."

Will she ever put out a cookbook of her own?

"Someday," she says. But first she'll probably want to devote a little time to being a grandmother.

Until then, we lucky guests had better get started on our homework.

Three Mushroom Tart
(This recipe was tasted but not kitchen-tested by the Post-Gazette)

• 1 baked 10-inch tart shell (recipe follows)
  

• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
  
• 1/2 cup dry madeira
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
  
• 1 pound cultivated white mushrooms, finely chopped
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  
• 1/4 pound cream cheese
  
• 1/2 cup whole milk
  
• 2 large eggs, beaten
  
• 3 1/2-ounce package enoki mushrooms, ends removed
  
• Fresh lemon juice for brushing the mushrooms

Set the baked tart shell aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the porcini, madeira and 1 1/2 cups cold water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, cover and remove from heat. Set aside until the porcini are softened, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a double thickness of rinsed and squeezed cheesecloth. Rinse the porcini to remove any grit and chop them fine.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cultivated mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the liquid the mushrooms give off has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add the porcini, thyme and strained liquid. Continue cooking over medium-high heat until all the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the cream cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

Beat the milk and eggs in a small bowl until blended, then stir in the mushroom mixture. Pour into the tart shell and bake until slightly set in the center, about 20 minutes. The filling will not be set. Arrange the enoki mushrooms in a ring decoratively over the top of the filling, and brush with lemon juice. Bake for 15 minutes longer or until firm and set in the center. Cool the tart on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Tart Dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  

• 1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 4 tablespoons ice water

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process the flour with butter and salt until a coarse meal forms. With the machine running, add ice water through the feed tube and process just until a ball of dough forms.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch round. Fit the dough round into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold the overhang inward and press against the side of the pan to reinforce the edge. Lightly prick the bottom and sides with a fork.

Freeze the tart shell for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line the frozen tart shell with foil and fill the cavity with dried beans. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil with the beans very carefully, and then continue to bake the tart shell for another 10 minutes or until the shell is golden. Cool on rack.

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